McClanahan was a member of the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team that beat the Soviet Union en route to a gold medal at Lake Placid in 1980.

[1] McClanahan attended Mounds View High School and went on to play three seasons for the University of Minnesota, winning the 1979 NCAA national championship.

After representing the US at the 1979 World Championship tournament in Moscow, McClanahan joined the US Olympic team on a full-time basis and scored 34 goals in 63 exhibition games.

The culmination of McClanahan's amateur career came at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, when he scored five goals in seven games while helping his country win the gold medal.

McClanahan became a financial broker after retirement, beginning his career with Morgan Stanley in 1985, then working for Bear Stearns and Piper Jaffray, where he was managing director.