Catchin' Up With a 'Cat
This edition looks at former Bobcat Craig McAlister.
Yukon, Oklahoma is located in Canadian County, so it’s no wonder that Craig McAlister grew up playing hockey.
McAlister laced up the skates early on in Oklahoma City and in the summers would make the 21-hour trek to skate in Guelph, Ontario.
Arriving for the 1977-78 season in Athens, McAlister played left wing. The following three seasons, he had the ‘C’ sown on his green and white jersey as the team’s captain.
Under his tenure as captain, the Bobcats won two MCHL Championships.
“John Menzies was the coach for my first three years and he deserves a ton of credit for his amazing coaching job,” McAlister wrote in an email interview.
When Ohio captured the MCHL crown in the spring of 1980, McAlister likened it to what took place on the ice at Lake Placid, when the U.S.A. defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union; “Our goaltender, Chuck Wilson, draped the American flag around his shoulders and made quite an impression of Jim Craig, the Olympic goaltender.”
After his four years with the ‘Cats, McAlister went from OU in Athens to OU in Norman, Oklahoma, where he enrolled in Pharmacy School. Today, he still uses his pharmaceutical and hockey skills daily-he owns a pharmacy in Yukon and is the head coach for the University of Central Oklahoma hockey team.
As coach, he’s had the opportunity to return to Athens, this time on the opponent’s bench. “I’ve had the chance to go to many campuses across the nation and I would put Ohio University’s campus and atmosphere among the best,” he said. “You can be in a crowded bar one night and the next day be hanging around Strouds Run by the lake the next.”
But going up against the Bobcats isn’t a simple task. Bird Arena is a place that “bleeds tradition,” according to him.
Opposing Ohio is always a tall order, especially with coach Dan Morris leading the Bobcats; “It is a measuring stick to where our program is by what we are able to accomplish when we play Dan’s team,” he said. “Dan is an outstanding coach and teaches defense first. If we are to be successful, we must adhere to that philosophy.”
McAlister still plays in a league with a mix of “old-timers” and UCO grads, but finds his mind is constantly on his coaching gig, “Mostly as a player, you are concerned about how things affect you, whereas when you’re a coach, you’re worried about every player, aspect of the game and every detail of the program,” he said.
So while his travels have taken him to numerous places across the United States, McAlister says he made the right choice being in Athens; “Ohio prepared me for life, giving me a chance to mix hockey, academics and social activities together and shaping me into the person I am today,” he said. “I am proud to be an alum of Ohio University.”
