![]() Columbus set franchise record for wins and points in a season in 2005-06 with a 35-43-4 record, including a 23-16-2 mark during the second half of the campaign. The Blue Jackets made a significant impact in the Columbus community through its business operations and community service programs and have played to nearly 97 percent of capacity (18,136) with 115 sellout crowds in 205 regular season games at Nationwide Arena. Under MacLean’s guidance, the club quickly established itself as one of the most successful organizations in the NHL. As its top executive, he held the dual role of overseeing both the business and hockey operations of the franchise, as well as the management of Nationwide Arena. 11, 1998 as general manager, and a month later was named president of the organization. With so much experience in the National Hockey League, serving in a variety of administrative, personnel and coaching capacities, he was a natural fit for the fledgling Columbus Blue Jackets, and he joined the club on Feb. Only five teams – Detroit Red Wings (100), Colorado Avalanche (96), Philadelphia Flyers (90), New Jersey Devils (82) and New York Rangers (79) – posted more victories than Florida during that span. During those two campaigns, Florida posted a 76-59-29 record (.552). ![]() In the first round of the playoffs, Florida suffered three one-goal losses and was defeated by the New York Rangers in five games. The win marked his second-straight victory at the event. He earned a coaching nod in the All-Star Game for the second consecutive year and guided the East to an 11-7 win in the game played at the San Jose Arena. ![]() In 1996-97, he guided Florida to one of the fastest starts in NHL history as the club went 8-0-4 in its first 12 games and finished the season with a 35-28-19 mark. His work behind the bench earned MacLean The Hockey News Coach of the Year Award and recognition as a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. 2 seed Pittsburgh in seven games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals where they were defeated in four games by the Colorado Avalanche. The fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, Florida beat Boston in six games in the first round and then upset top-seeded Philadelphia in seven games to advance to the Conference Finals. In his first season as a NHL head coach, MacLean led Florida to a 41-31-10 record during the regular season. He left the organization to join Florida as director of player development and pro scout in 1994 and was named the second head coach in Panthers history on July 24, 1995. He served as Detroit’s assistant general manager, as well as the general manager of the Adirondack Red Wings, Detroit’s AHL affiliate, from 1992-94. The following year he left the coaching ranks to focus on the Red Wings’ player development efforts. He joined Murray in Detroit in 1990 and spent two years behind the Red Wings bench, including the 1991-92 season when the club captured the Norris Division title with MacLean serving as associate coach. He spent 35 games behind the bench and guided the Skipjacks to a 17-13-5 mark. He served as a Capitals assistant coach before being tabbed as the head coach of the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Baltimore midway through the 1989-90 season. After helping the Blues to first and second place finishes in the Norris Division in 1986-88, respectively, MacLean joined the Washington Capitals as an assistant coach to Bryan Murray prior to the 1988-89 season. Louis Blues as an assistant coach to Jacques Martin in 1985. He then spent a year as the head coach at the University of New Brunswick before joining the St. ![]() ![]() Upon graduation, he returned to Summerside where he taught high school and served as head coach of the Summerside Western Capitals Junior A hockey team. He began his coaching career as an assistant with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, while pursuing a master’s degree in educational psychology at the University of Western Ontario. He played for the Montreal Junior Canadiens and at the University of P.E.I., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in education. Doug MacLean was born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island on April 12, 1954. ![]()
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