Al MacNeil

1971 NHL playoffs run

Canadiens general manager, Sam Pollock, bolstered the club when he swung a major trade to net top-scoring left-wing Frank Mahovlich from the Detroit Red Wings on January 13, 1971.^[16] The Canadiens rallied to qualify for the playoffs as the third seed in their division.^[17] The Canadiens stunned the heavily favoured, league-leading, Boston Bruins in the opening round of the playoffs by beating them four games to three in the quarter final round.^[18] They then defeated the Minnesota North Stars in the semi-finals. Unexpectedly, they made it to the Stanley Cup finals, playing the Chicago Black Hawks, and then beating them four games to three after having been behind in this series 3–2.^[19] Game seven was in Chicago, and at the end of the second period, the score was tied at 2–2 after.^[20] The Canadiens scored the winning goal early in the third period to take the series and the championship, with Henri Richard scoring both the equalizer and game-winner.^[21] MacNeil and Richard hugged at the end of the game, but that did little to patch up their differences.^[21]

Crucial to the Stanley Cup victory was MacNeil's decision to use rookie goaltender Ken Dryden in the playoffs despite Dryden having played only six regular-season games in 1970–71.^[22][23] MacNeil was presumably impressed that Dryden won all these regular games, allowing only nine goals for a 1.65 goals against average (GAA).^[24] Another crucial choice was having rookie Réjean Houle shadow the Black Hawks' star goal scorer Bobby Hull.^[25] Houle held Hull to only one even-strength goal in the finals series.^[20]

Coaching decisions

As a unilingual English-speaker, MacNeil had a challenging relationship with some of the team's francophone players, most notably Henri Richard.^[26] He was the first Canadiens coach in recent memory who could not speak French.^[27] When MacNeil benched Richard during the final series against the Black Hawks, Richard publicly criticized the coach, calling him incompetent.^[28] Because he benched fan-favourite Richard during the playoffs, he received death threats and had to get police protection.^[29] The death threats were taken seriously because of the politically volatile environment in Montreal only a few months after the October Crisis.^[30] Sports writers noted and praised MacNeil's calm coolness in the wake of Richard's comments.^[31]

After the Stanley Cup victory, there was a question of whether MacNeil would remain as the coach, especially after what seemed like a player revolt during the playoffs.^[32][33] He ended weeks of speculation from the press and the public when he resigned in early June as head coach of the Canadiens, with Sam Pollock replacing him with Scotty Bowman.^[34]

Nova Scotia (AHL)

He stayed with the Canadiens' organization, moving to take over as general manager and head coach of their American Hockey League farm team, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs.^[35] MacNeil won three Calder Cup Championships (1972, 1976, 1977) in six years with the Voyageurs.^[36]

In 1971–72, he led the Voyageurs, also known as the Vees, to a 41–21–14 record and their first Calder Cup championship, earning the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the league's outstanding coach. Nova Scotia returned to the Finals in 1973 and qualified for the playoffs again in 1974 and 1975 under MacNeil's direction.^[10]

MacNeil's Voyageurs posted two of the greatest back-to-back seasons in AHL history in 1975–76 and 1976–77, combining for 100 regular-season wins.^[10] On April 29, 1976, with over 6,000 fans at the Halifax Forum, the Vees took on the Hershey Bears in the deciding game of the Calder Cup finals. MacNeil's team won the deciding game in dramatic fashion, with an overtime goal to win the game 5–4 and take the 1976 Calder Cup.^[37] MacNeil claimed it was his sweetest victory and this was the best team, on and off the ice, that he had had the honour of coaching.^[38] This squad's performance over the 1975–76 season allowed MacNeil win his second Pieri Award in 1976.^[10]

In 1976–77, the Voyageurs had another 100-point season. The Vees played the Rochester Americans in finals. On April 30, 1977, before a crowd of over 7,200 fans at the sold out Rochester War Memorial Arena, the Vees beat the Americans 4–3 in the decisive sixth game. It was their second consecutive Calder trophy and the third overall for MacNeil.^[39]

His Nova Scotia team had four 100-point campaigns in his six years as head coach.^[10] With a 304–149–78 record in his six seasons as an AHL head coach, he has the highest winning percentage (.646) in league history.^[40] He was only one of six coaches that ever won three Calder Cups, and also one of six people ever to coach championship teams in both the AHL and the NHL.^[40] Players who skated under MacNeil's tutelage in the AHL include Hockey Hall of Fame members Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Steve Shutt and Guy Lapointe.^[10] On October 10, 2013, it was announced MacNeil had been named to the AHL's 2014 Hall of Fame class, alongside Bob Perreault, John Slaney and Bill Dineen.^[41] He was inducted into the Hall on February 12, 2014, at the AHL All-Star game festivities in St. John's, Newfoundland.^[42]

Canadiens executive

After the 1976–77 AHL season, MacNeil's contract expired at the end of June, prompting interest from other NHL clubs to hire him as their coach. Punch Imlach, the general manager for the Buffalo Sabres made an offer of $100,000 for five years but MacNeil turned it down.^[43] On August 3, 1977, MacNeil signed a new contract with the Canadiens to stay in Halifax as general manager and coach, and play home games in the inaugural season of the new Halifax Metro Centre arena.^[44] Pollock then promoted MacNeil within the Canadiens organization, becoming the Director of Player Personnel in Montreal. He won two more Stanley Cups as a Canadiens executive in 1978 and 1979.^[2] A major change happened within the Canadiens' management when Pollock retired as general manager in September 1978, and was replaced by Irving Grundman, a Pollock protégé.^[45]