Mark MacMillan

Classroom

An entrepreneurship major with a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average, Mark MacMillan strives for the same excellence in the classroom that he demands of himself on the ice. In each of his first three years at UND, MacMillan was the recipient of UND’s John H. and Jean C. O’Keefe Hockey Scholarship Endowment. This past year, he received UND’s Pat and Tammy Sogard Endowment. Prior to the 2013-14 season, he also was awarded the Joe’s Casing & Drilling Diamond Club Scholarship. He is a two-time Academic All-Conference selection and, as a sophomore, earned WCHA Scholar-Athlete honors. He is on track to graduate on time in May 2015.

Character

MacMillan has developed into an integral and reliable member of the University of North Dakota’s men’s hockey team and was voted assistant team captain prior to his senior season. He has emerged into a leader, both on and off the ice, who takes tremendous pride in representing his program, his university, his community and the entire state of North Dakota.

Community

MacMillan is a repeat national candidate for the Hockey Humanitarian Award in 2014-15. During his four years at UND, he has prided himself on being one of the school’s most engaged members of the community. Those efforts were never more evident than during his junior year when he emerged as the primary spokesperson for the UND Athletics North Dakota Strong fundraiser for cancer research. Having been affected personally by breast cancer—he lost his grandmother to breast cancer before he was born, and two of his aunts are survivors of the same disease—MacMillan worked tirelessly to promote the North Dakota Strong campaign with a personal five-week media blitz that covered television, radio, print and online media outlets. He also conceived the idea for the men’s hockey team to wear custom-made pink jerseys for an Oct. 26 exhibition game that would later be auctioned off as part of the fundraiser. Donations for North Dakota Strong were collected at various UND home athletic events, as well as through Amazon.com payments, North Dakota Strong T-shirt sales at local retailers and the game-used men’s hockey jersey auction. Additionally, Amazon pledged and matched a gift of $5,000.

Through his tremendous efforts and his story, MacMillan provided the campaign with a personal face and spokesperson that helped drive donations to unprecedented heights. On Dec. 12, UND Athletics announced that the North Dakota Strong campaign had raised $33,129.98 for cancer research, making it the largest charitable fundraiser ever initiated and executed by the UND Athletics Department. All proceeds were donated to Mayo Clinic for breast cancer research and will benefit the community of Grand Forks, including patients of Altru Health System, a proud member of the Mayo Clinic Health Network.

MacMillan’s efforts with the North Dakota Strong campaign are impressive enough on their own. However, his community involvement extends far beyond that single initiative. During his four seasons at UND, MacMillan has made community service a regular part of his life as a student-athlete, having graciously given his time to organizations including but not limited to:
•  Special Olympics
•  Grand Forks Public Library
•  Grand Forks Youth Hockey Association
•  North Dakota Champions Club
•  Jr. Champions / Sioux Kids Club
•  Schroeder Middle School
•  UND Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC)
•  UND Alumni Association & Foundation

Competition

A draft pick of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, MacMillan is UND’s active leading scorer with 97 points in 145 career games. This season during conference play, MacMillan leads the NCHC in goals (12), goals per game (0.75) and short-handed goals (2), and is tied for the league lead in points (18) and points per game (1.12). In 23 games overall this season, MacMillan leads nationally-ranked UND with a career-high 15 goals. His outstanding individual accomplishments have helped propel his team to great successes, having led the program to an appearance in the NCAA regional final in each of his first three seasons, including a double-overtime victory last season over Ferris State that sent UND to the NCAA Frozen four. As a freshman, MacMillan was also a vital member of a UND team that captured the Broadmoor Trophy as Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) playoff champions.