Patrick McNally | D

[GZA]

article from CDC homepage....

McNally's Marathon

Tuesday, 13.07.2010 / 5:34 AM / News Features By Farhan Devji

Patrick McNally woke up on June 26 knowing that his name could be called at some point during the second day of the NHL entry draft, but he didn't want to sit around waiting – at least not right away.

"I was a little tense when I woke up so I went and worked out for a little bit," said McNally from his home in Glen Head, New York, having just finished another work out session. "Then I came back, and my family had a barbeque at my house."

With his mother, father, sister, and grandfather by his side, McNally eventually turned on the television and waited patiently to see his name pop up on the screen. But it never did.

"I was watching on TV, but I actually didn't see it come up," said McNally, who models his game after New York Islanders defenceman Mark Streit. "But my adviser was there and he called to congratulate me and I was ecstatic."

"It feels good; it's an honour," he added. "Both me and my family were really happy."

The Vancouver Canucks used their fourth-round pick (115th overall) to select the offensive defenceman who led Massachusetts prep school Milton Academy in scoring last season with 35 points in 28 games. And though this week is his first time in Vancouver, McNally couldn't be happier.

"I know they have a great fan base in Western Canada and I know that people out there love hockey. I'm just really excited."

After meeting with Canucks scout Brian Chapman this past season at Milton Academy, and after speaking with the team's management at the recent NHL draft combine in Toronto, McNally knew the Canucks were interested but he still "had no idea" where he would end up. And can you blame him? The U.S. prep school defenceman of the year interviewed with 18 NHL teams at the combine, in addition to meeting with six teams at school and receiving a few phone calls to boot.

Clearly, McNally's abilities had intrigued a number of different NHL teams, but the general consensus is that the lesser competition he faces at prep school along with his decision to attend Harvard University played a role in his free fall at this year's entry draft. When asked how long he intends to remain at Harvard before making the jump to the professional ranks, McNally said that wasn't the first time he's heard the question.

"I talked about that with a lot of teams," said McNally, who has been told by more than one scout that his style of play is similar to that Washington Capitals defenceman Mike Green. "I think I'd be willing after two years, if the team thought I was ready and if I thought I was ready, to maybe make the jump. But at this time, I can't really say."

"It's really up to the Canucks organization," he added. "But I'm hoping that I'll be ready as soon as I possibly can be."

McNally intends on spending one more season at Milton Academy before joining the Harvard University Crimson in the fall of 2011. And although he was drafted by the USHL's Indiana Ice, he doesn't see them in his future. He does, however, hope to one day see the Canucks in his future, even though becoming a professional hockey player never used to be something he strived for.

"I've always worked hard in hockey, but I've always worked not necessarily to become a pro, but just to get better and maybe play in college," said McNally, whose philosophy was similar to that of recently acquired defenceman Keith Ballard. "But now that this is a reality and it's a possibility that I could turn pro, that's just going to motivate me even more and I'm going to work even harder."

Following this week's prospects development camp in Vancouver, McNally will return to Long Island, where he will be skating four times a week with Lithuanian skills coach Aleksey Nikiforov – who has worked with Leafs defenceman Mike Komisarek, Ottawa Senators forward Alexei Kovalev, New York Rangers defenceman Matt Gilroy, and others – while continuing to hit the gym.

McNally doesn't have to wait for his name to be called by an NHL team anymore, but he still knows there's a long road ahead, thanks to advice from his dad – a football player turned FBI agent.

"He always used to tell me since I was little that sports aren't a sprint, they're a marathon," said McNally. "You'd see all these kids who were so much better than me, so he'd tell me sports aren't a sprint, they're a marathon so keep working hard and eventually you'll get to where you want to be."

That's what McNally's done, and that's what he's going to continue to do.

[EERO]

I don't get why he's going back to prep school. He's turning 19 in December so he should be able to attend Harvard next season.

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

I wonder if he would be chosen for the USA WJC team if Eligible.

[skeeter_dan]

I don't get why he's going back to prep school. He's turning 19 in December so he should be able to attend Harvard next season.

Except he's going into Grade 12. Kind of an issue.

[westcoast]

Hurricane Patrick Mcnally.

[EERO]

Except he's going into Grade 12. Kind of an issue.

Really? High School must work differently in the eastern states because I'm 16 and I'm going into Grade 12.

[DJ Kreuzberg]

I wonder if he would be chosen for the USA WJC team if Eligible.

He was not even selected for the evaluation camp. I don't see the WJC in his foreseeable future. There are just too many USA defensemen who are further along in their development.

