Al MacNeil

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Al MacNeil
230px
Al MacNeil from 1963 Topps card
Born (1935-09-27)September 27, 1935
Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 183 lb (83 kg; 13 st 1 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
Montreal Canadiens
Chicago Black Hawks
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career 1956–1970

Allister Wences MacNeil (September 27, 1935 – January 5, 2025) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach and executive. MacNeil played 524 games in the National Hockey League and was a four-time Stanley Cup winner. He was the first native of Atlantic Canada to serve as a head coach in the NHL. He won three Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens, first as the team's rookie head coach in 1971, and then back-to-back championships as Director of Player Personnel in 1978 and 1979. His last Stanley Cup was as assistant general manager of the Calgary Flames in 1989.

MacNeil won three Calder Cup Championships as the General Manager and Head Coach of the Montreal Canadiens' farm team, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, in 1972, 1976 and 1977. He was twice selected as American Hockey League Coach of the Year in 1972 and 1977. MacNeil was an assistant coach of Team Canada and won the Canada Cup in 1976 and also was an assistant coach in 1981.

Early life

Al McNeil was born on September 27, 1935 in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.[1] He grew up in the steel town and played his first hockey there. As a junior player in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, he moved to Ontario, playing in Weston, Toronto with the Weston Dukes, and moving downtown, he won back-to-back Memorial Cups with the Toronto Marlboros, in 1955, and then, as captain of the team, in 1956. As he got more experienced, he moved up the hockey skills ladder and won an Eastern Professional Hockey League Championship in 1960-61, as captain and also winning Defenceman of the Year with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens.

Professional career

He played parts of eleven seasons in the National Hockey League as a defenceman with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins.[1]

Upon retiring as a player, MacNeil turned to coaching the Montreal Canadiens farm team in Houston, Texas and later became General Manager and Head Coach of the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the American Hockey League, a top farm club of the Canadiens, guiding them to three Calder Cup Championships in 1972, 1976 and 1977.[2] After a successful debut, MacNeil became an assistant coach to Claude Ruel of the NHL Canadiens for the 1970–71 season on September 8, 1970.[3]

Montreal Canadiens

During that season, the Habs struggled for a good portion of the season, at one point in danger of missing the playoffs for a second straight year.[4] Ruel resigned 23 games into the season and MacNeil took the helm on December 3, 1970.[5] The appointment made him the first native of Atlantic Canada to serve as a head coach in the NHL.[6] His first game as coach went well, as the Canadiens won over the St. Louis Blues, including beating his future Calgary Flames Stanley Cup winning coach, Terry Crisp, who was a Blues centre at the time.[7]

Canadiens general manager, Sam Pollock, bolstered the club when he swung a major trade to net top-scoring left-wing Frank Mahovlich from the Detroit Red Wings on January 13, 1971.[8] The Canadiens rallied to qualify for the playoffs as the third seed in their division.[9] The Habs stunned the heavily favoured, league-leading, Boston Bruins in the opening round of the playoffs by beating them four games to three in the quarter final round.[10] They then defeated the Minnesota North Stars in the semi-finals. Unexpectedly, they made it to the Stanley Cup finals, playing the Chicago Black Hawks, and then beating them four games to three after having been behind in this series 3–2.[11]

Crucial to the Stanley Cup victory was MacNeil's decision to use rookie goaltender Ken Dryden in the playoffs despite Dryden having played only six regular-season games in 1970–71.[12] MacNeil was presumably impressed that Dryden won all these regular games, allowing only nine goals for a 1.65 goals against average (GAA).[13] Another crucial choice was having rookie Rejean Houle shadow the Black Hawks' star goal scorer Bobby Hull.[14] Houle held Hull to only one even-strength goal in the finals series.

An Anglophone, MacNeil had a challenging relationship with some of the team's francophone players, most notably Henri Richard.[15] He was the first Canadiens coach in recent memory who could not speak French. When MacNeil benched Richard during the final series against the Black Hawks, Richard publicly criticized the coach, calling him incompetent.[16] In game seven at Chicago, being tied at 2–2 after the first two periods, the Canadiens scored the winning goal early in the third to take the series and the championship, with Richard scoring both the equalizer and game-winner. MacNeil and Richard hugged at the end of the game, but that did little to patch up their differences.[17]

