Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael McCarron comes up big at Memorial Cup

QUEBEC CITY — It has been quite the reversal of fortune for Michael McCarron.

One year ago, the 20-year-old forward was a member of the London Knights, the Memorial Cup hosts who failed to post a single win at the tournament. This time around, however, McCarron is a member of the undefeated Oshawa Generals, who punched their ticket to the Memorial Cup final on Tuesday night with a 2-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets.

So, what changed in 12 months?

“Last year I was with London and there was a lot of pressure on home ice,” said McCarron. “We lost our first game and I think we were holding our sticks a little too tight for the rest of the tournament. This tournament we got off to a great start and that’s the big key there I think.”

The Generals will get four days off before playing in Sunday’s tournament finale. The last time Oshawa won the Memorial Cup was in 1990 in Hamilton. That Oshawa team was led by Eric Lindros and twice defeated the Kitchener Rangers in overtime thrillers to highlight what many junior hockey observers believe to be the best Memorial Cup every played.

“It feels amazing (to go 3-0),” said McCarron. “We knew we could do it and it’s a pretty exciting time right now.

“We haven’t won it yet, but we definitely gave ourselves a great chance to win it.”

McCarron and defenceman Dakota Mermis were traded to the Generals just before the OHL’s Jan. 10 deadline in a deal to help the Generals not only get bigger but to add some playoff and Memorial Cup experience. McCarron admits he needed quite a bit of work once he joined the Generals under head coach D.J. Smith. For starters, McCarron said his conditioning wasn’t what it should have been for a player at this level.

“I feel like I can play a full 60 minutes now,” said McCarron. “Before I was taking two shifts on and then a shift off. I wasn’t fully conditioned for a full game. I feel like now I can play a full 60 minutes and really help my team out there.”

McCarron, a first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens (25th overall), came to London out of the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. He said he didn’t realize how difficult the transition would be from playing two seasons in the United States Hockey League to the OHL. He went from playing 19 games in 2012-13 to 66 the next season, including many back-to-back games.

As a result, he struggled in London, particularly in his rookie year with the team.

“I was coming out of the U.S. development program and I didn’t know how big this step up was going to be,” said McCarron, who scored 14 goals and 34 points in his rookie year. “It was a lot larger than I expected. I don’t think I was quite ready for it.”

“In the U.S. program it was maybe (games) every other day – Friday and Sunday - I think that was pretty tough for me.”

In Oshawa, it’s been a challenge for McCarron to play under Smith’s defence-heavy system in which there’s a big correlation between responsibility and the amount of ice time players are given.

“He had to work harder away from the puck to get minutes,” said Smith.

McCarron credits Smith with not only improving his defensive game, but for giving him the confidence to show his offensive flair too, when needed.

“He’s a defensive-minded coach,” said McCarron. “When I first got over here I don’t know if my defensive skills were that great. He helped me quite a bit in the defensive zone to be a shutdown kind of centreman. He’s a lot different than (Knights coach) Dale Hunter – he’s been really great to me and a great coach.”

On Tuesday night the 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward put his size to good use, throwing thundering checks and causing havoc in the crease for Kelowna goalie Jackson Whistle. His line – with wingers Michael Dal Colle and Matt Mistele – spent most of the night going head-to-head against the Rockets top trio of Leon Draisaitl, Nick Merkley and Rourke Chartier. That trio, which combined for four goals and eight points against Rimouski the previous night, was held scoreless Tuesday.

“There wasn’t many offensive chances for my line (Tuesday night) because we were up against Draisaitl and their top defencemen a lot,” said McCarron. “They’re good players and it’s tough to get a lot of opportunities in the offensive zone so I thought we did a good job of playing defence.”

Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin was at Tuesday’s game and McCarron has definitely been in the spotlight with the French media in Quebec City. It comes with the territory of being a highly-touted Habs pick.

“He’s been great,” said linemate Dal Colle. “There’s some pressure on him being a Canadiens pick. There are a lot of eyes on him at this tournament but he’s definitely stepped up and been one of our best players all tournament.”

And if his play at the Memorial Cup is any indication, it’s only a matter of time before Canadiens fans will get to see McCarron at the Bell Centre.

“If he plays the way he’s played out there and he continues to get bigger and stronger,” said Smith. “I think he’s real close (to the NHL). No player likes to hear that it’s good for them to go down to the minors and play big minutes and see what pro hockey is all about.

“If he keeps progressing like this, he won’t spend a lot of time down there (in the minors).”