Michigan State University Athletics
Neil's Notebook: MacEachern Off to a Quick Start
10/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
BY Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING - Mackenzie MacEachern had 12 points in 36 games as a freshman.
Two games into his sophomore year at Michigan State, the 6-foot-2, 199-pound left wing already has four points - one goal and three assists.
On a team desperate for offense, MacEachern is eager to make a major impact this season by scoring goals and setting up goals.
"Production wise, I hope to have a better season than last year, and overall I just want to do anything to help the team win,'' said MacEachern, 20, who's from Troy and is a St. Louis Blues prospect (third round, 67th overall, 2012 NHL Entry Draft).
"Whether it's kill penalties, block shots, set up goals or score, I just want to help the team.''
MacEachern did just that last weekend in the Spartans' season-opening series against Massachusetts. He played on the power play, killed penalties and had a goal and two assists in last Friday's 5-3 victory and one assist in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Minutemen.
MacEachern and his new linemates, Mike Ferrantino and Matt Berry, made a big splash to open the season.
Ferrantino, a junior center and MSU's captain, also had four points - two assists in the first game and a goal and assist in the second. Senior right wing Matt Berry led the way with six-points with two goals and one assists each game.
The trio will try to keep the production coming this weekend as MSU heads east to challenge two ranked teams from Hockey East. The Spartans play at No. 11/12 Boston University at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and at No. 8/7 UMass-Lowell at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Last season, MacEachern scored his first collegiate goal against UMass-Lowell in a 4-1 loss at Munn Arena on Oct. 25, 2013, in his third game. He went on to score eight goals and collect four assists, one assist more than he had last weekend.
"I think he'll be a good scorer at this level, and he can make plays, too,'' MSU coach Tom Anastos said. "Over time, as he gains experience and the game kind of slows down, he'll score more goals.
"We saw the areas of the game that continue to grow and the impact he can make. He plays with a lot of energy and that's a good thing. But there are times when we need to dial him back a bit because he's moving so fast.
"He gets moving so fast that sometimes he moves out of open areas, and if we dial him back a little we can get him to recognize that. But I'd rather dial someone back that have to dial somebody up.''
That's not a problem with MacEachern, who showed his speed and quickness last weekend coming down the left wing, forechecking aggressively and retreating back into the defensive zone. He brings lots of energy killing penalties with Ferrantino.
"I thought he was very effective in his forechecking. He played hard in the defensive zone and was good possessing the puck,'' Anastos said. "He made some good plays. He was really nifty with his hands from below the goal line to score from a tough angle on a power play (on Friday).
"Having the kind of jump he has makes a big impact on his game and on his line.''
MacEachern played high school hockey at Birmingham Brother Rice and led his team to the state championship as a senior. He also won the Mr. Hockey award as the state's best high school player in 2011-12.
In 2012-13, MacEachern played for the Chicago Steel of the U.S. Hockey League, and had eight goals and 21 points in 50 games.
For sure, MacEachern would have liked to contribute more offensively as a Spartan freshman, but he did show flashes of promise as an up-and-coming forward.
MacEachern said he had productive summer in which he got stronger, put on weight and had a good experience attending the St. Louis Blues rookie camp.
When practices started in mid-September, MacEachern was ready.
"I feel a lot stronger coming into the season. All my test numbers were up from last year and it was good to see the hard work pay off,'' he said. "I'm about six or seven pounds heavier. I want to increase my weight five to seven points a year, but I don't want to increase it so much that my speed goes away.
"The Blues camp was awesome. It was good to get on the ice with their prospects and see the best players in my age and some older. The Blues talked about putting on weight. As you go up levels, the guys are bigger and stronger and it helps you're scoring touch when you're in close and you can put it away up top.''
MacEachern's skill set includes his skating, ability to control the puck, make plays and finish chances.
"I like my down-low game. I feel I'm good with the puck coming out of the corners and setting up plays and setting up guys on the rush,'' he said. "I think I'm holding on to the puck longer than last year, when I tried to get rid of it quicker. Now, I'm learning to hold on to it and open things up.''
Growing up, MacEachern said he had his fair share of goals and assists at all levels.
"I had a decent amount of goals but at the same time the assists were there, too,'' he said. "My whole life, I looked at myself as more of a playmaker, but when the opportunity was there, I could score goals.''
That's exactly what Anastos and his teammates like to hear. The key to MSU's level of success this season will be determined a consistent offense. That means a lot more chances and a lot more goals by several forwards.
"Mackenzie is a great skater, he possesses the puck well and he's smart with a high hockey IQ,'' Ferrantino said. "He's a big body and he's not afraid to throw it around a little. He's able to buy time and create space for his teammates by using his body and hanging onto to the puck.
"One of the things that I've been impressed with, with me as right-hand center and him a left-hand shot on the left side, is he gets the puck and goes with it and protects it well. That makes my job easier. He's a lot of fun to play with.''
Spartans' sophomore center Thomas Ebbing knows MacEachern's game about as well as anybody. The two have known each other since they were 4-years-old, and have been teammates and linemates in youth hockey, high school, juniors and now in college.
Ebbing was at center with MacEachern on left wing in 34 of MSU's 36 games last season.
"He's a big kid at 6-2 and 200 pounds so he brings a physical presence,'' Ebbing said. "I think he shows a bit of everything - last weekend he had a goal and three assists.
"He worked hard in the off-season on his offensive game. With his strength and size, he can outwork a lot of defensemen in the corners. He's got great vision, he's a good playmaker, and when he has the opportunity to shoot the puck, he can put it in.''
