Rob McClanahan doesn’t enjoy being celebrated. In fact, he’s “a pretty humble guy,” according to Charlie Moore ‘26.
“[We were] singing happy birthday to him on his birthday earlier in the winter, and he made us skate for it because he didn’t like it when we celebrated him very much,” goalie Fuzz Aafedt ‘25 remarked.
Assistant coach JT Wyman ‘04 humorously told another story from McClanahan’s birthday this year. “Our goalie coach, Clay Knutson, brought in a big bundle of balloons from party city and there were probably 15 or 16 balloons inflated with helium. He put them outside our coaches locker room, and one of the balloons said ‘it’s all about me, It’s my birthday,’ and Rob came storming in the locker room and was furiously asking who was responsible for this. He said if this was the players [doing], they’re going to get skated the whole practice,” he recalled.
His birthday wasn’t the first time McClanahan made his players skate extra. Lachen Reid ‘20, one of the captains of McClanahan’s first team in 2019-20, vividly remembers how McClanahan implemented his strategy. “The most important part of his coaching philosophy was speed. He just wanted us to play as fast as possible to the point where we would be doing drills like over speed drills in practice, where you’re trying to go through a neutral zone sequence in a certain pattern, but just try to go faster every rep … we would do a sprint between every drill,” he recalled.
McClanahan, one of the heroes of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, has long been influenced by that team’s coach, Herb Brooks. “He made me realize that I was capable of far more than I ever realized. It wasn’t without its sacrifice, without its hard work, but if you put in the time and effort, if you buy into the process, not the outcome, good things can happen. In this day and age where everybody’s looking for immediate results or the quick answer, sometimes you have to just go through a process, both good and bad, aches and pains, along with your successes to get through and actually grow,” he recalled.
Over his six years at the helm of the boys’ hockey program, he’s experienced thrilling highs, such as making the 2020 State Tournament, and devastating lows, including a two-win season last year that almost made him retire. During that two-win season, McCalanhan emphasized the importance of getting back up when you fall down. Aafedt took that message to heart. “He’s helped me keep pushing … being in there every minute last year was pretty hard on me, but he kept pushing me because he knew deep down that I had it in me,” he said.
The team underwent a turnaround this year that led to 19 wins, and McClanahan gives a huge credit to his assistants, all of whom (besides one retirement) have been with him since the beginning. “I have the best assistant coaches in the state of, and they’re younger, they relate to the kids probably better than I do and uh this is definitely not a dictatorship.They have the opportunity to speak up, to run drills and to coach the kids, and I think we make a good team because of that,” he said.
Wyman mentioned McClanahan’s role in the turnaround. “Watching the way that Rob motivated and inspired the kids, instilled good habits, and [a strong] work ethic into their everyday behaviors, and watching how he operates and how seriously he takes supporting the team and leading the team is something that’s gonna be ingrained in my memory forever,” he noted.
Jay Phillips, another one of McClanahan’s assistant coaches, recalled a memory that spoke to McClanahan’s selflessness. “When we made the state tournament in the 2019-2020 season, during the introductions, all the players get introduced to the skate out of the blue line and then the coaches get introduced, but the camera focuses mainly on the head coach. As the player introductions were wrapping up, before they were going to announce the coaching staff, Rob motioned to Tom Doyle, our other assistant and myself … to come over and stand right next to him [so that] all three of us would get on TV and on the big screen in the arena. He didn’t have to do that, but I think he just had that awareness about [it being a] special occasion.
Off the ice, McClanahan has instituted a balance of academics and sports. “Blake is a unique school. Its academic standards and the rigors that the students go through are really challenging at times … your parents don’t send you to Blake to play hockey here to play soccer, or to play other sports, they send you to Blake to get a good education, and if you happen to participate in sports that helps you balance out your life,” he remarked.
Captain Finn Woerner ‘25, a four-year veteran, hopes McClanahan leaves behind a positive legacy. “[He encourages us to] always work hard and do things right, not take advantage of the game, play hockey [how] it’s supposed to be played, and then be a selfless player, play with your teammates.” These thoughts were echoed by Joe Erickson ‘26. “He’s really inspired me to work my hardest,” he added.
Reid believes McClanahan has left a legacy of pride. “He talked a lot about taking pride in representing Blake hockey as a strong, respectful, and high-quality hockey program,” he remarked.
McClanahan, ever the coach, has one final message: “There’s always something more in the tape, and if you think you’ve given, your all, you haven’t … you can enjoy and soak in your successes, but don’t stop everything to [celebrate them].”
Six years as a head coach, one state tournament, and dozens of players impacted later, McClanahan, who always wanted to focus on the process, has completed his.
