Welcome back to The Hockey News – Vancouver Canucks site’s Coaches as Players series. Last time, we looked at defensive coach Kevin Dean’s Stanley Cup and Calder Cup-winning career with the New Jersey Devils, Atlanta Thrashers, Dallas Stars, and Chicago Blackhawks. This time around, we’ll be looking at Brett McLean’s time with the Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, and Florida Panthers.
Despite never playing for them at the NHL level, McLean was originally drafted by the Stars. Selected 242nd overall in 1997, the center went to the Stars in the ninth round of the draft. Originally from Comox, BC, McLean played for the Kelowna/Tacoma Rockets of the WHL for five seasons, before being moved to the Brandon Wheat Kings. He spent 1999 to 2002 with four different teams — the Saint John Flames (AHL), Johnstown Chiefs (ECHL), Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL), and Houston Aeros (AHL).
McLean made his NHL debut on December 10, 2002, playing for the Blackhawks against the New York Islanders in a 3–2 win for his team. His next game was a 4–3 win the day after against the New York Rangers. These were his only two NHL games of the season, however, as he spent the bulk of the year with the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL. With the Admirals, he scored 23 goals and 38 assists in 77 games.
In the 2003–04 season, McLean carved out a more permanent spot with the Blackhawks, skating in 76 games and spending only four with the Admirals. This season indicated the start of what would be a solid, consistent NHL career (ignoring the lockout of 2004–05). He nabbed his first career NHL goal in his first game of the 2003–04 season on October 16 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Only three games later, he posted a two-goal effort against the San Jose Sharks. McLean finished the season with 11 goals and 20 assists.
As mentioned before, due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, McLean and the rest of the league were forced to play elsewhere. While some pushed for AHL roster spots, McLean went to Sweden, where he played with the Malmö Redhawks of Elitserien. In 38 games, he scored seven goals and six assists as well as tallied 102 PIMs. In the Kvalserien SHL (a round-robin tournament used to determine whether the club would qualify to play in the SHL the next season), McLean tallied a goal and an assist in nine games.
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After the lockout, McLean joined the Avalanche for the first of two seasons during his career. He played a full 82-game season, scoring nine goals and 31 assists in this span of time. In Colorado’s conference semifinal loss, McLean played in eight games and tallied one assist. The season after, he scored 15 goals and 20 assists in 78 games. Since he joined the Avalanche in the 2005–06 season and left after the 2006–07 season, McLean just missed current Canucks head coach Adam Foote during his own NHL playing career.
In 2007–08, McLean moved on to the Panthers organization. In his first year with the team, he scored 14 goals and 23 assists in 67 games played, making this his most offensively-productive NHL season in his career in terms of his average point production pace. The year after, he posted seven goals and 12 assists in 80 games played in what would be the last NHL season of his career.
From then on, McLean headed back to Europe to round out his playing career, save for a 36-game stint with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL in 2011–12 in which he scored seven goals and 14 assists. Aside from that, he primarily played in Switzerland with SC Bern (2009–2011) and HC Lugano (2011–2015), as well as in Austria with Black Wings Linz (2015–2017). He also represented Team Canada at the Spengler Cup five different times, winning once in 2012.
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