Blues goalie Jamie McLennan wasn't tired, even though at week's
end he had played eight games in 15 days. He was 6-2 with two
shutouts filling in for the injured Grant Fuhr, and his legs
still felt strong. This wouldn't have been a big deal for most
26-year-old pro athletes, but it was to McLennan. "I don't take
it [my stamina] for granted," said McLennan, who was 13-6-2 with
a 2.01 goals-against average on the season. "I also don't take
it for granted that I can get out of bed in the morning and walk
to the bathroom."
There was a time when he couldn't do that. In May 1996,
McLennan, then a soon-to-be free agent who had gone 17-27-9 in
parts of three seasons with the Islanders, checked into a
hospital in Lethbridge, Alberta, after a night of fever and
vomiting. He figured he had the flu, food poisoning at worst.
Then the attending doctor noticed black spots on McLennan's arms
and legs. "We better call your parents," the doctor said. "You
might not make it."
McLennan, who nearly died in 1996, has found new
life in St. Louis, starting for the injured Fuhr.
(David E. Klutho)
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McLennan had contracted bacterial meningitis, a potentially
fatal illness that inflames the membranes around the brain and
spinal cord, and he was put into intensive care. He couldn't
stop vomiting. His head swirled. When his parents, Darlene and
Stuart, arrived, he was too far gone to know.
McLennan was in a delirious state for five days before the fever
broke. Several more days passed before he could move about with
a walker and look at himself in the bathroom mirror. His eyes
were sunken deep into puffy, yellowed flesh. "I'll never forget
how I looked," says McLennan. "Like it wasn't me."
Yet he was recovering. After what Darlene calls "a dreadful,
dreadful few weeks," Jamie went home to Edmonton. On July 1,
1996, he began light weight training. Two weeks later St. Louis
signed him, and he spent last season with the Blues' American
Hockey League affiliate in Worcester. Though he played just 39
games, McLennan was exhausted after every appearance. "That was
hard to watch," says Blues defenseman Jamie Rivers, who was also
McLennan's teammate last year. "You wouldn't know how tough it
was on him from the way he's playing now."
McLennan has been playing like a No. 1 goaltender since Fuhr
went down with torn right knee cartilage on Feb. 26. At 6 feet
and a solid 195 pounds, McLennan thrives on a stand-up style and
good positioning. He will recede into the background again when
Fuhr returns at the end of this month. But McLennan has shown
that he can win in the NHL, and if Fuhr goes down again, the
Blues' Stanley Cup hopes won't go with him.
"To be honest, hockey is a bonus," says Darlene. "After what we
went through, it's marvelous just to have Jamie around."
Issue date: March 23, 1998
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