Hockey fans tend to easily get caught up in the hype and potential of teenage prodigies and top draft picks. When we see a player like Nathan MacKinnon light it up in Colorado for the Avalanche like he did last season as an 18 yr. old, we're sometimes left to wonder why a second-overall pick like Sam Reinhart can't do that for the Buffalo Sabres.
Rochester Americans defenseman Jake McCabe is about as well-grounded as a first-year pro can be and he knows how difficult the road to the NHL is, even for a second-overall pick. Over the summer McCabe roomed with Reinhart for a month. "He's under a microscope," said McCabe of Reinhart during a recent phone interview. "Being the #2-overall pick there were high expectations on him and people forget that he's only 18 yrs. old. People need to realize that. It's a process. Not many guys are ready to play in the NHL at 18. We saw how he dominated at the [just completed] World Juniors."
McCabe is now well versed in "the process" as he's smack dab in the middle of it. The 6'0" 210 lb. defenseman has gone from playing a couple of games per week against college kids to plying his trade against men at the professional level. Although not a #2-overall pick, in fact not even a first rounder, success breeds expectations.
A second round pick (44th overall) by Buffalo in the 2012 draft, McCabe returned to Wisconsin for what would become an incredibly active and prosperous 2012-13 season. Badgers hockey was celebrating it's 50th anniversary that season and the team was selected to be a part of the inaugural Hockey City Classic outdoor game on February 17, 2013. Wisconsin faced off against #2-ranked Minnesota in the second game of a double-header (Notre Dame defeated Miami, OH in the first game) and came out on top 3-2. McCabe got the primary assist on the eventual game winner in front of 52,051 fans at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The Badgers would finish the regular season only fourth in the conference but went on to win the Broadmoor Trophy as playoff champion of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association conference for the first time in five years. McCabe had the primary assist on Wisconsin's second goal as they defeated Colorado College 3-2 in the championship game.
What really piqued the interest of the hockey world and raised expectations for the 19 yr. old McCabe that year was his performance on the world stage at the 2013 World Juniors as he captained Team USA to gold in Ufa, Russia.
Although he wasn't the most experienced player on Team USA, head coach and former Sabres great Phil Housley tabbed him as the leader of the team. "I really liked what he brought in Lake Placid in August [at evaluation camp]," Housley said at the time. "He's just a very calm demeanor in the locker room, on the ice. He says the right things at the right time; I think he can control the locker room.
"He's very mature, probably mature beyond his years."
That demeanor and those on-ice leadership qualities helped the USA win the gold medal as they beat defending champion Team Sweden 3-1 in the finals. But propelling the team into the gold medal game was a 5-1 drubbing of arch rival Team Canada in the previous round. McCabe grabbed the attention of North America scoring the first two goals of the game.
He finished the tournament with three goals, three assists, a team-leading plus-9 rating and was named to the All-tournament team. Those tournament honors started a streak for Sabres prospects in that he was the first of four prospects in three consecutive years to be named to the team. Joining him were defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov in 2014 and Reinhart in 2015.
For an encore McCabe followed up with a strong 2013-14 season and All-Big 10 First Team honors as he lead the Badgers to the conference championship in their first year as a Big-10 member. He had a goal and an assist in the 5-4 win over Ohio State in the inaugural championship game. After Wisconsin was eliminated from the Men's Div. 1 Hockey Tournament he turned pro and joined the Buffalo Sabres for their final seven games of the season.
And he kept getting noticed at the NHL level that season as well. McCabe turned some heads when he leveled Boston Bruins forward Daniel Paille with a devastating, yet clean hit in Boston during the second-last game of the season. Paille had to be helped off of the ice.
At the time, McCabe said of the hit, "I wasn't trying to be dirty at all. My intentions were shoulder to the chest. He tried to go through me. I kept my hands down. It was just kind of an unfortunate play. His head was down. It’s too bad. I was just trying to play hard."
With all of his accolades and successes leading up to his NHL debut and looking as if he already belonged during his seven-game stint with the Sabres last season, there had to be some disappointment as to what transpired this past fall and well into his first full professional season in Rochester. The Sabres prospects finished in last place in the eight-team Traverse City Tournament and McCabe was felled by a "middle body injury" in the same Sabres preseason game he scored his first professional goal. Upon returning from that injury, he was immediately sent to Rochester.
