Defenseman Andrew McLean thrilled to be with surging Iowa Heartlanders

CORALVILLE - He was told very early this ECHL season that he was being traded.

Andrew McLean wasn’t necessarily stunned or peeved about leaving the Norfolk Admirals and heading to the Corridor and the Iowa Heartlanders. He was more curious.

“Well, I don’t know anything about Iowa, had no clue what was going on here,” he said.

Iowa Coach Derek Damon phoned McLean a short time later, and the defenseman’s mind was put at ease. He was sold.

“Coach Dames called me, and right off the bat there was a connection,” McLean said. “I was not used to having that good of a connection with a coach before. We had a very personal conversation. He was happy, he wanted me, was excited for me to come here. It was one of those things where it was ‘Oh, my gosh, I’ve got to get here as soon as possible.’”

He isn’t kidding. McLean rushed back to his apartment in Norfolk, packed up everything in about a half-hour’s time and hit the road.

“I did, like, 16 hours (of driving),” he said. “I drove all night, slept maybe three and a half hours, got back on the road, got here. As soon as I walked in, this place is insane. It’s top notch. I’m not used to this treatment. I’m not used to how amazing the coaches are, the staff, the trainers, the equipment (manager). It took me a for a loop. Here I am, I don’t know anything about Iowa. I show up, and it’s like an AHL organization. I couldn’t be happier here. I love it.”

And Damon and the Heartlanders love having the 29-year-old Michigan native around. He started Wednesday morning’s annual kids day game at Xtream Arena, one Iowa won over Toledo, 2-0.

It was the Heartlanders’ sixth consecutive victory.

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“When I got here, everyone welcomed me with open arms,” McLean said. “You go into the (locker) room and everyone is like brothers. No matter what you need, whether it’s a ride to the rink or someone needs to pick you up or something, everybody is always there offering everything. It’s incredible.”

Nothing ever has been given to McLean.

He played junior hockey in the NAHL, not the higher-level USHL. He played Division III college hockey at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, not Division I.

His professional career has seen him in the SPHL (a notch below the ECHL) and abroad in Glasgow, Scotland. Sort of vagabond-ish.

“I can talk for awhile about Drew, how good of a person he is,” Damon said. “He’s a really good person, fits into the culture that we really put an emphasis on this past summer and this year. He’s a really good human being, he’s positive every day, he’s for the team.

“Then on the ice, he’s got really good instincts. He knows when to pinch down the wall, and usually when he does, he is right with his instinct. He can make plays, he’s got a good stick. He’s a hockey player. You know when you see some guys, they’re just hockey players. That’s what he is, a hockey player. He loves it, he lives and breathes this game, and that’s the type of guy we want around here.”

McLean has a goal and nine assists in 17 games for the Heartlanders, who pulled within two standings points of Toledo for first place in the ECHL’s Central Division. Iowa has a 13-5-3-0 record, hosting the Walleye again Friday night at 7.

Defenseman Bogdans Hodass scored with 13 seconds left in the second period for Iowa, with Dakota Raabe adding an empty net goal with 1:28 left in the third. Goaltender William Rousseau picked up his second shutout this season, making 41 saves.

The Heartlanders were outshot in the game, 41-23.

“Toledo is a really good group,” Damon said. “We have to manage the puck (against them) ... They’re a really good test for us because they are guys who are really good with the puck. So we’ve got to be smart, manage pucks, make sure we’re getting pucks all the way in deep and that we’re playing above Toledo (positionally), and we’re just taking away time and space the best we can.”

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