[6] He grew up dreaming of playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and looked up to NHL star Bernie Parent as a role model.

Following the club's 1987 training camp, he and Craig Billington were sent to their AHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners, while Karl Friesen and Chris Terreri were chosen to backup Alain Chevrier.

[14] Leading up to the 1987–88 season, McLean was traded, along with Greg Adams and a second round choice (Leif Rohlin) in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, to the Vancouver Canucks for centre Patrik Sundström and the Canucks' second- (Jeff Christian) and fourth-round draft picks (Matt Ruchty) in 1988, on September 15, 1987.

[15] The deal constituted the first major transactions by newly appointed Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils general managers Pat Quinn and Lou Lamoriello, respectively.

Within the next two years, McLean was joined in the Canucks organization by additional franchise cornerstones Trevor Linden and Pavel Bure.

[18] McLean made 14 saves in his Canucks debut, recording an 8–2 win over the St. Louis Blues in the season opener on October 8, 1987.

Early in the season, he returned to New Jersey in a game against the Devils and recorded a shutout against his former team in a 4–0 Canucks win on October 20, 1988.

[22] He went on to receive his first Vezina Trophy nomination as the league's best goaltender and finished third in voting, losing to Patrick Roy of the Montreal Canadiens.

In 1989–90, McLean appeared in his first NHL All-Star Game in Pittsburgh and was the top goaltender at the Skills Competition by allowing the fewest goals against for the Breakaway Relay and Rapid Fire events.

)[37] In the subsequent 1992 playoffs, McLean recorded his first post-season shutout by stopping 33 shots in a 5–0 win against the Winnipeg Jets in game seven of the opening round.

Towards the end of the 1993–94 season, McLean became a part of hockey history in a game against the Los Angeles Kings on March 23, 1994, by allowing Wayne Gretzky's 802nd career NHL goal.

The goal broke Gordie Howe's record of 801, making Gretzky the all-time leading goal-scorer in NHL history.

Reichel had one-timed a pass from Theoren Fleury on a 3-on-1 when McLean threw out both his pads to make the stop and preserve the series.

With McLean out of position and Reichel having had an open net to shoot at, the red light even came on at the Olympic Saddledome to signal a goal.

[48] The Canucks went on to capture the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl as Western Conference champions to meet the New York Rangers in the Finals.

[49] Canucks head coach Pat Quinn commented after the game that McLean's performance should be sent "in an instructional package...to young goaltender[s].

[57] Vancouver failed to defend their Western Conference title of the previous year's playoffs, however, as the Chicago Blackhawks swept them in the second round.

He was sidelined for six weeks during the season, beginning in January 1996, due to a cartilage tear in his left knee that required arthroscopic surgery.

McLean was chosen to start in the opening series against the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche, but was pulled in favour of Hirsch during Game 1 after allowing three goals on 12 shots.

Pat Quinn was dismissed as general manager early in the campaign and was replaced by a four-man committee of team executives.

On the recommendation of newly hired head coach Mike Keenan, the management team dealt McLean to the Carolina Hurricanes on January 3, 1998.

In the seven-and-a-half seasons between the time McLean was traded away and Luongo was acquired by the Canucks, a total of 18 goaltenders played for the club.

[64] General manager Brian Burke, who succeeded the four-man committee, coined the term "goalie graveyard" during his time in Vancouver to describe the club's goaltending fortunes.

[65] McLean entered his first game with the Hurricanes with the NHL's worst GAA at 3.68, but helped his new club to a 4–1 win to record his first victory with Carolina.

[68] He went on to match his personal best 2.74 GAA in his first and only full season with the Panthers in 1998–99, playing in 30 games as Sean Burke's backup.

[69] The following off-season, he signed a two-year deal, worth an approximate $1.64 million with bonus incentives for games played, as an unrestricted free agent with the New York Rangers on July 13, 1999.

[75] McLean started Canada's next game, a 3–1 victory versus Sweden, but was replaced in the second period by third string goaltender Bob Essensa who had yet to play in the tournament.

The game was one of McLean's best of the tournament, as he managed to keep the Soviet Union at bay during the third period in which they had a 14–2 margin in shots on goal.

The organization made him the second inductee of the Canucks' Ring of Honour, commemorating the team's best players of all-time with plaques circling the Rogers Arena stands.

[90] Involved in thoroughbred horse racing, he co-owned Regal Discovery, a colt who won the 136th Queen's Plate in 1995, with his wife Lesley and her parents Anne and Ron.