Joe McDonnell (ice hockey)

Joe McDonnell (born May 11, 1961) is a Canadian professional ice hockey scout, former coach and former player. McDonnell played 50 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks.[1] McDonnell is currently the Director of Amateur Scouting for the Dallas Stars.[2] He was formerly the Director of Amateur Scouting for the Detroit Red Wings.

Joe McDonnell
Born (1961-05-11) May 11, 1961 (age 62)
Occupation(s)ice hockey scout, coach, player
Ice hockey career
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for NHL
Vancouver Canucks
Pittsburgh Penguins
AHL
Moncton Alpines
Baltimore Skipjacks
CHL
Dallas Black Hawks
OHL
Kitchener Rangers
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 1976–1986

Playing career edit

McDonnell was born in Kitchener, Ontario. As a youth, he played in the 1974 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Kitchener.[3] He played junior ice hockey for his hometown Kitchener Rangers for five seasons. In his final year with the Rangers, McDonnell played in the 1981 Memorial Cup. Despite losing in the final to the Cornwall Royals 8–2, McDonnell and teammate Brian Bellows were named to the Memorial Cup All-Star team. During his time with the Rangers, McDonnell played with future Hockey Hall of Fame Paul Coffey and Al MacInnis, as well as other NHL stars such as Paul Reinhart and Don Maloney.

After his Major junior career was over, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Vancouver Canucks. He played seven games with the Canucks, but played most of his first professional season with the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central Hockey League. McDonnell bounced around in the AHL until the 1984–85 NHL season where he played 40 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, scoring 2 goals and 11 points for the Penguins in 40 games that season. After playing only three games in the NHL next season; all with the Penguins, he retired from professional hockey.

Post-playing career edit

McDonnell joined his former junior team, the Kitchener Rangers, as an assistant coach during the 1986–87 OHL season. Later that year, he replaced Tom Barrett as head coach. He won the Matt Leyden Trophy and CHL Coach of the Year Award in the 1988–89 OHL season. He reached the Memorial Cup for a second time; the first as a coach, in 1990 where he and the Rangers lost in the finals 4–3 in double overtime to the Oshawa Generals. He was coach of the Rangers for nine seasons before being relieved in the 1994–95 OHL season.

After being fired by the Rangers, McDonnell found work with the Detroit Red Wings as an amateur scout. After eight seasons as a scout, McDonnell was promoted to Director of Amateur Scouting for the Red Wings. He won the Stanley Cup with four times with Detroit, in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008.[4] McDonnell, along with Red Wings General manager Ken Holland, former Red Wings executive Jim Nill, and current Red Wings scout Håkan Andersson have been partially credited with the success of the Detroit Red Wings.[5][6]

On July 6, 2013, McDonnell as well as Red Wings scout Mark Leach followed former colleague Jim Nill to the Dallas Stars, where McDonnell was hired as Director of Amateur Scouting for the Dallas Stars, the same position he held in Detroit.[7]

Career statistics edit

Regular season and playoffs edit

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1976–77 Kitchener Ranger B's WWJHL 21 8 20 28 28
1976–77 Kitchener Rangers OHA 29 0 4 4 8
1977–78 Kitchener Rangers OHA 55 0 4 4 14
1978–79 Kitchener Rangers OHA 60 1 6 7 43
1979–80 Kitchener Rangers OHA 62 6 21 27 81
1980–81 Kitchener Rangers OHL 66 15 50 65 103
1981–82 Vancouver Canucks NHL 7 0 1 1 12
1981–82 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 60 13 24 37 46 9 2 1 3 12
1982–83 Moncton Alpines AHL 79 14 21 35 44
1983–84 Moncton Alpines AHL 78 12 33 45 44
1984–85 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 41 7 27 34 22
1984–85 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 40 2 9 11 20
1985–86 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 31 1 13 14 20
1985–86 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 3 0 0 0 2
NHL Totals 50 2 10 12 34

References edit

  1. ^ "Joe Michael Patrick McDonnell". Legends of Hockey.net. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  2. ^ "Detroit Red Wings director of amateur scouting hired in Dallas by former assistant G.M. Jim Nill". MLive Media Group. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
  3. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  4. ^ George Malik (2008-07-30). "McDonnell gets his evening with the Cup". M Live.com. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  5. ^ Bengtsson, Janne (10 March 2003). "Han ringmärker talangerna". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). SvD.se. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  6. ^ Kennedy, Kostya (9 May 2008). "How Swede it is for Red Wings". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  7. ^ "Stars hire Joe McDonnell as director of amateur scouting, add Mark Leach as amateur scout". sportsday.dallasnews.com. July 6, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2018.

External links edit

Preceded by Head coach of the Kitchener Rangers
1986–1995
Succeeded by