NHL Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Jamie McLennan
JMcLennan
Born June 30, 1971 (1971-06-30) (age 52)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Played for New York Islanders
St. Louis Blues
Minnesota Wild
Calgary Flames
New York Rangers
Florida Panthers
NHL Draft 48th overall, 1991
New York Islanders
Playing career 1991–2008

James Todd McLennan (born June 30, 1971) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender who is now an analyst for The Sports Network (TSN), TSN Radio 1050, NBC Sports and NHL Network. He spent eleven seasons in the National Hockey League with the New York Islanders (1993–96), St. Louis Blues (1997–2000), Minnesota Wild (2000–01), Calgary Flames (2002–04, 2006–07), New York Rangers (2004) and Florida Panthers (2005–06). His active playing career ended in 2008 after a year with the Nippon Paper Cranes of Asia League Ice Hockey. He is popularly known by his nickname Noodles because of his preference for eating homemade pasta instead of diner food on minor-league bus rides before away games.

Playing Career[]

Following a productive season with the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes in which Jamie backstopped the Hurricanes to the WHL Finals, he was drafted in the 3rd round (48th overall) by the New York Islanders in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. After a two and a half-year stint playing for the Islanders' minor league affiliates in the American, International and East Coast Hockey Leagues, he backed-up veteran Ron Hextall in the 1993–94 season, posting a winning record. Jamie spent the following two seasons with the Islanders organization, alternating between the NHL club and the Islanders' IHL affiliate.

A few weeks after the 1995–96 NHL season had been completed, he drove from Salt Lake City, Utah to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada on his way home to Edmonton. While visiting family in Lethbridge, Jamie fell ill and went to a hospital on May 6, 1996 after feeling sick all evening with immobility setting in and what was thought to be the flu turned out to be bacterial meningitis. After nearly dying that day, he spent the following week in intensive care. The Islanders declined to renew his contract on July 1st.

On July 15, 1996, the St. Louis Blues signed Jamie to a contract as a free agent. After a relatively quick recovery he spent the following season in the AHL. Jamie returned to the NHL as the Blues' back-up goaltender for the 1997–98 NHL season. That year, he played 30 games, posting 16 wins, two shutouts and a 2.17 goals against average. He was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy which is awarded to the NHL player who best displays perseverance and dedication to hockey.

On June 23, 2000, Jamie was picked off the Blues' roster by the Minnesota Wild in the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft. After a season playing for the expansion Wild, he played the following season in the AHL.

On June 22, 2002, Jamie was traded by the Minnesota Wild to the Calgary Flames in a trade at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Calgary's 9th round choice Mika Hannula. With the Flames, he again played the role of NHL backup, achieving 2 wins in 17 decisions. Despite his 2–11–4 record, he remained with the team as Roman Turek's backup. When Turek became injured in the 2003–04 season, Jamie was thrust into the starting role. He played well, but as the season wore, Miikka Kiprusoff who had been acquired earlier in the season by the Flames, had taken over the starting job & Turek later returned. On March 6, 2004, Jamie was traded to the New York Rangers along with Blair Betts and Greg Moore in exchange for Chris Simon and the Rangers' 7th-round choice (Matt Schneider) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Following the season, he was signed to a contract by the Florida Panthers. During the cancelled 2004–05 NHL season, Jamie was signed as a free agent by the British National League's Guildford Flames on February 17, 2005. On July 6, 2006, Jamie was brought back to Calgary once again as backup goaltender to Miikka Kiprusoff.

On April 21, 2007, in a playoff game against the Detroit Red Wings, he came in the game to relieve Kiprusoff, who had given up 5 goals. Jamie was in the game for a total of 18 seconds before he slashed Red Wings forward Johan Franzen twice in the leg. He was due to be assessed a minor penalty, but shortly after the play was stopped, he violently slashed Franzen in the stomach and was ejected from the game. He was suspended 5 games for the incident and the Flames lost Game 6 the next day. Coach Jim Playfair and the Flames organization were also heavily fined, in part because the NHL made actions late in games that were out of hand a particular point of emphasis. The incident was thought to be out of character for Jamie by stunned broadcasters Pierre McGuire and Eddie Olczyk. In his book, Jamie said that his initial slashes against Franzen were an effort to spark his team. He also admitted that he hit him in the stomach because he thought he was skating towards him to throw a retaliatory punch. Jamie wrote that he instantly regretted the decision and sent an apology to the Detroit Red Wings dressing room after the game. The following season, Jamie had a five week stint in Russia with Metallurg Magnitogorsk before returning to Canada.

