Boston College men’s hockey seniors Jack McBain and Marc McLaughlin have long been at each other’s sides, and in their four years on the Heights, the senior forward tandem has played in nearly 100 games together.
This February, the duo will go head to head.
Team Canada announced Tuesday that McBain would suit up in Beijing as a member of the Canadian Olympic Team, just under two weeks after McLaughlin was named to the 2022 United States Men’s Olympic Hockey Team on Jan. 13.
McBain joins five other Eagles who will lace up their skates in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, including McLaughlin and Drew Helleson who will skate for the U.S. men, and Cayla Barnes, Megan Keller, and Alex Carpenter, who will play for the U.S. women’s team.
Serving as BC’s assistant captain, McBain leads Hockey East in points per game with 13 goals and 11 assists on the year. He ranks second on BC’s squad in total goals scored, behind only McLaughlin, who has scored 17.
Most recently, McBain was named the MVP of the Ledyard Classic, during which he scored four goals to help BC win the New Year’s tournament. After suffering an upper body injury, he hasn’t appeared in a game for BC since Dec. 31.
In his junior season, McBain appeared in all 24 of the Eagles’ games, posting six goals and 12 assists. He ranked second on the team in faceoff wins with 252, good for a 55-percent win percentage.
McBain was drafted 63rd overall in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Minnesota Wild.
Originally from Toronto, McBain appeared for the Canadian national team in the 2018 Under-18 World Championships, where he recorded three points in five games. He’ll join 21 other first-time Olympians on the Canadian squad at the Games.
The NHL announced in December that NHL players could not participate in the 2022 Beijing Olympics due to the league’s regular season being disrupted by COVID-19 protocols, providing Olympic opportunities to more NCAA players.
Team Canada has won nine Olympic gold medals, including back-to-back gold medals in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014. In 2018 in Pyeongchang, it lost to Germany 4–3 in the quarterfinal round before defeating the Czech Republic 6–4 for the bronze medal.
McBain will first face McLaughlin and Helleson in a pre-tournament game on Feb. 7.
Featured Image by Leo Wang / Heights Staff
