Memory Lane with Jamie McLennan

 

When we last left you, DUBNetwork had chronicled a rather unique playoff experience, detailed through the eyes of the player who lived it all 30 years ago – goaltender Cam Moon.

Currently the play-by-voice of the Red Deer Rebels, Moon was genuinely enthusiastic and surprisingly definitive during our stroll down memory lane. The conversation spawned a DUBNetwork piece; The Cam Moon Rule? No Foolin’!

The article caught the eye of another Edmonton area-born goaltender, Jamie McLennan, who is well-known these days in hockey circles for his work on TSN.

“Noodles” was kind enough to accept our invitation to reminisce about his Western Hockey League career, including that 1989-90 post-season, where his Lethbridge Hurricanes faced off against Moon and the Saskatoon Blades in a memorable seven-game series.

During his two full seasons in Lethbridge, the Hurricanes finished atop the East Division standings by wide margins and twice advanced to the WHL Championship Final Series.

The road to Lethbridge
The Hurricanes acquired McLennan, along with forward Kevin St. Jacques, from the Spokane Chiefs midway through the 1988-89 WHL regular season. The pair left a young team in Washington to join a group in Lethbridge that was on the rise.

“It just felt like a dark time,” McLennan said. “The team in Spokane was not very good and we were young.

“We had Travis Green, Pat Falloon, Ray Whitney and Steve Junker – some really good players but we’re all 16 and 17 years old. I just remember driving into the rink with my billets that day and Strummer (general manager Bob Strumm) was on his way out and kind of waved to us.

“I walked into the dressing room and Kevin’s upset and he’s like, “were gone, we got traded.””

Time would reveal it was a pretty good deal for Lethbridge. The Chiefs acquired defenceman Paul Cheknita and goaltender Jeff Ferguson, while the Hurricanes picked up a couple of Edmonton area guys. McLennan became a National Hockey League goaltender and St. Jacques won the WHL scoring title in 1991-92.

Jamie McLennan (photo credit: HockeyDB.com)

“So, we flew to Lethbridge, I think the next day,” McLennan said. “I had played bantam hockey in Lethbridge, for one year while my dad’s company helped build the hospital. I played for the Val Matteotti Golden Hawks and became real good friends with Joel and Mike Dyck.”

That familiarity with minor hockey in Lethbridge made for an easy transition, according to McLennan. Joel was playing in Swift Current at the time and Mike was just back from Regina, so there was plenty of room at the Dyck’s house in Lethbridge.

“I had a history in Lethbridge,” McLennan said. “My very dear friends to this day, they’re like my second set of parents. I guess they literally had called the Hurricanes front office and said, “we want to billet Jamie, we’re close friends.”

‘Canes dominate East Division
Lethbridge was a middle-of-the-pack team the season McLennan arrived, going 27-39-6. But the group built a measure of confidence by knocking off the Prince Albert Raiders in the first playoff round. The Saskatoon Blades, who were playing host to the Memorial Cup tournament, swept the Hurricanes in the second round.

But Lethbridge returned with a vengeance during the 1989-90 campaign, compiling a 51-17-4 record for 106 points and a first-place finish in the East Division – 29 points ahead of the second-place Raiders.

“We pretty much owned the league that year,” McLennan said. “Well, the eastern side anyways. We were a really good team.”

The group was basically an offensive juggernaut, scoring 465 goals, second only to the Kamloops Blazers (484).

Wes Walz (photo credit: HockeyDB.com)

Corey Lyons led the team in scoring with 142 points, while Wes Walz, coming off a 104-point season and the WHL’s Rookie of the Year award, chipped in with 140 points. All told, five players scored over 50 goals, including Lyons (63), Kelly Ens (62), Jason Ruff (55), Mark Greig (55), and Walz (54). Bryan Bosch, who earned the Brad Hornung Trophy as the WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year, added 48 goals.

The scoring prowess is frequently lauded and while it overshadowed an effective blueline brigade in Lethbridge, the team was efficient on the defensive side. The Hurricanes surrendered a league-low 270 goals during the regular season.

The Hurricanes lost only twice on home ice that season, once to Medicine Hat and once to Saskatoon. Interestingly, when the Blades knocked off the ‘Canes at The Sportsplex on Dec. 6, 1989, Cam Moon was the goalie of record for Saskatoon, making 28 saves on the night in the 6-4 win. McLennan took the loss for Lethbridge, stopping 19 of 25 shots.

It was Moon’s first start for the Blades after being called up from the Nipawin Hawks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

“I remember the pregame meal that day for the Lethbridge game,” Moon said. “Some of the guys were saying, “Not a big deal Mooner, but they beat us by ten last time we played.” I really didn’t care, I had nothing to lose, no one expected us to win.

“Then we did win, and that kind of solidified my spot. I was getting thrown to the wolves.  But that’s the position. At this level you have a small window to impress.”

Playoff hijinx
The first-place Hurricanes earned a first-round bye for it’s finish atop the East Division standings, then watched on as Saskatoon swept the Medicine Hat Tigers. When the Blades waltzed into Lethbridge for the second round, the ‘Canes torched the visitors, 12-1.

