A Charlottetown native that essentially no one in Toronto had ever heard of became the backbone of the Marlies for two straight seasons through 2013-15.
The journey to Toronto was somewhat chequered to say the least and a story of commitment to believe in yourself.

Drew MacIntyre was drafted 121st overall by Detroit Red Wings in 2001 and turned professional the next year following a junior career spent entirely in the QMJHL with Sherbrooke Castors.

During his time with the Detroit organisation, MacIntyre spent more time at the ECHL level with Toledo Storm than the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) and was allowed to walk as a free agent when his entry-level contract expired.

However, some impressive play in the minors and handy looking numbers during the ECHL and AHL playoffs in his final season were enticing enough for the Vancouver Canucks to sign him to a two-year deal in 2006.

MacIntyre spent the entirety of his first year in the AHL with the first incarnation of the Manitoba Moose.
He would set regular-season franchise record’s in GAA, SAV% and backstop the Moose to the Conference final with even more impressive statistics to his name.

A second season with Vancouver would finally result in an NHL call-up with Roberto Luongo injured. MacIntyre would twice see playing-action but only in relief for Curtis Sanford.
Once Luongo was healthy, MacIntyre was back with the Moose, but so was a promising young first-round pick named Cory Schneider and thus ended his time on the west coast.

As a UFA, MacIntyre signed for Nashville.
Once more his entire season would be spent in the AHL (Milwaukee Admirals), sharing duties with Mark Dekanich. MacIntyre would be the winning most goaltender in the AHL with 34 victories from 55 starts and despite posting more amazing numbers during the post-season, Milwaukee would fall at the penultimate Calder Cup hurdle.

It was then off to Atlanta on a two-year contract.
MacIntyre would not receive a sniff of the NHL and spent his time with the Chicago Wolves. In the second season of that contract, he’d be traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Brett Festerling.

Ironically, MacIntyre would take over duties from Curtis Sandford and the PEI native would be outstanding for the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Having posted a 12-6 record down the stretch, he so nearly backstopped them to the Calder Cup Final before a heartbreaking game seven loss to Houston.

With Montreal happy with the duo of Carey Price and Peter Budaj at the NHL level and Robert Mayer with Hamilton, it was another change of scenery as MacIntyre signed a one year contract with the Buffalo Sabres.

This is where the story becomes a little murky as MacIntyre watched his career stall and then shudder to a complete standstill due to a set of circumstances which were mostly out of his control.

Due to an injury to Ryan Miller, MacIntyre would receive a call-up from his Rochester duties but only see time in relief of Jhonas Enroth. With Miller’s return inside of a month, it was back to Rochester where the situation went south quickly, with a disagreement of views between him and the coaches apparently the reason for an acrimonious bust-up.

His form and numbers were the worst of his career in the minors to date and in a complete course change, MacIntyre signed in the KHL for HC Lev Praha for the 2012/13 season.

Some things are not meant to be in life and a first venture outside of North America went horribly wrong, as the goaltender broke his ankle early on and upon his return, the club had seemingly washed its hands of the netminder and eventually bought him out.

MacIntyre returned to North America but with the lockout in place, he struggled to find a home.
That was until his agent was able to find him a place in the Reading Royals organisation on January 3, 2013. The Hershey Bears required some help between the pipes and took him on loan shortly after but MacIntyre would not receive any ice-time during his short stint in Chocolate town.

The now 36-year old required a break (of the good variety) and an opportunity to show his worth once again.
An injury crisis in Toronto led to the Marlies offering Macintyre a PTO in the hopes of solidifying their goaltending.
What followed is honestly quite remarkable, for a player that had essentially been left on the shelve and struggled to find a place to play.

MacIntyre made his Marlies debut against who else but the Hershey Bears and only allowed one goal to begin his Toronto career with a victory. Having conceded just four goals in the following three starts which gave him a 3-1-0 record with a .939 save percentage to boot, Toronto promptly penned him to an AHL contract just sixteen days after signing a tryout.

