5 random players you forgot were on the Carolina Hurricanes, Hartford Whalers
By Al Daniel
Rob McClanahan
A key cog on the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, McClanahan mustered four-plus NHL seasons on the heels of gold. The scorer of the medal-clinching goal saw action with three franchises, only one of whom he failed to fill the net with.
For the remaining three months of the 1979-80 campaign, McClanahan jumped on board with Buffalo, the team that drafted two years prior. He stayed in the Sabres system for all of the next season before moving on to the Whalers in the summer of 1981.
Of the organizations to employ McClanahan, Hartford kept him around the shortest for 17 games to start 1981-82. In fact, he spent the plurality of that season with the AHL’s Binghamton Whalers, tallying 29 goals in 27 outings. With the big club, he mustered a mere three assists.
By Groundhog Day 1982, his rights had been moved to the Rangers. There he was notably reunited with Olympic coach Herb Brooks and later with Lake Placid teammate Mark Pavelich. He also regained his NHL scoring groove, posting five goals for the Blueshirts by the end of his split New York-Hartford season. That alone doubled his career totals dating back to when he left Buffalo.
He stayed with the Rangers through 1983-84 before retiring, easily amassing more NHL action at each end of New York State than in Connecticut.
Ironically, McClanahan has another (albeit indirect) connection to the extended Whalers family. Hartford/Carolina owner Peter Karmanos once oversaw a major junior enterprise, the Ontario League’s Detroit Whalers, who in 1996-97 dressed goalie Nathan West for 16 games. In 2004, West changed positions and portrayed McClanahan in Disney’s Miracle.
Next. 5 random Maple Leafs players you forgot about. dark
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