Big Mac? Mac Attack? Unexpected star for Game 4.

They say when one door closes another one opens and I believe there is a quote somewhere that every uh every setback is an opportunity and the hurricanes have had some personnel setbacks but that doesn't mean you just you know go into the fetal position and that's it somebody else the uh was it John Feinstein wrote a book about the Baltimore Ravens it was next man up and that's what it's been like for the Carolina Hurricanes and uh the latest next man up is McKenzie McEachern and he joins us on the Adam Gold Show. Uh first of all welcome to the program you and I have not spoken uh are you had how many how much how long did you pack for? Uh I packed for the long haul I got a decent amount of my closet from Chicago here so I think I got a couple outfits that I can toss on throughout my my stay here. Oh that's right because of the fashion show at the beginning of games you have to you have to come correct it's a pretty good locker room for that. That's that's what I've noticed early on there's a lot of uh a lot of good outfits out there so I guess it looks like you got a dress to impress what feels saying look good feel good play good. I think that is now do you have a hat that can match Brent Burns?

Uh that I do not think I can match no that one that I do not have my closet. Uh first so McKenzie McEachern is joining us here uh you were brought here and I think did you know that you were going to be uh utilized when you got here or were you when you were called up did you just assume that you were just gonna watch? Uh my understanding after our after we found out we were eliminated in Chicago that I'd be joining um I'd be going to Carolina to join the team but I was just under the impression I'd be practicing and watching but I think as you said things can happen quickly and unfortunately sometimes injuries pop up so in my situation I got there Thursday and things started to change pretty quickly.

They stay they certainly did uh and they changed within the game when Jack Drury went down and I know uh I mean Jack you you played with Jack this year so that had to be on many levels conflicting no? Yeah definitely uh Jack started the season with us went up for a bit came back and I became pretty good buddies with Jack so obviously it's never great to see a friend or a teammate get injured but um I guess that unfortunately opened the door for myself to kind of maybe get a couple more shifts than anticipated. I enjoyed your um your media availability after the game yesterday afternoon when you admitted to being nervous on the first shift and Auntie Ronta saving you um look he he played very well uh but once you settled in you looked pretty much at home playing with Aho and Jarvis how did that feel? Yeah it felt good uh like you said I was a little nervous first playoff game with fans involved um it's an unbelievable arena an unbelievable atmosphere so it was a little intimidating to start but yeah it felt good to play with those guys I mean it's pretty it's pretty easy to play the game with when you're playing with two guys of that caliber I mean they're on they're unbelievable um I just try and create space for them so they can make their their skillful plays and like I can't say enough about how good they are and how easy they make the game for myself. I mean Sebastian Aho called you an elite player um after the game and that pass and is it fair to think that the assist was better than the goal from from my from from my perspective and I was just watching on my couch but uh I thought the assist was better than the goal and I like the government hitting the goal but uh it was a heck of a pass. Thank you yeah thank you very much I mean that pass wouldn't look good if he's not if he doesn't have the ability to finish that like like I said he's a high-end player so that assist doesn't happen if he doesn't one touch it in the top top left corner so going back to what I said I mean he's an unbelievable player and he finished off a great goal there. There's there's also the um there's a personal element of all of this you know you were around here in training camp uh so you were there's some familiarity with these guys uh but he also has to trust you because he gives you the puck you know in that initial rush so he has to trust you to make the right play and some maybe the right play might have been to shoot it as it turns out you passed it back so there's an element of that with a guy like Aho and these other guys. Yeah definitely um I'm not gonna lie I was a little surprised he did give it to me um going back to what I said a guy with that caliber uh I thought he was gonna he was gonna keep it we were gonna go on a little two on one but fortunately he gave it to me and like you said maybe the opportunity was to shoot but I'm going on a two-on-one with one of the better players in the league so I'm gonna probably try and pass that one every time to him because when the puck's on his stick good things seem to happen every single time so it was uh it was a pretty cool moment to connect with a player that of that caliber. Mackenzie McEachern is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. So what is the last oh I don't know I can't even add up how many hours it's been what was the last four days been like for you? Uh there's a little stress involved in there um I think yeah Thursday uh I was anticipating leaving Chicago had to rush get my place packed up there and uh I flew out I think it was 8 a.m just I was under the impression that get the get to Carolina check in my hotel kind of put my feet up for a little bit and I started skating with the uh the rest of the the black aces or call-ups right and kind of just wait for the team to come back but as soon as I boarded the plane uh Patty Dwyer one of the assistant coaches here in Chicago like uh when you land you're gonna drop your stuff off get a car and then hop right on the plane to New York so as soon as I heard that I was obviously really excited but I think it kind of added to the stress the stressfulness a little bit that I had to kind of I I couldn't have any setbacks if the plane got delayed I think I might have missed the team plane so uh everything kind of fell into place got there in time was able to get my rental car and uh pop over to the the team airport and hop on the plane to go to New York. Why did you need a rental car you were just going right to New York?

