Jamie McLennan

Jamie McLennan
Born	(1971-06-30) June 30, 1971 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	199 lb (90 kg; 14 st 3 lb)
Position	Goalie
Caught	Left
Played for	New York Islanders St. Louis Blues Minnesota Wild Calgary Flames New York Rangers Florida Panthers
NHL draft	48th overall, 1991 New York Islanders
Playing career	1991–2008

Jamie McLennan (born June 30, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey backup goalie who is now an analyst for TSN, TSN Radio 1050, NBC Sports and NHL Network. He spent eleven seasons in the National Hockey League with the New York Islanders, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Calgary Flames, New York Rangers and Florida Panthers. His active playing career ended in 2008 after a year with the Nippon Paper Cranes of Asia League Ice Hockey.

Playing career

Following his career with the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes, he was drafted in the third round, 48th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. After multiple years playing for minor league affiliates in the American, International and East Coast Hockey Leagues, McLennan backed-up veteran Ron Hextall in the 1993–94 season. He was shaky with the Islanders however, winning only 17 games with a .889 Save% over three seasons. Struggling to find confidence, McLennan spent his last two seasons in the organization alternating between the NHL club and the minor leagues.

A few weeks after the 1995–96 NHL season had been completed, McLennan drove from Salt Lake City, Utah to Lethbridge, Alberta, on his way home to Edmonton. While visiting family in Lethbridge he fell ill. He went to a hospital on May 6, 1996, after feeling sick all evening, with immobility setting in. What was thought to be the flu turned out to be bacterial meningitis. After nearly dying that day, he spent the following week in intensive care. The Islanders declined to renew his contract at the conclusion of the season.

The St. Louis Blues signed him to a contract that summer and he spent the following season in the minors. He returned to the NHL as the Blues' back-up goalie for the 1997–98 NHL season. That year he was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL player who best displays perseverance and dedication to hockey. He was left unprotected by the Blues and joined the Minnesota Wild franchise in the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft. In his only season playing for the expansion Wild, McLennan set a career high in games played with 38, but finished with 32 losses and only 5 wins. Ultimately, he returned to the minors the following season.

The Calgary Flames acquired him in a trade at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, where he again played the role of NHL backup, but only winning 2 games that year. Despite his 2–11–4 record, he remained with the team as Roman Turek's backup. When Turek became injured in the 2003–04 season, McLennan was thrust into the starting role. He did not stay long however, as Miikka Kiprusoff, who had been acquired earlier in the season by the Flames, soon took over the starting job. Turek returned and management chose to keep him instead, thus traded McLennan to the New York Rangers in March 2004.

With the acquisition of free agent goaltender Kevin Weekes, the Rangers elected not to re-sign McLennan so he signed a contract with the Florida Panthers. He was brought back to Calgary in 2006, once again as backup to Miikka Kiprusoff. The following season, McLennan had a five-week stint in Russia with Metallurg Magnitogorsk before returning to Canada.

On April 21, 2007, McLennan entered a first-round playoff game versus the Detroit Red Wings, after Kiprusoff had allowed five goals. Immediately after entering the game, McLennan slashed Johan Franzén twice in the leg. Unable to control his emotions, McLennan violently slashed Franzén in the stomach a third time after play was stopped, thus earning a game misconduct. The NHL suspended McLennan for five games and fined coach Jim Playfair $25,000 and the team $100,000 for their actions late in the game. As he never played in the NHL again, he remained under suspension after his retirement.

On November 21, 2007, McLennan signed with the Nippon Paper Cranes of Asia League Ice Hockey. McLennan announced his retirement at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Coaching

On July 10, 2008, he was named as the director of goalie development and as a professional scout for the Calgary Flames. On June 23, 2009, McLennan moved into the coaching staff of the Flames after he was named as an assistant coach to Brent Sutter.

Broadcasting career

McLennan is a full-time NHL analyst on TSN and is a colour commentator for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Winnipeg Jets. He is also a co-host on Overdrive on TSN 1050 and TSN2.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season											Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	OTL	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1987–88	St. Albert Royals	AMHL		21	—	—	—	—	1224	80	—	3.92	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Spokane Chiefs	WHL		11	—	—	—	—	578	63	—	6.54	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Lethbridge Hurricanes	WHL		7	—	—	—	—	368	22	—	3.59	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Lethbridge Hurricanes	WHL		34	20	4	2	—	1690	110	1	3.91	—		13	6	5	677	44	0	3.90	—
1990–91	Lethbridge Hurricanes	WHL		56	32	18	4	—	3230	205	0	3.81	—		16	8	8	970	56	0	3.46	—
1991–92	Richmond Renegades	ECHL		32	16	12	2	—	1837	114	0	3.72	.891		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Capital District Islanders	AHL		18	4	10	2	—	952	60	1	3.78	.885		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Capital District Islanders	AHL		38	17	14	6	—	2171	117	1	3.23	.893		1	0	1	20	5	0	15.00	—
1993–94	New York Islanders	NHL		22	8	7	6	—	1237	61	0	2.84	.905		2	0	1	82	6	0	4.39	.887
1993–94	Salt Lake Golden Eagles	IHL		24	8	12	2	—	1320	80	0	3.64	.889		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	New York Islanders	NHL		21	6	11	2	—	1185	67	0	3.39	.876		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Denver Grizzlies	IHL		4	3	0	1	—	239	12	0	3.00	.906		11	8	2	640	23	1	2.15	.929
1995–96	New York Islanders	NHL		13	3	9	1	—	636	39	0	3.68	.886		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Utah Grizzlies	IHL		14	9	2	2	—	728	29	0	2.39	.911		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Worcester IceCats	AHL		22	14	7	1	—	1216	57	0	2.81	.905		2	0	2	119	8	0	4.03	—
1996–97	Worcester IceCats	AHL		39	18	13	4	—	2152	100	2	2.79	.903		4	2	2	262	16	0	3.66	.894
1997–98	St. Louis Blues	NHL		30	16	8	2	—	1658	60	2	2.17	.903		1	0	0	14	1	0	4.29	.800
1998–99	St. Louis Blues	NHL		33	13	14	4	—	1763	70	3	2.38	.891		1	0	1	37	0	0	0.00	1.000
1999–00	St. Louis Blues	NHL		19	9	5	2	—	1009	33	2	1.95	.903		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Minnesota Wild	NHL		38	5	23	9	—	2230	98	2	2.64	.905		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Houston Aeros	AHL		51	25	18	4	—	2852	130	3	2.74	.905		14	8	6	880	31	2	2.11	.929
2002–03	Calgary Flames	NHL		22	2	11	4	—	1165	58	0	2.99	.892		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Calgary Flames	NHL		26	12	9	3	—	1446	53	4	2.20	.910		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	New York Rangers	NHL		4	1	3	0	—	244	12	0	2.95	.876		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Guildford Flames	BNL		3	2	1	0	—	185	8	0	2.59	.941		7	4	3	385	13	0	2.02	.925
2005–06	Florida Panthers	NHL		17	2	4	—	2	678	34	0	3.01	.906		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Calgary Flames	NHL		9	3	5	—	1	533	32	0	3.60	.895		1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	—
2007–08	Nippon Paper Cranes	ALH		14	8	4	0	—	791	33	0	2.50	.921		10	6	4	599	23	0	2.30	.924
NHL totals				254	80	109	33	3	13,834	617	13	2.68	.898		5	0	2	133	7	0	3.16	.892

Awards and honours

Award	Year	Notes
WHL
East First All-Star Team	1990–91
Del Wilson Trophy	1990–91
NHL
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy	1997–98

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
• Jamie McLennan on Twitter