At 20, he’s a Silvertips star. What’s life like off the ice?

EVERETT — On Jan. 18, Tyler MacKenzie was flying down the ice.

His Silvertips teammate, left winger Dominik Rymon, had just stolen the puck from a player on the visiting Prince George Cougars. Rymon and MacKenzie had only one more defender to beat.

MacKenzie, a center, made some space on the right side of the goal. Rymon faked a shot, sent over a pass and left MacKenzie to do the rest. He took control of the puck and shot it past the Prince George goalie to score his 27th goal of the season and break a 1-1 deadlock. The Silvertips went on to win the game 4-1 and kept their confident lead on top of the Western Hockey League standings.

A couple of days before that goal, I was sitting in Brooklyn Bros. Pizzeria across from Angel of the Winds Arena, the venue the Everett Silvertips call home. MacKenzie, who had just finished practice, was drinking a soda across from me.

With 30 goals and 43 assists, he has solidified himself as one of the best players on the best team in the league. But I was curious about what his life was like off the ice. How does he balance the pressure, the high highs and the low lows of competitive sport, as a 20-year-old living in a new country?

MacKenzie’s answer seemed deceptively simple.

“I like to say, just be a kid sometimes,” he said. “You love the game, and it’s a job. You get to love your job but sometimes it’s nice to have that little bit of a break, which is super important.”

In his off time, MacKenzie spends time with his teammates, whom he calls a “group of brothers.” They eat lunch together every day, go golfing, play video games and go to the movies. He also hopes to do more fishing, something he misses from his childhood.

But he also hangs out by playing hockey and “Fortnite” with 8-year-old Ajay Blow, the son of Eric and Riddhi Blow. Last year, the couple signed as a “billet” family to host Silvertips players in Everett during the season.

The Blows are MacKenzie’s host family. I met with them in the same pizza shop a few days after I talked to MacKenzie.

“We play hockey in the garage,” Ajay said. “He (MacKenzie) actually destroys me.”

Eric and Riddhi, originally from the Vancouver, British Columbia area, have been fans of the Silvertips since they moved to Everett eight years ago. After years of watching the sport from the sidelines, Eric and Ajay wanted to take it a step further by bringing a player into their home.

Before MacKenzie moved in, Eric Blow was worried he might be a troublesome teenager, but said the months since he moved in have been smooth sailing so far.

“I was expecting to be watching out for them going partying and whatever,” he said. “Nothing like that. He’s super focused on exactly what he needs to do.”

Riddhi was also apprehensive at first, but said the experience of hosting MacKenzie has been nothing but positive.

“I think we got really lucky with Tyler,” she said. “He just blends in really well. He’s super easy going, and it really makes watching hockey, for me, a lot different. You have someone you’re rooting for.”

At 20, MacKenzie is young, but is still one of the oldest players on the Silvertips, as the junior league is restricted to players ages 16 to 20. His journey to get there, though, started when he was even younger.

MacKenzie was born in Red Deer, a city of just over 100,000 between Edmonton and Calgary in the Canadian province of Alberta. He grew up playing badminton, volleyball, basketball and hockey, but there was one sport that he loved more than anything else.

“It’s a very hockey-oriented country. It’s probably a part of the culture of it, but you kind of just get into hockey,” MacKenzie said. “All your buddies play it, it’s just something you do.”

He played hockey since he was a child. When he turned 16, he went professional, playing for the Medicine Hat Tigers, a Western Hockey League team in southern Alberta. He stayed on that team until he was 19, when the Tigers traded him to the Silvertips.

The move meant MacKenzie would be living outside of Canada for the first time, without his family. For him though, it represented an exciting new experience. He made the 13-hour, 700-mile drive to Everett in a single day.

“Obviously there’s some things that are different. I miss the poutine from Canada,” MacKenzie said. “But it’s been amazing down here.”

The Blows became his American family. MacKenzie will be with them until the end of this season. “I don’t even think about when he has to go,” Riddhi Blow said. “It’s going to be sad for all of us.”

Ajay said he wants to be like Tyler when he grows up. Since he moved in, MacKenzie has helped Ajay learn how to tape up his stick, taught him tricks in the garage and attended his sports games.

But the benefits of his relationship with his host family goes both ways, MacKenzie said.

“Sometimes, you can feel really alone in this world when you’re playing hockey,” he said. “It’s a competitive, pressure-filled world with expectations always on the line. So it’s great to be able to go back to a place where you’re away from the rink and have people that are supporting you. Even though your parents and family can’t be there, it’s nice to have them there.”

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.

This article first appeared in the spring edition of Sound & Summit.