Mark Carlson can’t escape the Meehan family. And the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders president, head coach and general manager wouldn’t have it any other way.
In the early 1990s, Carlson, a former forward, was teammates with Scott Meehan for three years at UMass Lowell. This season, Carlson is coaching Scott’s son, Ben, an 18-year-old, two-way defenseman who is 102nd overall among North American skaters in Central Scouting’s midterm rankings for the 2020 NHL Draft.
“I’m very fortunate to have this opportunity,” Carlson said. “Scotty was a hard-working, rugged defenseman who made a great first pass. He was our captain, a good leader. He was a great teammate. And you see a lot of those qualities in Ben. He loves the game as much as his dad does. He’s very serious about his approach and very intense about his training.
“You have to credit Mom (Christina) for that, too. The way he handles himself as a person, he’s a great teammate and a great individual. It’s certainly evident that Mr. and Mrs. Meehan have done a great job raising Ben. It’s been a pleasure to work with him.”
Ben agrees with his bench boss’ assessment of him.
“My dad taught me to be reliable defensively and think defense first,” he said. “I know he was a solid, shutdown defender, and I can be the same, although I like to play offense a little more than he did. And my mom, she’s really caring. I learned from her to be a good teammate to every guy in the locker room.”
Ben learned another lesson from his dad that gave him an inside track to succeed with the RoughRiders — what to expect from Carlson in a hockey setting.
“My dad told me to never take anything for granted with Coach Carlson,” Ben said. “You have to earn everything. Nothing is ever going to be handed to you. You have to show up every day at the rink ready to go and with your best effort, whether it’s practice or a game. You have to be dialed in if you want to play for him, and you can never take a shift off. It’s awesome playing for him. He’s an unbelievable coach and pushes you every single day. He’s definitely gotten the best out of me and all of our guys. Everyone loves playing for him.”
Ben’s stat line proves his point. In 25 games this season, his first in the United States Hockey League, the 6-foot, 178-pounder from Walpole, Mass., has 18 points (8-10-18), the most among RoughRiders defensemen.
In addition to Carlson, Meehan credits his peers, particularly fellow blueliners Will Francis and alternate captain Jack Millar, and a trio of forwards — captain Jordan Tonelli and alternate captains Jack O’Leary and Max Sasson — for helping him thrive right out of the gate.
“I knew it was going to be a tough league to play in because the players are bigger, stronger and faster,” Meehan said. “The level of competition is high and you don’t have any cupcakes. Every team you play is a real good team. But what’s really helped me is playing with good teammates. All the guys play for each other, we all love each other, and we want to win for the boys. Everyone, from the start of the year, has bought in to that.”
Meehan is actually surprised how quickly he and his teammates have jelled on and off the ice, and he gives kudos to the second-year players for expediting the process.
“They did a good job of organizing a lot of things where all the guys would hang out, whether it was getting food somewhere or being together at the rink,” Meehan said. “We had plenty of player meetings, and those really seemed to help.”
Another contributing factor for Meehan’s success this season is he’s able to fully focus on hockey for the first time in his life without the distraction of school.
“Growing up, you enjoy hockey a lot more than school and always want to play hockey,” Meehan said. “I’m finally able to do that right now, and I’m enjoying it. It’s all you can ask for.”
However, Meehan is quick to point out how his experience at Dexter Southfield prep school, where he primarily played the last three years before trekking to Cedar Rapids, prepared him for the USHL.
“When I arrived at Dexter, I was like, ‘Wow! This is really fast. This is great hockey.’ And I had to adjust to that next level,” Meehan said. “I remembered that when I came out here. I had to do the same thing and get used to the next level.”
Playing for Dexter Southfield head coach Dan Donato (Dedham, Mass.) also benefited his development, especially when it came time to toil under Carlson.
“Coach Donato is another coach who’s hard on you, and you have to earn everything with him as well,” Meehan said. “It worked out really well that I got to play for Coach Donato before playing for Coach Carlson. I still talk to Coach Donato. I really appreciate everything he’s done for me.”
As for his skill-set, Meehan feels he improved his skating the most during his tenure at Dexter. He also gained more confidence as a player. And both of those fine-tuned traits were on display on the international stage last December, when the left-handed shooter suited up for the United States squad at the 2019 World Junior A Challenge.
“That was unbelievable,” Meehan said. “I especially appreciated it because I never got to wear the USA jersey before. Some of my teammates on that U.S. team have been fortunate enough to wear it previously. It was really cool to get to know all those guys. We also became really close in a short amount of time. We had a talented team as well, so it was a lot of fun.”
Meehan’s favorite moment was winning the bronze medal.
“It showed what our team was all about,” he said. “Losing in the semifinals was devastating for us, but we showed that we weren’t going to go home empty-handed. We still showed up that next day, even though we were coming off a tough loss, and found a way to get it done.”
Meehan will get to live out another dream this fall. After going to River Hawks games at his father and his coach’s alma mater growing up, he’ll at long last get the opportunity to play in them when he takes the ice for UMass Lowell.
“It was an easy decision when they offered me the chance to play there,” Meehan said. “I’m really excited.”
So is his dad.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “He’s definitely happy!”
@LeoScaglioneJr