Sixteen games into his Marlies career, MacIntyre had compiled a 10-3-3 record, a 1.85GAA and a 0.931 save percentage.
That then prompted another contract as on April 2, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed the goaltender to an NHL deal for the remainder of the season. Quite the turnaround and the forgotten man was now highly regarded in his new home.

Since playing in Manitoba, MacIntyre has written “Why Not?” on the knob of his goaltending stick and it‘s a reminder for him to stick with the process through good and bad times.

His play in the minors helped Toronto finish second in the Western Conference (yes that’s how long ago this was!) and matched up against Rochester in the first round.

Game One of that series would provide the moment that Drew MacIntyre would be most remembered for in Toronto.
With the game tied at three apiece late in the second period, Rochester had Toronto at sixes and sevens and it appeared odds on as if Zemgus Girgensons was going to score on a backdoor feed.

Now we can debate whether the puck was destined for the net or not but either way, MacIntyre’s behind the back glove save was something to behold. That crucial stop ensured that the game remained tied through forty minutes and Toronto struck three times in the final frame to take a 1-0 series lead.

Toronto would sweep their cross-border rivals 3-0 in the first round but not even MacIntyre could stand in the way of Grand Rapids Griffins who defeated the Marlies in six games before going on to hoist the Calder Cup.

Signed to a one year deal in the summer by the Maple Leafs, MacIntyre was once again a rock for the Toronto Marlies, posting a 29-15-1 record and a .917 save percentage as the team finished fourth in the conference before embarking on another memorable playoff run.

Milwaukee Admirals and Chicago Wolves were both swept with MacIntyre posting two shutouts and putting on a master class with no single-game save percentage lower than .917 in any of the seven straight victories.

Toronto met the Texas Stars in the Conference Finals and the series revolved around the play of MacIntyre who was simply irresistible at times.

During game one, he turned aside 49 shots for the victory while 46 saves in game two weren’t enough to help Toronto to take a 2-0 lead.

Through the first six games of the series, MacIntyre posted a .943 save percentage to ensure a game seven in Texas was required.
Even in that pivotal last encounter, MacIntyre kept the Stars at bay producing save-after-save while against the odds, Toronto built a 2-0 lead inside 21 minutes.
It wasn’t until the dam was breached inside the last three minutes of the middle frame that Texas broke Toronto’s and McIntyre resolve with two quick goals and then ran away with the game, winning 6-2 before going on to clinch the Calder Cup.

In that same season, MacIntyre played one game in relief for Toronto, stopping all fourteen shots he faced before the Maple Leafs allowed him to make his first-ever NHL start at the age of thirty against Florida on April 10.

It was a thank you of sorts by the organisation and although he gave up four goals on 37 shots, I’m sure it’s a memory he looks back fondly on.

In the summer of 2014, Toronto and MacIntyre parted ways with the goaltender signing with the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Canadian netminder would never feature in another NHL game as he suited up for the Charlotte Checkers and then the Rockford IceHogs after being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Dennis Robertson.

The 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns saw MacIntyre become something of a cult hero for Croatian outfit Medvescak Zagreb in both the KHL and EBEL and in-between times play in Germany for Adler Mannheim and Straubing Tigers before a short stint in the Slovakian league with HKM Zvolen.

Before writing this article I honestly thought MacIntyre had retired but he’s still going strong, though not in a market many are aware of in the hockey world!

In 2018-19 MacIntyre suited up for Nippon Paper Cranes of the Asia League and backstopped them to the final.
That team folded in 2019 but Oji Eagles signed MacIntyre for 2019-20 and were rewarded as he posted a .941 save on route to the team finishing third in the league.
There were no playoffs due to the Corona Virus Pandemic and PSK Sakhalin were anointed champions as the best team through league play.

Twenty-one teams later and the goaltender is still as competitive as ever and asking himself, why not?

Toronto certainly reaped the fruits of Drew MacIntyre’s play and determination to prove people wrong and in turn, the organisation revitalised a career that could have hit the buffers.