Former National Hockey League defenseman and coach Al MacNeil of Sydney, Nova Scotia passed away at the age of 89 on Sunday according to the Canadian Press. MacNeil played 11 seasons in three National Hockey League from 1955 to 1968, and then coached in the NHL for five additional seasons. MacNeil will be best remembered as the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens when they won the Stanley Cup in 1970-71, and his time with the Atlanta/Calgary Flames organization where he was the head coach, assistant general manager, director of player development and professional scouting, and assistant coach from 1979 to 2006.
MacNeil played with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins. In 524 games, he had 17 goals and 75 assists for 92 points. MacNeil also had nine power-play points, two game-winning goals and one shorthanded point. MacNeil’s first game-winning goal came on Boxing Day, 1956 in a 1-0 Maple Leafs win over the Canadiens. MacNeil scored an all-Canadian goal from Tod Sloan of Pontiac, Quebec and Ron Hurst of Toronto, Ontario. MacNeil’s second game-winning goal came on December 22, 1963 in a 4-1 Chicago Black Hawks win over the Boston Bruins. MacNeil scored unassisted with two minutes and 25 seconds left in the first period to put the Black Hawks up 2-1 at the time.
When the Canadiens won the 1971 Stanley Cup, the Canadiens beat the Black Hawks in seven games. His career coaching record was 138 wins, 113 losses and 55 ties for a winning percentage of .541. MacNeil also won the 1978 and 1979 Stanley Cup with the Canadiens as their director of player personnel and the 1989 Stanley Cup with the Flames as their assistant general manager.
