Al McLean (ice hockey) explained

Al McLean
Birth Date:3 August 1939
Birth Place:New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Height Ft:5
Height In:8
Weight Lb:172
Position:centre
Played For:North Dakota
Vancouver Canucks
Career Start:1961
Career End:1968
Draft:Undrafted

Alan McLean is a Canadian retired ice hockey Center who was an All-American for North Dakota and was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1963 NCAA Tournament.[1]

Career

McLean made a name for himself as a junior player for the Melville Millionaires. He was recruited to North Dakota in 1960 and began playing with the varsity club the following season. McLean led a fairly weak Fighting Sioux squad in goals (19), assists (19) and points (38) but the team finished 5th in the WCHA and was left out of the conference tournament. The following year the team coalesced around a core of upperclassmen with McLean again leading the team in scoring. This time UND tied Denver for the regular season WCHA title and McLean was on both All-WCHA First Team and an All-American. The fighting Sioux swept aside defending national champion Michigan Tech in the semifinal and, though they fell to the Pioneers in the final, UND had already earned a bid to the 1963 NCAA Tournament.

North Dakota dominated Boston College in the semifinal, winning 8–2 and found themselves facing Denver once more for the national championship. UND got off to a blistering start, scoring 5 goals in the first period and led 5-2 after 20 minutes. McLean scored his second goal of the game 5 minutes into the second and then the team held on for dear life as Denver attempted to erase the Sighting Sioux's advantage. The Pioneers scored three timed before the end of the match but they couldn't get the equalizer and McLean's tally held up as the game-winner. McLean was named as the Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

McLean left UND after the season to play for the Canadian National Team and traveled to the 1964 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria but did not see ice time due to an injury. He finished out his college career playing closer to home with the UBC Thunderbirds and later briefly appeared for the Vancouver Canucks before retiring. He was inducted into the North Dakota Letterwinners Hall of Fame in 1997.[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

  Regular Season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1958–59Melville MillionairesSJHL3821264720
1959–60Melville MillionairesSJHL3722173923
1961–62North DakotaWCHA2619193819
1962–63North DakotaWCHA3219345353
1963–64Canadian National TeamInternational
1964–65British ColumbiaCIAU
1967–68Vancouver CanucksWHL30112
SJHL Totals75 43 43 86 43
NCAA Totals58 38 53 91 72

Awards and honors

AwardYear
All-WCHA First Team1962–63[3]
AHCA West All-American1962–63[4]
NCAA All-Tournament First Team1963[5]

Notes and References

  1. News: Awards - NCAA (Championship) Tournament MVP . Elite Prospects. July 20, 2018.
  2. News: University of North Dakota men's hockey members in the Letterwinners Association Hall of Fame . North Dakota Fighting Hawks . January 6, 2021.
  3. News: WCHA All-Teams. College Hockey Historical Archives . May 19, 2013.
  4. News: 1962-1963 All-American Team . The American Hockey Coaches Association . June 21, 2017 .
  5. News: NCAA Frozen Four Records. NCAA.org. June 19, 2013.