Sean McCann knew he had something good the first time he went to watch Teddy Mutryn play hockey.
The Mutryn family recently reached out to St. Sebastian’s head hockey coach expressing interest in having Mutryn attend the Needham, Mass., prep school. Friends relayed good experiences there. The Mutryns knew full well about St. Sebastian’s history of producing good hockey players like Noah Hanifin (Norwood, Mass.).
In other words, Mutryn had the bug to go.
“We want kids that want to come to Seb’s,” McCann said. “If you’re looking just for the hockey, you’re missing out on a lot of the experience you have at a school. So wanting to be a part of the school is an important factor for these kids that are coming here.”
Mutryn’s first season at St. Sebastian’s confirmed what McCann saw in his first viewing of the Norwell, Mass., native — he was good. Like, really good.
In 25 games in 2021-22, Mutryn posted 10 goals and 21 points in 25 games.
“I wasn’t really thinking, ‘Woah, I’m doing well’,” Mutryn said. “It was kind of just taking it game by game and just wanting to win. It was really all that it was about, like points will come and go. Beginning of the year was a struggle, but we kept winning. That was all I cared about, and I know as a team, we did too.”
See, the thing about Mutryn, who was just 14 when he arrived at St. Sebastian’s, was that he wasn’t like most first-year players in prep. He played differently and with an awareness that let McCann trust his bright, skilled power forward to be on the ice in crucial situations.
“He’s a 200-foot player,” McCann said. “I noticed right away that he was a kid willing to come back and backcheck as hard as he is willing to forecheck or put pressure on a team offensively. He had a great balance right away and he had a very good understanding of how to play the game. His hockey IQ was really strong.”
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Mutryn’s style makes sense when you ask him who he grew up modeling his game after.
“Who doesn’t want to be like Patrice Bergeron?” Mutryn said.
McCann has been the bench boss at St. Sebastian’s for 13 years. He’s seen quite a few standout rookies. He knows how they typically play. He knows what buttons must be pushed, especially on the bench during games.
But with Mutryn, again, McCann didn’t find himself having to tell him what to do very often. Of course, there are the typical words of advice like, “Hey, don’t turn the puck over at the offensive blue line.” And, “Hey, please refrain from turning it over at the defensive blue line.” Outside of that, there wasn’t much.
“I didn’t do that that much with Teddy just because he had a really strong foundation as a player, which really gave him the ability to create and experiment,” McCann said.
St. Sebastian’s capitalized on Mutryn’s success in more ways than just results on the scoreboard last season.
Sitting front row for most of Teddy’s games was Casey, who also was a talented right-shot forward considering prep school. Maybe not surprisingly, Casey followed Teddy to St. Sebastian’s this year and was his teammate.
“It could’ve been different,” Casey said of what he was going to do this season. “But obviously seeing what Teddy did last year, I knew what I wanted to do.”
Both Teddy and Casey got into hockey around the same time. Teddy began skating when his father, Scott, took him to learn to skate. Casey first hit the ice when he saw all his neighbors playing on the pond at the end of his street.
“Everyone else did it,” Casey said. “I just wanted to do it.”
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The boys played their youth hockey with the Boston Advantage. Teddy was coached by Tim Lovell and Richard Schuwerk (Hingham, Mass.), who was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in 1993. He credits both having a large impact on the player he’s become.
While Casey had different coaches since he was on a different team, he did work with Lovell during the summers. At a young age, Casey had the natural tools to be a good hockey player, but he was still raw. His skating needed improvement. Lovell worked on that, as well as turning Casey into a complete player.
“I owe so much to him,” Casey said. “I’m forever grateful for what he’s done for me.”
The brothers always have been close. The competitiveness is always there, too. When one goes down to the basement to shoot pucks, the other often follows. They work out together.
“We’re pushing each other,” Teddy said. “We don’t say it all the time to each other, but he keeps me on my toes. I keep him on his toes. We’re always working together. It’s pretty cool.”
This year was a first for the Mutryn brothers — they’d never been on a team together before.
And, like Teddy, Casey brought a similar style as a freshman.
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“He’s a smart player,” McCann said of Casey. “He sees the ice well. He makes little plays. It might not be the highlight plays, but he makes little plays.”
Casey grew up watching local NHL stars like Brad Marchand and Bergeron. But he’s also looked up to the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon.
“He can affect a game at any point,” Casey said of MacKinnon. “He can make a play defensively and affect the game or make a play offensively and affect the game.”
The brothers had outstanding seasons. Teddy finished the season with eight goals and 34 points riding on the right wing of the first line; Casey potted six goals and 21 points at right wing further down the depth chart.
Teddy recently received an invite to USA Hockey NTDP Evaluation Camp. He will battle for a spot on the 2023-24 USA Hockey NTDP U17 team.
In a Dec. 10 game against Exeter, Casey potted his first goal in prep hockey. The proudest person on the bench? Teddy.
“Everyone was excited for him,” Teddy said. “It was so cool to see. I was pumped for him, I was screaming and yelling. It was a really cool experience to see that and I know he’s going to keep it up.”
When the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, colleges began contacting Teddy. Next Jan. 1, colleges most likely will be dialing the phone number of Casey.
And while it’s unknown where either of the boys will play their college hockey, take this for what it’s worth — both parents went to Boston College. Scott played quarterback for the Eagles from 1994-98. He currently serves as an analyst for the team’s football radio broadcasts.
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“The big thing for both of these guys is just to focus on the process, the work, enjoying the experience of playing and having fun out there on the ice and that stuff will take care of itself,” McCann said. “They have the right approach, they have the right work ethic, which is the biggest thing you want to see out of kids.
“They’re both pretty talented players, so those opportunities will come for them.”
