NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. — The hockey world and many others are mourning the death of famed junior coach and Estevan native Ernie (Punch) McLean, who died May 8 at the age of 93.
McLean was killed in a single-vehicle collision in northwest B.C. He was the lone occupant of the vehicle. His death came just two days after a press conference in New Westminster, B.C. to launch a fundraising campaign to build a statue of McLean in front of the city’s arena.
McLean was born in Estevan in 1932 and became one of the most celebrated junior hockey coaches in Western Hockey League history through his tenure with the Estevan Bruins and later the New Westminster Bruins.
He was a talented hockey player who earned an invite to the New York Rangers’ camp as a 17-year-old. After he didn’t crack the Rangers’ roster, he returned to Saskatchewan to play for the Humboldt Indians of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
Two-time Memorial Cup champion
McLean later became the head coach of the Estevan Bruins in the Western Canada Hockey League (now the WHL). In 1971, he and general manager Bill Shinske moved the club to New Westminster. The Bruins won four straight WHL titles from 1975-1978 and back-to-back Memorial Cup titles in 1977 and 1978.
He remains eighth in games coached in league history with 1,067. It’s believed that more than 100 players he coached have made it to the NHL.
And in 1978 and 1979, he guided to Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Since news of McLean’s death broke late on May 9, tributes have been pouring in on social media.
“Ernie ‘Punch’ McLean was one of a kind – a legend of the game who gave everything to this province and to the players lucky enough to call him coach,” the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks said in a Facebook post. “Rest easy, Punch. Thank you for the memories, the lessons and the legacy you leave behind.”
Proud to be from Estevan
Patrick Singh, who is chairing the Ernie (Punch) McLean Legacy Society to build the statue to honour McLean, and who created a song, “The Ballad of Punch McLean”, said the coach always reflected fondly on his Estevan roots, and while McLean had a tough upbringing, he never complained.
“He was a survivor. He used to talk about his brothers, and everyone out here knows what he meant to the community,” said Singh.
When McLean dropped the puck for a ceremonial opening faceoff at a college hockey championship game earlier this year, he did so while wearing his Estevan Bruins’ jacket.
Singh said McLean epitomized the work ethic of the Estevan area.
“Me, being from the West Coast, it’s hard to figure what Estevan and the people are like, but Ernie was the perfect representation of what the good people of Estevan stand for. He was just a hard-working guy,” said Singh.
Campaign will continue
Singh said he knew of McLean for years and would say “hi” to him when they saw each other in the community. But it wasn’t until Singh started working on the song about McLean that they became friends who wound up meeting for lunch a couple times a week.
“He’d call me on a regular basis,” said Singh. “We talked to each other. I’d see him every day. If his car broke down, he’d call me. I probably spent more with him, honestly, than I did with my own kids.”
Singh loved McLean’s hockey stories and thought McLean deserved the recognition he received.
McLean still regularly attended hockey games in the Vancouver area, and Singh said fans clamoured for his autograph or to have a photo taken with him.
The statue, once it’s built, will be located outside of Queen’s Park Arena where the New Westminster Bruins played. The press conference May 6 went well, Singh said, and they have received a favourable response to the plan. They are moving ahead with their plans to have a statue.
“It was a press conference that Ernie, you could tell by the look on his face, that he appreciated it. It went over well and we’d like to thank everyone that was there for that, because he deserves it.”
He’s not surprised with the reaction of the sporting world and the general population since news of McLean’s passing broke.
“He was just the kind of a character that everyone knew. Even if they didn’t know him as that famous hockey coach, they just knew him as Punch or Ernie,” said Singh.
“You get what you give in the community, and Ernie was just a community guy. He was friendly with everyone regardless. He just always had time to talk to everyone. That was Ernie,” Singh added later.
Memories from Estevan
Norm Park, a long-time reporter in Estevan and a former editor of the Estevan Mercury newspaper, covered the Estevan Bruins while McLean was coaching the team. Park remained in contact with McLean after the 1971 move and recalled their last physical encounter in Estevan in the early 2010s.
McLean had returned to Estevan to see the Affinity Place arena shortly after it opened and to enjoy an Estevan Bruins’ hockey game. The two exchanged smiles as they approached one another near the concession stand during the first period intermission.
There were no handshakes or fist bumps, Park said, but rather what Park called a “good, old-fashioned Punch McLean greeting”. Park said McLean grabbed Park by the shoulders, put him in a headlock and started punching his forehead while both laughed.
“So good to see ya again Parksie,” McLean chuckled. “Still pumping out stuff nobody wants to read?”
Park said he reminded McLean that he had pumped out a lot of unreadable copy about Bruins of the past that appeared to have passed the coach’s smell test.
“‘Punch’ was always ready with a good quote for the media or a world of hurt for any Bruin opponent, but always in the spirit that dominates Canada’s game,” said Park.
Park expressed his sympathy to McLean’s family and many friends.
“We will definitely miss his huge personality but will recall our many positive moments with him, a man who lived his life to the fullest,” said Park.
“No O/T period for Punch. I always felt he’d go out on his own terms.”
