Messier | Francis | Stevens
Of all the defining moments in Al MacInnis' career, the first thing that generally comes to mind whenever his name is mentioned is his shot.
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| Al MacInnis won a Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames and played his last 10 years with the St. Louis Blues. (Getty Images) |
"It just exploded," said Liut, who retired in 1992 and is now a player agent. "You couldn't move your head out of the way. Lucky it didn't break my head."
It didn't do much either to change the initial reputation of the big kid from Nova Scotia, who spent countless hours as a youngster shooting pucks off a sheet of plywood against his dad's barn. The effort paid off eventually because MacInnis was drafted 15th overall in 1981 by Calgary, mostly because he could fire the puck harder than anyone else. "My junior coach at the time, Joe Crozier in Kitchener, was watching me shoot pucks at practice one day and he said 'kid, that shot's going to get you to the NHL some day," MacInnis said. "Sure enough, that gave me a chance."
MacInnis certainly made the most of it, evolving from a one-dimensional type into a complete defenseman who was one of the dominant players at his position until he retired in September 2005 with 23 seasons under his belt. The 1,274 points he scored in 1,416 regular-season -- third most among defenseman behind Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey -- testified to his offensive talents, and the 1999 Norris Trophy, which he won at age 35, and seven career All-Star selections reflected his ability to play in his own end as well.
"I've never seen a player come into the NHL and improve himself to the level he did," said Cliff Fletcher, who was Calgary's GM when MacInnis was drafted. "It was through determination, hard work and a real commitment that he made himself into one of the best."
MacInnis had some good fortune as well, breaking in with a talented and emerging Calgary team that was led by forwards like Lanny MacDonald, Joe Nieuwendyk, Gary Roberts and Joe Mullen. Those Flames were an explosive, high-scoring bunch that proved to be a good fit for the blue-liner's offensive talents, especially on what was an extremely dangerous power play that he quarterbacked. But in spite of putting impressive annual point totals, MacInnis tended to be overshadowed by the other stars on the team.
That all changed in 1989, when Calgary won its first and only Stanley Cup by defeating the Montreal Canadiens. MacInnis took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, scoring 31 points in 22 games, including at least one in each of the last 17. He became the first defenseman in history to lead postseason scorers.
"He was the key to us winning," said Terry Crisp, who coached the Flames that season. "People didn't realize what an amazing job he did. We lost his defense partner Gary Suter in the first round, so he was playing almost 30 minutes a night and it was always at a very high level."
MacInnis kept ramping it up after that that, putting together a 90-point season the following year and then a 103-point campaign in the one after that. He continued to average more than a point a game for the next three seasons, even though the Flames were in the early stages of a decline that ended up lasting more than a decade. But when the organization looked to shake things up, MacInnis became a victim, getting traded in 1994 to St. Louis for Phil Housley.
"I wanted to stay, but there was a lot of media pressure to make changes," MacInnis recalled. "My agent told me St. Louis was interested and so we initiated things by signing an offer sheet with the Blues. Calgary had 48 hours to match and keep me, but I guess it was more than they wanted to spend, so I got traded."
MacInnis remained with the Blues for the next decade until an eye injury early in the last season before the lockout effectively ended his playing days. MacInnis, whose No. 2 was subsequently retired by the organization, has remained with the Blues in an administrative capacity.
"There's not always a storybook ending to everyone's career, but I played a long time, probably 21 more years than I thought I ever would," MacInnis said. "In that sense, I was very fortunate."
