Mackenzie MacEachern talks about signing pro contract with Blues, saying goodbye to MSU
By @MichaelCaples –
There was an abundance of professional hockey players on the ice for the Eastside Elite All-Star Game Saturday night in Mount Clemens.
One of the spectators is also a pro hockey player, but he’s probably still getting used to being able to say that.
Mackenzie MacEachern was in town to watch many of his friends and teammates skate in the inaugural Eastside Elite all-star event, fresh off a lengthy stay near his new employer – the St. Louis Blues.
The Troy native and Michigan State product opted to forego his senior season with the Spartans to turn pro with St. Louis, the team that drafted him in the third round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
MacEachern, a Brother Rice High School standout and Chicago Steel (USHL) alum, talked to MiHockey about the decision to leave school early.
“It was a hard process,” MacEachern said. “Right after the season, they contacted me and said they would like for me to take the next step. I sat down with my parents and my advisor and laid out the best options and we decided this would be the best time, because the World Cup is coming up and it opens up lots of roster spots going into training camp, so we saw it as the best time to move forward.”
He said he struggled with saying goodbye to his teammates.
“It was really hard,” MacEachern said. “Right after the season, it took three or four weeks to make the actual decision, and it tore me up for sure. For example, I had to leave Thomas Ebbing – I played eight years straight with him. Just all the friends I’ve made on the team; it’s hard to leave them, but they were really supportive and they helped me through it.”
Realizing his dream of signing a NHL contract has made for an exciting summer for MacEachern, who stayed in St. Louis for six weeks prior to the team’s development camp in July. He returned to Michigan just in time to watch Ebbing and fellow Spartans Matt DeBlouw, Zach Osburn and Matt Berry.
“It feels unreal,” MacEachern said. “When you put on skates, you want to make it to the NHL, so I’m one step closer, and it’s just, I realize that now and I have to keep working hard and hopefully I’ll be there.”
When asked what he will miss about Michigan State, he said, “everything.”
“The atmosphere there, whether it’s a hockey game, a football game, a basketball game – to see the campus jump around the sports and just how nice everyone is around there,” MacEachern said. “It’s an unbelievable campus and unbelievable atmosphere, and I’ll miss that, as well as my teammates and coaches there. They were really good to me. I appreciate them.”
MacEachern doesn’t know what his future holds with the Blues organization; he expects to start with the Chicago Wolves, St. Louis’ AHL affiliate
“Hopefully St. Louis, you want to say, but it looks like Chicago’s probably the plan right now in the fall. Just kind of taking it step-by-step and I’ve got to perform where I need to perform – hopefully it will put me in the right spot.”