SPECIAL TEAMS: Coach Tom Anastos said his team did some good things on the power play and in penalty killing against Massachusetts, but the downside was that MSU didn't win the special teams matchups in either game.
"We got a power-play goal (by MacEachern) on Friday, but we did give up a shorthanded goal,'' Anastos said. "So, that was a wash.
"But the second night, special teams were the difference in the game. They got the late power-play goal and we didn't score on the power play. It's important for us to get to a point where our special teams get a win each night.
"That could be the difference in one-goal games.''
On Friday, MSU's power play was 1-for-5 but it gave up a shorthanded goal, while UMass went 0-for-2. On Saturday, the Spartans were 0-4 and the Minutemen were 1-for-5, winning the game 4-3 on Patrick Lee's power-play goal with 9.9 seconds left.
The Spartans effectively skated off the first 3:39 of the five-minute power play, which started at 16:11 of the third period, when Justin Hoomaian was assessed a major penalty for contact to the head.
MSU's penalty killers frustrated the visitors by being aggressive and consistently breaking up rushes, and kept the Minutemen from establishing control in the offensive zone. In the last 30 seconds or so, UMass gained possession, worked hard, got some bounces and made the game-winning play with a good pass and great shot.
"We limited the number of good scoring chances and did some things really well,'' Anastos said. "We want to develop six or seven forwards (for penalty-killing duty). Coming out (of the weekend), we have at least six with meaningful experience. We have to expand on that.
"We have to work to get better because every week we'll play against different players with different assets and we'll have to figure out how to shut them down.''
The Spartan coach liked the way his team moved the puck on the power play and created chances, but would like to see a better finishing touch.
"We had good zone possession time and we entered the zone pretty successfully and consistently,'' Anastos said. "We had some good chances on the power play early in Saturday's game, and if we had scored one or two goals there, it might have changed the whole game.''
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS, RIVERHAWKS: The Spartans' weekend opponents - Boston University (1-0) and UMass-Lowell (2-0-1) - have a lot in common. Both are young with a lot of freshmen and sophomores in the lineup, both are very skilled teams and playing new goaltenders.
BU, ranked 11th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and No. 12 by U.S. College Hockey Online poll, had 10 freshmen and three sophomores in the lineup in its 8-1 victory over Massachusetts two weeks ago.
UMass-Lowell in 2013.
UMass-Lowell, ranked No. 8 and No. 7, lost four of its top six scorers and two standout goaltenders. The River Hawks have 14 freshmen on their roster and eight have seen action in their three games - a stunning 5-2 win at home over Boston College and a 6-3 victory and 3-3 tie in a home-and-home series against Quinnipiac last weekend.
"We're going to have play very well,'' Anastos said. "BU is a skilled team and they're playing with confidence, while trying to rebound from a year they weren't happy with.
"Lowell plays very well systematically. They play well in units of five.''
The Terriers feature one of the top two NHL prospects in next summer's NHL Entry Draft in Jack Eichel, a 6-foot-2, 194-pound center from North Chelmsford, Mass., who spent the last two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor.
Eichel was a teammate of MSU freshman forward Dylan Pavelec and freshman goaltender Ed Minney.
In his only college game, Eichel had two goals and two assists -all coming in the third period - in BU's 8-1 victory over UMass.
Eichel and Canadian Major Junior star Connor McDavid, of the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, are expected to be the top two players selected in the 2015 Entry Draft. Most rankings have McDavid No. 1 and Eichel No. 2.
Last season, Eichel almost single-handedly lifted the U.S. Under-18 team to a dramatic 4-3 victory in overtime over the Spartans in an exhibition game on March 1. He had two goals and an assist and scored a spectacular goal at 2:12 of overtime to win for the U.S.
Asked if it was a fun challenge to play against a dynmatic talent like Eichel, Anastos laughed: "I'm not sure how much fun it'll be. We'll have to wait and see.
"He's a skilled, game-changing player. I guess the fun part is that you get to see a player of that caliber, and as a competitor, you want the challenge of playing against good players and teams.''
The Terriers, who have seven NHL draft picks on their roster, have three other alumni from the U.S. NTDP - junior defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, junior forward Matt Lane, and freshmen defensemen John MacLeod and Brandon Fortunato.
Michigan State holds a 9-8 edge in the series against Boston University. Last year, MSU scored three goals in the last five minutes of the third period to edge the Terriers, 3-1, at Munn Arena.
The Spartans lead the series with UMass-Lowell, 5-4, but the River Hawks have won two of the last three meetings. UML knocked MSU out of the NCAA Tournament twice in three years at Munn Arena in the mid-1990s. Then known as the Chiefs, UML defeated MSU, 4-3, in an NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal on March 26, 1994, and won 5-2 in a regional semifinal on March 23, 1996.
UMass-Lowell won the Hockey East playoff championship in each of the last two seasons, and advanced to the Frozen Four for the first time in its history in 2012-13.
BIG TEN UPDATE: Michigan (1-2) will also be in Massachusetts this weekend, playing MSU's opponents on opposite nights. The Wolverines play UMass-Lowell on Friday and meet Boston University on Saturday.
No. 1-ranked Minnesota (2-0), which was idle last weekend, plays a non-conference series at home against Bemidji State of the WCHA. Penn State (1-1-2) is home to Holy Cross on Friday and Sunday.
Ohio State (1-3) has this weekend off, and in a schedule quirk, Wisconsin (0-4) has the next two weekends off. The Badgers return to action Nov. 7-8 with a home series against North Dakota.
