Navy Vets captain combining love of hockey with love of the law: McGregor able to juggle university responsibilities with busy sports schedule

Woodstock Navy Vets captain Will McGregor has found a way to work hard both on and off the ice. The 19-year-old Ottawa native is in his second year of a scholarship at the University of Guelph with the end goal of becoming at attorney. (Lauren Habinski, capturedbylaren_ photo photo)

Lee Griffi, Editor

It isn’t very often a young man can combine excellent on the ice with a demanding university course, but that’s just what Will McGregor is doing.

The Ottawa native is in his second full season with Woodstock after a year south of the border with the Elmira Impact of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) in New York. He is on a President’s Scholarship at the University of Guelph studying Justice and Legal Studies.

“It’s a full ride, the top scholarship the school can give out. The goal is to enter law school a few years from now and then become a practicing lawyer,” explained the 19-year-old.

The program has developed a very positive reputation, particularly for students interested in pursuing law school or careers involving the legal system, government, public policy and social justice.

McGregor had a few offers to continue playing stateside or the Ottawa area but made the decision to come to Woodstock after getting word he was successful in receiving the scholarship.

“I decided to play here and the scholarship had a pretty strict GPA requirement so I decided to move down to Junior C last year to focus on school. I actually went to the Ayr Centennials camp but Woodstock saw me and the assistant general manager, Chad Paton, reached out to me and the coach at the time came all the way to Ottawa to meet me.”

He said he enjoyed playing for the team last year and loved the city along with the professionalism of the Navy Vets organization. McGregor added despite the more demanding schedule which comes with the league, he is managing the workload.

“I don’t find it as difficult as you might think. I was able to do it through high school so I have developed a lot of good habits. So far this year I have a 95 average through the first semester. It takes some dedication, obviously, and I don’t have a lot of free time but this is what I signed up for and I love it and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

The captain said the quality of play in the USPHL is on par with that of the GOHL but it does have more older players looking for other opportunities.

“I was there as an ’07 in grade 12 but most of the league was ’04 players hoping to move up. Most of them were hoping for Division III scholarships, maybe the odd Division I. It was a very good stepping stone into junior for me.”

McGregor, a defenceman, scored 17 points all of last season as the Navy Vets played in the Ontario Junior Development League and has already equalled that total through just 16 games. He said the increased output comes out of more responsibility on the ice.

“I stepped into a different role this year. Being one of the older guys and knowing that opportunity was there was important to me and something I was working towards all summer. I was playing more of a checking, shutdown role last season. We had a d-man putting up about 60 points so you know he’s going to get most of the offensive opportunities.”

McGregor is referring to Charley Barnes Games who scored 22 goals and added 36 assists in Woodstock’s last season in the Provincial Junior Hockey League. He finished fifth overall in the Doherty Division scoring race and was named the division’s top defenceman for the second consecutive season.

He added he took pride in his shutdown role last season, playing against the competition’s top players.

“It’s something I took pride in last year and something I still take pride in. I still play the majority of my minutes against the other team’s top lines which I love. It’s been more of a focus to make simple plays and they are leading to offence for the team. I am definitely getting more opportunities to contribute offensively.”

As far as the seven win and nine loss start to the season, McGregor said while it has been what he expected, he added he isn’t satisfied.

“We have a young program with a lot of rookies so we aren’t upset with where we are. We didn’t think coming out we would be 50-0 but I think if you took a poll of the room there are a lot of guys who think they can give more. We lost a few games to teams we don’t think we should have lost to, giving away some leads and points. We aren’t upset with where we are, but we are looking to push for the playoffs and establish ourselves in the league.”

The second-year Vet ended the Echo interview with some kind words about head coach Andy Bathgate.

“He’s super nice on and off the ice and someone we can learn a lot from. He has a very strong hockey background and leads by example. We are blessed to have him and see where he takes us over the next few months.”

On the ice, the Vets have split their last two games with a 9-4 victory over hapless Sarnia on Sunday and a 6-2 loss in LaSalle last Thursday. The Legionnaires have just one win in their last 64 games dating back to the 2025-26 season.