Former Viper McDonald Joins Olympique:

This is posted on Gregg Drinnan's Blog:

What's Bruin doin'? He's in Gatineau

Saturday, December 4, 2010

The WHL season was underway when the NHL’s Ottawa Senators returned D Jared Cowen to the Spokane Chiefs.
Because of that move, D Bruin McDonald now is with the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques.
A stretch? Perhaps. But you can make the case . . .
The Chiefs acquired McDonald, an 18-year-old from Coquitlam, B.C., from the Prince George Cougars, who had selected him in the seventh round of the 2007 bantam draft. The Chiefs gave up a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft for McDonald, but then released him. He had recorded one assist in three games.
McDonald, whose father is a big fan of Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins, ended up with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies for whom he had five points in 14 games.
But he found himself a healthy scratch on Tuesday, and then he was traded Wednesday to the Vernon Vipers for future considerations. Strangely, McDonald was a healthy scratch as the Grizzlies played the host Westside Warriors, with Vernon GM/head coach Mark Ferner in attendance.
(The future considerations may have been to clean up an earlier deal in which the rights to F Kyle St. Denis, 20, moved to Victoria. By the way, there now are rumours that St. Denis is going to join the Grizzlies after initially saying he wanted to play with his hometown Trail Smoke Eaters.)
Shortly after McDonald’s junior A rights had been moved from Vancouver Island to the Interior of B.C., the Olympiques called.
McDonald, who by now was in Vernon, had met Ferner and had been taken to new billets, told Gatineau that he would play there if he was guaranteed a spot for the remainder of this season.
The Olympiques, having had a defenceman go down in a mid-week game, wanted McDonald there in time to play Wednesday night against the host P.E.I. Rocket.
However, at that point, the Olympiques said they couldn’t guarantee him anything. They did, however, tell McDonald they would like him in training camp in August and that they would follow his progress in Vernon.
So . . . McDonald began to prepare to play for the Vipers in a Friday night game at home against Westside.
Except that the saga wasn’t yet finished.
You see, the Olympiques had a change of mind and called him back. They have guaranteed him a roster spot for the rest of this season so he is on his way east. He didn’t get there in time to play Friday night in Moncton against the Wildcats. Tonight, the Olympiques are to play the Sea Dogs in Saint John, N.B.
As someone close to McDonald put it, “It is like becoming the best looking girl in Grade 12 after being the ugly duckling. . . . it’s absolutely whacky. . . . Bruin’s head is spinning. . . . But he seems really happy.”
If you are wondering how a player from the west is eligible to play in the QMJHL, a WHL official explained it this way: “All players 18 years of age or older who do not appear on the protected list of a WHL club are free agents and are eligible to transer to another league in the CHL.”