The NHL is remembering Al McNeilDied on Sunday at the age of 89.
McNeil was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in 2014 in recognition of a career that won three Calder Cup championships as head coach of the Nova Scotia Navigators.
McNeil played parts of four seasons with the Rochester Americans from 1956-60 and earned an appearance with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He subsequently played in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins before entering the coaching ranks in 1968.
After returning to the Canadiens, McNeil served as player-coach for the AHL's Montreal Voyageurs during the 1969-70 season, skating in 66 games and leading the first-year team to a league-best 43-15-14 record. In the 1970-71 season, he was promoted to his parent team as an assistant coach and was promoted to head coach mid-year, leading the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup championship that spring.
Nova Scotia McNeil has been named head coach of the AHL club after the Voyagers moved to Halifax in the offseason. In the 1971-72 season, he led the Victoria team to a record of 41 wins, 21 losses and 14 losses, won the Calder Cup championship for the first time, and won the Louis AR 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 McNeil.
McNeil's Voyageurs produced the greatest back-to-back seasons in AHL history in 1975-76 and 1976-77, combining for 100 regular season wins and back-to-back Calder Cups. McNeil won his second Pierie Award in 1976 before returning to Montreal as director of player personnel for the Canadiens and winning the Stanley Cup twice in 1978 and 1979, six times in nine seasons. League Championship. He joined the Atlanta Flames as head coach in the 1979-80 season and served as assistant general manager of Calgary's Stanley Cup-winning team in 1989.
McNeil compiled a 304-149-78 record in seven seasons as an AHL head coach, owning the highest winning percentage in league history (0.646). He is one of only seven coaches to win three Calder Cups and one of nine coaches to have coached AHL and NHL championship teams. Players who skated in the AHL under McNeil include Hockey Hall of Famers Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Steve Shutt and Guy La Guy Lapointe.
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