True. I mean somebody somebody could have just picked you up uh Mackenzie McEachern is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show uh and then you draw into the lineup and you said you hadn't played a playoff game in front of fans uh you played in the bubble which obviously nobody was there so there's no way to really feel the magnitude of that um what are your what's your anticipation uh because Chicago has had a pretty lively environment for AHL games so but what is your anticipation of what it's going to be like tomorrow night? Uh well obviously I hear a lot of great things about the fans here in Carolina um my only experience like you said is the preseason I got a taste of I think I had uh I want to say a home game maybe even two during preseason and even in those games the fans were pretty loud pretty rowdy so I can't even imagine a game five in the first round of the Stanley Cup Finals so uh I'm gonna leave my expectations open but I know they're probably gonna blow them away with uh with the noise and the intensity. Oh it should be uh should be an absolute blast um what was I mean the the year like for you've got NHL experience you've got experience you actually had spent some time with the Wolves uh in the past but what was your expectation of the year heading into this season I know you had some injuries during the course of the year that limited you to a little bit less than half the season on the ice but what were your expectations this year? Uh well coming off a pretty good year last year uh we actually played Carolina's farm team in the American League playoffs uh finals so just was feeling good had that was probably the most fun I've had playing hockey so I obviously wanted to keep it going but I wanted to sign with a a good team that had obviously a good NHL uh club and a good American League team that's always competing so after I weighed my options Carolina seemed to be the best fit in terms of that they're always competing on the NHL and AHL level and then I just felt like it was the best fit for my game within that system so ultimately I picked Carolina and not many expectations going into camp just to try to put my best foot forward and make a great impression and I thought I did that in camp but unfortunately as soon as I got sent down I just I dealt with one injury came back first came back I dealt with another and then as I was uh dealing with that injury I came across another one as well so it's just I think going back to another thing I think when it rains it pours in terms of injuries at the start of the year so it was a it was a tough time for sure but we had a good group of guys good coaches I kind of kept my spirits high and kind of kept me working hard so when I did come back I'd hit the ice of the ground running so when I finally came back our team was kind of trending in the right direction I think I came back at the right time and we had a we had a lot of fun towards the end there I think we're one of the better teams in the American League after January 15th so it was a lot of fun playing hockey down the last three months or so and then I guess everything just started happening for a reason finished there and then all of a sudden like I said I'm flying here and things are just changing things are happening all of a sudden I'm playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs with the Carolina Hurricanes. Mackenzie McEachern is joining us here on the Adam Gold so we're going to just keep you another minute or so if that so uh critical play in the game uh actually happens after the horn sounds at the end of the first period and Matt Martin takes a run at you how did you especially if you're trying to you know uh have your teammates understand that you have their back all that how did you not retaliate right there when Matt Martin takes a run at you um I know he hit you um but how did you kind of keep your composure keep your composure right there well everyone seems from what from how long I've been around uh the last couple days everyone seems to stress play hard finish your hits but play whistle to whistle so that was kind of the mantra moving forward I mean obviously you're not too happy about the hit but that's just part of the game that's part of sports so I just had that in the back of my mind is as much as you want to react or answer the bell or whatever it may be it's just you can't do that because you could either you could affect your team or whatever you don't know what could happen there so I just I soaked the head and just kind of