Al MacNeil obit

Al MacNeil, long-time Flames coach, executive, dies at 89

 

He was not on the list.

Al MacNeil, a former Calgary Flames executive and head coach, has died at the age of 89.

MacNeil, the Calgary Flames’ first coach, died on Jan. 5, 2025, surrounded by his family in Calgary, the team announced on Monday.

MacNeil won four Stanley Cups over the course of his career on the bench and in NHL front offices.

He won his first as the rookie head coach of the Montreal Canadiens in 1971, his second and third cups as the director of player personnel for the Canadiens in 1978 and 1979 and finally his fourth as the assistant general manager of the Flames in 1989.

“Al was a great man who will be dearly missed by our organization,” said Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation chairman Murray Edwards.

“He was a long-term, loyal member of our Flames family ever since the team’s arrival in Calgary in 1980. He played, coached, and managed in both the NHL and AHL and had ultimate success while doing so.”

MacNeil was the last head coach of the Atlanta Flames and manned the bench for the Flames’ first two seasons in Calgary.

He spent many years as a member of the Flames hockey operations team and returned to the bench as an interim head coach for 13 games in the 2002-03 season.

MacNeil also won two Canada Cups, serving as an assistant coach on the 1976 and 1981 teams.

In his playing days, MacNeil was a rugged defenceman in the Original Six era. He played 524 NHL games for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

“The hockey world lost an icon today with the passing of Al MacNeil,” said Flames president of hockey operations Don Maloney.

“‘Chopper’ was a Stanley Cup champion and a Calder Cup champion, but most importantly, he was our friend and mentor. We will sincerely miss his company and our conversations.”

MacNeil is survived by his wife of 58 years, Norma, son Allister, daughter Allison, son-in-law Paul Sparkes, and grandsons Jack and Ben Sparkes.

Bborn in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia 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.

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. 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.

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. Ruel resigned 23 games into the season and MacNeil took the helm on December 3, 1970. The appointment made him the first native of Atlantic Canada to serve as a head coach in the NHL. 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.

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. The Canadiens rallied to qualify for the playoffs as the third seed in their division. 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. 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.

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. MacNeil was presumably impressed that Dryden won all these regular games, allowing only nine goals for a 1.65 goals against average (GAA). Another crucial choice was having rookie Rejean Houle shadow the Black Hawks' star goal scorer Bobby Hull. 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. 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. 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.

Under threat of death and in police protection during the playoffs due in part to the politically volatile environment in Quebec at the time, he resigned as head coach of the Canadiens. He stayed with the Canadiens' organization, moving to take over as general manager and head coach of their farm team, the American Hockey League affiliate, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, while the bilingual Scotty Bowman succeeded him as head coach of the Habs. 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.

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.

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. 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. 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.

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