Al MacNeil
| Al MacNeil | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
MacNeil from 1963 Topps card | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
September 27, 1935 Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada | |||||||||||||||||||
| Died |
January 5, 2025 (aged 89) Calgary, Alberta, Canada | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 83 kg (183 lb; 13 st 1 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defence | |||||||||||||||||||
| Shot | Left | |||||||||||||||||||
| Played for |
Toronto Maple Leafs Montreal Canadiens Chicago Black Hawks New York Rangers Pittsburgh Penguins | |||||||||||||||||||
| Coached for |
NHL Montreal Canadiens NHL Atlanta/Calgary Flames CHL Houston Apollos AHL Montreal/Nova Scotia Voyagers | |||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1956–1970 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 1968–1977, 1979–1982, 2001, 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg){kind=link}
Allister Wences MacNeil (September 27, 1935 – January 5, 2025) 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. He went back into coaching in 1979, becoming the last head coach of the Atlanta Flames and then the first one for the Calgary Flames in 1980. As an NHL head coach, with the Canadiens and Flames, his career win-loss-tie total was 160–134–55. The final time he won a Stanley Cup was as the 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. In 2014, his coaching career was celebrated when he was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame.