The old adage “success doesn’t happen overnight” can be applied in all areas of life.
Hockey, especially.
No matter who you are, where you start, or where you end up, it takes years before achieving any type of legitimate success. Even more important than a dedication to the craft is a love for the game.
A 2004-born Harvard commit, Ben MacDonald is a prime example of what can happen when those avenues of passion and dedication intersect.
The longtime East Coast Wizard always has been a smart and talented forward, but he was never the most skilled or singlehandedly dominant player in his age group growing up.
Being the son of a Crimson hockey legend hasn’t made things any easier, as lofty, albeit unavoidable, expectations have followed him since day one.
However, it didn’t take long for the younger MacDonald to start carving a path of his own.
Now, at age 17, the self-described “late bloomer” is arguably the top ’04 prospect in New England, and the best of his young hockey career, he hopes, is yet to come.
“I’ve developed a bit later than a lot of other guys,” said MacDonald, who’s entering his junior season at Noble and Greenough School and first year of eligibility for the NHL Entry Draft.
“The gym has been really big for me, but I just love playing hockey. Having fun, being on the ice whenever I can, shooting pucks in my basement, or playing street hockey with my buddies, the love of the game has really helped me out, too.
“Hockey has been terrific to me.”
Finding his roots
A native of Weston, Mass., Ben MacDonald was 2 years old when he first laced up the skates.
It was only a matter of time before the son of Lane MacDonald, the 1989 Hobey Baker Award winner who captained Harvard to the national championship that same season, was introduced to the game.
After his playing career was cut short due to recurring migraine headaches, Lane and a group of Harvard alumni, with some active NCAA players mixed in, would meet up for weekly Sunday morning skates, typically held at the Cambridge campus rink.
Once they were old enough, the kids — Cate, Ben and Madeline — would tag along, skating before and after “the old guys,” as the elder MacDonald put it.
They all enjoyed it, he said, but Ben showed the most interest in the game.
“He loved skating and he just took to it. Our daughters were kind of like, ‘OK, this is fine, but it’s not for us.’ so we were 1-for-3 with our kids in terms of hockey,” Lane, now 55, said. “But with all of them, it was really about, we’ll expose them to a lot of things, whether it’s the arts or sports, and whatever they like is great. For Ben, he really loved hockey.”
It was there, at Bright-Landry Hockey Center — the same ice that the 17-year-old is on track to continue skating on in the years to come — that he began to develop his passion for the game.
“Just seeing my dad play and seeing that hockey experience really made me fall in love with it,” Ben said.
Beyond his father’s storied career at Harvard, which included him deferring his senior year to compete for Team USA at the 1988 Winter Olympics, hockey runs in the MacDonald family blood.
Ben’s grandfather, Lowell MacDonald, played 14 seasons in the NHL and was a three-time All-Star before coaching Lane and his brother as prep school players in their native Wisconsin. His mom, Wendy MacDonald, was a college hockey player at Cornell.
Safe to say, he hasn’t had to go far to talk shop his whole life.
“It’s awesome talking with them and just learning their perspective,” Ben said. “Really just getting all kinds of advice: things to be looking out for, how to train, how to eat, how to prepare for games and all that kind of stuff.”
Lane, who coached Ben for every season he’s played until this one, has enjoyed sharing advice and watching the evolution of his hockey IQ over the years.
“It’s almost better now that I’m not coaching because we can still chat about the games, but it’s less about me as his coach and more about, it’s just another perspective. I give him a lot of credit though because he really wants to get better and takes constructive criticism really, really well.
“If he doesn’t ask, I try not to offer, which is sometimes hard, but oftentimes he really wants to review the game. He’s really become quite cerebral in terms of his analysis and how to get better.”
After all, it’s Ben’s journey and not his, Lane emphasized, even if he understands his situation better than most.
“I grew up with it,” the elder MacDonald said. “My dad played 14 years in the NHL, so when I grew up everyone expected me to be a hockey player and my brother, as well.
“I sort of know a little bit of what he’s been going through and I really want it to be his thing, but at every level, he’s just loved it and has just wanted to keep working at it and keep getting better.”
Twenty months and counting
That’s how long it’s been since Nobles last hit the ice for an official game in March 2020.
Then, Ben was just a freshman, skating far fewer minutes and filling less of a role on a Bulldogs team that fell to Avon Old Farms in the semifinals of the Stuart/Corkery Elite 8 tournament.
Since then, he says, he’s been working on all areas of his game, taking a “Rome wasn’t built in a day” approach to continue the trek toward mastering his craft.
“I’ve really been trying to develop my shot just to become more dangerous from farther out and from different areas of the ice, but getting bigger and stronger is still huge for me,” Ben said. “I want to really have the speed and the acceleration to get past my opponents, so just getting bigger and stronger and more physically dominant is something that I’ve been really trying to work on.”
He’s had plenty of time to identify and focus on those areas for improvement over the past 20 months. In the midst of the pandemic, he tried to use every waking second to better his craft.
“We didn’t have a lot of games or anything so I just pushed myself to work on my skills and get bigger and faster and stronger for when that time came. I was fortunate enough to be able to skate and work out,” he said.
So, what’s all this work getting at? What type of player is Ben MacDonald looking to become?
“I just want to be a smart, 200-foot player that creates plays and can finish,” he said. “I really like to be able to do a lot of things on the ice and I feel like I play a balanced game and see the ice well, so I think skating and hockey sense are two of my biggest strengths.”
