New England Hockey Journal - December 2015 - 22

ECAC HOCKEY

DIGITAL BONuS

Q&A WITH QUINNIPIAC'S SAM ANAS

NEXT Guy up
By Dan Guttenplan

EVIN MCKERNAN is a
bit of an aberration when
it comes to the Quinnipiac hockey team. As a New
England native who plays
a role for the Hamden, Conn., school, he
is one of ... well ... one.
McKernan (Millbury, Mass.) is the
only New England native on the Quinnipiac roster who is eligible to play this season. It seems to be somewhat of a strange
fit for a team that started the season 100-0 and climbed to No. 2 in the national
rankings. Prior to Quinnipiac, McKernan
played with the Junior Bruins in the USPHL and received minimal interest from
big-time hockey programs around New
England. Somehow, McKernan popped
up on the radar of the Quinnipiac coaching staff, which had strayed outside of the
United States over the past few seasons,
successfully creating a recruiting pipeline to British Columbia.
"When we went to go see Kevin, we
loved the way he played," said Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold (Bedford, N.H.).
"He plays a simple game. He's kind of
the perfect fit for our style. He can skate
aggressively and jump in on a rush."
As a 5-foot-11 defenseman, McKernan
actually fit the mold of what Quinnipiac
had come to expect in terms of size along
the blue line. While the majority of the
Quinnipiac recruits over the past few seasons have hailed from British Columbia,
Pecknold and his staff weren't averse to
signing a player from New England. In
fact, a captain on last year's team, Danny
Federico, hailed from Acton, Mass.
McKernan enrolled at Quinnipiac prior to the start of the 2014-15 season and
quickly learned he'd need to work to find
a role. He was a healthy scratch for the
first 12 games of his college career.
"It was definitely tough," McKernan
said. "I could see it would be a hard road,
and I'd have to work my way up."
Pecknold noticed McKernan's frustration over not playing in games carrying over to practice. The coach reminded
the freshman that as the team's seventh
defenseman, he was just an injury away
from getting an opportunity to play.
"He happened to be number seven or
eight in terms of our defensemen," Pecknold said. "He had to be patient and wait
for his opportunity. He struggled a little
with that mentally and played poorly in
practice because he wasn't playing in the
games. Then, he got a break. Danny Federico came down with the flu a couple of

n McKernan

takes advantage
of his chance
at Quinnipiac
THE CLASH
Quinnipiac at Yale
Friday, Dec. 4
Ingalls Rink, New Haven, Conn.
The Connecticut rivals were a combined
14-1-1 through
mid-November, so it
figures to be a game
that could determine
the frontrunner for
the ECAC Hockey
regular-season title.
While the schools are
seven miles apart, it
wouldn't be considered a
friendly rivalry by any stretch. While
it started in 2006 when Quinnipiac
left Atlantic Hockey, it has grown in
intensity in recent years. The two
ECAC Hockey schools met in the
2013 Frozen Four championship game,
with Yale winning 4-0.

hours before the game against UMass."
Pecknold informed McKernan that he
would be making his college debut, and
the freshman made such an impression
that he hasn't come out of the lineup
since. McKernan's play forced Pecknold
to move Alex Barron from the blue line
to forward to make room on the ice.
This year, McKernan has moved up to

22 NEw ENGLAND HOCKEY JOURNAL December 2015

the fourth defenseman. He was integral
in keeping the team's early season winning streak alive. On Nov. 6, he netted a
game-winner in a 3-2 win over Colgate to
run Quinnipiac's winning streak to seven.
"The way we recruit is we look for
hockey IQ and a high compete level,"
Pecknold said. "We don't worry as much
about size. I'd love to have a huge team

with all 6-foot-4 defensemen. But I don't
think they have to be. Kevin was overlooked a little because he's undersized
as a defenseman. But he's very effective
in battles, he plays hard, he's always in
good position and he has a good stick.
Our core defensive core has been outstanding. Even though they're a little undersized, we're OK with that."
McKernan isn't about to take a victory
lap just because he's worked his way into
the team's top two defensive pairings. A
relatively inexperienced underclassman
on a team with national-championship aspirations, he just wants to fit in this season.
"I don't think too much about the future," McKernan said. "I'm not really one
of the top guys now. I'm just happy to
have success here and there. I want to be
in the lineup and help where I can. I got
my chance because somebody ahead of
me got sick. Guys step up and do what
they're called upon to do. On this team,
it's next guy up, and everybody does
their job. Hopefully that continues."
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New England Hockey Journal - December 2015

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