The reigning Jack Adams Award winner, Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators, is looking for bigger and better from his team in 2013-14. MacLean won a Stanley Cup as Assistant Coach of the Detroit Red Wings in 2007-08 but is looking for his first as a National Hockey League Head Coach.
Paul MacLean – Player
MacLean played 719 regular season games in the NHL between 1980-81 and 1990-91 with the St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets and Detroit Red Wings. He was a seventh round pick by the St. Louis Blues at the 1978 NHL Entry Draft, 109th overall. However, Paul played just one game with the Blues in 1980-81 before moving on to Winnipeg where he played the bulk of his NHL career. MacLean would return to St. Louis for his final two years in the league.
Over his career, MacLean scored 324 goals and assisted on 349 for 673 points during the regular season. His best year offensively came in 1984-85 with the Jets. Paul scored 41 and assisted on 60 for 101 points. Because it was the Gretzky era, MacLean didn’t place in the top ten in either of the three categories. Today, numbers like that might nab a Rocket Richard Trophy and an Art Ross Trophy.
Over the summer, before the start of the 1989-90 season, MacLean was part of a somewhat famous/infamous trade, depending on the team. Paul and Adam Oates were traded to St. Louis from the Detroit Red Wings for Bernie Federko and Tony McKegney. Oates went on to greatness with the Blues while Federko retired after the 1989-90 season. McKegney played just 14 games for the Red Wings before being traded to the Quebec Nordiques.
Before turning pro, MacLean played one year of junior in the QMJHL with the Hull Olympiques. In 1977-78, Paul was third on the team in scoring and was teammates with Alain Vigneault on the Guy Trottier coached team. Vigneault was also drafted by the Blues and both are now coaching in the NHL with Alain going into his first year as head coach of the New York Rangers.
Along with his one game with the Blues in 1980-81, MacLean put in a full season with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the Central Hockey League. Paul was second to Joe Mullen in team scoring. The Golden Eagles reached the finals and won the championship, beating the Garnet ‘Ace’ Bailey coachec Wichita Wind in seven games.
Paul MacLean – Coach
MacLean began coaching in the IHL in 1993-94. He continued in the IHL and UHL until 2001-02, with exception of 1996-97 when he served as assitant coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.
With the Quad City Mallards of the UHL in 2000-01, Paul won his only championship to date as a head coach. The team finished first overall with 117 points over 74 games, 20 points more than the second place Asheville Smoke. The Mallards and Smoke met up in the Colonial Cup finals with Quad City winning in five games.
The following year, the Mallards once again finished first in the UHL with 116 points. However, they fell in the second round to the Muskegon Fury in seven games.
Between 2002-03, Paul was assistant coach to Mike Babcock. The first two years were with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. When Babcock moved to Detroit for the 2005-06 season, MacLean came along for the ride.
After making something out of nothing with the Ottawa Senators in 2012-13, his second year as head coach of the club, MacLean was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach. Paul became the second Ottawa coach to win the award after Jacques Martin was honoured in 1998-99.
Paul MacLean – Rookie Card
The Paul MacLean rookie card appears as number 386 in the 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee set. The card is valued at around four times the value of a common card but still under $1. The set is highlighted by the rookie card of Grant Fuhr.
However, it’s not MacLean on the front of the hockey card. The picture is of Winnipeg teammate Larry Hopkins. Ironically, that was Larry’s only appearance on a mainstream hockey card. He played just 60 games in the NHL between 1977-78 and 1982-83 with Toronto and Winnipeg, never getting his own piece of cardboard history.