The man who was one of several people who helped transform the Chicago Blackhawks from a bottom-feeder into a dynasty is ready to return to the NHL.
Al MacIsaac just needs someone to give him a chance. Or rather, a second chance.
It’s been 16 months since the former Blackhawks executive, along with Stan Bowman and Joel Quenneville, was reinstated by the NHL. But while Bowman and Quenneville are back working in the league, MacIsaac remains out of a job.
“I’ve talked to a lot of teams within the league,” MacIsaac said in a phone interview from his home in Virginia Beach, Va. “The teams that are talking to me realize that I’m ready. There’s nothing holding me back, except the right opportunity with the right team.”
Bowman was hired by the Edmonton Oilers a mere three weeks after being reinstated by the league on July 1, 2024. In his first season in Edmonton, Bowman guided the Oilers back to the Stanley Cup final, where they lost to the Florida Panthers. Quenneville waited a full year after being reinstated by the league before getting hired by the Anaheim Ducks. Since then, the Quenneville-coached Ducks have become one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
“I’m not surprised,” MacIsaac said of the successes of his former Blackhawks colleagues. “It’s been great to see. When Stan got his opportunity to go back to Edmonton, he went in with obviously a pretty solid roster, but you’ve got to give credit where credit is due. To go to the Stanley Cup final two years in a row is very difficult. And he was able to play a part in that success.
“Coming into Anaheim, I just think Joel slid right into that role and instantly had the respect of his players. He just has a calm approach, and he does things that players appreciate. It’s a skill to have that.”
In a lot of ways, the successes that Bowman and Quenneville are having these days is a continuation of the success they had alongside MacIsaac in Chicago.
From 2010 to 2015, the Blackhawks won three Stanley Cups and 15 playoff rounds. MacIsaac was there for it all. Initially hired in 2000 as GM of the AHL team, he, along with coach Trent Yawney, oversaw the development of Hall of Fame defenseman Duncan Keith and so many others who were instrumental to those three championships. MacIsaac wore many different hats in his two decades with the organization.
Eventually, he worked his way up to senior vice-president of hockey operations, where he worked side-by-side with Bowman and reported to then-president John McDonough.
“It was pretty unique, actually,” said MacIsaac. “I made sure that all the miscellaneous things that can bog down a GM in his day, that I was going to take off his plate. It was a behind-the-scenes role. It’s not always glamorous, but you’re doing a lot of the heavy lifting. In the roles that I’ve had, you don’t get a lot of credit. I have championship rings that I’m proud of. That’s all the credit that I need.”
In a salary cap era, what those Blackhawks teams were able to accomplish on the ice was pretty special.
“We were the first team to run into a cap crunch in 2010,” said MacIsaac. “In 2013, we rebuilt and added pieces and won again. And in 2015, after losing some players, we won again. It’s hard to do. I like to think it is a dynasty.”
Despite all the success in those years, the 2010 season was marred by allegations that then-player Kyle Beach was sexually assaulted by the team’s video coach. An independent investigation in 2021 found that Bowman, Quenneville and MacIsaac, as well as McDonough, didn’t do enough to prevent the assault from occurring or handle the allegations in a timely and appropriate manner.
In the four years since then, MacIsaac has reflected on what he could have done differently, while also trying to pave a path forward. He spent time at home with his wife and three daughters. And for a couple of years, he volunteered stocking shelves at a local food bank. It’s his way, he said, of trying to make amends for a moment in his career that still carries a weight of regret.
“I had an opportunity to do a lot of things in my community that were really important to me to give back to the community in some ways,” said MacIsaac, who said he and Beach have spoken a number of times. "I know it doesn’t do justice for Kyle, but it does help others. And I was trying to give back to the community to help others in the way that I wish I could have helped Kyle.”
In his career, MacIsaac has been part of seven championship teams in four different leagues. He won a Memorial Cup as a player in 1986, won both as a player (1992) and then as a GM (1998) in the ECHL, a Calder Cup in the AHL (1993) and three Stanley Cups (2010, 2013 and 2015) with Chicago.
“I started at the bottom as a general manager at 25 years old in the ECHL. I’ve ridden the bus for 16 years,” said MacIsaac, who in 2014 was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame. “And I have achieved the ultimate success of winning the Stanley Cup.”
Now, MacIsaac just wants to get back to what he loves. Like Bowman and Quenneville, he is just looking for the right opportunity.
“I’ve talked to a lot of teams in the league,” said MacIsaac. “I know I have the skill sets where I can come into any organization in any number of roles. But I’d love to come back in the same role, obviously, as a senior executive. I want to basically do a similar role, where I’m working alongside the general manager, and the president or ownership to build a Stanley Cup-winning team.
“I’ve been fortunate to be a part of three Cups and anyone who’s been a part of one will tell you they want another. You want to win again.”
