Sit Down with Schutz: Antons Macijevskis
Antons Macijevskis is from Riga, Latvia, where hockey is a national phenomenon. In part with hockey being a cultural sport, Macijevskis grew up around the hockey world. His father was a hockey player and is now a coach, passing his love for the game down to Macijevskis. He said, “Honestly, (my) parents never pushed me to play hockey. I just loved the game from the beginning,”. Macijevskis said that the biggest piece of advice he’s been given is also from his dad. He said, “My Dad always told me just to enjoy the game. Just enjoy whatever you’re doing. Enjoy. Take every day,”.
Last year was Macijevskis’s first season in the NAHL and his first time in the United States. Macijevskis credits a lot of his support system in this transition to his family. “I’m so far away from home, but I still call them always, and that’s helped me,”. Despite many transitions, Macijevskis’s main focus was hockey. He noted that the first difference he had to adjust to was the size of the ice. An average United States ice rink is smaller than the average European ice rink, with the United States ice rink being 200 feet long by 85 feet wide, compared to the European rink size of 60 meters (196.9 ft) long by 30 meters (98.4 ft) wide. Macijevskis also described that the NAHL playstyle is more physical and faster, which took a year to get under his belt.
This year, Macijevskis seems to have taken those transitions in stride. In the first half of this season, he has almost as many points as he had total last season. When asked about what adjustments he took into this year, Macijevskis simply said it was time. Macijevskis said, “ I’d say all my life, my second year in every league was better. I just feel like I’m adjusted. I’m adjusting better than this season. So I just keep playing my game, trying to make everything good. And that’s it,”. Last year, and again this year, Macijevskis has the honor of being a part of the Latvian national team in the IIHF World Juniors Tournament. When talking about this opportunity, Macijevskis described it simply as “unbelievable,”. When asked about his biggest takeaway from last year, Macijevskis said, “That in one game, can happen, everything,”. In potentially the biggest upset of last year’s entire tournament, team Latvia stunned team Canada in a 3-2 shootout victory. Macijevskis said almost everyone in the locker room cried after this win.
The Watertown community has embraced Macijevskis with open arms. He said, “I love playing here. (The) atmosphere is crazy. (I) enjoy every single game out here. Also, city, big community for sure. I’m enjoying helping,”.
Thank you, Antons, for sitting down with me!
By Lily Schutzenhofer
Photo by Sarah Cooper