Kody McDonald did not intend to lose as much weight as he did this summer.
But the scales outside the Prince George Cougars' dressing room at CN Centre don't lie.
He's at least 12 pounds lighter than the 205 pounds he packed into his hockey equipment when he last played a meaningful game for the Cougars in April.
"I played more of a third-line kind of role and it was a bit easier playing heavy because it was a lot harder to get pushed off the puck," said the 19-year-old right winger. "I've been told I need to work on my speed a lot and so with that I changed my eating habits and changed the way I approached the cardio side of it.
"That extra 12 pounds, your legs give out a lot quicker, but my legs feel great. I'm really looking forward to getting out there and showing I have a lot more speed and endurance this year."
Maybe being forced to eat his own home-cooked meals this summer had something to do with McDonald's leaner physique.
After 10 weeks saving his money working full-time slicing deli meat at a Lethbridge supermarket, he moved to Kelowna to train with Cougars assistant coach Steve O'Rourke at Lars Espo's Skate With Power summer program and ended up living on his own for nearly two months. Managing his bills on a small budget with no job other than trying to become a better athlete forced McDonald to grow up faster than if he'd been living with his parents in Lethbridge. That newfound maturity should serve him well as one of the leaders in the Cats' locker room.
"When I was 16 I never expected to have a leadership role on this team but now when I look at myself and the way I've grown up I put that on myself and I expect myself to be part of the leadership group and be a really big leader for the team this year," McDonald said.
"I left July 2nd and I saw my parents (Marla and Terry) for the first time (last week) and they told me I'm not the same human. They see a different kid in me and it's exciting for me."
McDonald will get his chance to set an example on the ice this weekend in Red Deer, where the Cougars begin their exhibition season with games against the Edmonton Oil Kings Friday afternoon and the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday.
The Cougars chose the Lethbridge native in the second round, 24th overall, in the 2013 WHL bantam draft, after he'd spent two seasons with the Pursuit of Excellence Academy program in Kelowna. Now heading into his fourth WHL season, he's coming off his most productive year - 17 goals and 49 points in 68 games to go with 119 penalty minutes and a plus-22 rating. In the first-round, six-game playoff series against Portland he scored two goals and had three assists.
McDonald's play last season caught the eye of the Winnipeg Jets, who invited him to their rookie camp which starts next week in the Manitoba capital.
While he lived up to his own potential in 2016-17, the B.C. Division-champion Cougars did not, falling short with a first-round playoff exit.
"I was very happy with myself, I thought, but there's always room for improvement," he said. "We sold ourselves a bit short last year and I'm still a bit bitter about it. I want to have the culture around the room this year that we don't accept losing, ever, and we're going to win more than just a couple games in the playoffs, we're going to win a round or two, or three or four."
Known as a tough aggressive winger with good hands around the net, McDonald will be experiencing his third NHL camp, having attended Montreal's in 2015 and the New York Islanders' last year.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself and just having that experience definitely helps and I have the right expectations going into (the Jets') camp," he said. "It's a lot easier going into Winnipeg this year knowing all I have to do is play my game and I'm sure I'll impress somebody."
McDonald is among five Cougars heading to NHL camps after their game in Red Deer with the Hitmen. The others are defencemen Dennis Cholowski (Detroit) and Josh Anderson (Colorado), and forwards Radovan Bondra (Chicago) and Nikita Popugaev (New Jersey).
"Kody's lost 12 pounds and he's going to Winnipeg for camp and it's a big year for him," said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk. "If we could have had him two years ago playing the exact same style then maybe he would have a (pro) contract now. I look at him exactly like how I looked at (graduated Cougar winger Colby) McAuley, that it's time to turn himself into a hockey player. He's got a future in this game once we kind of tone it down (to reduce the penalties) and get him going in the right direction. He plays all the special teams for us and he's a guy we'll rely on to log a lot of minutes."
In Winnipeg and at the Young Stars rookie tournament in Penticton McDonald will be joined on the ice by former Cougar Jansen Harkins, 20, who is preparing for his first pro season.
"He made huge strides last year personally for himself and I'm excited to see where he's going in his career - he's one guy I really look up to and I really appreciate that he'll be there," said McDonald.
Returning Cougars like McDonald know exactly what's expected of them from Matvichuk and his assistants, O'Rourke and Shawn Chambers. That familiarity did not exist last year when the new coaching staff took over the team.
The Cougars had 13 1997-born players last year and with six still remaining in camp they can only keep three overagers. Both goalies, Ty Edmonds and Nick McBride, have moved on, and there will be many new faces in the lineup when the Cats start the season Sept. 22 at CN Centre against Spokane.
"This year you can expect a lot more positive, day-in day-out approach," said McDonald. "Last year we had the team but we didn't have a team that brought it every single night. We had a team that one line could win a game, and at the end of the season when everybody starts getting banged up it doesn't work like it did at the beginning of the season.
"This year I feel everybody's on the same page, especially the older guys, and the young guys all know with a positive attitude and positive talk around the room it rubs off. After what we went through last year it got engraved in everybody's head that the more positive we will be, the more success we'll have."