Dusty Imoo played the first game in goal for Lethbridge, but McLennan says he recalls Blades goaltender Damon Kustra being injured. He said he was unaware of what was happening with the Blades, relative to the “loan arrangement” to dress Cam Moon after Kustra couldn’t go.

“I didn’t know that was happening,” McLennan said. “I played with Damon in Spokane, of all places. Kustra was there when I got called up for a few games as a 16-year-old.

“I wasn’t aware of the whole scenario with Mooner. To be honest I was oblivious to what was happening.”

In game two of the series, played in Lethbridge the night after the Blades had spent most of the day making the arrangements to bring Moon into the picture, a little controversy arose late in the contest.

With the Blades trailing 6-5 with 1:37 to play, head coach Terry Ruskowski asked referee Kevin Muench to have a look at Imoo’s goal stick, claiming the curve was illegal. Lethbridge was eventually assessed a minor penalty and the Blades tied the game on the power play with 14 seconds remaining.

While Imoo’s stick was being measured, the Blades were busy covering their behind, according to Vance Oliver in his game coverage piece for the April 2, 1990 edition of the Star Phoenix. Goaltender Trevor Robins gave Oliver the goods.

“I handed my stick to (defenceman) Collin Bauer for another one, because my stick was illegal, too,” Robins said. “But, that’s the way we got them from the manufacturer.”

(image credit: Lethbridge Hurricanes)

The entire episode didn’t sit well with the Hurricanes, who earlier in the day had given the Blades their blessing to solve its goaltending situation after the Kustra injury.

“Yeh, it rings a bell,” McLennan said of the stick measurement. “Wayne Simpson (Hurricanes general manager), who I love, was a very no-nonsense guy. He was like the perfect general manager that way because he just told you like it is.

“He wasn’t a very vocal guy. He wouldn’t come into the room and give us hell or anything, but I remember him being really choked.”

Lethbridge would serve its revenge on ice, winning the game 7-6 when Jason Ruff converted a breakaway nine minutes into the extra period. A couple nights later, the Hurricanes hammered the Blades 7-1 in Saskatoon to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“We had a pretty good team,” McLennan said. “I just remember them giving us a good run to the point where I think it scared the hell out of us.

“We were up 3-0, then all of a sudden it’s 3-3. The momentum swings, we were young players, we fought hard to get through that series, I’ll tell you that.”

McLennan got the nod from head coach Bob Loucks for game seven, as nerve-wracking a night as the young keeper had experienced in his brief WHL career. The game went into overtime and defenceman Neil Hawryluk ended the series in the Hurricanes favour when his point shot went into the Blades net off the goal post.

“I just remember how nervous I was going into game seven,” McLennan said. “We had basically pissed that lead away. We deserved to be in a game seven because we took our foot off the gas and they pushed back.”

“I remember going out for the overtime and trying to calm my mind down. Does that make sense? Sometimes you’re overthinking in the net. I was thinking like, don’t make a mistake, you know.

“Then Hawryluk, he was a right-handed shot, scored that goal. Yep, in off the post-game over. We’re moving on from that series.”

“Noodles” not diggin’ the road work
Blowing the 3-0 lead to the Blades cost the Hurricanes in another way. It meant more travel, that 6½-hour bus ride from Lethbridge to Saskatoon. Then, with the Raiders up next, fresh off its own seven game victory over the Regina Pats, there would be a couple of 7½-hour road trips.

Jamie McLennan, St. Louis Blues (photo credit: CBS Sportsline)

McLennan has some “special” memories of those long road trips.

“Oh yeah,” he sighed, “we used to stop along the way at these crappy little greasy spoon restaurants. I couldn’t handle the heartburn.

“You’re just eating junk, it’s like just constantly salisbury steak with mashed potatoes. So, as a goalie, in the first period, that stuff’s just coming up in your throat. That’s the reason why I started bringing a crockpot on the bus.”

Huh? A crockpot? You’ve got to think that would get the attention of the other players?

“Well, that’s where my nickname came from,” McLennan said. “I started making Kraft Dinner on the bus because I got sick of eating at all these little diners along the way.

“That’s basically the reason, that’s how I got “Noodles.””

After his teammates decided to dub him “Noodles”, the moniker would stick and it has certainly stood the test of time. But those prairie winters also had an impact on McLennan’s disdain for bus travel.

“My other recollections are those trips to Saskatchewan,” McLennan said. “We’d always go in and do say, a Saskatoon on Friday, Prince Albert on Saturday, then maybe Moose Jaw on Sunday afternoon.

“Our gear would be frozen because it would stay in the bus. If you thought it out as a veteran maybe you’d get a hairdryer to thaw your gloves out before the game. Like, you talk about junior hockey 30 years ago and how it toughened you up.”

The post-season workload
Lethbridge played it’s seven playoff games against Saskatoon over 11 nights.

Next up were the Raiders, who had dropped all eight regular-season games to the Hurricanes, outscored 53-23. That playoff round would also feature a brother act of sorts with head coach Terry Simpson behind the Raiders bench and ‘Canes general manager Wayne Simpson watching from the press box.

