Toronto Maple Leafs: Whatever Happened to Jamie Macoun?

Jamie Macoun played on the Toronto Maple Leafs blueline from 1992-1998.  He was a stay-at-home defenseman known for his speed, skating and remarkable defensive ability.

He joined the Toronto Maple Leafs in the biggest trade in NHL history, but whatever happened to Jamie Macoun? (Some info from wikipedia.com).

Macoun was born and raised in Newmarket, Ontario and played junior hockey for the Newmarket Flyers in the OPJHL.  After going undrafted in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, Jamie Macoun set his sights on higher education and enrolled at Ohio State University where he played with the Buckeyes.

NHL scouts started taking notice of Macoun during his junior year playing in the NCAA and near the end of the 1982-83 NHL season, Macoun dropped out of college and jumped directly into the NHL playing 22 games with the Calgary Flames that season.

The next season, Jamie Macoun would register 32 points in 72 games and was elected to the 1984 NHL All-Rookie Team. (all stats from Hockey-Reference.com)

During the 1985-86 season, Macoun would tally his career high in goals with 11 goals and 32 points in 77 games.  He would also put up seven points in 22 playoff games as the Calgary Flames made it to the Stanley Cup Finals but lost in five games to the Montreal Canadiens.

Jamie Macoun almost didn’t make it to Toronto

His career highs in points and assists would come the following season where Jamie Macoun turned out 40 points (33 of them assists) in 79 games in 1986-87. However, Macoun would miss the entire 1987-88 season after he lost control of his car and while driving impaired which caused a crash so cataclysmic that it not only nearly cost him his hockey career; it nearly cost him his life.

Due to severe nerve damage, doctors only gave Macoun 50/50 odds of regaining the use of one of his arms.  It took 17 months of rehabilitation to get Jamie Macoun back on the ice.

When he returned, Macoun was paired with Ric Nattress to create one of the best shutdown pairings in the NHL that season.  Macoun also had his best offensive playoff numbers during the 1989 playoffs where he scored three goals and nine points in 22 playoff games on his way to winning his first Stanley Cup.  It’s the only Stanley Cup Championship in Calgary Flames history.

During his nine seasons with the Calgary Flames, Jamie Macoun also represented Canada three times at the World Championships winning silver medals in 1985 and 1991.  After scoring four goals and five points in eight games at the 1991 World Championships, Macoun was awarded as the Best Defenseman of the tournament.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Big Trade

On January 2, 1992, the Calgary Flames and the Toronto Maple Leafs completed the biggest trade in NHL history.  The Calgary Flames gave up Jamie Macoun, Doug Gilmour, Kent Manderville, Ric Nattress and Rick Wamsley to Toronto for Craig Berube, Alexander Godynyuk, Gary Leeman, Michel Petit and Jeff Reese.

From what I can find, this is still the only 10 player deal done in NHL history.  The only other 10 asset deal that I can think of is when the Toronto Maple Leafs moved Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators in a deal which included nine players and a draft pick.

Obviously, Doug Gilmour turned out to be the biggest part of this deal, but Jamie Macoun became a top line defender for the Toronto Maple Leafs and was paired with Dave Ellett when Pat Burns became coach. The pairing would be a solid defensive unit defending against their opponents top players during Toronto’s back-to-back Conference Finals appearances in 1993 and 1994.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs began their decline in the late 90’s, Macoun managed to stay with the team while watching great players like Dave Andreychuk, Todd Gill, Mike Gartner, Dave Gagner, Doug Gilmour, Dave Ellett, Larry Murphy and Kirk Muller all leave for draft picks and prospects.

Jamie Macoun’s day finally came during the 1998 NHL Trade Deadline when he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for a 4th round draft pick.  That pick was used to select Alexei Ponikarovsky who played nine seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and became a big part of the team when he was linemates with Leafs legend, Mats Sundin.

Jamie Macoun after the Toronto Maple Leafs

He only played seven regular season games with Detroit in 1997-98 but Jamie Macoun appeared in 22 post-season games on his way to winning his second Stanley Cup.  Macoun would play one more NHL season with Detroit before hanging up the skates at the age of 37.

While in Calgary, Macoun had become partner at a real estate firm and after he was traded to Toronto, he returned to Calgary in the offseason to get his real estate license.    After retiring from hockey,  Macoun and his family moved back to Calgary.

If you’re looking to buy or sell a home in the Calgary area, be sure to call Jamie Macoun Real Estate where he’s all about “Defending Your Interests.”

I’ve written a few posts about some of my favourite former Leafs such as Todd Gill, Nikolai Borschevsky, Dmitri Yushkevich and Peter Zezel.  Who would you like me to write about next?  Let me know in the comment section.