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Top 50 Canucks players of all time: #9 – Kirk McLean

Originally posted on Canucksarmy | By Lachlan Irvine | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 3:00 PM ET

Join us this summer as we count down the top 50 Vancouver Canucks players of all time! #9: Kirk McLean

The history of the Canucks has always been defined by the goalies who’ve manned the net. Gary Smith in the 70s and Richard Brodeur in the 80s gave their respective eras of teams their best chances to win, but never for long. It wasn’t until the late 80s that the Canucks found long-term stability for the first time, and it came from a stand-up goalie fans affectionately called ‘Captain Kirk’.

Drafted 107th overall by the New Jersey Devils in 1984, Kirk McLean made his NHL debut in 1985-86 and appeared in six games for over two seasons. Then, in the autumn of 1987, McLean was dealt to the Canucks alongside Greg Adams (not to be confused with another player named Greg Adams) in a package centred around Patrik Sundstrom – a move that would help shape Vancouver’s next decade of hockey.

In New Jersey, McLean had been one of a boatload of goalies in the Devils’ system, fighting to land the future #1 job. In Vancouver, McLean was handed the starting job immediately, starting 41 games; he would start no less than 40 games for the Canucks every season for the next 11 years.

In 1988-89, McLean became a true anchor of the Canucks when he won 20 games in 42 starts, earning the first Vezina Trophy votes of his career (enough for third place). That spring, he got his first taste of playoff action when the Canucks faced the Calgary Flames in the opening round. McLean started five games in the series, but in Game 7 ended up on the wrong end of Joel Otto’s kicked in overtime series winner.

As the Canucks of the early 90s grew into their peak, so did McLean. Many other netminders challenged him for the #1 job over the years: Steve Weeks, Troy Gamble and Corey Hirsch, to name a few. But McLean provided a foundation that the young Canucks needed to grow into back-to-back Pacific Division winners in ’92 and ’93, and helped push them past the first round of the playoffs in both of those seasons. The 1991-92 season was statistically the best of Captain Kirk’s career, as he won a league-leading 38 games, made the NHL All-Star Game, pitched five shutouts, and finished as the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy behind Patrick Roy. But 1993-94 is the year he and the rest of that Canucks core are obviously most remembered for.

The Canucks don’t get to the Stanley Cup Final that year without “The Save,” a perfectly timed, sliding pad stack to rob Calgary’s Robert Reichel in Game 7 overtime of their opening round series against the Flames. That stop is just as synonymous with their Cinderella run as Pavel Bure’s deke in double overtime later that night.

In Round 2 against the Dallas Stars, McLean outplayed both Andy Moog and Darcy Wakaluk to advance to the Western Conference Final. Against the Maple Leafs, McLean only got stronger, turning in back-to-back shutouts in Games 3 & 4 before winning the series in five.

But the absolute peak performance of McLean’s career came in Game 1 of the Final. Facing the President’s Trophy-winning Rangers in raucous Madison Square Garden, McLean put together a dazzling 52-save performance in a 3-2 OT win. His stymying of the Rangers set a precedent that the seemingly overmatched Canucks wouldn’t go quietly into the night, and set up the incredible series to come.

The Canucks’ heartbreaking loss in Game 7 coincided with the end of McLean and his teammates’ run of dominance; their first-round matchup versus St. Louis in 1995 would end up being the last series win of McLean’s career, and the Canucks’ last until 2003. As Vancouver transitioned from the Pacific Coliseum to GM Place, McLean struggled to recapture his form in a league that had become more reliant on butterfly goalies.

In 1997, McLean’s time with the Canucks finally came to an end when a new Canucks front office dealt him and Martin Gelinas midseason to the Carolina Hurricanes in a trade centred around former Devils teammate Sean Burke. McLean would bounce around the Eastern Conference from Carolina to Florida before retiring as a member of the Rangers in 2001.

Since retiring, McLean has been incredibly active as a member of the Canucks Alumni and a regular fixture at charity games and Canucks events around the province.

The Canucks would wander through the next decade looking for McLean’s replacement, during which time Vancouver became known as a “goalie graveyard” until Roberto Luongo saved the day in 2006. McLean left as the franchise leader in nearly every major goaltending category: 211 wins in 516 games played plus 20 shutouts provided the kind of stability that most NHL teams dream of even to this day.

Kirk McLean truly represented the last great era of stand-up goaltenders and one of the most successful and entertaining eras in Vancouver Canucks history.

Our previously ranked top 50 Canucks of all time:

#50 – Curt Fraser
#49 – Dave Babych
#48 – Martin Gelinas
#47 – Chris Oddleifson
#46 – Jannik Hansen
#45 – Ivan Boldirev
#44 – Gary Smith
#43 – Jacob Markstrom
#42 – Orland Kurtenbach
#41 – Harold Snepsts
#40 – Darcy Rota
#39 – Thatcher Demko
#38 – Geoff Courtnall
#37 – Dennis Ververgaert
#36 – Petri Skriko
#35 – Dan Hamhuis
#34 – Doug Lidster
#33 – Patrik Sundstrom
#32 – Brendan Morrison
#31 – Richard Brodeur
#30 – Sami Salo
#29 – André Boudrais
#28 – Kevin Bieksa
#27 – Don Lever
#26 – Bo Horvat
#25 – Brock Boeser
#24 – Dennis Kearns
#23 – Ed Jovanovski
#22 – Greg Adams
#21 – Cliff Ronning
#20 – JT Miller
#19 – Tony Tanti
#18 – Jyrki Lumme
#17 – Elias Pettersson
#16 – Alex Burrows
#15 – Alexander Mogilny
#14 – Mattias Ohlund
#13 – Thomas Gradin
#12 – Stan Smyl
#11 – Alex Edler
#10 – Todd Bertuzzi