Surprisingly to some, the second-round match up went the distance, with seven games played over 10 nights.

And McLennan played them all.

“I do like going back over those playoffs,” McLennan said. “For me, at that time, hockey was everything, so it just felt like we played every day. I was fine with that.”

The Raiders were far more physical, compared to what the Hurricanes faced against Saskatoon, and there was bad blood at times. The Raiders walked into Lethbridge and won the first game, then led the series 2-1 after winning game three at home.

Lethbridge won games four and five, dropped game six, then treated the hometown faithful at the Sportsplex to another game seven victory on home ice.

The championship series
So, the questions begs, Noodles, after a pair of seven-game series to get out of the East Division, how did the team feel heading into the league final against Kamloops?

Jamie McLennan, Calgary Flames (photo credit: Vaughn Hockey)

“Well, that Kamloops team was pretty stacked,” McLennan said. “Len Barrie, Phil Huber, I think Dave Chyzowski, too. They were strong. And I don’t think we had lots left in the tank.”

Kamloops had cruised through the playoffs to that point. In the West Division, the teams played best-of-nine series and the Blazers dispatched both the Chiefs and Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-1 in each series.

The format for the league finale was the old 2-3-2 schedule, designed in part to reduce travel. If Kamloops was to win the first two games, the teams would head back to Lethbridge for games three, four, and five. With a split of the first two games, the third tilt would be played in Kamloops.

In the opener at Kamloops, McLennan started, but was replaced by Imoo. Lethbridge edged the Blazers 5-4 in overtime when Ruff tallied at the 1:19 mark.

“I remember kind of taking over for a while in the playoffs,” McLennan said. “But in the final, we rode Dusty.”

Dale Masson, Kamloops Blazers (image: 7th Inning Sketch)

The win meant the teams would play a third game in Kamloops before returning to Alberta. The Blazers won games two and three, then handed the Hurricanes two straight losses in Lethbridge to earn a trip to the Memorial Cup.

While the loss was disappointing, McLennan was able to view the defeat through a slightly different lens as well.

“One of my best friends, outside Joel and Mike Dyck, was Dale Masson,” McLennan said. “He backed up Hirschy (Corey Hirsch) in Kamloops.

“Dale was a good goaltender, a couple years younger than me. We used to teach together at Bill Ranford’s goalie school in the summer at Sylvan Lake. Coincidentally, Cam Moon taught with us, too.”

After graduating from the WHL, Masson won the 1999 CIAU National Men’s Hockey Championship with the University of Albert Golden Bears.

Tragically, Masson passed away in 2009 at 36 years of age during the Kananaskis 100-Mile Road Race, a team event featuring 10 runners per squad.

The 1990-91 WHL season
It was more of the same for the Hurricanes the next season, even though a few key players moved on from junior hockey. Lethbridge again finished atop the East Division standings with 45 wins and 96 points, good for an 11-point margin ahead of the second-place Medicine Hat Tigers.

McLennan was the clear number one goalie, appearing in 56 games, with newcomer Darcy Austin in the backup role.

“There was some turnover and we weren’t maybe as dominant offensively,” McLennan said. “But we had (Brad) Rubachuk with 64 goals and St. Jacques was very good, too.”

Lethbridge advanced to its second straight WHL championship final series but were swept by a Spokane Chiefs team that proceeded to run roughshod over everyone at the Memorial Cup.

“Yeah, the team that I came from,” McLennan laughed. “They made that mid-season move to push them over the top when they got (goalie) Trevor Kidd out of Brandon.”

While it wasn’t the way the Hurricanes hoped to end the season, the organization had plenty to celebrate in June at the NHL Draft. Seven players were chosen, the most from any WHL team and the list included five defencemen:

D – Jamie Pushor (Rd 2, 32nd: Detroit)
D – Darcy Werenka (Rd 2, 37th: NY Rangers)
G – Jamie McLennan (Rd 3, 48th: NY Islanders)
D – Shane Peacock (Rd 3, 60th: Pittsburgh)
F – Kevin St. Jacques (Rd 6, 112th: Chicago)
D – Terry Hollinger (Rd 7, 153rd: St. Louis)
D – Rob Puchniak (Rd 11, 234th: Washington)

Movin’ on up
McLennan was selected by the New York Islanders at the 1991 NHL Draft, a few weeks after being awarded the Del Wilson Trophy as the WHL’s Top Goaltender.

Jamie McLennan with the Bill Masterton Trophy (photo credit: NHL)

Of the 29 goaltenders who heard their name called that day, including Chris Osgood (54th) and Hirsch (169th). McLennan was the second keeper chosen.

McLennan appeared in 267 NHL games, mostly in a backup role behind the likes of Ron Hextall, Grant Fuhr, Roberto Luongo, and Miikka Kiprusoff.

At the end of the 1997-98 NHL campaign, McLennan was awarded the Bill Masterton Trophy, in recognition of his successful return to hockey after his near-death experience with bacterial meningitis.

Upon his retirement from the NHL, he joined the Flames front office, which eventually led to his current position in broadcasting with TSN.