We've had a lot of players blog with us over the years but for whatever reason, we haven't had a lot of goaltenders. Mike Lee (PHX) in 2009 is the only one that immediately comes to mind. Maybe that had something to with how great it was to have Eamon McAdam on board with us all year, having the goalie perspective is often unique.
We've gotten to know Lazar quite well because he plays right in our own back yard. With Eamon, it's different but through his entries this year and in private correspondence it's easy to tell that he's a guy with a high level of character. It's been a pleasure to read his four previous submissions to the blog and I'm sure this last one will be just as interesting.
On a side note, both Curtis and Eamon will join us on The Pipeline Show one last time before the draft, this coming Saturday June 22nd 10am-Noon MST (Noon-2pm EST).
Now, here's Eamon McAdam...
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| Photo: Britt Photography |
It’s Eamon McAdam one last time before the
draft.
The last few weeks have been about as busy
as they could have been. First I went up
to Toronto for a few days for the NHL Central Scouting Combine and about five
days after I got back from that I was on a plane again and on my way to the
World Junior goalie tryout.
Combine
The
Scouting Combine was one of the more looked forward to events of the year for
the draft eligible guys that I knew and in my opinion it lived up to all the
hype.
When I got in to the Toronto
Airport I got my apparel and rooming assignment, only to find that I would be
rooming with Cal Petersen of all people.
There were over 100 players at the combine and Cal and I got roomed
together again! We found that extremely
ironic.
The next morning grabbing a bite
to eat with Ian [McCoshen] and Cal, the interview process started. I interviewed with 16 of the 30 NHL teams
over a span of three days. From what I
heard before the Combine there would be all different ranges in the interviews
with numbers of people and the way the interviews went, and that was extremely
accurate. The most people I had in a
room interviewing me at a time was somewhere near 15 and the fewest was one
guy.
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| Photo: USHL |
Some teams were extremely serious
and grilled me with rapid-fire questions about ethics and hockey all together
while others were very laid back and were joking around with me. All in all the interviews were a great
experience and they were very interesting.
On the
third day after my last interview I had an orientation meeting that went over
the physical testing and also went over a movement test that I would have to do
later that night in a conference room in the hotel. The movement test was about eight simple body
weight exercises that were rated on a scale of one to three based on how well
you did them. The test was supposed to
see if you are prone to certain types of injuries common to hockey players. The final day I was there was the day I had
my medical testing and fitness tests.
I was in the third or fourth group of
players shuttled over to the testing facility that day and I had no idea what to
expect. When we got there we went in
through a side door and had our pictures taken right away with nothing but
compression shorts on. After that we
went into a room divided into about 15 sections by curtains with a desk in the
middle where we checked in. I then
proceeded to take part in basic physicals from three doctors, multiple vision
and eye hand tests, heart rate, and other heart exams like EKG’s among many more
tests. After about an hour and a half of
medical testing they said I was ready to proceed to the physical testing
room. I stretched for a bit and then
made my way in.
I walked through a
curtain and was instantly met with bright lights and the eyes of over 100
scouts, coaches, and media figures. I
went through a series of tests, which I thought I did well in and finally
reached the dreaded last two tests, the bike sprint and the VO2max. The training I did was nothing in comparison
to the rigors of the tests there. I was
drained completely after those tests and went in the waiting room and just
closed my eyes for a while before I went out and faced the media. The whole process was somewhat of a whirlwind
but it was fun and an honor to be a part of.
World Junior Goalie Camp
I only got to skate a few times after I got
home before I was off to Michigan for the World Junior goalie tryout. The camp was a short one, only three days,
and we skated five times. There were six
of us there; Collin Olson (CAR), Evan Cowley, Thatcher Demko, Sean Romeo, Anthony Stolarz (PHI), and myself.
It was a fun camp and all of us got a long
pretty well. We skated twice a day for
two days and once on the day we all left, doing goalie specific drills so that the
coaches could see what our strengths and weaknesses were. It was an honor to even be selected to the
camp because I find such pride in wearing the colors. Hopefully I will be in the running down the
road when the team is being selected.
Now I have a few more days until I head into school to start my summer
classes at Penn State and the draft is less then two weeks away! The exciting things just keep coming for me
this summer!
Hope you enjoyed my blogs this year and
thank you for reading,
- Eamon McAdam
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Eamon McAdam played the last two seasons in the USHL with the Waterloo Black Hawks. He was in net for Waterloo in the finals of the 2012 Junior Club World Cup last August in Omsk Russia. He was the starting netminder for USA at the 2012 World Junior A Challenge in November and he also appeared in the 2013 USHL Top Prospects Game in January. He ended the year with a 3.45 GAA and .896 SV%.
Next year McAdam is expected to join Penn State, his CHL rights are held by the London Knights of the OHL. He is ranked 7th in North America by NHL Central Scouting and 3rd overall amongst goaltenders by International Scouting Services.
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