After seeing dynamic improvements in his skating and overall skill-set over the past year or so, adding on to his already-rising stock due to a strong week at USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp, a college commitment was only a matter of time.
It didn’t take long for the Crimson to come calling.
On Aug. 1, MacDonald made it official, committing to Harvard on day one of the annual recruiting sweepstakes.
While he wasn’t set on his dad’s alma mater from the beginning, it quickly became his top choice for more reasons than one.
“I was really open,” he said of the recruiting process. “I was fortunate enough to talk to a few schools, but in the end, I just felt that Harvard was the best fit for me academically, athletically and socially, and I really like what Coach (Ted) Donato, Coach (Jim) Tortorella, and Coach (James) Marcou have been doing with the program.
“It’s really the best of both worlds, and I don’t think there’s another school that can beat that.”
As for his dad’s influence on the decision?
“I don’t really think about that a lot. It was my decision to go to Harvard. It’s my decision to play hockey,” Ben said. “He’s my biggest supporter and one of my biggest role models, but it’s not about him at all. I feel like I’m trying to carve my own path.”
The Crimson’s all-time leading goal scorer concurred.
“I was glad for him. I had a wonderful experience there, but this is his road in terms of what he wants to do with his life, and college is such an important part of that, so I was thrilled it all worked out,” Lane said.
“It’s a credit to him for all the hard work he’s put in. I certainly benefited both from my experience hockey-wise, but frankly even much more so with what it did for me in terms of the opportunities I’ve had professionally. I feel very, very grateful for what Harvard has done for me, and I’m excited that Ben will have those opportunities, as well.”
Full steam ahead
With his commitment in tow, MacDonald is expected to be one of the top prep school players in New England during the 2021-22 NEPSAC campaign.
The ’04 center with solid size — 5-11, 172 — will be the main driver on a Nobles team that is loaded with talent in the Keller Division of the Independent School League.
“It’s his time now,” said Nobles head coach Brian Day, who’s been at the helm of the Dedham, Mass., prep school since 2001.
“He really assumed more of a support role as a third-liner his freshman year, learning how to play at this level, but this is his time and he’s worked hard for it. I can’t wait to see the impact he’s going to have, because it’s going to be significant.”
According to Day, it’s been no surprise to see the recent advancement in MacDonald’s game.
“Ever since we first saw him with the middle school, you knew he was going to be a really good player. His talent was obvious,” Day said.
“Getting to know the kid, he works really hard at it. He loves the game. He trains as hard as he can on the ice, but he’s also done a really good job in the weight room. He looked a lot stronger last year than he did his freshman year, and he looks a lot stronger physically this year than he did last year.”
With the team itching to get going, No. 9 will be at the center of it as the Bulldogs look to their upperclassmen to set the day-to-day culture early on.
“I’m really excited, MacDonald said. “I’m the only Nobles guy (on the EC Wizards) so it’s nice seeing my buddies from other schools, but I’m really excited to get back on the ice with my Nobles team. It’s been way too long since we’ve had a real season.
“We’re going to have a great group of guys and I’m excited to see what we can do.”
Day and his staff are equally excited for the return to normalcy following a year that saw the Bulldogs play only a handful of games.
“There’s nothing more that these guys are looking forward to, as are we,” the head coach said. “It’s another classroom for us. We love being there and beginning a journey. We’ll see where it takes us this year, but overall we like our group and we think we’ve got the makings of a good, competitive hockey team.”
In particular, Day is looking forward to working with a team that has MacDonald and the positive attributes he brings to the group, both on and off the ice, at the forefront.
“He just loves being in the rink, loves being with the guys. When it’s time to be serious, he’s as serious as anybody, but he’s always willing to have a good laugh or share one with you,” Day said. “It’s those little moments that make coaching so much fun — those interactions with the guys individually — and nobody does that better than Ben.”
No longer his coach, Lane is hoping to enjoy the journey, as Ben and the other top players in his age group set out on the most important season of their young hockey careers to date.
“I just think it’s going to be fun for these kids. They know they’re under a microscope, they feel the pressure and they want to do well. It’s not easy.
“Perhaps it is helpful that I lived it and went through it too, but overall it is fun for me to be able to share that with him and hopefully on the margin be helpful in some way to help him pursue something he loves.”
Years removed from the days of the introductory Sunday morning skates where dad pointed the way, Ben is the reason he finds himself in the position he’s in today.
“Whether he wanted to play hockey or wanted to play lacrosse or wanted to be a singer, as long as he was doing something he loved we were going to be proud of him, but most importantly if he was a good kid,” Lane said.
“I give him a ton of credit because there could be ice at 6:30 in the morning and he’s there. He’s a rink rat, he loves being there, working on his game and spending time with his friends on the ice.”
Only time will tell, but the sky’s the limit for MacDonald as he enters the latter half of his prep school hockey career with a future in college and, potentially, beyond.
He has the dedication, he has the drive, and more importantly, a love for the game that makes it all tick.
“Hockey means everything to me. All of my best friends have come from the teams I’ve been on and I’ve made so many relationships with so many great adults — Scott Fusco, Mark Fusco, obviously, my dad, Mike Levine, Pierre McGuire, Brian Day, Mark Spence — all of those guys have been so good to me. I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today without any of them.
“I’m just really excited to keep developing and hopefully, keep getting better every day.”
This article appears in the November/December print edition of New England Hockey Journal.