On November 21, 2007, Jamie signed with the Nippon Paper Cranes of Asia League Ice Hockey. He announced his retirement at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Career Statistics[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1987–88 St. Albert Raiders Alberta Midget AAA 1224 80 0 3.92
1988–89 Spokane Chiefs WHL 11 578 63 0 6.54
1988–89 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 7 368 22 0 3.59
1989–90 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 34 20 4 2 1690 110 1 3.91 13 6 5 677 44 0 3.90
1990–91 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 56 32 18 4 3230 205 0 3.81 16 8 8 970 56 0 3.46
1991–92 Richmond Renegades ECHL 32 16 12 2 1837 114 0 3.72 .891
1991–92 Capital District Islanders AHL 18 4 10 2 952 60 1 3.78 .885
1992–93 Capital District Islanders AHL 38 17 14 6 2171 117 1 3.23 .893 1 0 1 20 5 0 15.00
1993–94 New York Islanders NHL 22 8 7 6 1237 61 0 2.84 .905 2 0 1 82 6 53 4.39 .887
1993–94 Salt Lake Golden Eagles IHL 24 8 12 2 1320 80 0 3.64 .889
1994–95 New York Islanders NHL 21 6 11 2 1185 67 0 3.39 .876
1994–95 Denver Grizzlies IHL 4 3 0 1 239 12 0 3.00 .906 11 8 2 640 23 1 2.15 .929
1995–96 New York Islanders NHL 13 3 9 1 636 39 0 3.68 .886
1995–96 Utah Grizzlies IHL 14 9 2 2 728 29 0 2.39 .911
1995–96 Worcester IceCats AHL 22 14 7 1 1216 57 0 2.81 .905 2 0 2 119 8 0 4.03
1996–97 Worcester IceCats AHL 39 18 13 4 2152 100 2 2.79 .903 4 2 2 262 16 0 3.66 .894
1997–98 St. Louis Blues NHL 30 16 8 2 1658 60 2 2.17 .903 1 0 0 14 1 0 4.29 .800
1998–99 St. Louis Blues NHL 33 13 14 4 1763 70 3 2.38 .891 1 0 1 37 0 0 0.00 1.000
1999–2000 St. Louis Blues NHL 19 9 5 2 1009 33 2 1.95 .903
2000–01 Minnesota Wild NHL 38 5 23 9 2230 98 2 2.64 .905
2001–02 Houston Aeros AHL 51 25 18 4 2852 130 3 2.74 .905 14 8 6 880 31 2 2.11 .929
2002–03 Calgary Flames NHL 22 2 11 4 1165 58 0 2.99 .892
2003–04 Calgary Flames NHL 26 12 9 3 1446 53 4 2.20 .910
2003–04 New York Rangers NHL 4 1 3 0 244 12 0 2.95 .876
2004–05 Guildford Flames BNL 3 2 1 0 185 8 0 2.59 .941 7 4 3 385 13 0 2.02 .925
2005–06 Florida Panthers NHL 17 2 4 2 678 34 0 3.01 .906
2006–07 Calgary Flames NHL 9 3 5 1 533 32 0 3.60 .895 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
2007–08 Nippon Paper Cranes ALH 14 8 4 0 791 33 0 2.50 .921 10 6 4 599 23 0 2.30 .924
NHL totals 254 80 109 36 13834 617 13 2.68 .898 5 0 2 133 7 0 3.16 .892

Awards & Achievements[]

Western Hockey League (WHL) Awards[]

  • East First All-Star Team (1990–91)
  • Del Wilson Trophy (1990–91)

NHL Awards[]

  • Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (1997–98)

Post-Retirement Career[]

On July 10, 2008, Jamie was named as the director of goaltender development and as a professional scout for the Calgary Flames.

On June 23, 2009, he moved into the coaching staff of the Flames after he was named as an assistant coach to Brent Sutter.

These days, Jamie writes a column for "The Hockey News" and is a studio analyst for the NHL Network and is a full-time analyst on TSN as well as a co-host on "Leafs Lunch" on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto.

Advertisement