Al MacInnis

Allan "Al" MacInnis (born July 11, 1963) is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman who played 23 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. A first round selection of the Flames in 1981, the 15-time All-Star was most famous for having the hardest shot in the NHL. He was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff most valuable player in 1989 as he helped lead the Flames to a Stanley Cup championship and won the James Norris Memorial Trophy in 1999 as the top defenceman in the league while a member of the Blues.

MacInnis won two Ontario Hockey League (OHL) championships as a junior with the Kitchener Rangers, as well as the Memorial Cup national championship in 1982. Internationally, he was an all-star on defence as Canada won the 1991 Canada Cup, twice participated in the Winter Olympics. He was a member of the 2002 team that won Canada's first gold medal in 50 years.

He is known for his powerful slapshot and scoring skills.

Early life
He was born in Port Hood, Nova Scotia, Canada.

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.

When he was nine, MacInnis's father was one of only two men entrusted with looking after the local arena, allowing the younger MacInnis to collect pucks that sailed over the boards. As spring came around, MacInnis had gathered between 75-100 pucks to practice his soon-to-be signature shot, which he did by hitting pucks into old carpet he hung on the side of a barn.

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.

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 canceled 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 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. 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 a key role by recording a power-play goal in the third period.

Played in 15 NHL All-Star Games - 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003. His jersey number 2 was retired by the St. Louis Blues on April 9, 2006

On November 12, 2007, MacInnis was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year eligible.

Records

 * 33rd place in all-time NHL scoring with 1,274 points.
 * 14th place in all-time NHL assists with 934.
 * 24th place in all-time NHL games played list with 1,416.
 * 3rd among all-time NHL defencemen in points.
 * 3rd among all-time NHL defencemen in assists.
 * 3rd among all-time NHL defencemen in goals with 340 goals.
 * Seven-time winner of the hardest-shot competition at the NHL All-Star Game.

International play
Played for Canada in:


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