“I’m tighter with George so I’d probably go with him.” “I usually root for the underdog, but who really is the underdog here?” Markell paused. “But how can you not be thrilled for both of them?” “I’m probably a little closer to George than Brian, because I still meet George for lunch when he comes through Columbus,” Markell said. They don’t easily forget when they feel you’ve crossed them.” “You’ve heard the stories about how tough they were as players,” said one friend who asked his name not be used. There were hurt feelings when MacLellan succeeded McPhee as Washington’s hockey-operations leader, and both have declined opportunities to comment in stories about each other. That the two are texting back and forth is a good sign. We’ve been texting back and forth about how strange this is. Speaking to reporters on Friday, the Capitals’ GM said, “It’s kind of a weird experience. To a man, whether it be Galley, Markell or others I reached out to, they did not want to discuss the current relationship between MacLellan and McPhee. “What a great story,” several former teammates echoed. Most of all, there is amazement that, 40 years later, they will compete head to head for the Stanley Cup. An old friend of mine from Vancouver kept a VHS tape of some wild McPhee fights. They were nasty, unafraid to stand up to challenges. You underestimate him, that was your biggest mistake.”īy then, McPhee was the Hobey Baker winner as NCAA Player of the Year and MacLellan was an All-American. Brian was a heavyweight of the biggest kind. He could play forward or defence and he could have played both in the NHL. “People forget that when I got there, Brian was playing defence,” Galley said. Markell, who coached at Ohio State from 1994 to 2010, laughed. It cost us a chance at the national championship.”ĭid you ever see either one as an NHL executive? George got hurt at the end of the year, could barely practise. George and I on opposite sides, on our off-wings. “We had a great power play,” Markell said. Galley, who played 1,149 NHL games, was a freshman when they were seniors. During their one season together, he and McPhee were linemates - the veteran on the right side, the freshman on the left. Louis and Minnesota, was a senior when they arrived in 1978. Markell, who played 55 NHL games with Winnipeg, St. “They were gone when we finally won the national championship, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t important. “They were tough, demanding leaders,” Garry Galley added. That was the last time Brian MacLellan and George McPhee needed permission to impose their will during four years at the school.
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