Allister Wences MacNeil (September 27, 1935 – January 5, 2025) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach and executive.

He won three Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens, first as the team's rookie head coach in 1971, and then back-to-back championships as Director of Player Personnel in 1978 and 1979.

MacNeil won three Calder Cup Championships as the general manager and head coach of the Montreal Canadiens' farm team, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, in 1972, 1976 and 1977.

Allister Wences "Al" MacNeil was born on September 27, 1935, in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

[6] He played in a total of 524 NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

[15] Canadiens general manager, Sam Pollock, bolstered the club when he swung a major trade to net top-scoring left-wing Frank Mahovlich from the Detroit Red Wings on January 13, 1971.

[24] Another crucial choice was having rookie Réjean Houle shadow the Black Hawks' star goal scorer Bobby Hull.

[32][33] He ended weeks of speculation from the press and the public when he resigned in early June as head coach of the Canadiens, with Sam Pollock replacing him with Scotty Bowman.

[34] He stayed with the Canadiens' organization, moving to take over as general manager and head coach of their American Hockey League farm team, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs.

On April 30, 1977, before a crowd of over 7,200 fans at the sold out Rochester War Memorial Arena, the Vees beat the Americans 4–3 in the decisive sixth game.

[40] Players who skated under MacNeil's tutelage in the AHL include Hockey Hall of Fame members Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Steve Shutt and Guy Lapointe.

[10] On October 10, 2013, it was announced MacNeil had been named to the AHL's 2014 Hall of Fame class, alongside Bob Perreault, John Slaney and Bill Dineen.

[42] After the 1976–77 AHL season, MacNeil's contract expired at the end of June, prompting interest from other NHL clubs to hire him as their coach.

[27] On May 31, 1982, general manager Fletcher removed MacNeil as coach, and promoted him to director of player development and professional scouting.

[49] When Gilbert was fired the following season — on December 3, 2002 — because of the Flames' poor performance, MacNeil once again assumed interim head coaching duties.

[52] That gave him a career NHL games coached win-loss-tie total record of 160–134–55, a figure that combines both regular season and playoff results.

[49][52] Darryl Sutter was finally hired as the permanent coach, and MacNeil returned to being a special assistant to general manager Craig Button.

[3] On November 15, 2015, he was featured on a Sportsnet national broadcast as part of a tribute to Cape Bretoners that were affiliated with the NHL, on Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour.

[53] MacNeal was honoured by his hometown when Cape Breton University bestowed him with an honorary Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) degree in 2011.