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Kirk McLean

An Ice Hockey Wiki article.

Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Height
Weight 		6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
182 lb (83 kg)
Teams AHL
 Maine Mariners
NHL
 New Jersey Devils
 Vancouver Canucks
 Carolina Hurricanes
 Florida Panthers
 New York Rangers
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born June 26 1966 (1966-06-26) (age 43),
Willowdale, ON, CAN
NHL Draft 107th overall, 1984
New Jersey Devils
Pro Career 1986 – 2001

Kirk Alan McLean (born June 26, 1966) is a retired Canadian professional goaltender most known for his long and successful stint with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Drafted in the sixth round, 107th overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, McLean spent parts of his sixteen-year NHL career with the Devils, the Canucks, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Florida Panthers, and the New York Rangers. He has also suited up for the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League (AHL)

Presently, McLean is part-owner of the BCHL's Burnaby Express and does colour commentary for the Canucks' pay-per-view broadcasts.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

McLean played junior hockey for the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League. The New Jersey Devils drafted him in 1984 with their 6th pick (107th Overall), but he only appeared in six games over two seasons for the Devils before Vancouver Canucks' general manager Pat Quinn spotted a diamond in the rough and acquired McLean, along with Greg "Gus" Adams, for centre Patrik Sundström and the Canucks' 1988 fourth-round draft pick (Matt Ruchty), on September 15, 1987.

It was from there that McLean's career took off, as he set a number of franchise records for the Canucks, and appeared in NHL All-Star Games in 1990 and 1992. He was nominated for the Vezina Trophy in 1989, finishing third in voting, and again in 1992, when he finished second. In that 1991–92 season, he led the league in wins and shutouts, and was named the Canucks MVP for the second time (he had previously been honoured in 1990, as well) as he backstopped them to their first division title in seventeen years. He became known to fans as 'Captain Kirk,' in reference to the Star Trek protagonist.

His peak with the Canucks undoubtedly came during the 1994 playoffs, when he backstopped them to within two goals of the Stanley Cup, displaying arguably the best run of goaltending in Canucks' history. A heartbreaking seventh-game loss to the New York Rangers eventually ended their run for the Cup, which McLean, along with Pavel Bure, team captain Trevor Linden, and Geoff Courtnall, led, but not before a series of personal highlights. These included a series-saving highlight-reel save in overtime against the Calgary Flames in the seventh game of the first round, as well as a 52-save performance in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Rangers, which Quinn would later quip ought to have been put on videocasette and used as a tutorial for young goaltenders.

Prior to the 1994 playoffs, McLean became a part of hockey history, albeit not in a manner he might have hoped. On March 23, 1994, he was the goaltender that Wayne Gretzky scored on for his 802nd career NHL goal breaking Gordie Howe's record of 801.

After several declining seasons for the Canucks, general manager Pat Quinn was dismissed by the club, and as new management took over, so too was McLean. He would be traded to the newly relocated Carolina Hurricanes along with Martin Gelinas for Sean Burke, Geoff Sanderson, and Enrico Ciccone on January 3, 1998. His tenure in Carolina was brief, as the Hurricanes swapped him later that season to the Florida Panthers for Ray Sheppard, on March 24, 1998.

He signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers on July 13, 1999, where he would end his career in 2001.

[edit] International play

Over the course of his career, McLean only represented Canada in international competition once. On March 28, 1990, McLean was among the players named to Canada's roster for the 1990 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships in Berne and Fribourg, Switzerland. For the tournament, McLean was given the role of starting goaltender, with Ken Wregget serving as his backup. With McLean in net, Canada went on to win its first four round robin games, including an 8–0 victory versus Norway in which McLean split goaltending duties with Wregget, thus clinching a spot in the medal round. As the round robin continued, Canada immediately added to their perfect record with a 5–3 victory over Czechoslovakia in which McLean stopped 25 of 28 shots for the victory. McLean started Canada's next game, a 3–1 victory versus Sweden, but was replaced in the second period by third string goaltender Bob Essensa who had yet to play in the tournament. Following a 3–3 tie with the Soviet Union, Canada clinched first place in the round robin. The game was one of McLean's best of the tournament, as he managed to keep the Soviet Union at bay during the third period in which they had a 14–2 margin in shots on goal. After suffering a 3–2 loss versus Czechoslovakia in the opening game of the medal round, Canada opted to start Bob Essensa versus the Soviet Union. However, this move backfired as Essensa let in four early goals before being replaced by McLean, who let in another three in a 7–1 loss to move Canada out of contention for the gold medal. In the final game of the tournament versus Sweden, Canada suffered a 6–4 loss and finished fourth overall for the tournament, missing out on their opportunity for a bronze medal that would have come with a win versus Sweden.

