STANLEY CUP FINALS : McLean Deal Pays for Canucks

Kirk McLean’s world turned upside down that day nearly seven years ago when the New Jersey Devils traded him to the Vancouver Canucks.

“It was a sad moment because I had a lot of friends in New Jersey,” he said. “Being from the East Coast, from the Toronto area, I didn’t know much about Vancouver. It worked out in the long run. To this point, anyway.”

Thanks to McLean’s spectacular goaltending, the Canucks need three more victories to win their first Stanley Cup.

His 52-save performance Tuesday in the Canucks’ 3-2 series-opening triumph puts pressure on the New York Rangers to win tonight, before the series moves to Vancouver for Games 3 and 4.

“You’ve got to have confidence and the feeling you’re going to win, especially in the playoffs,” McLean said Wednesday. “Pat (Quinn, Vancouver’s coach and general manager) came up with a good saying in our first series, against Calgary: ‘Instead of being afraid to lose, don’t be afraid to win.’ We’ve taken that to heart.”

Quinn’s acquisition of McLean and Greg Adams for center Patrik Sundstrom on Sept. 15, 1987 was his first major trade. It was a gamble, and he initially was on the losing end. Sundstrom led the Devils to the semifinals in 1988, while McLean and Adams built respectable but unspectacular careers in Vancouver.

There was no sweeter night for them--or for Quinn--than Tuesday, when McLean put on a dazzling display and Adams scored the winning goal. Sundstrom has long since left the NHL and returned to Sweden.

“We weren’t sure if Kirk would turn out or not, and he had some up-and-down seasons for us,” Quinn said. “We’ve seen a great maturing in Kirk. He has developed real confidence in his style and his ability, and more important, we feel he can deal with the ups and downs of being an athlete.”

McLean has won 13 playoff games, 10 fewer than he won all season. His 23-26-3 record and .891 save percentage gave no hint of how well he would play this spring, that he could win three consecutive overtime games against the Flames and begin a 12-2 Vancouver run.

The Rangers came at him in waves Tuesday. McLean frustrated them time and again--and not with luck. He stopped a breakaway by Mark Messier in the first minute of the third period, with the Rangers pressing for a 2-0 lead; and he turned back successive quick shots by Esa Tikkanen, Steve Larmer and Stephane Matteau in overtime.

“I haven’t done anything different as far as my preparation,” said McLean, who has a 2.11 playoff goals-against average with a .935 save percentage. “Things didn’t go the way I wanted on the win side during the season. My other stats, I was pretty happy with, but the bottom line is winning.

“Things seem to be bouncing for me personally, but we’re really like two different teams. We’re different than we were during the regular season. We got too individual. We lost a lot of one-goal games because maybe guys were trying to beat (opponents) at the blue line. In the playoffs, we’ve changed that. We’re playing a better mental game, playing smart, and guys are really playing for each other. It’s a pleasure to watch from where I’m standing.”

It was a nightmare from the Rangers’ standpoint.

“You just keep shooting and get people in front of the net and hope that he can’t do that every game,” defenseman Brian Leetch said. “If he makes 52 saves a game, then obviously, we’re in trouble. But that’s probably not going to happen, and we just have to put more traffic in front and keep putting the puck on net.”

McLean is ready for whatever the Rangers throw at him.

“It’s tough to get here, and this may be the only chance I get,” he said. “It may be the chance of a lifetime, and we’re going to make the best of it.”

Hockey Notes

Ranger Coach Mike Keenan said the only change he plans tonight is “to convince Mr. McLean that it won’t happen again.” He also lamented his team’s power-play failures, the Rangers having gone 0 for 4 with 10 shots. . . . Ranger goalie Mike Richter, who faced 31 shots, blamed himself for the loss. “I didn’t come through as much as I could have,” he said. “You win and lose as a team, but you know as a goaltender that if I saved the second shot (a poke by Martin Gelinas), the game is over and we win.”

Ranger defenseman Kevin Lowe, who has a sore right shoulder, is questionable tonight. . . . General manager meetings Wednesday produced no rule changes. New King GM Sam McMaster attended his first session. “I just listened,” he said. . . . Commissioner Gary Bettman told the general managers that collective bargaining talks will resume after the playoffs.