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CHICAGO (AP) — New York Islanders forward Kyle MacLean made his NHL debut on Friday night, and his father, John, had a perfect vantage point for the whole thing.
John MacLean is an assistant coach for the Islanders. He was behind the bench when Kyle MacLean took his first shift in the first period at Chicago, skating on a line with Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin.
Kyle MacLean was recalled from the minors when New York placed Casey Cizikas on injured reserve on Wednesday. Cizikas is considered week to week with a lower-body injury.
MacLean was sent out for a rookie lap by himself before the rest of the Islanders took the ice for warmups ahead of their matchup with the Blackhawks.
MacLean’s debut capped a long road to the NHL for the 24-year-old New Jersey native. He has 29 goals and 49 assists in 193 career games with the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, beginning in the 2020-21 season.
“I’m not going to change much. I’m just going to try to play a responsible game,” he told reporters on Thursday, “be a good two-way forward, work hard. … Just keep it simple, do the same thing I do down there, and try to be as effective as possible up here.”
Asked about having his father as an assistant coach with the Islanders, MacLean said it was “pretty cool.”
“Obviously a unique situation,” he said. “Not many people get this I guess, so definitely special. It’s cool seeing him around here, but, you know, we both, I guess it’s business now, right? We both have a job. He’s coach, and I got a job to do as well.”
John MacLean, 59, played in the NHL for 18 years, finishing with 413 goals and 429 assists in 1,194 regular-season games. He won the Stanley Cup in 1995 with New Jersey.
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