[skeeter_dan]

Really? High School must work differently in the eastern states because I'm 16 and I'm going into Grade 12.

It might be a prep school thing. All I know is that every article I've read says he was a junior last year.

[The Drunken Crunker]

"I'm really excited to play for Coach [Ted] Donato, Coach [Patrick] Foley and Coach [bobby] Jay: that's why I chose Harvard, because I really felt comfortable with the coaching staff. I liked each of them a lot, and I'm getting real excited to play for them."

Harvard has the potential to have a pretty good future defensive tandem in McNally, and fellow 2010 draft pick (Carolina), Danny Biega.

M.G. seems to have an affinity for defenceman of the McNally ilk. Puck movers who possess strong skating skills and solid hockey IQ's. They may not play a particularly physical brand of hockey, but rather, generally rely on smart sticks, good lateral mobility and solid body positioning in order to separate their opponent from the puck. McNally, Oberg, Tanev and Connauton seem to be similar breeds of D-Men in this sense.

Gillis has certainly worked hard at replenishing the Canucks defensive cupboard and in his short time has added some solid picks to the prospect pool... I'm certainly liking the look of things.

Edit: Off Topic a bit as it doesn't involve McNally (happened before his time), but does involve his current school; Milton Academy,.

milton academy hockey scandal

[Verloren]

Harvard has the potential to have a pretty good future defensive tandem in McNally, and fellow 2010 draft pick (Carolina), Danny Biega.

M.G. seems to have an affinity for defenceman of the McNally ilk. Puck movers who possess strong skating skills and solid hockey IQ's. They may not play a particularly physical brand of hockey, but rather, generally rely on smart sticks, good lateral mobility and solid body positioning in order to separate their opponent from the puck. McNally, Oberg, Tanev and Connauton seem to be similar breeds of D-Men in this sense.

Gillis has certainly worked hard at replenishing the Canucks defensive cupboard and in his short time has added some solid picks to the prospect pool... I'm certainly liking the look of things.

I'd say similar to Rafalski/Lidstrom etc. We know how effective those players have been post-lockout and Gillis is following their mold. At least he has a good idea of the player trends in the new NHL.

[Psycho_Path]

McNally looked really good in the 3 on 3 in the development camp. I wouldn't be surprised if he got serious consideration for the USAs U20s

[DJ Kreuzberg]

McNally looked really good in the 3 on 3 in the development camp. I wouldn't be surprised if he got serious consideration for the USAs U20s

Because a guy's scrimmage ability translates to being a top player in the USA?

As i said earlier:

He was not even selected for the evaluation camp. I don't see the WJC in his foreseeable future. There are just too many USA defensemen who are further along in their development.

I like McNally as much as the next person, but he is in no way further in development RIGHT NOW than the guys invited to their camp, which includes all '91s, and '92s.

Fowler

Merrill

Tinordi

Forbort

Faulk

Leddy

Dumoulin/Wey/Archibald/Johns/Ramage/Hell even 2011 eligible Clendening

They are all further along than McNally. Where would he even fit in the top 6??

http://www.usahockey.com//Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=TU_04_01_06&ID=288572

At least research before misleading casual followers into thinking there is even a slight chance he gets consideration.

[Canvoucer Vanuck]

Harvard has the potential to have a pretty good future defensive tandem in McNally, and fellow 2010 draft pick (Carolina), Danny Biega.

M.G. seems to have an affinity for defenceman of the McNally ilk. Puck movers who possess strong skating skills and solid hockey IQ's. They may not play a particularly physical brand of hockey, but rather, generally rely on smart sticks, good lateral mobility and solid body positioning in order to separate their opponent from the puck. McNally, Oberg, Tanev and Connauton seem to be similar breeds of D-Men in this sense.

Gillis has certainly worked hard at replenishing the Canucks defensive cupboard and in his short time has added some solid picks to the prospect pool... I'm certainly liking the look of things.

Agreed - better to draft D-men with puck skill rather than physicality or toughness etc. You can always coach a guy to be more physical, and in Edler's case he became a physical force in the LA series. Not sure but I don't think many people ever saw that in him. It's better to draft guys with skill and then coach them to be meaner, more physical etc as opposed to the other way around.

Other than that, anyone else concerned over the lack of shut-down D-men we have in the system? Other than Ellington, Sauve etc.? After Mitchell leaves or retires one day we're going to be awfully short on this type of D-man - a guy who excels at shutting down the opposition's top players. Right now we do have a lot of 2-way guys and offensive defensemen in the prospect pool.

