CHICAGO — John MacLean was not always the parent ferrying his sons to and from hockey tournaments, but he does remember well the first time Kyle stepped on the ice as a kid.
“Probably yelling at the other fathers,” John MacLean joked Thursday after the Islanders finished practice. “Give them the puck, let’s go. There’s not much coaching going on, let them enjoy it for a little bit.
“He took to it. He’s always been around, whether it’s road hockey or whatever, he’s always had lacrosse, he’s always had his stick in his hand and just enjoyed playing sports.”
Kyle MacLean said that his dad has “always been a coach to me” but in reality, that was rarely literal.
John, tied up in NHL coaching gigs in New Jersey, Carolina, Arizona, San Jose and now Long Island, coached his younger son in Mighty Mites, but was mostly busy with work while Kyle made his way up the ranks.
That will make Friday night all the more meaningful when Kyle steps onto the ice for his NHL debut with the Islanders, with his dad standing behind him as one of Lane Lambert’s assistant coaches.
“It’s pretty cool,” Kyle MacLean said. “Not many people get this, I guess, so definitely special. It’s cool seeing him around here. I guess it’s business now, we both have a job. He’s a coach and I got a job to do as well. But it is special for sure.”
Father and son both made clear that the pesky matter of winning hockey games comes before this feel-good story.
The Islanders, in the midst of a winless road trip, very much need to come home with two points against the Blackhawks on Friday.
Kyle MacLean is here to do his best Casey Cizikas impression and fill in on the Islanders’ fourth line with Cizikas out.
He earned the distinction of being the team’s first call-up from AHL Bridgeport not through nepotism but via a standout training camp and a strong campaign so far in the minors.
After five years in junior hockey, signing with the Isles as an undrafted free agent and spending four seasons in the minors, he has taken the long way to the NHL.
“I always say if you want to do it, keep doing it,” John MacLean said. “No one’s ever come and said, ‘Hey buddy, get off the couch and come play with us.’ So if you’re playing, there’s an opportunity. If you love it, just keep playing and that’s kinda what he did.
“I was a first-round pick. It worked out for me. You get extra looks here and there. Kyle didn’t get extra looks all the time. He had to keep working, he had to keep going. He enjoyed it and he loves the competition, so it’s a credit to him more than anything else that he was able to stick with it.”
Compared to his dad, a three-time 40-goal scorer, Kyle is a completely different kind of player.
“You can tell he’s been around,” Cal Clutterbuck told The Post. “Understands the game from a fundamental perspective. He’s a smart player who can make reads that a lot of players his age and position struggle with. He does that well. He skates well, works extremely hard and he’s got the ability to make some plays, as well.”
Those are qualities the Islanders have shown themselves to prize in call-ups, with Simon Holmstrom being a prime example last season.
At the start of camp this year, no one would have said MacLean was in the running to be the team’s first call-up.
That distinction mostly went to William Dufour.
By early October, though, MacLean had put himself in the conversation, particularly if the Islanders needed a bottom-sixer.
Now, opportunity is knocking.
“I think I’m not gonna change much,” Kyle MacLean said. “I’m just gonna try to play a responsible game, be a good two-way forward, work hard. I’m not gonna change too much in my game. Just keep it simple, do the same thing I did down there [in Bridgeport]. Try to be as effective as possible up here.”
His mom, Adrienne, and brother, J.C., will be in the stands. And his dad will be right behind him on the bench, appreciating every step of the journey.
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