Al MacInnis

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size = 100px
position = Defence
played_for = "CHL"
Colorado Flames
"NHL"
Calgary Flames
St. Louis Blues
shot = Right
height_ft = 6
height_in = 1
weight_lb = 204
nationality = CAN
birth_date = birth date and age|mf=yes|1963|7|11
birth_place = Port Hood, NS, CAN
draft = 15^th overall
draft_year = 1981
draft_team = Calgary Flames
career_start = 1981
career_end = 2004
halloffame = 2007

Allan "Al" MacInnis (born July 11, 1963) is a former hockey defenceman who played 23 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. He was born in Port Hood, Nova Scotia, Canada. [ [http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/ind07MacInnis.htm Legends of Hockey - Induction Showcase - Al MacInnis ] ]

MacInnis grew up in a fishing village on the west coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. He spent his teen years in Kitchener, Ontario, playing junior hockey and attending Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School.

In November 2006, he was appointed Vice President of Hockey Operations by John Davidson.

Playing career

MacInnis was drafted 15th overall by the Calgary Flames in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. He started playing for Calgary in 1981, winning the Stanley Cup with the Flames in 1989. In that year he also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs. During that postseason he racked up 7 goals and 24 assists in 22 games. He recorded 26 of those 31 points during a 17-game scoring streak. It was the second-longest such run in the playoffs and MacInnis' streak was the longest by a rearguard. MacInnis was the first blueliner to lead all players in points in the playoffs.

Early in his career with Calgary, he blasted a shot that shattered the goalie mask of St. Louis Blues' goalie Mike Liut. After the game Liut said that there were "two kinds of hard [shots] " in the League. "There's hard, and then there's "MacInnis" hard." Fact|date=September 2008

On July 4, 1994, the Flames, traded MacInnis (an upcoming free-agent), and a 4th round selection (Didier Tremblay) in 1997 to the St. Louis Blues for Phil Housley, a 2nd round selection (Steve Bégin) in 1996 and a 2nd round selection (John Tripp) in 1997. He re-signed as an unrestricted free agent with St. Louis for the start of the 1994–95 season.

One of the few defencemen to record over 1000 career points, MacInnis retired from the NHL on September 9, 2005, after missing nearly two seasons due to a combination of injuries and the 2004–05 NHL lockout which cancelled the entire season, but the factor that was most responsible was his eye injury. His last game was in October 2003, just three games into the season, facing off against the Predators in Nashville when he realized he was having vision problems again. It turned out that he had suffered a detached retina to the same eye that was injured by a wayward stick in January 2001. The previous injury had left him with a permanent blind spot and a need to wear a special contact lens. His jersey #2 was retired by the St. Louis Blues during a pre-game ceremony on Sunday, April 9, 2006, before the Blues faced off against the Edmonton Oilers.

Throughout his career, MacInnis was known most for his powerful slapshot. In the 1999–00 NHL Skills Competition he captured "Hardest Shot" honors for the fourth consecutive year and, overall, has seven such honors to his credit. MacInnis, one of the few NHLers to resist the new composite fiber sticks that came out during 2002–03, fired a shot during All-Star Week that season at 98.9-miles per hour with a Sher-Wood brand wooden stick. MacInnis said: "So much for technology, eh?"Fact|date=May 2008

MacInnis has the distinction of playing in two of the three games featuring the largest third-period comeback in NHL history. On January 26, 1987, the Calgary Flames came back from a 5–0 deficit in the third period to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6–5 in overtime. MacInnis scored a hat trick in the third period. Nearly 14 years later, on November 29, 2000, the St. Louis Blues came back from a 5–0 deficit to defeat the Leafs 6–5 in overtime again; MacInnis played another key role by recording a power-play goal in the third period.

On November 12, 2007, MacInnis was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Awards and achievements

* Played in 15 NHL All-Star Games - 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003.
* Max Kaminsky Trophy - 1983
*1988–89 - Conn Smythe Trophy winner
*1988–89 - Stanley Cup Champion
*1998–99 - James Norris Memorial Trophy winner
* 2002 Winter Olympics, Gold medal, Men's Ice Hockey
* His jersey number 2 was retired by the St. Louis Blues on April 9, 2006.

Records

* Tied for 28th place in all-time NHL scoring with 1,274 points.
* 12th on the all-time NHL assists with 934.
* 17th on the all-time NHL games played list with 1,416.
* 3rd among all-time NHL defensemen in points.
* 3rd among all-time NHL defensemen in assists.
* 3rd among all-time NHL defensemen in goals with 340 goals.
* Seven-time winner of the hardest-shot competition at the NHL All-Star Game.

Career statistics

International play

Played for Canada in:

*1990 World Championships
*1991 Canada Cup (Champions)
*1998 Winter Olympics
*2002 Winter Olympics (gold medal)

ee also

* List of NHL statistical leaders
* List of NHL seasons
* List of NHL players with 1000 points
* List of NHL players with 1000 games played
* List of NHL players

References

External links

*Legendsmember|Player|P200702
*hockeydb|3282