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Title | Don McLean |
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| Inducted into the City of Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame January 2012 ; Athlete - Hockey / Baseball Pre-1970 Era ; |
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| Don McLean, a Niagara Falls boy, was an exceptionally gifted young athlete. He enjoyed playing baseball in the summer and hockey in the winter.
To Don, the skills of the game of hockey came naturally and the skating ability that he acquired made him stand out from the other players his age. He had a phenomenal minor hockey career while playing for Niagara Falls All-Star teams. He won many individual awards, played on a Niagara District Championship team at the Peewee level and an All- Ontario finalist team.
Don played in the Ontario Junior “A” Hockey League with the Niagara Falls Flyers from 1969 to 1972 and with the Sudbury Wolves in 1973 and 1974.
In the 1974 National Hockey League draft, Don was the second round, 35th overall selection of the Philadelphia Flyers, and in the same year was the seventh round, 101st selection of the New England Whalers in The World Hockey Association Amateur draft.
Don made his professional debut in the 1974-75 season with the Richmond Robins of the American Hockey League. In the summer of 1975, the Flyers traded him to the Washington Capitals, and in the 1975-76 season, he split his time between Richmond and the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the Central Hockey League. Throughout that season, Don impressed the coaches enough that he was called up to play in nine games with the Capitals. After Don’s first and only season as a Capital’s player, he joined the N.A.H.L.’s Johnstown Jets for the 1976-77 season. That would be the final year of his professional hockey career. Don’s hockey accomplishments were very gratifying and wherever he played, Don was proud to represent his hometown – Niagara Falls.
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