Kirk McLean is a well-known name amongst Canucks fans.
Inducted into the Ring of Honour in 2011, McLean played 516 games with the Canucks, including posting four shutouts and a .928 save percentage during their 1994 Stanley Cup run. He reflected on that time, and the pride and gratitude he felt during his induction ceremony.
“It was just a wonderful feeling to be able to go out there and be acknowledged by the hockey club and the organization, and of course the fans. It’s definitely a moment I will never forget,” McLean said.
Even after retiring from professional hockey, McLean became an ambassador for the Canucks organization and continues to connect with the community. McLean believes in the importance and the impact of showing up across the province and has committed to doing as much as he can in support of those initiatives.
“I’m proud of the Canuck logo, and I bleed the colours, I always have,” McLean said. “The community has always been great to me and travelling the province to really remote places and spreading the word, and the Vancouver organization and what we do not just for the community of Vancouver or the greater Vancouver area, but the province of BC and even up to the Yukon.”
“We do a lot of community work with First Nations, so we get into rural communities and just the smiles on not just the kids’ face, but the adults’ face as well,” McLean said. “To have a little piece of [the] Vancouver Canucks get up there and appreciate them and do some stuff with the kids, whether [that] be on the ice or in the gym, it’s so rewarding.”
While McLean was originally from Toronto, he considers himself to be a Vancouverite, having spent the majority of his life on the West Coast. The significance of being a part of this organization and playing a pivotal role in some of its historic moments is something that he carries with a strong sense of pride.
“I’m lucky, I always will be a Vancouverite, Vancouver hockey player, and I consider myself a Vancouverite because I was 20 years old when I got here in ‘87 [and I] never looked back,” McLean said.
“I think it’s the best place to watch a hockey game in the league.”
Listen to this and much more as McLean joins Chris Faber on the latest episode of the Canucks Insider Podcast.