[Psycho_Path]

Because a guy's scrimmage ability translates to being a top player in the USA?

As i said earlier:

I like McNally as much as the next person, but he is in no way further in development RIGHT NOW than the guys invited to their camp, which includes all '91s, and '92s.

Fowler

Merrill

Tinordi

Forbort

Faulk

Leddy

Dumoulin/Wey/Archibald/Johns/Ramage/Hell even 2011 eligible Clendening

They are all further along than McNally. Where would he even fit in the top 6??

http://www.usahockey.com//Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=TU_04_01_06&ID=288572

At least research before misleading casual followers into thinking there is even a slight chance he gets consideration.

Fair enough. In any case I'm very interested in how he performs next year, and if he manages to make the team over any of those players (not saying he will, I've heard of them all before) I will be happy. Like I said, I was impressed with his play and other than maybe Schroeder he really stuck out to me.

[filthycanuck]

Harvard has the potential to have a pretty good future defensive tandem in McNally, and fellow 2010 draft pick (Carolina), Danny Biega.

M.G. seems to have an affinity for defenceman of the McNally ilk. Puck movers who possess strong skating skills and solid hockey IQ's. They may not play a particularly physical brand of hockey, but rather, generally rely on smart sticks, good lateral mobility and solid body positioning in order to separate their opponent from the puck. McNally, Oberg, Tanev and Connauton seem to be similar breeds of D-Men in this sense.

Gillis has certainly worked hard at replenishing the Canucks defensive cupboard and in his short time has added some solid picks to the prospect pool... I'm certainly liking the look of things.

Edit: Off Topic a bit as it doesn't involve McNally (happened before his time), but does involve his current school; Milton Academy,.

milton academy hockey scandal

Yeah its a total new way looking at D-men because the old thinking (even now) is the measurables, or attributes like a hard shot all of a sudden the guy is branded as a can't miss prospect. In this era, D-men need to be much smarter in their own end because the game is just that fast. Not necessarilly destroying guys through the boards, but just being positionally sound and anticipating how the play is gonna develop like where the passes are gonna be. An example would be Bryan McCabe. This guy is great on the powerplay, got a hard shot, pretty decent breakout pass, but hes a total moron (even more than Bieksa and Alberts, like light years) in his own zone. Then theres a guy like Salo, yeah he's old, but notice how the team's record is better with Salo in the lineup? Not just this year, but even years ago, yes he does have a hard shot...but do you see him plowing guys over, or roughing it up after scrums? Nope. He's not the fastest skater but in the PK, he doesn't do much, but the puck somehow ends up in his stick whether its behind the net or in front of the net which ends up being cleared. He just knows where to go, thats why AV speaks so glowingly off him as well as the commentators. I wish some fans just see how good Salo is beyond his big shot, because other than that, the guy is a smart player.

But ya anyways to McNally, I've just scene some clips of him, its kinda hard to judge whether he's gonna pan out or not (its the competition, i mean its high school hockey) but if MG says he's got some good IQ then i'll probably be on the more optimistic boat. I also like his way of thinking on prospects that are intune with improving themselves with education which correlates to them maybe looking for ways to improve themselves on the ice. I have to admit i like the sound of it, its a far stretch from what the thinking was the past 2-3 decades

[Bilbro Baggins]

I found this article on Hockey's Future from a while back and found it interesting

http://www.hockeysfu...atrick_mcnally/

Scoring 14 goals and 34 points in 27 games is tough as a defenseman. It's even tougher in the ultra-competitive Independent School League.

Patrick McNally jumped 44 spots between the mid-term and final Central Scouting rankings this spring.

Milton Academy's leading scorer gets more impressive all the time. Ranked 40th in Central Scouting's final list, the Glen Head, N.Y. native is Harvard-bound after one more year of prep hockey – a year in which he would gladly eschew all personal achievements in favor of a New England Prep Elite Eight title.

Whether he likes it or not, the awards may follow. This year's New England Prep School Defenseman of the Year and U.S. Hockey Report Prep Defenseman of the Year could probably suit up for most D-I teams here and now. For McNally and Milton head coach Paul Cannata, next year is all about fine-tuning and getting the most out of one more season.

"He's a strong skater on the back end, good puck skills and vision, poise almost to a fault with the puck," said Cannata. "He's got a high level of puck comfort. He loves going on offense, loves to create offense, loves to play on his toes. He plays with energy, he's a good kid, a good student."

