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Catching up with ‘Captain Kirk’

By Joe Leary
Published 11:37 PST, Mon January 13, 2025
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To fans of the Vancouver Canucks there are few players more admired and beloved than Kirk McLean.
And while his heroics in goal are what endeared him to Vancouver hockey fans for some ten seasons, it might be a surprise to learn that prior to dedicating himself to hockey, he was scouted by a European Soccer Club at the age of 12.
“I didn’t really know about that until a bit later in my teenage years when my mom told me,” he says.
“At the beginning I was a winger and then I lost my speed at some point and moved into the midfield.
I was more of a holding midfielder”.
Hockey was always in the picture and in his youth McLean benefitted from a full year of ‘Hockey School’.
“It was called ‘Agincourt Lions Hockey Academy’ at the Scarborough Arena outside of Toronto,
“It was all about learning the rules of the game and working on your skills and was fantastic for me to develop as a hockey player.”
McLean actually started as a Left Winger in his second year of House League.
“Halfway through the year we needed a goaltender so a teammate and I put our hands up and we rotated the position.
“I had some success and actually made the All-Star team and stuck with it after that.”
Growing up in Toronto as a Maple Leafs fan, Kirk McLean saw his goaltending heroes firsthand: Jacques Plante, Bernie Parent and Mike Palmateer.
“After the Hockey School, there was ‘Goalie School’ and I would always bug my dad to stick around.
“I was always interested in the full face masks and the paint jobs on them and there was this one instructor that had a brush cut and a puck machine and I thought that was really cool.
“I got really interested in the position but it was mainly because of Bernie and Jacques that I became a goaltender.”
Kirk McLean debuted with the New Jersey Devils in 1985/86 but a glut of quality net minders already in the organization didn’t allow him much opportunity there.
Things would change prior to the 1987/88 season when Vancouver Canucks General Manager Pat Quinn traded for him and BC native Greg Adams; in exchange for Patrick Sundstrom – as part of a rebuilding process.
The connection with Canuck fans was immediate and he was soon bestowed the affectionate moniker, ‘Captain Kirk’.
After a decade or so in net for the Vancouver Canucks, Mclean moved on; though leaving as the franchise’s all-time leader with 518 regular season games played, 211 wins, 20 shutouts (surpassed in 2009 by Roberto Luongo), along with playoff games played best of 68, including 34 wins and 6 shutouts.
And chief among the career highlights was an incredible run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers in 1994, resulting in a heartbreaking 3-2 loss.
30 years later, that loss still stings.
“Totally”, says the Vancouver Canucks ‘Ring of Honour’ inductee and member of the BC Hockey Hall of Fame.
“I still have a hard time watching any of the highlights; especially that Final Series.
“Watching is pretty tough and to be honest, I don’t think I’ve watched the whole series to the end”.
But despite coming so close to winning a Stanley Cup, the heralded goalie is grateful for a loyal and passionate fan base.
“I appreciate the fans because they were with us all the way and were so invested in what was going on,” he says.
“It was an amazing time, without a doubt and the fan base throughout BC and even throughout Canada – among those that were fans of the Vancouver Canucks – the city and this province have been unbelievable to me.
“It was amazing then and they still are to me to this day”.
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