"I gotta get some swag, ya know," MacEachern said. He had his eyes on a green Whalers shirt. "It's always been one of my favorite teams. You know Hartford was. And then Carolina. And when my son had a chance to sign as a free agent, I think he had some heartstrings to the franchise as well," he said.
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If MacEachern's last name sounds familiar, it's because it is. His son, Mackenzie, was recently called up and had an incredible performance in Game 4, which expanded the Canes series lead to two games at 3-1.
With it being Ron MacEachern's first time in North Carolina, you can't help but be excited for him and his son.
"It's pretty special," he said. "There's a lot of things that are pretty cool about this."
MacEachern received a text from his son's fiancee an hour before Game 4 alerting him that Mackenzie would be playing. Unfortunately, there was no time to make it to New York.
"You can see the Islanders are very serious about it. And it's a very physical series and it's going to be a tough game tonight," said MacEachern.
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Draped in a Michigan State Hockey T-shirt, the elder MacEachern said as a Michigander, he and his son have long had roots to Carolina. Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour went to Michigan State as did Mackenzie MacEachern.
"I told (Mackenzie) the other day...every once in a while it's OK to give yourself a little pat on the back because you've worked hard. You've been diligent and you've done everything you're supposed to do," said MacEachern. "And (Mackenzie) says, 'Not now. Right now, there's a mission at hand,'" he added. "So it makes me feel good. It makes me feel proud. And I don't understand it. It's a whole new level of intensity. So it's all good. That's what he's made of."
As far as his first time at PNC Arena, he's ready.
"I've heard how loud it gets on TV and I'm excited," said MacEachern.