Another product of Long Island's esteemed P.A.L. youth program, which has produced pros like Chris Higgins, Eric Nystrom and Mike Komisarek, McNally seems to have the pedigree necessary for a successful career in the sport. The son of a University of Colombia football player, McNally also won a national crown with the Boston Jr. Bruins U18 midgets, and was coached by a hockey skills guru for the better part of a decade.

"I used to skate every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning with this coach, Alexei Nikiforov [who works with Komisarek and many within the Islanders' organization] from when I was 8 through when I was 16. I just kept getting better. He always emphasized skating and puck-handling ability," McNally said.

Following some sound advice and a good word from then-Yale assistant coach C.J. Marottolo (now the head coach at Sacred Heart), Cannata and McNally were united in Milton, Mass., and McNally's stock began to soar.

It was hard for scouts not to notice the attention-grabbing blue-liner. After all, he wasn't the team's top offensive producer by accident.

"He's a leader through his play. He loves to have the puck, and he has the puck a lot," described Cannata. "He certainly loves to play with the puck. If he doesn't have the puck, he wants to get the puck, and ... it's certainly a strength of his. He's certainly good with the puck and he's going to be around the puck, even as a defenseman.

"Somehow, he's going to be involved in moving the puck up-ice and in all three zones, that puck's going to go through Pat. He also plays with a sense of, 'if I don't have the puck, how can I get the puck back?', more so than your typical stay-at-home, Steady Eddie defenseman. Pat wants the puck."

"I love the power play. My favorite situation's a five-on-three," confirmed the playmaking puckster.

Like any teenage prospect, the potential for size and strength can be difficult to peg. But given his genetics, current build and work ethic, the issue of bulk shouldn't be a big one for McNally.

"He's obviously a long body. He's a pretty skinny kid at the moment, so I think people will perceive that there's a physical upside that way," said Cannata. "His father is a good-sized guy, a former football player. Patrick's young, and even on the young side of his age group in terms of overall physical development, so there's certainly an upside. He's certainly going to grow and fill out a bit."

From the player's perspective, he's been "steadily gaining weight all season," he said, and has a target weight of 195 by the end of the summer.

One thing the prospect won't need to work on is his skating, as he considers his "skating ability and my ability to move the puck, more than anything," to be his strongest suits.

The defenseman looks to a solid yet underrated pro for inspiration, and it doesn't hurt that he plays on McNally's favorite team.

"I love watching Mark Streit. I'm a big Islanders fan, and I like the way he plays," he said of the Swiss Olympian. "When I was younger, I loved Kenny Jonsson. He was the captain of the Islanders when I was young, and he played defense, so I looked up to him."

"Tom Poti comes to mind," said Cannata, when asked who McNally might compare to down the road. "Somebody else who comes to mind -- though the height isn't quite the same -- is Brian Rafalski, who's a guy that was probably one of the first of this new breed of post-NHL-lockout defensemen. Those types of guys, he's a poor-man's version of right now."

Cannata isn't impressed simply with his star's on-ice abilities; he's an asset in civvies, too.

"He's a super kid. I guess I would describe him as affable. He's a cheery kid, he's a friendly kid, he's a positive kid; he's not that defenseman that functions with a snarl, and he doesn't live that way either," praised the coach. "He's a good student, he's a real positive, energetic young man. He's a good lacrosse player. He's athletic, he's academic, he's a good kid socially. There's no question that that all adds to his package or intrigue as well."

McNally knows that he still has to focus harder on his defensive responsibilities, along with continuing to learn the more nuanced aspects of the game, like vision and "picking his spots," as Cannata put it.

But mostly, he's simply excited about hockey.

"I'm really excited to play for Coach [Ted] Donato, Coach [Patrick] Foley and Coach [bobby] Jay: that's why I chose Harvard, because I really felt comfortable with the coaching staff. I liked each of them a lot, and I'm getting real excited to play for them."

[\Canucks/Whitecaps\]

hmm, i guess after reading an article like that its hard not to think that MG has hit another home run

[AntonRodin]

He seems like a good young player hopefully he turns out to be a huge steal for us in a couple years

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

hmm, i guess after reading an article like that its hard not to think that MG has hit another home run

Yeah, I read that one a while back. It's a nice article and a good read but you have to take it for what it is.

Articles written about prospects around the time of their draft that rely on interviews with the player and his coaches tend to be very biased and extremely positive sounding.

I really like the McNally pick and I believe he has a good chance but he's many years away from playing professional hockey and so many things can happen during that time.

We won't know for quite a few years whether MG hit this one out of the park or simply whiffed on it. The good thing is that MG seems to swing for the fences and has a pretty good average so far.

[Secular Humanist]

Yeah, hopefully another steal by Gillis :D