50 Players, 50 Days: Michael Heneghan
April 17, 2020
Northeast Generals and Top Prospects defenseman Michael Heneghan led all NAHL defensemen in assists this season and ranked 4th in points.
During the current and unforeseen cancelation of the 2019-20 season, the players in the NAHL saw their seasons cut prematurely short. In some cases, players saw their junior hockey careers come to an end as well. However, the NAHL got together a decided to highlight some of those players, who were born in 1999 and were in their final season of playing junior hockey.
As a result, we present a new series entitled: 50 players in 50 days
50 players in 50 days will select 50 players from each of the 26 NAHL teams this past season that were born in 1999, are currently uncommitted, and deserve some recognition during their time spent playing and developing in the NAHL. Over the course of the next 50 days, we will take time out to look at their accomplishments, review their season, and provide some background on their NAHL careers. Players will be initially highlighted in alphabetical order by team. Enjoy!
Michael Heneghan, Defenseman, Northeast Generals
Rarely does a defenseman in the NAHL lead his team in scoring during the season, but that was the case this year for 21-year-old Northeast Generals defenseman Michael Heneghan.
The 5’11/170 lbs. Top Prospects defenseman from Niles, Illinois, made his final season of junior hockey his best in 2019-20 as he led the Northeast Generals in scoring as a defenseman with 37 points (3 goals, 34 assists) in 48 games played. His 34 assists was the most of any NAHL defenseman this season and his 37 point ranked 4th.
For his efforts, Heneghan was selected to and played in the 2020 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament for the East Division team, where he recorded two points in two games.
“Mick was an incredible addition to our team both on and off the ice. He is a great kid that works so hard to get better. He was one of the most skilled defensemen in the league on a night in and night out basis. He simply was a very effective weapon on the ice at all times to create offense, and he did that by playing great defense. He is a good skater with incredible elusiveness, and he makes a great first pass to set up our breakout. He also ran our power play and was our best penalty-killing defenseman. He really did everything for us last year playing about 27 minutes a night,” said Generals head coach Bryan Erikson.
“Mick is such a gamer. He is hard to play against and shuts down other team’s top guys and puts points on the board. He is going to be a very good NCAA hockey player. He was one of the most popular kids in our locker room too. The boys loved playing with him as they knew he was ready to battle every night.”
Heneghan previously played in the NAHL during the 2017-18 for the Lone Star Brahmas, WBS Knights and Amarillo Bulls. Prior to playing in the NAHL, Heneghan played his youth hockey in Illinois for the Chicago Young Americans.