[edit] Awards and achievements

[edit] NHL awards

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Vancouver Canucks awards

[edit] League leader

  • NHL goalie games-played leader in 1989–90 NHL season (63).
  • NHL minutes leader in 1989–90 NHL season (3,739 minutes)
  • NHL wins leader in 1991–92 NHL season (38 wins) (tie)
  • NHL shutouts leader in 1991–92 NHL season (5 shutouts) (tie)
  • NHL playoffs shutouts leader in 1992 (Van.) (2) & 1994 (Van.) (4)
  • NHL playoffs goalie games-played leader in 1994 (Vancouver) (24)
  • NHL playoffs minutes leader in 1994 (Vancouver) (1,544 minutes)

[edit] Records

  • Vancouver Canucks' franchise games played leader (goaltender) - 516
  • Vancouver Canucks' franchise wins leader (goaltender) - 211
  • Vancouver Canucks' franchise shutouts leader, 20
  • Vancouver Canucks' franchise playoff games played (goaltender) - 68
  • Vancouver Canucks' franchise playoff wins leader - 34
  • Vancouver Canucks' franchise playoff shutouts leader - 6

[edit] Transactions

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SA SV SV% G A PIM
1983–84 Oshawa Generals OHL 17 5 9 0 940 67 0 4.28 — — — 0 0 11
1984–85 Oshawa Generals OHL 47 23 17 2 2,581 143 1 3.32 — — — 0 1 6
1985–86 Oshawa Generals OHL 51 24 21 2 2,380 169 1 3.58 — — — 0 0 8
1985–86 New Jersey Devils NHL 2 1 1 0 111 11 0 5.95 59 48 .814 0 0 0
1986–87 Maine Mariners AHL 45 15 23 4 2,606 140 1 3.22 1,316 1,176 .894 0 1 6
1986–87 New Jersey Devils NHL 4 1 1 0 160 10 0 3.75 73 63 .863 0 0 0
1987–88 Vancouver Canucks NHL 41 11 27 3 2,380 147 1 3.71 1,178 1,031 .875 0 2 8
1988–89 Vancouver Canucks NHL 42 20 17 3 2,477 127 4 3.08 1,169 1,042 .891 0 1 6
1989–90 Vancouver Canucks NHL 63 21 30 10 3,739 216 0 3.47 1,804 1,588 .880 0 3 6
1990–91 Vancouver Canucks NHL 41 10 22 3 1,969 131 0 3.99 983 852 .867 0 0 4
1991–92 Vancouver Canucks NHL 65 38 17 9 3,852 176 5 2.74 1,780 1,604 .901 0 5 0
1992–93 Vancouver Canucks NHL 54 28 21 5 3,261 184 3 3.39 1,615 1,431 .886 0 1 16
1993–94 Vancouver Canucks NHL 52 23 26 3 3,128 156 3 2.99 1,430 1,274 .891 0 4 2
1994–95 Vancouver Canucks NHL 40 18 12 10 2,374 109 1 2.75 1,140 1,031 .904 0 1 4
1995–96 Vancouver Canucks NHL 45 15 21 9 2,644 156 2 3.54 1,292 1,136 .879 0 2 6
1996–97 Vancouver Canucks NHL 44 21 18 3 2,581 138 0 3.21 1,247 1,109 .889 0 2 2
1997–98 Vancouver Canucks NHL 29 6 17 4 1,583 97 1 3.68 800 703 .879 0 0 0
1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 8 4 2 0 401 20 0 2.99 180 160 .889 0 1 0
1997–98 Florida Panthers NHL 7 4 2 1 406 22 0 3.25 207 185 .894 0 0 0
1998–99 Florida Panthers NHL 30 9 10 4 1,597 73 2 2.74 727 654 .900 0 0 2
1999–00 New York Rangers NHL 22 7 8 4 1,206 58 0 2.89 558 500 .896 0 1 2
2000–01 New York Rangers NHL 23 8 10 1 1,220 71 0 3.49 639 568 .889 0 0 0
NHL totals 612 245 262 72 35,090 1,904 22 3.26 16,882 14,978 .887 0 23 58

[edit] Playoffs

Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SA SV SV% G A PIM
1984–85 Oshawa Generals OHL 5 1 3 271 21 0 4.65 — — — — — —
1985–86 Oshawa Generals OHL 4 1 2 201 18 0 5.37 — — — — — —
1988–89 Vancouver Canucks NHL 5 2 3 302 18 0 3.57 167 149 .892 0 0 0
1990–91 Vancouver Canucks NHL 2 1 1 123 7 0 3.41 66 59 .894 0 0 0
1991–92 Vancouver Canucks NHL 13 6 7 785 33 2 2.54 364 331 .909 0 1 0
1992–93 Vancouver Canucks NHL 12 6 6 754 42 0 3.34 369 327 .886 0 3 0
1993–94 Vancouver Canucks NHL 24 15 9 1,544 59 4 2.29 820 761 .928 0 1 0
1994–95 Vancouver Canucks NHL 11 4 7 660 21 0 3.27 336 315 .893 0 1 0
1995–96 Vancouver Canucks NHL 1 0 1 21 3 0 8.57 12 9 .750 0 0 0
NHL totals 68 34 34 4,188 198 6 2.84 2,134 1,936 .907 0 6 0

[edit] International

Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SA SV SV% G A PIM
1990 Canada WC 10 4 3 1 457 27 0 3.54 — — — — — —
International Totals 10 4 3 1 457 27 0 3.54 — — — — — —


[edit] External links


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Kirk McLean. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


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