Going undrafted, despite a 34-goal total in his final year of junior hockey, MacLean’s ties to the Capitals organization started immediately in rookie season of 1997-98, where he skated for former Washington head coach, Bruce “Butch” Cassidy, with the Jacksonville Lizard Kings of the East Coast Hockey League.

In addition to his stay in Jacksonville that season, MacLean also had brief auditions with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League and Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League, setting an early tone for what became a trend throughout his playing days.

“I like to think that I understand a lot of different situations because I had been in so many different ones over the course of my playing career,” said MacLean, who skated for 15 different teams over the course of 11 seasons in the pro ranks. “I know what these guys are trying to do and the pressure that they put on themselves.”

After the conclusion of the 2004-05 season, which he split between the Bears and Reading Royals of the ECHL while on a Hershey contract, MacLean realized that he had been bitten by the coaching bug for the first time.

“I had played most of the previous year in Reading, being under contract with Hershey and Reading. I had always had a prominent leadership role in my playing career, from junior on,” said MacLean, who captained three different ECHL clubs.

“I thought that I was getting older and my sights were no longer set on the NHL, and I really appreciated the leadership aspect. So, I went down there and tried to take note on the coaching aspect and see if I could convert my love of leadership to coaching.”

While beginning a head-coaching career in South Carolina on the heels of the perennial ECHL powerhouse’s third Kelly Cup title might seem like a tall challenge, one shouldn’t shortchange MacLean’s chances of overcoming obstacles, like he did so many times in his days of donning a hockey sweater.

“My job is to win hockey games, but I think it is equally important to develop good young hockey players and good young people. I want to come in and do the best job I can in South Carolina. I was fortunate to work under Jared Bednar last year (as an assistant coach); he was an exceptional coach at our level. I’m looking forward to carrying on that winning tradition.”

MacLean, quiet, yet insightful, often used the term “tradition” during our conversation, but I got the feeling that he has a deeper sense of the true meaning of that term than the average player. So, it’s not surprising that his “heightened sense of history” factored heavily into the Middleton, Nova Scotia native triggering the red light on his historic goal.

“To score the first goal in the history of that building was a real honor,” said MacLean who scored an AHL high 16 goals that season with the Bears. “It’s one of those moments that I knew that being in Giant Center that night, I understood how much tradition had come before us and we were about to embark on another era of that.”

Hershey coach Bob Woods’ decision to start the forward line combination of Jay Beagle, Steve Pinizzotto and Quintin Laing paid immediate dividends. The tenacious trio established what would become a first period trend, and set up prolonged footholds in the Pens’ defensive zone. 

“That’s what that line is all about, you start them for a reason,” Woods said. “You want them to go out there and set the tempo, and I thought they did. They were in their end the whole shift. It was a little bit of a momentum builder for us and we seemed to build on that.” 

According to Woods, controlling the play in the opening moments was a vital part of Hershey’s game plan. “The game plan in this building is always to come in the first 10 minutes and get the crowd out of it, ” Woods commented. “I thought we did that with the first couple of quick goals.  They’re a tough team and they didn’t quit all night right to the bitter end.” 

Hershey newcomer Keith Aucoin, one of the most prolific scorers in the AHL the last couple of seasons, netted the first goal of the game 1:36 into the contest. Aucoin echoed his coach’s sentiments about the importance of getting off to a quick start. “It was big; we sat around in the locker room for a while with the ceremonies and to go out there and get a goal in the first five (minutes) was real big,” Aucoin said. “It gave our team confidence and we never looked back after that.” 

The Pens cut the Bears lead to 4-2 fifty-two seconds into the second period, on a goal by Ryan Stone, which was the team’s second power play goal of the evening. The penalty killing woes were not unexpected, according to the Bears’ bench boss. “We changed things up a little bit (from the preseason) and there was a little bit of confusion. We’ll work out the kinks. Guys are getting used to each other and used to some different things that we are doing. There will always be a little bit of an adjustment.”

Mink, in his first game back in the Chocolate and White since being a member of Hershey’s 2006 Calder Cup Championship team, scored a goal in each period and also added a pair of assists to lead Hershey to the 8-4 win.  When asked what it felt like to return to Chocolatetown, Mink said, “Hershey is a home away from home for me. When I first came here three years ago, I immediately felt at ease. I grew up in a tourist town in Vermont, and Hershey has a lot of the same feel. My wife and I both love it here. I love the community and when you’re happy, you play better.  I think that’s what I experienced tonight.”