Feature Story

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Standing tall between the pipes

By Wally Shaver

Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

John McLean says he’s back to where he was last February as far as his hockey playing is concerned, although he may have grown another inch or so. As he stands right now, he’s probably the tallest high school hockey player in the state, standing 6 feet 8 inches tall. And he’s a goalie.

The senior at Minnehaha Academy has had his work cut out for him the past year. A native of Eagan, McLean, was attending the Academy of Holy Angels the past three years and playing hockey. The Stars cut him after try-outs last season and the junior goaltender had nowhere to play. The desire to continue playing the sport he loved was strong.

Eventually, he hooked up with an east-side St. Paul Junior Gold team known as Wessy’s Boys. They had a great year, finishing second in the state. Comprised of kids of a similar fate as McLean who were cut from their various high school programs at Cretin-Derham Hall, Hill-Murray and Holy Angels, Wessy’s Boys needed a goalie, so McLean found a home, and being the only goalie, a lot of ice time.

Then along came a Feb. 2, game vs Duluth. A goalmouth crash changed his life in an instant. The collision resulted in young John taking a knee in the head, dislodging his helmet. The blow sent him backwards, striking his exposed head, first on the goalpost then the ice. The ensuing concussion was severe enough that John missed the next five months of school beginning a rigorous rehab program through the Mayo Clinic just to get back to normal.

“I had nerve damage in my wrist, my spine was off and I was always dizzy because my balance was off. I was in a neck brace for two months and did a lot of eye exercises and balance exercises. I was in rehab basically all spring and summer,” said the young lad as he towered over me.

With his skates on he was 6’11". I’m 5’8” and I think I need to borrow his neck brace after looking up the entire time interviewing him.

“It was a long process. I was doing rehab everyday,” McLean said. “But I’ve got my strength back, my arm is perfect and the dizziness is gone. I was cleared by Mayo in September and that’s when I first touched the ice after a seven-month layoff.”

Seeing no future at Holy Angels and possessing a strong Christian faith, McLean met the requirements and transferred to Minnehaha Academy. In addition to his rehab, John completed his school course work to stay on track for his senior season of high school.

His growth spurt had basketball coaches inquiring about McLean, but “I always wanted to play hockey. My dad tried to get me to play out, but I liked the goalies. I was a big fan of Dominik Hasek growing up and I was always a fan of North Dakota. I’ve always liked the styles of Jordan Parise and Phillipe Lamoureux.”

The growth spurt came during his freshman season of high school – John shot up from 5’11” to 6’6” during the course of the school year. “It threw off my coordination. I was sleeping 12 hours a day. I’d sometimes fall asleep during the day or doing my homework,” he laughed. “It took a lot of adjustment.”

Same with his goalie equipment. McLean wears 37-inch goalie pads with a two-inch thigh raise. For the uninitiated to goalie gear, they are huge. But he needs them this big just to protect his legs.

Then there are his skates. His dad, John McLean Sr. said, “He outgrew everything. We checked all the obvious places for his skates in both the U.S. and Canada and couldn’t find a pair in his size. Robb Stauber suggested he get measured by the Nike Bauer rep, so they traced his foot and sent it to Montreal and made a special custom pair for him from scratch.” For the record, he wears a size 15 goalie skate.

“We just had another pair made because he’s just one shot away from a broken skate and no one carries his size,” said the elder McLean.

When he goes down in his flop style, his head is still clearly over the crossbar. When he’s down, there ain’t a whole lot of twine for a shooter to look at. “The goalie coaches have encouraged me to play a drop style, but that’s the way everyone plays right now.”

The Minnehaha Redhawks may be the benefactor of some really good things this season. The newest Redhawk summed it up best, “Minnehaha is awesome. I think this team could be a great team. We have a real good group of seniors. We did well up in Duluth last weekend in some scrimmages and I think it looks good for us. I’m just trying to do my best to help the team. I’m totally into getting back on track.”

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