Dan Capuano’s funeral at St. Rita of Cascia High School on Chicago’s Southwest Side was standing-room solely. Hundreds of firefighters from Chicago and across the nation attended. Members of the St. Jude Knights youth hockey membership have been there, too, sporting their jerseys.
Capuano’s sons, Andrew and Nick, performed for the Knights, a Northern Illinois Hockey League program that feeds a lot of Chicago’s powerhouse Catholic faculties. Nick was on the 2012-13 workforce that gained the Squirt A state championship.
Dan had devoted a lot of his time to the Knights earlier than he died within the line of obligation whereas combating a warehouse fireplace on the South Side on Dec. 14, 2015.
That title-winning Knights workforce wished to get again collectively to honor Capuano and his household, so in March 2016, a brand new workforce was fashioned. “Team Capuano” would play within the Shamrock Shuffle on the University of Notre Dame over a weekend. Their jerseys could be crimson and white and embody Dan’s badge quantity: 1676.
There was an early hiccup. “The guy that was running the tournament, he didn’t want to let us in,” stated Ralph Lawrence, a former St. Jude coach. “He said that the competition would be way too high.”
Team Capuano simply wished to play collectively once more. It received in. Things received chippy. During one recreation, a success from behind despatched heart Luke Lawrence, Ralph’s son, laborious into the boards.
“Could have paralyzed him,” Ralph stated. “It was a bad hit.”
That’s when 13-year-old wing J.J. McCarthy rushed in. The future five-star recruit, Michigan quarterback, nationwide champion and soon-to-be NFL draft decide was furious. He didn’t drop his gloves, however a scrum ensued.
“It was a little cheap hit in the corner,” Luke stated. “J.J. was the first one to me, come into the corner and exchange a few words with the kid.”
“J.J. went off on the kid and got kicked out of the game,” Ralph stated.
The entire scene was in contrast to McCarthy. He was sometimes extra collected on the ice — his father, Jim, one of many major organizers of Team Capuano, didn’t just like the outburst — however Luke was J.J.’s shut buddy, and the event was an emotional expertise. And in hockey, management typically includes going into the corners.
“Those kids played for something more than hockey that weekend,” Ralph stated.
When it was over, Team Capuano — the workforce some thought didn’t belong in South Bend — gained the event. A yr later, they returned and repeated as champions.
Ice is in McCarthy’s blood. His mom, Megan, was a aggressive determine skater. He began taking part in hockey in kindergarten. Organized soccer got here later.
McCarthy is on file calling hockey his past love. What he skilled on the ice would in the end assist make him a greater quarterback — one now on the verge of being drafted within the first spherical.
He was 10 when the Knights defeated Winnetka within the Tier II Squirt A state championship in March 2013. He and Luke Lawrence assisted on the one aim of the sport. It was a particular season for a particular group, one which finally cut up up as gamers modified groups and ranges.
McCarthy (far proper) received used to successful early as a part of a championship squad with the St. Jude Knights. (Courtesy of Ralph Lawrence)
McCarthy and Lawrence have been inseparable for years. Competitive in every part, they performed a lot and so effectively collectively on the identical line that they earned a nickname referencing Henrik and Daniel Sedin, the dual stars from the Vancouver Canucks.
The Lawrences and McCarthys stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts earlier than practices or video games. The dads would get espresso. Luke would get a bagel or a banana. McCarthy all the time ordered a strawberry frosted donut. Ralph Lawerence suggested towards the pre-skate pastry, nevertheless it turned McCarthy’s go-to. (After McCarthy signed an NIL deal at Michigan, a medium iced espresso and a strawberry frosted donut turned his official Dunkin’ Donuts meal within the Detroit space.)
“We laugh till this day,” Ralph stated. “And it didn’t hurt him. His speed was fine. His stomach didn’t get upset.”
As a coach, Lawrence emphasised taking part in positionally sturdy within the impartial zone and the significance of forechecking and backchecking. But McCarthy performed the sport with really feel.
“He knew where the puck was going to be,” Ralph stated. “He knew what the other team was going to do.”
As Lawrence watched McCarthy play soccer, he noticed comparable issues occur on the sector.
“He had an instinct,” Lawrence stated. “It was the same way he had it on the ice.”
McCarthy and Lawrence moved on to the Northern Express, one other Tier II workforce that performed within the Central States Development Hockey League, which expanded outdoors of Illinois. It was time for a brand new problem.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited as a coach,” Northern Express coach Brent Dolan stated.
Dolan’s workforce excelled defensively. The workforce’s forecheck was relentless, nevertheless it didn’t rating rather a lot.
“When J.J. and Luke came, that instantly changed,” Dolan stated. “I would say our goals per game went up by two — and that’s massive in hockey.”
Checking was now permitted, too. There could be contact and loads of it, a brand new and completely different stage of physicality. McCarthy may give hits, take hits — and keep away from them. The additional contact additionally meant extracurriculars, and McCarthy had no downside mixing it up.
“If I needed anything or if I was getting banged up in the corner, J.J.’s always there for me, getting in there and making sure that nothing’s gonna escalate,” Luke stated. “He would always stick up for me.”
By the time he hung up his skates, McCarthy had developed into a quick, bodily ahead. (Courtesy of Ted Eagle)
Hockey requires fast decision-making below duress and amid contact. For McCarthy, as a ahead, that usually meant receiving the puck whereas exiting his personal zone and deciding what to do as an opposing defenseman barreled his method.
Pass the puck rapidly to a teammate? Make a fast reduce across the defenseman? Chip the puck previous the opponent and go after it?
