PATRICK MCGRATH - SWITCHING COASTS BUT KEEPING FOUNDATIONS
Lizz Child
Nov 28, 2022
While he was named a Barracuda alternate captain at the start of the season, Patrick McGrath grew up an east coast hockey kid. Now, in his tenth season of professional hockey, the 29-year-old is a full-fledged member of Cuda Country.
When McGrath discovered his passion for hockey, he was a long way from San Jose. Instead, when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins arrived on the scene in 1999, a six-year-old McGrath and his brothers started going to games. The three soon went from seeing the guys on the ice to putting on the skates themselves.
Watching McGrath on the ice today, you would not suspect that he is nervous to go up against anybody but, as a kid, he needed some assurance from his older brother that he would be okay playing against the older kids.
"We had a blast and kind of just went from there.” said the forward about starting to play hockey with his brothers. “I fell in love with it and then started getting into some travel hockey. The rest is kind of history.”
15 seasons after the American Hockey League came to Wilkes-Barre, McGrath found himself pulling on the sweater for the Baby Penguins.
Noting that the experience was cool, McGrath also acknowledged that it was a unique situation: “Growing up, my whole life as a kid, we'd always go to those games. You always wanted to be out there with those guys or be one of those guys. So, when I got the chance to do that for a few years, it was really special. With all my family being there, too. They all got to come to games, they didn't have to travel, [after] all the travel we've done over the years for travel hockey all over.”
His family will have a bit more of a distance to travel to make it out for games now.
Speaking of those guys he grew up wanting to be on the ice with, when McGrath did join the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team, he saw that very opportunity as Tom Kostopoulos, one of the team’s original players, had made his way back to the Penguins.
“I think he was [20 years old] when he came in, so he was older then,” said McGrath about playing with Kostopoulos, “but it was just special because he was one of those guys I looked up to growing up – watching those games and wanting to be like and play like.”
That said, McGrath has since grown into his own game, which he describes as “responsible defensively but an in-your-face type of game,” adding that the goal is to have pressure everywhere and be all over the puck. Away from the puck, Mcgrath also says he tries to bring a lot of energy to the team and generate chances whenever possible.
In just a few games this season, something tells us that McGrath is going to be that guy Barracuda players, and fans, are going to be thankful is in their jersey and not on the other side of the ice.
JUST PLAY YOUR GAME
Barracuda assistant coach Kyle Hagel has said that the overarching message has been mentality over systems, emphasizing that the mentality needs to be one of competitiveness.
McGrath says that has definitely been the message he has gotten since coming to San Jose. It is something he’s advised others on as well.
"I've always kind of leaned on that and tried to tell people [not to] go changing things that have gotten you to where you are. You can always work on stuff to improve, but your foundation is your foundation, I think, if you could master that, it could take you far. I've leaned on what has gotten me here, and it has gotten me pretty far.”
As for the competitiveness, the best advice McGrath says he has received falls under that umbrella, while keeping with the idea of playing your own game.
“Whatever you're going to do, you have to do something better than everybody else can do. If you're going to score goals, you got to score goals. If you are going to be on the checking line, or whatever it is, you’ve got to do that to work your way up to whatever role it is you want to be in. If that’s a first-line role but you're starting on the bottom, you shouldn't get discouraged. Just keep showing up every day a keep working hard. Hard work is irreplaceable.”
The one system that Barracuda head coach John McCarthy says he has been looking for in his players this season, is that everybody plays five guys in. Always playing as a unit and being in the mix for one another.
McGrath says that kind of play makes the team harder to play against but also pulls the guys closer together as a team in the first place.
"In terms of team toughness, even when you go into games, it's all 20 guys. There's no selfishness. You leave your egos at the door. Everybody plays as a 20-man unit. If you have five guys on the ice, those five guys, they're all playing together. They’re not trying to do everything themselves.”
CHANGES ABOUND
While he has spent time playing as far west as Utah, with the Grizzlies in the ECHL, McGrath is a long way from his home state of Pennsylvania. With most of his life spent on the east coast, the Bay Area is sure to be a change, though it sounds like a welcome one.
"The weather's a lot better, which is great. I'll finally get a decent winter,” said McGrath on the move to California, laughing and continuing, “I was getting a little tired of the cold.
Those who have lived in the area for a while know that we have two kinds of weather in the bay, sunny or gray. That doesn’t seem to be a concern for McGrath, who said “I do love the change of seasons. Don't get me wrong. I do love that, but I will take this every day of the week to get a nice break from the freezing cold winters.”
Fair enough. Though, the weather is not the only difference that the veteran forward is facing with the move to San Jose. In fact, the entire team is adapting to changes within the staff, roster, and even a new home in Tech CU Arena.
"It's always exciting when you get a fresh coaching staff and just kind of a fresh sort of face to an organization,” McGrath said of the changes he’s coming into for his first year. “You almost start from square one again and you get to build up that relationship with those guys.”
With the Barracuda ending the 2021-22 season dropping 15 consecutive games, McGrath says that all of the changes serve to give the team a clean slate.
"I think a lot of guys are looking forward to it and I think the coaching staff has done a great job with everything they've been doing so far. It's going to lead to good opportunities for guys in the future.”
GET TO KNOW PATRICK MCGRATH
Walk us through your gameday routine:
PM: We get to morning skate, and they usually get some type of lunch. Chicken parm is my go-to – I'm sure that's everybody's. Sometimes I nap, but I'm not really a napper. I’m usually excited to play the game so I kind of have a tough time napping. But if I can get a nap in, then I will nap. Other than that, I'll try and get a coffee before going to the rink and then just get a little warm-up going and get ready for the game.
What’s your coffee order?
PM: I'm usually just a plain black coffee, but I've been on the lattes now. So, I don't mind those too much.
Say you have a day off, what is the perfect way to spend it?
PM: Well, I might have to get my golf clubs out here now because the weather's a little different. Back out east, you kind of just were hunkered down. Not much to do outside because it was a little cold. I’d just kind of relax and just let the body recover. It's a long season and you get banged up easily. I think those off days are important to just relax. Maybe go for a walk and explore what's going on in the city.
On the note of golf, which is your favorite club in the bag?
PM: Oh, I like the driver. Just grip it and rip it.
For the record, McGrath also said that the pitching wedge is not bad. Just to throw that in.
What is on your perfect pizza?
PM: A perfect pizza is just sausage and onion.
Two things to note here.
- Patrick McGrath is NOT a member of team pineapple on pizza
- When asked what he would miss most about the east coast, he said it was the pizza. He has not found anything out here that compares, so Barracuda fans, we need some suggestions to pass along!
If you could be elite in any other sport, what would it be?
PM: I always think about that. I mean golf, you're always in great weather. I'd say golf. It's a little less taxing on the body
Best hockey memory:
PM: Just playing with my playing with my brothers when I was younger.
Okay, playing with your brothers, who was the most competitive growing up?
PM: Probably me, but that's just being biased. I don’t know. We all had some competitiveness. I think it helped us all in the long run.
Were all three of you forwards or did you mix it up a little bit?
PM: My older brother is a forward and then we used to stick my younger brother in net, so he played goalie for a couple of years before he decided that was enough of that. We kind of just threw him in there so we could just have somebody to shoot on.
Note: The younger McGrath is currently a forward at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, so he most certainly has moved on from his time in net.
Oh, you didn’t think we left off the most important question, did you? If Patrick McGrath were a fruit, he says he’d be a cherry.