STANLEY CUP : MVP? MacInnis’ Shot Is as Good as Anyone’s

There is more to Al MacInnis than a shot that sends everyone on the ice diving for cover. But that’s his trademark. He’s a shooter, he’s dangerous, and he’s making no apologies.

It was the scouting report on his powerful shot that landed him a spot in the National Hockey League five years ago, and it was his shot that felled goalie Mike Liut that gave him his fearsome reputation in the league.

“I’ve been known for my shot ever since that night in St. Louis,” MacInnis said.

That night, MacInnis took a shot from slightly outside the blue line that closed in on Liut so hard and so fast that Liut not only couldn’t stop it, he didn’t even have a chance to get out of the way. The shot hit him in the mask and, as he went down, the puck bounced off and into the net for the score.

MacInnis put a shot similar to that one past Montreal goalie Patrick Roy in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup best-of-seven finals between Calgary and Montreal that continues here tonight, slapping the puck from the top of the left faceoff circle, 40 feet right down the middle and past Roy.

Said Calgary Coach Terry Crisp: “Al sure can crank ‘em. Reggie Leach could rifle the puck. Bobby Orr had a great shot. And I saw Mr. (Bobby) Hull shatter some glass, tear off some ears and turn some goalies white. Let’s just say I’m sure glad Al’s not shooting at our goalie.”

Said Roy: “It’s just so quick. Most shots, if you pick (them) up you can stay with them. But his . . . it gets faster and faster as it reaches you.”

Said Montreal Coach Pat Burns of MacInnis’ first goal in Game 1: “Even if we’d had a piece of plexiglass back there, it would have gone through. Roy didn’t have a chance.”

And Canadien forward Stephane Richer: “MacInnis? The hardest shot in hockey. No question.”

Roy claims not to fear the shot, though. And MacInnis, asked if fear of his shot might make goalies hesitant and give him an edge, shrugged off the suggestion.

“I have heard that Grant Fuhr said I was the only guy in the league he couldn’t control the rebound (against),” MacInnis said. “I think that concerns them more.”

A rebound on the loose tends to turn into a goal. Which explains the 17 assists that help to make up MacInnis’ 24 points in the playoffs. That total makes him the leader not only of the Flames, but also of everyone in the final series.

He’s quite an offensive threat for a defenseman. He has a scoring streak of 12 consecutive games--a personal best not only for the playoffs but for the regular season.

But ask MacInnis about his progress and improvements, and he’ll want to talk about his improved defensive skills instead. During the regular season he had a rating of +36.

His coach mentions still another dimension.

Crisp, who has worked with MacInnis for two seasons, says that he has improved “a lot” defensively and “a whole, whole bunch” as far as maturity goes.

“Whether he likes it or not, leadership is thrust upon some people,” Crisp said. “Some guys don’t like the focus and the pressure. Being shy to begin with, Al didn’t want it. But he’s figured out that it’s better to roll with it than to fight it.”

Calgary goalie Mike Vernon says that MacInnis has become a “big leader” on the team. “He’s also one of the veteran defensemen and he’s been one of the best defensive defensemen on the team all season.”

All of which adds up to a big plus for the Flames in their quest for their first Stanley Cup. Especially since defenseman Gary Suter went out with a broken jaw in the third game of their first series, against Vancouver.

MacInnis stepped forward and has become the leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy for most valuable player in the playoffs.

He also is one of the favorites for the Norris Trophy, awarded the league’s top defenseman. And he could be Calgary’s captain next season.

“Captain? I don’t know about that,” MacInnis said. “I’m finally getting used to people asking me about my chances for the Norris or the Conn Smythe, and now you’re saying captain? That’s a new one.”

But not out of the question, according to Crisp, who says that MacInnis is starting to add leadership skills to his repertoire while adding other refinements to his shot.

“I’m really not the rah-rah type,” MacInnis insisted. “I just like to go out there and be a leader on the ice.”

With no forward clearly outshining the others on these teams, there is an opening for a defenseman to play the starring role in this series.

MacInnis’ counterpart with the Canadiens is defenseman Chris Chelios, who is second on his team in playoff points.

“If they’re comparing Al MacInnis to Chris Chelios, that’s a compliment,” Crisp said. “It’s a compliment to MacInnis and it’s also a compliment to Chelios. They both like to take it and go. And they’re both good, durable defensemen.”

MacInnis is not forgetting that he’s called a defenseman.

“Today’s game is first defensive and then offensive,” MacInnis said. “I get reminded every day. . . . We realize that good defense is going to win the Cup.”

Maybe so, but his defense is never going to get the kind of attention that he gets for his shot, which he developed by shooting pucks against the barn on the family’s small cattle farm in Nova Scotia--a practice that caused his father to have to re-shingle the barn every year.

Exactly how or why he gets the kind of power on the shot that he gets, the 6-foot-2, 196-pound MacInnis cannot say.

“There are lots of bigger and stronger guys in the dressing room than me, and they can’t shoot as hard,” he said. “I can only think it’s timing, that it has something to do with when the stick hits the puck and the ice at the same time. I don’t know. I wish I had the answer. I’d pass it along to the other guys.”

Some look for the edge in his sticks which, he says, are “as stiff as they can make them and as light as they can make them.” It’s molded into a wedge shape. He explains that it’s kind of like a seven-iron. But it has a different look that makes other teams want to measure the curve, thinking that it might be illegal.

“A lot of teams have been looking at my stick,” MacInnis said.

The Kings tried that at the end of Game 2 of their playoff series against Calgary. But if the secret were in the stick, he could pass those around to everyone on the team, too. Others can’t do with his stick what he does.

“I don’t know,” MacInnis said, looking genuinely perplexed. “I can’t explain it.”

Stanley Cup Notes

Calgary will try to take a 2-0 lead in the series tonight at 6 (PDT) in the Saddledome. . . . In 50 years of playoffs, the team that has won Game 2 of the final series has won the title all but four times. . . . Defenseman Gary Suter, who has a broken jaw, might be able to return to Calgary’s lineup for Game 6. The wires that have been holding his mouth shut for more than a month were removed Tuesday.

Montreal’s Claude Lemieux, who has been told to cut his theatrics and concentrate on hockey, does not expect to play tonight. Montreal Coach Pat Burns bumped Lemieux to a lesser line Monday, replacing him with rookie Brent Gilchrist.