Rylind MacKinnon Takes Control On And Off The Ice

In Downtown Vancouver, 18-year-old Rylind MacKinnon was doing what any normal first year student would do on move-in day: moving the large pile of boxes to her room, meeting her roommates, and getting settled into her new home away from home.

That all had to be quickly put on hold when she walked back down to her mom’s car and realized her bike had been ripped off the rack on the back.

“I figured, okay, let's just go down the street and see if anyone has it,” said MacKinnon. “Sure enough, I spotted it and I just went up to the guy and took it back saying, this is my bike, I'm gonna have to take this back from you and I rode off.”

That confidence and strength is something that fans of the Toronto Sceptres can come to expect, but her style of play didn’t form overnight.

Growing up three hours south of Banff in Cranbrook, British Columbia, MacKinnon started playing hockey at a young age because she wanted to be like her older brother, who like her also played defense.

“I wanted to follow in his footsteps and copycat him,” MacKinnon said with a grin. “I have loved the game ever since and had a lot of fun playing with him.”

Growing up the pair would play with and against each other on the backyard rink, allowing MacKinnon’s physicality to grow into one of her biggest strengths.

She would put these skills to the test early in her career while playing on many boys' teams until she was 15-years-old.

MaKinnon went on to play with the U18 Northern Alberta Xtreme Prep team for three seasons in high school.

The sturdy blueliner slide under the radar in her junior career despite scoring 33 points in 48 games.

Despite not making it on her first attempt, MacKinnon made Team British Columbia on her second attempt on Team BC at the 2017 U-18 Canadian Women’s National Championships, MacKinnon scored two goals in the tournament, one of which was the overtime winner to secure the bronze medal in the against Saskatchewan.

For MacKinnon, playing in the NCAA wasn’t really a thought when thinking about what's next for her after high school.

Ultimately, MacKinnon decided to play for a familiar face from her Team BC days, coach Graham Thomas with the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds, in U Sports’ Canada West division.

“I wasn’t talking to a lot of American schools. I had talked to a couple after already committing to play at UBC, so I was mostly looking at Canada because school was a big priority for me as well,” said MacKinnon. “It was a dream for me earlier to go the NCAA route, but I was very grateful and happy choosing the U Sports route.”

With the Thunderbirds, she would prove to be a dominant force on both sides of the ice from the start. In her rookie season, MacKinnon scored 15 points in 30 regular season games leading to her being named the U Sports Rookie of the Year.

“From the moment I met her you could tell, she just had a drive to her,” said UBC coach Graham Thomas. “She just wants to be the best and she wants to play against the best.”

MacKinnon continued to perform throughout her five seasons with the Thunderbirds becoming the top defensive blueliner on the team while also contributing offensively, scoring 81 points in 126 games. In her final season MacKinnon was named a U-Sports First Team All-Star.

MacKinnon also served as the team’s assistant captain for her sophomore and junior seasons before becoming captain for her last two seasons with UBC.

“She's always been a leader, and she's always been someone who just does the right things most of the time,” said Thomas. “She's grown and developed on that to find her voice, learning how to hold teammates accountable, learning how to hold herself to a higher standard, and how to continue to build the team culture with a positive environment.”

During her run as part of the leadership group, MacKinnon led the Thunderbirds to three straight Canada West championships, winning a bronze medal at the 2023 National Championships, but last season's win wasn’t without theatrics.

“It's a lot of tight games, which I think adds a bit more stress,” said MacKinnon. “It's also a lot of fun playing in tight games in overtime, that's what you live for to compete like that.”

It was a good thing that the now 24-year-old was comfortable in those games as UBC played in four one-goal games including a triple-overtime thriller against the University of Alberta in game one of the finals.

She set the record for most minutes played by a UBC player that night, playing 53 minutes, almost the length of an entire game on a Friday night, and then had to get up for game two on Saturday.

But it was in the third and final game that MacKinnon made an impact in the final minutes of the game that her coach will never forget.

“They (Alberta) pulled the goalie and they were pushing in the third period with less than two minutes left, and they're in our zone, and our goalie couldn't see through the scramble in front,” said Thomas. “They shot the puck and it was going towards the empty net and Rylind just stuck out her foot, and got a piece of that puck, kicking it just off into the corner. That puck looked like it was going straight in on the far side of the net to tie the game.”

The Thunderbirds went on to the National Championships in Saskatchewan where they finished fifth after winning the consolation final against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

After her performance in U Sports, MacKinnon started turning some heads as she was invited to the Toronto Sceptres’ training camp and was invited to the Canadian senior women’s national team camp in St. Catherines in September where she competed against the best players in the country.

Despite the rampant bike theft issues in Vancouver, MacKinnon still rides that very same bike she took back on her first day at the UBC campus.

If she makes the Toronto Sceptres’ roster this month, she intends to continue to ride it in her free time around the streets of Toronto, ready to fight for it back.