A well-known former B.C. hockey coach who helped guide more than 100 players toward careers in the NHL died in a May 8, 2026 single-vehicle automobile accident south of Dease Lake.
Ernie “Punch” McLean, who coached the New Westminster Bruins to Memorial Cup wins in the 1970s, was the single passenger in a vehicle. He was 93.
Dease Lake RCMP report that a road maintenance worker located a car down an embankment and that a deceased man was nearby.
“Early investigation indicates the lone male occupant of the vehicle swerved and went off road and appears to have been ejected from the vehicle,” Dease Lake RCMP indicated in a statement.
McLean was the WHL Coach of the Year in 1975 and holds the record for second most coached WHL games at 1,067. His Bruins won the Memorial Cup in 1977 and 1978.
McLean travelled to northwestern B.C. just days after an event in New Westminister kicked off a campaign to erect a statue in his honour.
Aside from hockey, McLean was familiar in the Northwest as a prospector, drawning considerable attention when at the age of 77, he went missing in the Dease Lake area while surveying a gold claim on August 16, 2009.
Without food or water, he was found four days later following an extensive search.