He still has the third highest single season point total in Calgary Flames history – including the franchise’s time in Atlanta. He was part of the famous trade that brought Lanny McDonald to Calgary. He starred alongside Marcel Dionne in junior with the St. Catherines Black Hawks. Bob MacMillan’s career was full of highlights. However, it was the 1978-79 season that put him a step above.
Bob MacMillan – Junior and Minor Pro
MacMillan played two years of major junior hockey in Ontario with the St. Catherines Black Hawks. In his first year, 1970-71, Bob totaled 103 points on 41 goals and 62 assists over 59 regular season games.
The team was led by league scoring leader Marcel Dionne and captured the Robertson Cup championship with a win over the Toronto Marlboros in the finals. The Black Hawks then fell in the George Richardson Trophy final to Guy Lafleur and the Quebec Remparts.
His 62 assists tied him for ninth in the league. His 103 points left him just outside the top ten. Bill Barber of the Kitchener Rangers held onto the tenth spot with 105 points. In his second season with St. Catherines, MacMillan was limited to 39 games, contributing 53 points.
Time in the minors was very limited throughout Bob’s career. He played in 46 American Hockey League games in 1974-75 with the Providence Reds. He averaged just slightly more than a point per game with 47. MacMillan ended his career playing eight games with the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL in 1984-85.
Bob MacMillan – Major League
Despite missing a good portion of the 1971-72 season in junior, the New York Rangers still made MacMillan a first round pick at the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft, going 15th overall. However, he went in a different direction, signing with the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association.
Bob spent 1972-73 and 1973-74 with the Fighting Saints. In his second season, Minnesota lost in the semi-finals to the Howe Family powered Houston Aeros. Harry Neale was the head coach of the Fightning Saints and Mike Walton was the team’s offensive leader.
Returning to the NHL for 1974-75, MacMillan appeared in just 22 games with the Rangers before being sent to Providence. It would be the only games he would play for the team that drafted him.
A move to the St. Louis Blues for 1975-76 made Bob an instant regular. He didn’t miss a game in his first two seasons with the Blues. They would be the last two full campaigns he would spend with the team.
MacMillan was traded to the Atlanta Flames with Yves Belanger and Dick Redmond for Curt Bennett, Barry Gibbs and Phil Myre. It turned out to be a great trade for Bob.
He played on the international stage in 1978, appearing with Canada at the IIHF World Championships. Over ten games, he contributed just three assists. Canada won bronze, behind the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. The tournament was held in Prague.
1978-79 defined MacMillan’s career. Over 79 regular season games, he scored 37 and assisted on 71 for 108 points. He tied Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings for third in assists. In the race for the Art Ross Trophy, Bob was fifth in the NHL.
That 108 point performance still ranks his third all-time in Atlanta/Calgary Flames history. Just Kent Nilsson with 131 and Joe Mullen with 110 have totaled more. His assist total also ranks him third all-time behind Nilsson and Al MacInnis. To top it off, MacMillan was honoured with the Lady Byng Trophy, sitting just seven minor penalties.
The closest Bob came to the Stanley Cup was in 1980-81 with Calgary. The Flames lost in the semi-finals to the Minnesota North Stars. Early in the following season, he was shipped out of Calgary to the Colorado Rockies, along with Don Lever for Lanny McDonald.
In June, 1984, Bob was traded one last time from the New Jersey Devils to the Chicago Blackhawks for Don Dietrich and Rich Preston. He would see limited action with Chicago in 1984-85 before retiring at the end of the season.
Over his NHL career, MacMillan played in 753 regular season games between 1974-75 and 1984-85 with the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Atlanta/Calgary Flames, Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils and the Chicago Blackhawks. Over that time, he scored 228 goals and assisted on 349 for 577 points. Bob added 19 points over 31 games.
I’m sure there are few that had to move with a franchise as often and in as short of a time as MacMillan. He moved with the Flames from Atlanta to Calgary for the 1980-81 season. Then, for the 1982-83 season, he moved with the Colorado Rockies to New Jersey.
Today, Bob MacMillan remains an amateur scout for the Calgary Flames.
Bob MacMillan – Rookie Card
The Bob MacMillan rookie card appears as number 38 in both the 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets. He is shown as a member of the St. Louis Blues. MacMillan missed out on having a hockey card with the Rangers and Fighting Saints before he came to St. Louis.
His final card appeared as number 193 in the 1985-86 O-Pee-Chee set, even though he never played a National Hockey League game after 1984-85. He is shown with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Bob MacMillan Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1970-71 | St. Catharines Black Hawks | OHA | 59 | 41 | 62 | 103 | 93 |
| 1971-72 | St. Catharines Black Hawks | OHA | 39 | 12 | 41 | 53 | 41 |
| 1972-73 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | WHA | 75 | 13 | 27 | 40 | 48 |
| 1973-74 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | WHA | 78 | 14 | 34 | 48 | 81 |
| 1974-75 | Providence Reds | AHL | 46 | 18 | 29 | 47 | 58 |
| 1974-75 | New York Rangers | NHL | 22 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 1975-76 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 80 | 20 | 32 | 52 | 41 |
| 1976-77 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 80 | 19 | 39 | 58 | 11 |
| 1977-78 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 28 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 23 |
| 1977-78 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 52 | 31 | 21 | 52 | 26 |
| 1978-79 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 79 | 37 | 71 | 108 | 14 |
| 1979-80 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 77 | 22 | 39 | 61 | 10 |
| 1980-81 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 77 | 28 | 35 | 63 | 47 |
| 1981-82 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 23 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 14 |
| 1981-82 | Colorado Rockies | NHL | 57 | 18 | 32 | 50 | 27 |
| 1982-83 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 71 | 19 | 29 | 48 | 8 |
| 1983-84 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 71 | 17 | 23 | 40 | 23 |
| 1984-85 | Milwaukee Admirals | IHL | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 1984-85 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 36 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 12 |
| NHL Totals | 753 | 228 | 349 | 577 | 260 | ||
| WHA Totals | 153 | 27 | 61 | 88 | 129 |