got up laughing a little bit and fortunately we're uh we were able to to capitalize I think the following period on on that power play so oh yeah I think just that's my game is playing hard whistle to whistle and after the whistle just kind of skate away and laugh it off so yes did you notice you're you're in the heat of it so maybe it's not noticeable but it was to me uh that the islanders after nature scores the power play goal to start of the second period that the islanders kind of those shenanigans those post whistle things pretty much stopped did you notice that on the uh on the ice uh yeah see that's something I didn't really notice I guess maybe from uh from a spectators you got you kind of saw that but I thought they they continue to play hard that's their game and I mean that's our game as well as two heavy teams hard hard hitting teams so I just thought the intensity kind of stayed throughout the game so those are those are one of the games are the most fun though and the the intensity is high heavy hockey playoff hockey are you going to lobby for power play time now no no no no I know I know myself I'm a five on five player I'm on the four check no no lobbying for power okay all right Mackenzie McEachern appreciate your time we'll see you at the rink tomorrow good luck uh and uh we'll keep going two points a game in the playoffs is okay thank you very much thank you for having me you got it Mackenzie McEachern here on the Adam Gold show it has been a wild one uh and look I tried I used this the name of this player different sport throughout the podcast and throughout the postgame show yesterday if you are a baseball fan you might know the name Brian Doyle now Brian Doyle was he only played three years in the majors he was no good I believe his career batting average in the regular season is under 200 that's bad I mean better than me but compared to other big leaguers bad bad for pro yeah but in 1978 he had 436 in the world series he was a last minute replacement for Willie Randolph who played second base for the Yankees Brian Doyle had to play and Brian Doyle I mean he didn't crush it I think he had seven hits in 16 at bats only one of them was an extra base that he had a double he only drove in two runs but he kept getting hits and every once in a while somebody just kind of flashes like that and I'm not suggesting that Mackenzie McEachern isn't a good player and that can't be an effective NHL players got good size he skates well he had 30 points in 37 games in the American Hockey League that's pretty doggone good so I don't know maybe this is the moment he might have no points the rest of the playoffs zero he might have zero points the rest of the playoffs but that was a hell of a game it was really was I feel like we should be playing one shining moment under this right now and he's gonna play my guess is I mean I'm not the uh I'm not the smartest guy in the world here but I do know the head coach pretty well and I think he's gonna let McEachern at least start with Ajo and Jarvis again tomorrow and if Jack Drury can draw back into the lineup then Jack will go where he was and that's fine and play with uh Paul Stasny and yes he pull your RV on the fourth line so that line will be Stasny Drury and pull your RV uh but I think that's where you're gonna see Mackenzie McEachern start and I think it's pretty cool yeah I don't hate it so and look again he may he may get no more points but it was a pretty good pretty good debut and I think he's gonna but it was a pretty good pretty good debut uh in if my memory serves he's the second hurricane to make his team debut in the postseason Patrick Brown played whatever game it was maybe game two in Boston was the first time we saw Patrick Brown for the Hurricanes uh and Brown is now he's on his third team I think he's with Ottawa yeah but he went to Vegas uh for a couple years and now he's in Ottawa but I mean rugged physical player Mackenzie McEachern might uh have just a little bit more high end that would be cool uh plus good size and he smiles a lot like he does I like a guy that smiles when you're struggling with your mental health the world can seem pretty heavy like no one understands what you're feeling or you're not sure how to ask for help but here's the real truth you're never in this alone 988 lifelines trained crisis counselors are available 24 7 to offer the help and support you need to make it through no judgment no stigma just someone to listen text or call 988 suicide and crisis lifeline day or night 988 hope has a new number you