Flames Best #2 Of All Time: Al MacInnis

You’ll see as we go through these numbers with the Flames that sometimes it’s hard to pick the best at that number because there’s a few players that are deserving or the list is so bad, no one is deserving. However, with the #2, it wasn’t even close. Flames defenceman Al MacInnis EASILY takes home the spot as the best #2 in Flames history.

MacInnis wore the Flaming C and #2 for 13 years as a member of the Calgary Flames and is regarded as a Flames icon. He was a key member of the Flames 1989 Stanley Cup Championship team, a 6x All Star, a Conn Smythe winner (1988-89) and is a member of the Hockey Hall Of Fame. No one is topping that in Flames history.

Photo by Denis Brodeur/NHLI via Getty Images

In his 13 years with the Flames, MacInnis was a force on the ice and for years terrified goalies with his lethal slapshot, winning the Hardest Shot competition seven times in his career. The #15 overall pick in 1981 was almost NHL ready from the get go (1982-83 would be his first full NHL season) and played in 803 games with Calgary from 1981-1994. He scored 213 goals and dished out 609 assists over that time, saving a lot of his heroics for the NHL Playoffs. During the ‘89 Cup run, MacInnis would compile 31 points (7G-24A) in 22 games, with five of his seven goals coming on the PP.

As far as franchise records go, MacInnis is the Flames all time leader in assists with 609 and the closest active player is Mark Giordano with 349. He’s also 4th in games played (803), 3rd in points (822), 2nd in shots (2891) and he’s #1 in +/- at +239.

MacInnis would leave the Flames for the St. Louis Blues, just one of many Flames players from the juggernaut ‘89 Cup team to leave for greener pastures. The Nova Scotia native would play another 10 seasons, all in St. Louis, going to six more All Star Games and playing in 613 games for the Blues. MacInnis would never win another Cup as a player or have the same type of Playoffs success as he did with the Flames, but his 23 year career would earn him a trip to the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 2007 and had his number raised to the rafters in the Saddledome as a Forever A Flame, but it hasn’t been officially retired by Calgary (St. Louis actually retired his #2, go figure).

Al MacInnis is currently a member of the Blues front office and had his name placed on the Stanley Cup for the second time as a team executive when St. Louis won the Cup in 2019.

Other Players Having Worn #2 In Flames History:

Bill Plager (1973), Dough Mohns (1974), Barry Gibbs (1975-1978), Jean Lemieux (1975), Greg Fox (1978-79), Phil Russell (1979-82), Curt Bennett (1980), Gord Wappel (1981), Charlie Bourgeois (1982-83), Jamie Allison (1997-98), Darrel Scoville (2000), Darryl Shannon (2000), Brad Werenka (2001), Alan Letang (2002), Mike Commodore (2003-04)

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