Flames salute marvellous Macinnis
Almacinnishasraisedthestanley Cup, wore Olympic gold, had his number retired by the St. Louis Blues and been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. And now he is Forever A Flame. The 48-year-old became the first member of the calgary flames special group monday during a ceremonial induction at centre ice prior to the game between the Flames and the Blues at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
While the former blueliner is no stranger to accolades, he had to admit Monday’s function touched his heart just as much as any of the other special occasions honouring him.
“This night is very special for a number of reasons,” he said, following the 20-minute ceremony, which included his wife Jackie and four children, Carson, Brian, Riley and Lauren. “The Calgary Flames gave me a chance to play in the NHL, showed patience in a young defenceman for a number of years that I needed to develop, needed work . . . and the way Cliff Fletcher was able to build a Stanley Cup champion.
“It’s the pinnacle of my career and it’ll always hold a huge part in my heart.”
The Flames won their only Stanley Cup in 1989 with Macinnis one of the prime driving forces as he racked up seven goals among 31 points in the playoffs. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player.
The vice-president of hockey operations for the Blues said it remains the single biggest accomplishment in his starry career.
“In ’89, we could play it any way you want,” he said. “We had the size, we had the physicality, we had the skill . . . our power play was 30 per cent every year. Combined with the goaltending Mike Vernon provided, we had all the ingredients to be a Stanley Cup team, which we were. The only regret is we probably should have won two or three more.”
Macinn is won a job with the flames for his incredibly hard slapshot and steadily developed into one of the finest defencemen in the NHL.
A seven-time NHL all-star, he won the Norris Trophy as the league’s outstanding defenceman for the 1998-99 season, helped Canada end a 50-year drought at the Winter Olympics in 2002, had his number retired by the Blues shortly after his retirement in 2003 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.
The 15th player taken in the 1981 draft, the native Nova Scotian’s career spanned 23 seasons, first with the Flames from 1981-82 through 199394 and then with the Blues. An eye injury forced him to retire, ending his NHL run with 340 goals among 1,274 points in 1,416 games.
Of those, he played 803 games with the Flames while racking up 832 points, his 609 assists still an all-time club record. His finest offensive season was 1990-91 when he slapped in 28 goals among 103 points. In 177 playoff games with the Flames and the Blues, he scored 39 times and added 121 assists.
When he finally hung up the skates, he stood third all-time among NHL defencemen in goals, assists and points. But he said he never would have gotten to Monday night if not for the faith of inaugural GM Fletcher or his first coach, Al Macneil.
“I was 18 and green as the pasture in July and I grew into a young man,” he said. “You learn some lessons along the way when you go through those years and you develop as a player and you develop as a person. Those memories and those years never go away.”
The Flames raised a special banner to the Saddledome rafters honouring Macinnis, but his No. 2 will remain available and that’s just fine with him.
“I hope my No. 2 Flames jersey will provide inspiration and an example to the next young man to wear it as a member of the Calgary Flames, an organization that means a great deal to me,” he told the crowd during a three-minute thank-you speech.