McGing got chance to play at home, excited for opportunity with Blues

Hugh McGing would have preferred a better result, but playing in his second NHL game in the city he was born and grew up in, cheering on the opponent he faced Saturday night was nevertheless a highlight for the 25-year-old.

"It was a great time, it was a fun experience for me and my family, especially first game of the season being in Chicago, my hometown," McGing said Monday. "I had some friends and family there. They were all excited to watch it."

As McGing, who played 7:58 in the game and had two shots on goal, put it, roughly 20-25 family members were at United Center for Chicago's 3-1 win.

"Mom [Breda], Dad [James], brothers [Liam and James], cousins, uncles, aunts," McGing said. "A lot of my family lives out of town, so there would have been a lot of people there."

McGing got the callup over Adam Gaudette, Mackenzie MacEachern, Nathan Walker and even to a certain degree, Zachary Bolduc; he had 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) and was a plus-3 in 21 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

"If you take away the minuses, they're not all on him," Berube said of McGing's minus-3 stat line from Saturday. "He was just on the ice for a couple of them, but if you watched the game, he's a positive player in my opinion. Effort, had two Grade A scoring chances from just going hard to the net, finishing at the net. He's a worker, gives you everything he's got every shift. You're never going to fall short of the work that he puts in. That's what he brings."

Maybe McGing was surprised he was the one getting the call-up on Saturday but now, feels like he has to take advantage of the chance having played in just two NHL games.

"I was excited," McGing said. "Obviously a great opportunity for me to come up here and show what I can do.

"Just get out there and play my game as fast as I can. Shake off the nerves, I guess you could call them, just get out there and show them what I can do and continue how I was playing in Springfield, bring it up here and just keep playing a consistent game, 200 feet.

"It was going well (in Springfield). It took a couple games to get my legs under me and get going, but kind of hit a stride after the first nine games and kept playing consistent after that."

McGing is projected to be in the lineup when the Blues host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday and play against the skater he was fond of growing up as a Blackhawks fan: Patrick Kane. Being from Chicago, McGing said he was a Blackhawks fan growing up; he laughed when told it probably wouldn't be a good idea talking to Blues fans about that. 

"All my family and friends are Blackhawks fans, so it's kind of funny," McGing said.