"I had a good training camp," he said, "I think the coaching staff and management was happy with that. The injury was unfortunate for me but even without it I was headed to Rochester regardless."
It's simple, honest quotes like which embody the intangibles within McCabe. He's not one for platitudes or overt displays. He just goes about his business. "[Jake's] an extremely honest player,” Cassidy said of McCabe. “He plays hard every night, gives you everything he’s got, he’s a team-first guy, and a guy that others around trust because they know he’s going to put it all on the line for them.
“He’s also real genuine kid,” Cassidy added.
McCabe's authenticity and blue collar attributes fit in very well with what Cassidy and Sabres head coach Ted Nolan expect of their players. Get the job done, do your thing and bust your ass are all traits that are right in McCabe's wheel-house. “He comes from a good blue-collar background," Cassidy said in an earlier interview. "Great family. And he’s earned everything he’s got.”
"Yeah. I would like to describe myself as that," said McCabe. "Sometimes it might not be pretty, but if you outwork the other team you give yourself a better chance to win."
And make no mistake, more than anything, McCabe wants to win.
Rochester hasn't been doing much of that this season. After a real good start the Amerks hit a major slump, then managed to claw their way to a 15-22-1-0 record. They've been struggling in goal and in front of the net on defense, and a once potent offense has dried up. "We're still not where we want to be in the standings and it's frustrating, obviously," he said. "We've been playing better as of late, but we haven't gotten the results we've wanted."
It's put a lot of strain on everybody, most notably Cassidy and after a recent 3-1 home loss to the San Antonio Rampage he struggled in the post game presser and looked like he just went a few rounds with the champ.
"When you're in a slump like we've been in, and not where you want to be" said McCabe as he defended Cassidy, "the coach takes a lot of heat. Along with us players we're not happy about where we're at, but he's managing the locker room very well."
Cassidy and McCabe go back to 2009 when Cassidy was an assistant to Ron Rolston for the US National Development Program. Oddly enough the meeting point was Rochester.
McCabe was playing at Monroe Community College at the Annual Select 16 festival and according to Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, he did plenty to "differentiate himself among the defensemen in camp." Amongst the scouts there to witness it were Cassidy and Rolston.
After seeing him play they asked him to fill one of two spots on defense in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the program. McCabe accepted, telling Oklobzija, 'My life changed a lot that day. I don’t know if I would be here (in Rochester) today if I hadn’t played in Ann Arbor.'
For Cassidy, he's always liked what McCabe brings to he table. "He competes hard," said the coach after a recent game vs. the Hamilton Bulldogs, "is hard on the puck, in the d-zone. He finishes off guys and is real difficult to play against."
But as a young player, no matter how mature he might be already, there's a learning curve, especially for defensemen. "You can't hide goaltenders, said Cassidy, "and you can't hide defensemen either. We forget sometimes with Jake, the expectations are really high, and we forget he's 21 yrs. old playing in a league against men."
It's something that's not lost on McCabe, as seen in his backing of Reinhart, but it's also something he keeps in mind when talking about his game and where it is right now. "It's a process," he said, reiterating a theme that ran through the entire interview. "It's my first professional season and I've had my growing pains. My consistency hasn't been where I want it to be but I think I've started to make strides, starting to find my game a little bit more. At the end of the day I want to be an all-around defenseman."
McCabe has played in 33 games for the Amerks this season and has 11 points (2+9) and I'd asked him if he was ok with that stat-line. "I could care less about points. I want to contribute offensively and on the powerplay, but I'm not the one to grab the game sheet after the game to see if they gave me an assist or a goal. Obviously those are nice to come by but I don't live or die by them. I've never been that player. Right now it's all about the W's and we're not getting those."
Maybe the upcoming trip to Texas and Oklahoma will help Rochester heat up a bit. Although they haven't exactly been road warriors this season, the camaraderie of a road trip may be just what they need. They have been playing much better and the warmer weather can't hurt either.
McCabe is certainly looking forward to it.
"It'll be a nice road trip, getting out of this (cold, snowy) weather a little bit." When I reminded him that he was from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, which is not exactly Austin he replied, "I know, but I can still appreciate the nice, warm weather in Texas for a week.
Rochester begins their "nice, warm weather tour" in Austin versus the Texas Stars (DAL.) They travel to San Antonio to take on the Rampage (MIN) and finish in Oklahoma City against the Barons (EDM.) If they expect any type of run to the playoffs this season, this would be the time to start heating things up.
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