The veteran defenseman is nearing 2,000 career blocked shots
When Ryan McDonagh was still an 18-year-old college freshman at the University of Wisconsin, the Badgers men’s hockey program instilled in him the importance of sacrifice.
Mark Osiecki was the team’s defensive coach, and Osiecki worked with his players every week on the importance of preventing quality shot attempts.
It’s a lesson McDonagh never forgot, and the now 35-year-old has the portfolio to back that up—the Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman recently achieved a mark which signifies his willingness to risk himself for the team, even when it hurts.
McDonagh recorded four blocked shots in a Jan. 28 game against the Chicago Blackhawks, surpassing his former teammate Dan Girardi (1,951) to enter the top 10 for most blocked shots in NHL history.
McDonagh sits at 1,961 blocked shots after Thursday and is 39 blocked shots away from becoming just the seventh player in NHL history to halt 2,000 shot attempts in their career.
That selfless mentality was nurtured in an ice arena in the capital of Wisconsin 17 years ago.
"We'd work on technique and stuff, trying not to lose our balance, going down on one knee, protecting your face,” McDonagh said. “He'd (Osiecki) shoot at us with tennis balls and stuff so obviously it wouldn't hurt, but it was a big point of emphasis right away my freshman year at Wisconsin.”
Blocking shots requires a combination of willingness to get in front of pucks that occasionally reach speeds over 100 miles per hour as well as tricking some of the world’s best scorers into thinking they have open space to shoot, McDonagh said.
“You want to try to make the forward think there's a lane there and take it away as soon as the shot's about to happen, and also know that there's a chance that they're gonna fake it and not totally give yourself up where they can dance around you and whatnot. So it's keeping your balance underneath you and trying to show the forward something and then take it away.”
When McDonagh’s Tampa Bay Lightning teammates were asked to describe the veteran NHL defenseman last week, one word was repeated more than any other.
Warrior.
That warrior mentality began in Wisconsin, but it was furthered in the NHL when he was drafted by the New York Rangers, where he played for former Lightning head coach John Tortorella.
McDonagh’s time playing with Girardi in New York didn’t hurt, either.
“He was the best at it for so many years when he was playing,” McDonagh said of Girardi. “My first year in New York, you play for Coach Tortorella, everybody's got to be willing to do it or they're not going to play. And especially on our back end, we had guys that were just eating pucks left and right. Him and Marc Staal were the leaders in that department, and then I definitely had to follow suit as a younger defenseman coming up behind them. So it was just part of our DNA. Everybody did it, and it helped us win a lot of hockey games.”
“Girardi knew McDonagh was creeping up on knocking him out of the top 10, but he still had nothing but positive feedback on his former defensive partner.”
Girardi said McDonagh carries “all the intangibles” that NHL teams look for in defensemen.
"He never cheated the game. He's always on the right side of pucks, plays hard, blocks shots and contributes offensively. He's that D that does just everything really well,” Girardi said. “There's obviously D in the league that are gifted offensively or just pure defense and shut down, but I feel like Mac brings a good mix of all of that. That's why he's had such a great career so far.”
McDonagh’s former teammate also mentioned Tortorella and Osiecki as coaches who likely influenced the Lightning defenseman.
"It's that willingness to compete and do whatever it takes to win. That’s what Mac's had since, I'm sure, his time in Wisconsin all the way to now back in Tampa,” Girardi said. “He's got all the intangibles that any coach or GM would love to have as a defenseman.”
McDonagh has stood, crouched and sprawled to stop the shots of many powerful shooters across his NHL career, but one of the league’s top goalscorers was front of mind when asked about his hardest shot block.
Washington forward Alex Ovechkin was the first name McDonagh listed.
“Ovi. I don't play the right side as much on the PK, but I have in the past at times, and his one-timer is as hard as any. So that's obviously a shot that you're not too excited to have to try to block, but there's a ton of good shooters out there.”
With the season nearing its final push after the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Lightning will look to stay sharp in the finer details of the game.
When it comes to blocking shots, there is little worry over whether McDonagh will be willing to put it all on the line, just as he has throughout his entire career.
"He's always ready to be in the lane and reads the play very well, so he doesn't put himself in that bad a spot. He's always just already in the lane,” Girardi said. “I could go on for days about how much I respect his game and what he's done over his career. I'm just really proud of him.”
