Mitch Please

Cast in a golden light, no dress rehearsal, this is our life. #8 laces his skates as The Tragically Hip song dances through his head.

And that is where the hornet stung me, and I had a feverish dream with revenge and doubt, tonight we smoke them out.

Growing up in the snow-laden Edmonton and his eventual move to Calgary, there wasn’t much for Mason Mitchell to do besides play hockey. He got his start at a young age and even had his cousin, Rene Bourque, to look at for inspiration. Bourque was in the big leagues and encouraged the young Mitchell to keep playing.

His family is still in Calgary and he calls them whenever he gets the chance. Mitchell is close with both his mother and father and his older sister.

And if you’re wondering; yes ladies, he’s single. At least, as of this interview.

You are ahead by a century.

Mitchell progressed through the ranks, playing for his college team in Alaska before he finally made it to the AHL in 2017. For two years, he played with the Hershey Bears and their minor league affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays.

He would play a total of 55 games with the two teams before making his way to the Cincinnati Cyclones where he is today.

“I think it comes down to mindset, realistically, but I’m always motivated to play. You come to the rink, you’re doing what you love, it’s pretty easy to do. Obviously, with a little bit of adversity, it’s tough sometimes, but I think just keeping the blinders on and staying focused on hockey is the main thing”.

Having just played in his 100th game, Mitchell was a bit shocked to hear he made it to that milestone. What normally takes about two years to accomplish, took the 25-year-old closer to three because of plaguing injuries.

“It feels pretty good! Took me a while to get 100 at least, I mean that’s three years. Usually, you get that in two, but with injuries and stuff, it’s obviously pretty exciting. There’s still lots of room for improvement, but that’s a good milestone. I never thought I’d play pro-hockey so just to get the opportunity to do that, I’m thankful for that”.

He’s had a myriad of issues with an old MCL injury that still torments him from time to time as well as having had some issues with his wrist.

“It’s never easy having an injury throughout the season; it sets you back quite a bit. It’s never something I want to do again, but that’s life, that’s hockey. That’s what happens. Just kind of getting over that hump, it’s tough when you’re injured playing hockey. You see all these guys leaving, hanging out with the guys and you can’t really do much”.

Despite the persistent injuries, he still has high hopes for the future and wishes to make it to 1000 games like his teammate Jesse Schultz.

Mitchell enjoys traveling around the cities with his teammates while on the road, as well as taking some time to himself and preparing for the upcoming game.

During the off-season, he likes to play golf but truly finds comfort in fly fishing in Alaska including deep-sea fishing.

Mason Mitchell has hopes to become a firefighter when he retires. He’s still got plenty of hockey left in him though. He is the fourth leading goal-scorer for the Cyclones and is leading the team in power-play goals along with Jesse Schultz.

The young forward has a long road ahead of him, but he is already shaping up to be a top contender for this organization.

You are ahead by a century.