 Right Wing Joe McCann is this week's player in “Breaking the Ice with…” The feature will be a season long series on plymouthwhalers.com and showcase a different Whaler each week so we can get to know them better.
Originally drafted by the Kitchener Rangers in the 4th round (64th overall) in the 2003 OHL Draft, McCann was traded to the Saginaw Spirit at the 2005 trade deadline. The Whalers then acquired him along with a 3rd round pick in 2007 from the Saginaw Spirit for Vaclav Meidl at the 2006 trade deadline. Now in his third season in the OHL, the Essex, Ontario, native took a few minutes before practice to help us break the ice.
» On the best advice he has been given…
“From older players that I have played with, just work hard every day and you’ll get your chances to play and never give up.”
» On his most memorable goal…
“Probably this year, when I was playing with Saginaw, we were playing in Mississauga (Dec. 16, 2005). It was probably the prettiest goal I ever scored in my life, so that would probably be my most memorable. I toe-dragged the defenseman between his legs and went to the backhand and put it top corner.”
» On his youth hockey highlight…
“Winning the All-Ontario’s when I was playing Pee Wee. It was the only year I had a good team.”
 » On what championships he has won…
“In Pee Wee I won the All-Ontario’s, in high school hockey I won the All-Ontario’s when I was in Grade 10, and in AAA I won All-Ontario’s the year before my draft year. That’s about it.”
» On if high school hockey is big in Canada…
“It is just as big as any other sport in Canada I guess, but I think it’s bigger in some states in the U.S.”
» On how he started playing hockey…
“When I was younger, my mom put me into hockey. I guess I didn’t really want to play hockey when I was young, but she got me in it and kept me in it. Thanks to her I’m playing hockey.”
» On if he has ever played with any of the guys on the team before…
“I played with Wes Cunningham at a Prospects Tournament, the year before our draft year.”
» On his most embarrassing hockey moment…
“I’ve never scored on my own net, so I don’t think I really have one.”
» On his best moment as a Whaler…
“Probably when I scored my first goal against Windsor (Jan. 21, 2006). It was a tight game and it was a big goal for the team.”
» On if he grew up a Spitfires fan…
“I’m from just outside Windsor. I’ve played against Windsor every level growing up, so Windsor’s kind of a rivalry to me, so I kind of hate them. It works that there’s a rivalry with the Whalers.”
» On who has influenced him the most in hockey…
“Back to that Pee Wee year when we won, my head coach Tom Lewis, he is the person that has gotten the most out of me ever and he taught me the most, so he has been the most influential.”
» On fighting Evan Brophey earlier in the year and Ryan McGinnis twice last season…
“Evan and I haven’t really talked about it. Macker and I have joked around about it. One time at a school visit, we were going to square off for round three, but we didn’t. As to who won, they were all even, I’ll just say that. Ha, ha.”
» On both of his trades…
“In Kitchener, even though Pete DeBoer is a great coach and it’s a great organization, I wasn’t really happy there, so I kind of asked him to do something with me. One day I was at practice and he said that I got traded. I was happy because I got to play in Saginaw, so when I went to Saginaw, I loved it there. I have no complaints about it. On the trade deadline day this year, I went to practice and as soon as I got there, the coach said he wanted to talk to me and I knew what I was in for.”
» On playing against Saginaw the day after he was traded…
“I joked around with a lot of the guys on the ice. The first few shifts I was kind of nervous and had butterflies in my stomach, but as soon as you get past those first couple shifts, it was just a regular game.”
» On how the the three cities compare…
“Plymouth is right up there with Kitchener because hockey is the main thing you go there for. Saginaw is a great place to play, but they’re just becoming a big team.”
» On the player he tries to model his game after…
“Somewhat Todd Bertuzzi. I don’t score as much as him, but I like to be a power forward going up and down my wing, just hitting, crashing, and making scoring chances.”
 » On his pre-game routine…
“Well it is kind of different here in Plymouth. A lot of the times in Saginaw we’d have pre-game skates, so I’d go to those in the morning. Now, I just get up pretty early because I don’t like to sleep in on game days, do stuff around the house, have a nap around 1:30, get up, eat, and just sit around the house and do homework if I have any, then go to the rink.”
» On if he has any superstitions…
“No.”
» On his nicknames…
“Canner.”
» On the toughest player he has ever played against…
“Probably last year, once I got traded from Kitchener, Mike Richards because he was probably the best player in the CHL last year.”
» On if there is anything behind his jersey number…
“When I came here, they just gave me 12. They didn’t ask, that’s just the jersey they had (since it was Meidl’s old number). When I was looking at the options of numbers, I saw 23 and one of my good friends in Saginaw, Patrick Asselin, he was number 23, so that was one thing. Also, my baseball coach back home and a person who has helped me through hockey, Scott Miller, he played for the Windsor Spitfires and his number is retired in Windsor, 23, so that was a little incentive too.”
» On what he'd do if he didn't play hockey…
“I play baseball in the summer. When I was younger it was either baseball or hockey for me. I just chose hockey.”
» On going to school…
“I am taking 2 classes at Schoolcraft right now. After I am done with hockey, I plan to major in physical education because I want to be a high school gym teacher.”
 » On what type of player he should be for the team…
“Hard work every day. Power forward that can get points every once and a while. Just be a role player.”
» On his funniest teammate…
“(John) Vigilante, probably, because him and I joke around all the time, but all the guys say (Ryan) Stephenson is funny, but to me, Vigilante would probably be the funniest.”
» On his siblings…
“I have a brother that is 2 years older than me and a sister that is 4 years older than me. My brother pushes me all the time. He is probably one of the worst critics I have. My sister cheers for me, but doesn’t really get into it.”
» On the craziest thing that has happened on the road…
“Last year with Saginaw, we were in Ottawa, and it is so cold in Ottawa, and our bus broke down and we had to take cabs for the whole day all over the place, so that is probably the craziest thing.”
» On the person he would most like to meet…
“Joe Sakic. He’s my favorite player in the NHL, but someone else would be Felix Potvin. He was my hero growing up, so either of those two.”
» On one thing he could not live without…
“Hockey. I can’t live without hockey. I’ve got to play it.”
» On his dream goal…
“Well, with the Olympics going on right now, I’d like to score in the Olympics or maybe Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Goalie, it doesn’t really matter, and what team, it would probably be the Red Wings, because where I’m from, you’re either a Red Wings fan or a Maple Leafs fan and I’m a Maple Leafs fan.”
» On his dream vacation…
“Bahamas, Hawaii, just anywhere warm.”
» On the rule changes in hockey…
“I like the rule changes. I think it has opened up the game a lot more. They have made the game a lot more interesting and I probably wouldn’t change anything.”
» On what TV show he would be on…
“My girlfriend has gotten me into Desperate Housewives, so I’m really into that, but for reality shows, I don’t really get into those, so maybe Fear Factor because it is fun and kind of interesting.”
» On what other five players he would want on the ice with him…
“Obviously my goalie would Felix Potvin because he’s my favorite. Defenseman would probably be my brother, Dane, because he is a defenseman. Other defenseman, Scott Niedermayer, he’s probably my favorite defenseman ever. Up front, my centerman I would want Joe Sakic because he is my favorite. On left wing, well, I don’t know if he ever played left wing, he was a right winger, but he’s my best friend’s dad, Keith Crowder. He played for the Boston Bruins for 9 years and then the LA Kings for a year. I wouldn’t mind him on the left wing with me.”
-Natalie Shaver, February 22, 2006-
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