McNulty to take on Yevenko’s role in Fargo
The United States Hockey League is a physical hockey league. Players can range from 15 years old to 20 years old, but a common thread is that the play will be physical. That’s not to say every player on every team plays a physical brand of hockey. But, almost every team will have a guy or two that plays that physical role, almost as an enforcer.
For the last two seasons, the Fargo Force has asked Oleg Yevenko to play that role. Yevenko is now playing college hockey, so the Force used its 17th round pick in the United States Hockey League Entry Draft to pick Jimmy McNulty to fill the void. Assistant coach Jesse Davis describes McNulty as a 6-4, 230 pound American Oleg.
“He’s the guy coming in to take Oleg’s role,” Davis said. “He has some skill. He can skate. So, he’s not just a fighter. He’s a big presence on the ice.”
McNulty is a hard-nosed Michigan boy that has bounced around the junior hockey ranks. He played a couple games for Motor City in the North American Hockey League during the 2008-2009 campaign. During the 2009-2010 season, he played two games with Lincoln of the USHL and spent the rest of the season with Okotoks out of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Last season, he played with Flin Flon in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
In those four stops, he scored just two goals and eight points and collected 134 penalty minutes. The numbers prove that he is a defense-first guy, but Fargo isn’t completely committed to him playing forward. Newly-named head coach John Marks said he liked the way McNulty played in camp and there is still a possibility he will be used at forward in the Fall Classic to see what he can do up there.
“He’s a defensive defenseman that can make plays and move the puck,” Davis said in reference to his style of play last year in Flin Flon. “When the gloves fall off, he’s a force to be reckoned with.”
McNulty’s veteran presence is something the Force will look to count on in the upcoming season. He is one of just three 20-year-olds on the Fall Classic roster, along with fellow defensemen Willie Corrin and Oliver Widding-Persson.
Along with being a veteran that the Force will look to lean on this year, McNulty is also close to sealing a college commitment, according to Davis. He said that McNulty knows exactly where he wants to go and there is mutual interest, so it should just be a matter of time before McNulty announces his intent.
Fargo currently has 10 defenseman on its Fall Classic roster and they will likely trim that number down to seven prior to the start of the season. Marks did say that number could become eight if McNulty proves that he can play some forward as well.
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By: Tim How
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