“People who don’t play hockey don’t really understand how fast of a sport it is and how many different components go into it,” Dolan stated. “You have to make a decision with the puck, and you got to know where to go with it and execute that all in a split second. That’s not overexaggerating it. That probably helped J.J.’s vision in football.”
A shift on the ice can really feel like standing within the pocket: chaos in every single place, violence close by. You should see it — or, extra importantly, really feel it — to beat it. McCarthy, who was on Northern Express’ energy play, had the poise and spatial consciousness to function within the maelstrom.
“Hockey definitely slowed down football,” Luke Lawrence stated.
In explicit, McCarthy developed a Patrick Kane-like knack for avoiding main hits. Dolan later noticed him make hockey-like cuts taking part in for Michigan.
“He’s trying to avoid getting drilled,” Dolan stated. “The quick, subtle movements that you make in hockey probably helped him in the pocket and then also while he’s out on the edge rushing or scrambling.”
In the summer season between seventh and eighth grade, McCarthy began coaching with Greg Holcomb, a personal QB coach from Next Level Athletix. Holcomb noticed loads of pure capability. He additionally noticed hockey’s affect.
“One of the reasons why he was so good at throwing off platform and moving around and changing direction is probably because in hockey he would get absolutely killed if he wasn’t able to skate past guys or make them miss,” Holcomb stated. “Hockey definitely helped him.”
The first recreation of McCarthy’s remaining hockey season got here, fittingly sufficient, at Yost Ice Arena on the University of Michigan campus.
He was taking part in for the 14-and-under Chicago Young Americans, a Tier I workforce, throughout his freshman yr at Nazareth Academy highschool. McCarthy had all the time been gifted sufficient to play on the highest stage of youth hockey, however soccer overlapped with hockey an excessive amount of, particularly on the weekends.
CYA coach Ted Eagle didn’t thoughts the battle due to who McCarthy was.
McCarthy had good fingers and a fast launch. He performed laborious, generated turnovers and scored. “He was a beast in hockey,” Eagle stated. “He threw the body around and he wasn’t kind of this less skilled, bigger guy. He was just fast and physical.”
And he was a spark — a tone-setter. In hockey, you want that.
“I relied on him, too,” Eagle stated. “It kind of sets the tone for the rest of the team when one or two guys are kind of pushing the pace.”
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McCarthy missed the primary recreation of the event at Michigan due to a Nazareth soccer recreation then confirmed up within the first interval of their second recreation towards the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite junior workforce. Eagle considers it one in all his favourite hockey recollections. “He raced up, and he showed up mid-game and scored a couple of goals against one of the top teams in the country,” Eagle stated.
There have been three hockey practices each week, principally after soccer apply, which resulted in some very late nights for a highschool freshman. And there have been the out-of-town video games missed due to soccer video games on Friday nights or Saturday mornings. CYA would play practically 70 video games that season, many who required journey, and McCarthy made greater than 40 of them, in accordance with Eagle.
The back-and-forth between soccer and hockey required self-discipline, however McCarthy was completely different. Eagle described him as a “front-of-the-line guy” in apply. He paid consideration to the smallest particulars, requested loads of questions, talked by way of completely different eventualities. Eagle stated McCarthy craved the data to get higher. Teammates have been drawn to him.
“I’m sure a lot of people are aware of this by now,” Eagle stated, “but he was just like an ultimate leader.”
McCarthy hung up his skates after his freshman yr of highschool to concentrate on soccer. During his sophomore season the following yr — and simply days earlier than Illinois’ Class 7A state championship recreation in 2018 — McCarthy’s throwing hand collided with a defensive lineman’s helmet as he launched a move.
“As a quarterback, it’s the kiss of death,” stated Brody Budmayr, Nazareth’s former quarterbacks coach.
Everything stopped. McCarthy was in ache — critical, excruciating ache. After a number of nervous moments, the sophomore starter with Division-I curiosity wished to check his hand. He dropped again to move, after which …
“It’s just the pain and anguish of you know it’s broke,” Budmayr stated. “It’s him actually dropping to his knees and us thinking, ‘Wow, this is not good.’”
But there was no method he was lacking Nazareth’s state championship recreation towards St. Charles North. His mother and father discovered an orthopedic surgeon to work on Thanksgiving, and taking part in turned a matter of ache tolerance.
That wasn’t an issue. McCarthy was a hockey participant.
In the state championship recreation, McCarthy was 15-for-21 passing for 201 yards and a landing as Nazareth dominated 31-10. A legend was born.
“Ultimately, he was the one that had to go out there,” Budmayr stated. “He taped it up and he led us to a state championship.”
McCarthy’s hockey coaches are satisfied his expertise on the ice knowledgeable his play on the gridiron. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
On May 11, 2019, McCarthy introduced he was committing to Michigan and coach Jim Harbaugh. During the recruiting course of, Nazareth head coach Tim Racki advised the story about McCarthy and his damaged thumb.
“When I told him he was a hockey player, (Harbaugh’s) eyes lit up,” Racki stated. “And then when I told him that story, that sealed the deal in terms of the kid’s toughness and the grit that he had.”
When McCarthy introduced his faculty resolution on social media, he thanked three hockey coaches — Lawrence, Dolan and Eagle — for permitting him to play each sports activities collectively.
“I would not be where I am without having had hockey in my life,” he wrote.
(Illustration: Sean Reilly / The Athletic; photographs: courtesy of Ted Eagle, Scott Taetsch / Getty Images
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