Jamie Macoun

Jamie Neil Macoun ( ; born August 17, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played over 1,000 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) during a 17-year career. An undrafted player, Macoun played three seasons of college hockey with Ohio State before signing with the Calgary Flames in 1983. Macoun was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team on defence in 1984 and, after missing 17 months due to injuries suffered in an automobile accident, was a member of Calgary's 1989 Stanley Cup championship team. He was involved in one of the largest trades in NHL history, a ten-player deal that sent him to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1992. He remained in Toronto until traded to the Detroit Red Wings in 1998, with whom he won his second Stanley Cup.

Internationally, Macoun played with Team Canada at three World Championships. He was a member of the silver medal-winning teams in 1985 and 1991, and was named the best defenceman of the 1991 tournament.

Playing career Macoun played two seasons of junior hockey in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League, first with the Newmarket Flyers in 1978–79 then splitting the following season with Newmarket and the Aurora Tigers. He stood only five feet tall at age 16, but added 11 inches in height within two years. Macoun later recounted that the skating ability and speed he became known for was developed as a way to escape players who were much larger than him. He went unselected by any team at the National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft and chose to focus instead on his education as he enrolled to study and play college hockey with the Ohio State Buckeyes. He had 17 goals and 76 points in two and a half seasons between 1980 and 1983. Joining the Flames directly from Ohio State, Macoun made his NHL debut on February 10, 1983. He scored his first NHL goal on February 24 in a 4–2 loss to the Washington Capitals. Macoun appeared in 22 games and added four assists to his goal. In his first full season, 1983–84, he scored nine goals, added 30 assists and had a plus-minus rating of +44. The second incident came during the third game of Calgary's first round playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets. In that game, Macoun cross-checked Winnipeg's star player, Dale Hawerchuk, resulting in a broken rib. Hawerchuk missed the remainder of his team's playoff games, but the Jets still won the series. Following Calgary's elimination from the playoffs, Macoun joined Team Canada for the 1985 World Ice Hockey Championships. It was his first appearance with the national team which won a silver medal. His car rolled onto its roof and skidded . The first officer to respond was convinced the crash had been fatal, however Macoun survived, albeit with his arm pinned under his vehicle. It took 45 minutes to extract him from the vehicle. Macoun was charged with impaired driving, but pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving and was fined $1,000.

Doctors believed he would never play hockey again, and that the significant nerve damage Macoun suffered meant he had only a fifty-fifty chance of ever regaining use in his injured arm. Macoun had eight goals, 19 assists and was a +40.

A 27-point season followed in 1989–90 and Macoun's plus-minus of +34 was second in the NHL amongst defencemen and third overall. Macoun received the Directorate Award as the tournament's top defenceman.

Toronto and Detroit Midway through the season, Macoun was involved in a blockbuster trade centred on Doug Gilmour that was, at the time, the largest in NHL history. On January 2, 1992, Calgary sent Gilmour, Macoun, Ric Nattress, Rick Wamsley and Kent Manderville to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Gary Leeman, Craig Berube, Alexander Godynyuk, Michel Petit and Jeff Reese.

Macoun scored 19 points in 1992–93 and improved to 30 in 1993–94. Offensively, Macoun had only 10 points in the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season and had eight points, all assists, in 82 games in 1995–96. He finished the season with Toronto, and remained with the team into 1997–98. However, with Toronto situated outside of a playoff spot late in the season, the Maple Leafs traded Macoun to the Detroit Red Wings on March 24, 1998, in exchange for a fourth round selection at the 1998 NHL entry draft. The struggles by the Maple Leafs as a team, and by Macoun individually, early in the 1996–97 season led to his name being associated with trade rumours as Toronto contemplated moving one of their older defencemen. He finished the season with Toronto, and remained with the team into 1997–98. However, with Toronto situated outside of a playoff spot late in the season, the Maple Leafs traded Macoun to the Detroit Red Wings on March 24, 1998, in exchange for a fourth round selection at the 1998 NHL entry draft.

Macoun appeared in only seven regular season games with the Red Wings, but recorded two goals and two assists in 22 post-season games in the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs. Following the victory, the Red Wings exercised the contract option and brought Macoun back to Detroit for the 1998–99 season. He appeared in 69 games and recorded one goal and 11 points. However, he appeared in only one playoff game. He and Karin briefly operated a stuffed toy selling business while he played for the Calgary Flames. By 1992, he had become a partner in a real estate firm and though he was playing for the Maple Leafs at the time, he returned to the Alberta city in his off-seasons to gain his realtors license.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1978–79 Newmarket Flyers OPJHL 49 9 14 23 33 — — — — — 1979–80 Aurora Tigers OPJHL 13 1 11 12 26 — — — — — 1979–80 Newmarket Flyers OPJHL 30 9 19 28 30 — — — — — 1980–81 Newmarket Flyers OPJHL 4 0 0 0 5 — — — — — 1980–81 Ohio State Buckeyes CCHA 38 9 20 29 83 — — — — — 1981–82 Ohio State Buckeyes CCHA 25 2 18 20 89 — — — — — 1982–83 Ohio State Buckeyes CCHA 19 6 21 27 54 — — — — — 1982–83 Calgary Flames NHL 22 1 4 5 25 9 0 2 2 8 1983–84 Calgary Flames NHL 72 9 23 32 97 11 1 0 1 0 1984–85 Calgary Flames NHL 70 9 30 39 67 4 1 0 1 4 1985–86 Calgary Flames NHL 77 11 21 32 81 22 1 6 7 23 1986–87 Calgary Flames NHL 79 7 33 40 111 3 1 0 1 8 1988–89 Calgary Flames NHL 72 8 19 27 76 22 3 6 9 30 1989–90 Calgary Flames NHL 78 8 27 35 70 6 0 3 3 10 1990–91 Calgary Flames NHL 79 7 15 22 84 7 0 1 1 4 1991–92 Calgary Flames NHL 37 2 12 14 53 — — — — — 1991–92 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 39 3 13 16 18 — — — — — 1992–93 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 77 4 15 19 55 21 0 6 6 36 1993–94 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 3 27 30 115 18 1 1 2 12 1994–95 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 46 2 8 10 75 7 1 2 3 8 1995–96 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 0 8 8 87 6 0 2 2 8 1996–97 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 73 1 10 11 93 — — — — — 1997–98 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 67 0 7 7 63 — — — — — 1997–98 Detroit Red Wings NHL 7 0 0 0 2 22 2 2 4 18 1998–99 Detroit Red Wings NHL 69 1 10 11 36 1 0 0 0 0 NHL totals 1,128 76 282 358 1,208 159 10 32 42 169

International

Year Team Comp GP G A Pts PIM 1985 Canada WC 9 0 0 0 10 1990 Canada WC 8 1 1 2 6 1991 Canada WC 8 4 1 5 10 Senior totals 25 5 2 7 26

Awards and honours Career Award Year Ref. NHL All-Rookie Team 1983–84 Stanley Cup champion 1989, 1998 Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian AwardCalgary: Perseverance, determination and leadership 1990–91 World Championship best defenceman 1991