As announced on the Team 1040 morning show by Scotty Rintoul and Ray Ferraro, the next inductee into the Vancouver Canucks' Ring of Honour will be Captain Kirk himself, Kirk McLean. As anyone who remembers the '94 playoff run knows, this is well deserved.
The last of the great stand-up goaltenders, McLean arrived in Vancouver in 1987 in a trade with the New Jersey Devils. He spent the next decade in net for the Canucks, setting many franchise records in the process. He still holds the franchise record for regular season games played, regular season wins, playoff games played, playoff wins, and playoff shutouts. He's second in franchise history in regular season shutouts and second in playoff save percentage.
But what McLean will most be remembered for is the '94 playoff run, where he was fantastic. There was "The Save" where he robbed Robert Reichel in game 7, giving Pavel Bure the chance to score his famous overtime winner. Then there was game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, where he made a ridiculous 52 saves to give Vancouver the 3-2 victory. He finished the playoffs that year with a sterling .928 save percentage.
McLean is an iconic figure in Vancouver and is well deserving of this honour. His name and number will go into the Ring of Honour on November 24th when the Colorado Avalanche, who he currently works for as the goaltending coach, are in town.
One of my first hockey memories is my uncles all in my mom's house to watch the Cup Finals, and talking about how great Kirk McLean was. I found it hard to keep track of whose jersey was dark this time. But then, I was 7.
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