One of the biggest mistakes in Calgary Flames history is allowing Al MacInnis to sign an offer sheet with the St. Louis Blues.
On Tuesday, the Flames face off against the St. Blues in Missouri. It’s the second time the two teams match up, and they’ll play again on Thursday in St. Louis for the final time this season.
This season, Jonathan Huberdeau has been the Flames’ best player, having a resurgence of sorts in his third season in red and orange. The Saint-Jerome, Québec native has a team-leading 18 goals and 32 points.
Flashback to the 1980s and part of the early 1990s, and defenceman MacInnis was the Flames’ best player. However, the Blues signed him through the daunted offer sheet on July 4, 1994, with the Blues sending Phil Housley, a second-round pick in 1996 (Steve Bégin) and a 1997 second-rounder (John Tripp) back in compensation. In hindsight, this wasn’t a good deal for the Flames.
Housley, who currently serves as an associate coach for the New York Rangers, played parts of two seasons with the Flames in his first stint with the team, scoring 24 goals and 95 points in 102 points before being traded to the New Jersey Devils for Tommy Albelin, Cale Hulse, and Jocelyn Lemieux. None of those three players were more than depth role players in their time with the Flames.
The same can be said about Bégin, who played six seasons in Calgary with 15 goals and 26 points in 159 games. John Tripp never played for the Flames, playing just 43 games in the National Hockey League in his mid-20s.
MacInnis, on the other hand, is one of the best players ever to don a Flame uniform.
Al MacInnis’ tenure as a Flame
The Flames drafted McInnis with the 15th overall pick in the 1981 draft, with the right-shot defenceman making his debut the following season, playing two games. He didn’t become a regular next season either, playing 14 games where he scored a goal and four points in 14 games.
After 19 games with the Flames’ minor league team in 1983-84, MacInnis became a regular for the Calgary Flames that season. In 51 games, he scored 11 goals and 45 points in 51 games. The following season, the right-shot defenceman scored 14 goals and 66 points in 67 games, earning a trip to his first All-Star game.
MacInnis’ strong play continued in 1985-86, where he scored 11 goals and 68 points in 77 games. The Flames also made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1986, with MacInnis scoring four goals and 19 points in 21 games as they fell to the Montréal Canadiens.
In 1986-87, MacInnis reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career, slapping 20 goals and 76 points in 79 games. He followed that up with 25 goals and 83 points in 80 games in 1987-88, as the Flames won the Presidents’ Trophy. They did the same the following season, where MacInnis scored 16 goals and 74 points. MacInnis’ goal-scoring may have dipped, but he was just saving it for the post-season.
The 1989 post-season was fantastic for the right-shot defenceman, as MacInnis scored seven goals and 31 points in 22 games as the Flames beat the Canadiens for their first and only Stanley Cup. MacInnis won that season’s Conn Smythe Trophy.
A new decade brought further success for MacInnis, as he scored back-to-back 28 goals seasons in 1989-90 and 1990-91, managing a career-high 103 points in the latter season. In the 1991-92 season, he scored another 20-goal season before dropping to 11 goals and 54 points in 50 games in his penultimate season. MacInnis’ final season as a Flame was in 1993-94, where he scored 28 goals and 82 points in 75 games.
Altogether, McInnis scored 213 goals and 822 points in 803 games with the Flames, along with 25 goals and 102 points in 95 postseason games. Shockingly, he never won a Norris Trophy with the team, although he finished as a finalist four separate times.
MacInnis’ career after Calgary
MacInnis turned 31 a week after the trade, but his play didn’t slow down by any means. From 1995-96 until 1999-2000, MacInnis was an All-Star. Moreover, he won his first Norris Trophy in 1998-99, scoring 20 goals and 62 points in 82 games. This was the only time MacInnis scored 20 or more goals with the Blues.
Moreover, MacInnis won a gold medal representing Team Canada in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, the second time he was able to represent his nation at the highest level.
The right-shot defenceman’s penultimate season was in 2002-03, where he scored 16 goals and 68 points in 80 games. MacInnis made the All-Star game for the 12th and final time that season and was once again a finalist for the Norris Trophy.
After suffering a detached retina early in the 2003-04 season, MacInnis’ playing days were over as he missed all but three games that season. The 2004-05 season was washed away because of the lockout, and he called it a career before the start of the 2005-06 season.
MacInnis was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. Famed for his slapshot, MacInnis’ #2 is honoured by the Calgary Flames (it should be retired) and is retired by the Blues. It’s unfortunate he didn’t return to Calgary, but his tenure with the team is unforgettable.
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