Brock McGinn for the win!
The Carolina Hurricanes winger is on fire and is helping his team win. Last Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, McGinn scored a goal as the ‘Canes came out on top 5-3. It was not known at the time that he was just getting started. Head coach Bill Peters, though, is not surprised that McGinn is working hard to stay in the NHL. After the Blue Jackets game, Peters said,
The paychecks are a little better. The meals are a little better on the plane than on the bus. He’s not stupid. You know, he’s not stupid at all actually. He’s a pretty smart kid. He was dinged up there for a while and I tried to give him a few days off and he wasn’t coming out of the lineup. He didn’t want to come out of the lineup and that’s a credit to him. There’s not enough old school guys left. He’s old school in the fact that he likes it. He’s trying to establish himself as a full-time NHL player and he plays hard each and every night.
Peters himself is what I refer to as “old school” and it’s easy to see a gleam in his eye when talking about McGinn playing through being dinged up.
Give McGinn a Star!
The NHL announced its Three Stars of the Week today and McGinn was the third star. His goal against the Blue Jackets was merely the beginning of what was to be quite the week, for McGinn and the Hurricanes. They ended the week winning all four of the games in their home stand, beating the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 Friday night and the New York Islanders 7-4 Saturday night. From the ‘Canes website:
McGinn, 22, scored four goals, earned three assists (7 points) and recorded a plus-5 plus/minus rating Carolina’s three home wins against Columbus, Buffalo and the New York Islanders. The Fergus, Ont., native scored his second goal of the season in Tuesday’s game against Columbus, and followed that with a two-goal outing on Friday against Buffalo, including the game winner. McGinn (6’0″, 185 lbs.) finished off the week with a four-point game (1g, 3a) in the Hurricanes’ 7-4 win against the Islanders on Saturday.
Quite the week for any NHL player, much less a 22-year-old rookie. Like Peters said Tuesday, McGinn wants to establish himself and he went quite a way in so doing this past week.
Here’s a nice look at the week that was the NHL’s third star:
#Canes' Brock McGinn led all freshmen with four goals and seven points over the past seven days. He's a no-brainer for Rookie of the Week. pic.twitter.com/XX1sP4PhbK
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 16, 2017
The other stars of the week were Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom and Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand. As the third star, McGinn found himself in pretty good company.
Just a Flash?
CBSsports.com noted McGinn’s outburst of offense in a post yesterday saying he is “officially heating up” but they were also quick to rain on McGinn’s parade saying,
However, before overreacting to the recent outburst, it would be wise to remember he had just one goal and five points through his prior 24 contests. He’s still just a player to monitor outside of cavernous seasonal settings.
Sheesh. The ink on the praise was not even dry when the disclaimer was launched.
It’s true he’s not been Sidney Crosby every minute of his career, but, can’t Canes fans enjoy what could be the long-term development of a reliable scoring threat for the Hurricanes? On this play, for example, McGinn looks like anything but a rookie forward, but rather has the poise and presence of mind to find Brett Pesce for the goal:
This was McGinn all week — cool under pressure and finding his rhythm as a points-producer. He scored and he assisted and the Hurricanes are now within one game of the Philadelphia Flyers in the Wild Card chase. Maybe McGinn will stay hot. Maybe not. But, I’m with Peters in that I see a guy who wants to stay where the food is better, as is the pay. Like his teammate Victor Rask did three years ago, McGinn might just refuse to ever be sent down again. We will see.