Quick Facts
Biography
Kurtis McLean (born November 2, 1980) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre. He currently plays for the Graz 99ers in the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL).
Playing career
McLean grew up in the small northern Ontario town of Kirkland Lake and played Midget AAA hockey for the New Liskeard Cubs. He also had a short stint with his hometown team Kirkland Lake Legion 87's. He attended Kirkland Lake's local high school and was often referred to as "The Zack Morris" of KLCVI. After his 1996-97 season he was undrafted by the OHL, however, moved to the Trenton Sting of the Ontario Jr.A. Hockey League where he played three seasons. His exploits in Tier II Jr. hockey earned him a spot on the Norwich University (NCAA-III) roster the following year and became the first ever 4-time 1st team all-American in D-III history.
McLean was signed as an undrafted free-agent by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005 after playing four seasons at Norwich University. He was called up from the Wheeling Nailers during the 2005–06 season, playing 32 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. McLean finished second on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in points (54), assists (32), and plus/minus (+14) and was tied for third the team in goals (22). He helped the Penguins win the Eastern Conference Championship and finished third on the team in playoff scoring with 19 points (4g/15a).
On July 3, 2008, Kurtis signed with the New York Islanders. He was called up to the Islanders on January 19, 2009 and scored his first NHL goal, in his second NHL game, against Jean-Sebastien Giguere in a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on January 21, 2009.
On January 23, 2009, Kurtis was inducted into Hockey Heritage North. Town mayor Bill Enouy had this to say about Kurtis. "They will never be able to take that off his resume (no matter what happens in the future) he will always be a guy that played in the NHL".
On May 29, 2009, McLean signed a contract with Finnish club Lukko of the SM-liiga.
In the 2014–15 season, McLean continued to play in the Kontinental Hockey League, splitting the year between Finnish club, Jokerit, and Croatian club, KHL Medveščak Zagreb.
As a free agent on July 31, 2015, McLean ventured to the Austrian Hockey League, agreeing to a one-year contract with the Vienna Capitals of the EBEL. He left the Capitals during the season and signed a contract for the remainder of the 2015–16 season with EHC Wolfsburg of the German top flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga on February 16, 2016.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2000–01 | Trenton Sting | OPJHL | 47 | 37 | 38 | 75 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Norwich University | ECAC | 32 | 28 | 24 | 52 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Norwich University | ECAC | 29 | 25 | 23 | 48 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Norwich University | ECAC | 28 | 36 | 21 | 57 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Norwich University | ECAC | 26 | 29 | 26 | 55 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Richmond Riverdogs | UHL | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Wheeling Nailers | ECHL | 41 | 31 | 25 | 56 | 32 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 2005–06 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 32 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2006–07 | Wheeling Nailers | ECHL | 16 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 55 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 24 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 2007–08 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 76 | 22 | 32 | 54 | 58 | 23 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 8 | ||
| 2008–09 | Bridgeport Sound Tigers | AHL | 62 | 15 | 37 | 52 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | New York Islanders | NHL | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Lukko | SM-l | 42 | 18 | 25 | 43 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 2010–11 | Lukko | SM-l | 60 | 16 | 39 | 55 | 24 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | ||
| 2011–12 | SCL Tigers | NLA | 49 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 34 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | SCL Tigers | NLA | 46 | 7 | 34 | 41 | 26 | 17 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 20 | ||
| 2013–14 | Metallurg Novokuznetsk | KHL | 47 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Jokerit | KHL | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | KHL Medveščak Zagreb | KHL | 11 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Vienna Capitals | EBEL | 39 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Grizzlys Wolfsburg | DEL | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 2016–17 | Graz 99ers | EBEL | 54 | 17 | 33 | 50 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| NHL totals | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||