NHLer Scores First Career Goal With His Dad Looking On From Behind The Bench

Very few people can say they've scored an NHL goal, and even fewer can say they scored one while their old man was standing behind the bench. New York Islanders rookie Kyle MacLean is one of the few who can say they've done this.

MacLean's dad is John MacLean, who had a lengthy NHL career of his own and has since had a second career as an NHL coach, mostly as an assistant. 

Since 2022, John has been an assistant with the Islanders, which just so happens to be the same organization his son has played in since the 2020-21 season.

Kyle MacLean has spent the last few seasons with the Bridgeport Islanders (they will always be the Sound Tigers to me, sorry) of the AHL, but was called up to the NHL this season and has appeared in a handful of games.

One of those games was the Isles' return to action following the All-Star break, which saw them on the road for a date with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In the second period with the score knotted at 1-1, MacLean was in the box to serve an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty dished out to New York's Bo Horvat after he dropped the mitts with Toronto's Simon Benoit.

The Isles corralled the puck as time ran out on the minor penalty, and forward Cal Clutterbuck sent a feed to MacLean in the neutral zone to send the rookie on a breakaway.

For MacLean's part, he showed some serious patience and slipped the puck past Toronto netminder Ilya Samsonov.

All with his old man watching from the bench.

That was a beauty, and it helped the Isles kickstart their run down the stretch with a big win over the Leafs.

However, you know who didn't love that goal as much as the MacLeans and Islanders fans did? 

Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe.

This is the National Hockey League," Keefe said. "That's Peewee stuff."

Can you blame him for being a little miffed about that one? He's 100 percent right in that most Peewee players would know to watch out for a play like that to spring the dude coming out of the box. 

Sure, it happens to the best of them, but the Leafs should have seen that one coming. I also can't help but feel like the lackadaisical effort from D-man Timothy Liljegren will not have done a lot to make Keefe forgive that one.

Still, it doesn't take away from what a beauty of a goal MacLean's first NHL tally was.

Plus, having your dad on the bench to see you score is about as special as it gets.