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Thursday, April 8, 1999
Al MacInnis completing exceptional season
It has been 18 years since Al MacInnis broke into the NHL, 10 years since he helped the Calgary Flames win the Stanley Cup, and eight years since he was last named to the league's first all-star team.Yet, it would be a mistake to conclude that his proudest hockey moments all lie in the past.
The veteran St. Louis Blues defenceman's career has reblossomed to such an extent that he's become a favourite to win the Norris Trophy. It is an honour that has eluded MacInnis, but he might finally be about to receive the recognition he deserves.
His outstanding season is the result of a rededication to physical fitness, he said during a league-organized conference call Thursday.
"One of the biggest things for me is that two years ago I hired a personal trainer, Charles Poliquin," MacInnis explained. "He's dealt with a lot of Olympic athletes and speed skaters in the United States and Canada and trains those athletes.
"Working with him, I've felt much better the last couple of seasons."
Poliquin, originally from Ottawa, is based in Colorado Springs, Colo. He works with numerous NHL players.
Another positive influence on MacInnis has been the Blues' coaching staff led by Joel Quenneville.
"They have given me a lot of responsibilities and plenty of ice time," he said. "I've enjoyed playing here."
MacInnis proved he's not over the hill by earning selection to Canada's 1998 Olympic team. At $4.75-million US a season, he's the most successful ex-lobster trap unloader to come out of Nova Scotia.
MacInnis, born in Inverness on July 11, 1963, played major junior hockey in Kitchener, Ont., and broke into the NHL in 1982 with Calgary. He was playoff MVP in 1989 when the Flames won the Stanley Cup. The Blues acquired him for Phil Housley in July 1994.
MacInnis was runner-up to Raymond Bourque for the '90 Norris Trophy and 1991, when he had a career-high 103 points.
"The way goaltending has been, the way teams play so well defensively, how aggressive penalty killing is, how players block shots . . . The game has changed," he said. "I remember the old Smythe Division.
"We used to get 2-on-1 and 3-2 breaks all night long. That doesn't happen anymore. It's tough to get points in this league now."
MacInnis leads all NHL defencemen in scoring with 58 points, including 20 goals. It's his seventh season with 20 or more goals, but first since 1993. He'll finish with his highest points total in five years.
Being presented with the Norris Trophy at the NHL awards banquet in June would be nice.
"I would certainly be honoured," he said. "At age 35, I'm maybe in a rebound season.
"Any defenceman coming into the league would like to win one Norris. I was runner-up to Bourque twice but that's the way it goes sometimes.
"Maybe this season it's my turn. I guess it will be decided in the next week or two."
Yes, it will. Three members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association in each NHL city vote on the award based on regular-season performance.
MacInnis has always been known as the owner of one of the NHL's hardest slapshots. It has been his trademark, although there is much more that makes him one of hockey's premier defencemen: positioning, accurate passes, keeping the front of the crease clear.
"The last couple of years I think people have looked at me as a player with more than a shot," he says.
He also quarterbacks the NHL's top power play (21.4 per cent success rate).
"The biggest key for a power play is to get all five guys basically on the same page," he stressed. "If everybody knows what the play is and you don't have three guys thinking one thing and two guys thinking another, you can have success on the power play."
MacInnis averages 29 minutes of ice time each game. He can take the heavy workload because of his stamina.
The Blues are battling to avoid finishing sixth in the Western Conference, which would mean a first-round playoff series against the surging Red Wings. Detroit has knocked St. Louis out of the first round three straight years.
"Any of the top four teams is going to be a very tough matchup whether it is Dallas, Colorado, Detroit or Phoenix," he said. "The rest of us are going to be underdogs."