When he benched Richard during the playoffs, he received death threats and had to get police protection.[18] The death threats were taken seriously because of the politically volatile environment in Montreal only a few months after the October Crisis. After the Stanley Cup victory, he resigned in June as head coach of the Canadiens, with Sam Pollock replacing him with Scotty Bowman.[19] He stayed with the Canadiens' organization, moving to take over as general manager and head coach of their American Hockey League farm team, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs.[20] MacNeil won three Calder Cup Championships (1972, 1976, 1977) in six years with the Voyageurs. He later returned to the Canadiens, winning two more Stanley Cups as Director of Player Personnel in 1978 and 1979.[1]

On October 10, 2013, it was announced MacNeil had been named to the AHL's 2014 Hall of Fame class, alongside Bob Perreault, John Slaney and Bill Dineen.[2]

Atlanta/Calgary Flames

On June 7, 1979, MacNeil resigned from his position with the Canadiens to succeed Fred Creighton as the third-ever head coach of the Atlanta Flames.[21] He remained in that capacity through the franchise's move to Calgary. On May 31, 1982, general manager Cliff Fletcher removed MacNeil as coach, and promoted him to director of player development and professional scouting.[22] MacNeil won his fourth Stanley Cup in 1989 as Calgary's assistant general manager.

On December 10, 2001, MacNeil returned to head coaching duties after almost two decades when the Flames head coach at the time, Greg Gilbert, was suspended for two games for his role in a brawl in a game with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. When Gilbert was fired in the next season due to the Flames' poor performance, MacNeil once again assumed interim head coaching duties before Darryl Sutter was hired.

MacNeil was involved in professional hockey for more than 60 years as a player, coach, assistant manager, and director of hockey operations.

Personal life

Al MacNeil was married to Norma MacNeil,[23] and they had two children, a daughter Allison, and a son Allister. He had two grandsons from his daughter.

MacNeil is a member of the American Hockey Hall of Fame, the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame and the Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame. He held an honorary doctorate degree from Cape Breton University.

MacNeil died on January 5, 2025, at his home in Calgary, Canada at the age of 89.[23]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1954–55 Toronto Marlboros OHA 47 3 16 19 0 — — — — —
1955–56 Toronto Marlboros OHA 48 9 12 21 0 — — — — —
1955–56 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 1 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
1956–57 Rochester Americans AHL 13 0 4 4 35 — — — — —
1956–57 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 53 4 8 12 84 — — — — —
1957–58 Rochester Americans AHL 54 3 18 21 91 — — — — —
1957–58 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 13 0 0 0 9 — — — — —
1958–59 Rochester Americans AHL 69 4 13 17 119 5 1 1 2 17
1959–60 Rochester Americans AHL 49 4 16 20 44 12 1 2 3 12
1959–60 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 4 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
1960–61 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 60 6 20 26 101 14 2 4 6 21
1961–62 Montreal Canadiens NHL 61 1 7 8 74 5 0 0 0 2
1962–63 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 70 2 19 21 100 4 0 1 1 4
1963–64 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 70 5 19 24 91 7 0 2 2 25
1964–65 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 69 3 7 10 119 14 0 1 1 34
1965–66 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 51 0 1 1 34 3 0 0 0 0
1966–67 New York Rangers NHL 58 0 4 4 44 4 0 0 0 2
1967–68 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 74 2 10 12 58 — — — — —
1968–69 Houston Apollos CHL 70 1 11 12 70 3 0 1 1 0
1969–70 Montreal Voyageurs AHL 66 0 10 10 14 8 0 1 1 0
NHL Totals 524 17 75 92 617 37 0 4 4 67

Coaching record

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish Result
MTL 1970–71 55 31 15 9 - (97) 3rd in East Won Stanley Cup
ATL 1979–80 80 35 32 13 - 83 4th in Patrick Lost in First Round
CGY 1980–81 80 39 27 14 - 92 3rd in Patrick Lost in Conf Finals
CGY 1981–82 80 29 34 17 - 75 4th in Patrick Lost in First Round
CGY 2002–03 11 4 5 2 0 (75) 5th in Northwest Missed Playoffs
Total 306 138 113 55 0

References

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External links

Preceded by Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens
1970–71		 Succeeded by
Scotty Bowman
Preceded by Head coach of the Atlanta Flames
1979–80		 Succeeded by
Himself
Calgary Flames head coach
Preceded by
Himself
Atlanta Flames head coach
 Head coach of the Calgary Flames
1980–82		 Succeeded by
Bob Johnson
Preceded by Head coach of the Calgary Flames
2002–03		 Succeeded by
Darryl Sutter
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