Joe McDonnell (ice hockey)
Canadian scout, coach, and former NHL player.
Joe McDonnell, a Canadian born on May 11, 1961, has worked as a professional ice hockey scout, coach, and player. His NHL playing career spanned 50 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks. Now the Director of Amateur Scouting for the Dallas Stars, he previously held the same role with the Detroit Red Wings.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 11 May 1961
- Birthplace
- Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
- Occupation
- ice hockey scout
- coach
- player
Facts from the source article.
Playing career
McDonnell played minor hockey in Kitchener and participated in the 1974 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. He spent five seasons with the Kitchener Rangers of junior hockey, appearing in the 1981 Memorial Cup. Although the Rangers lost the final 8–2 to the Cornwall Royals, McDonnell and teammate Brian Bellows were named to the Memorial Cup All-Star team. During his junior tenure, he played alongside future Hall of Famers Paul Coffey and Al MacInnis, as well as NHL players Paul Reinhart and Don Maloney. After junior hockey, McDonnell signed as an undrafted free agent with the Vancouver Canucks. He played seven games for Vancouver but spent most of his first professional season with the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central Hockey League. He later played 40 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1984–85 season, recording 2 goals and 11 points. After three more NHL games with the Penguins the following season, he retired from professional hockey.
Post-playing career
McDonnell began his coaching career as an assistant with the Kitchener Rangers during the 1986–87 OHL season, later replacing Tom Barrett as head coach. He won the Matt Leyden Trophy and CHL Coach of the Year Award in the 1988–89 season. In 1990, he led the Rangers to the Memorial Cup final, where they lost 4–3 in double overtime to the Oshawa Generals. He coached the Rangers for nine seasons before being relieved during the 1994–95 OHL season. After leaving coaching, McDonnell worked as an amateur scout for the Detroit Red Wings. He was promoted to Director of Amateur Scouting for the Red Wings and won the Stanley Cup with the team in 1997, 1998, 2002, and 2008. On July 6, 2013, McDonnell followed former colleague Jim Nill to the Dallas Stars, where he was hired as Director of Amateur Scouting.
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