Ab McDonald

Alvin Brian McDonald (February 18, 1936 – September 4, 2018) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward.

Career

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, McDonald began his professional hockey career with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1958. He later played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, and St. Louis Blues. He won four straight Stanley Cups: three with Montreal followed by another with Chicago. His goal in game six of the 1961 Stanley Cup Final gave Chicago the series win, which they did not do so again for over 40 years. He was the first team captain of the Penguins and Winnipeg Jets organizations, and scored the first goal for the Jets in the World Hockey Association (WHA). He ended his career after 147 games for Winnipeg, retiring after the 1973–74 season. He died at his home in Winnipeg from cancer on September 4, 2018, at the age of 82.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1951–52 St. Boniface Canadiens MJHL 20 20 15 35 — — — — — — 1952–53 St. Boniface Canadiens MJHL 35 26 24 50 0 8 5 7 12 0 1952–53 St. Boniface Canadiens M-Cup — — — — — 9 6 5 11 6 1953–54 St. Boniface Canadiens MJHL 35 33 25 58 14 10 7 6 13 4 1953–54 St. Boniface Canadiens M-Cup — — — — — 8 2 2 4 6 1954–55 St. Catharines Teepees OHA-Jr. 49 33 37 70 20 10 2 6 8 25 1955–56 St. Catharines Teepees OHA-Jr. 48 49 34 83 24 6 4 2 6 9 1956–57 Rochester Americans AHL 64 21 31 52 8 9 3 1 4 0 1957–58 Rochester Americans AHL 70 30 33 63 18 — — — — — 1957–58 Montreal Canadiens NHL — — — — — 2 0 0 0 2 1958–59 Montreal Canadiens NHL 69 13 23 36 35 11 1 1 2 6 1959–60 Montreal Canadiens NHL 68 9 13 22 26 — — — — — 1960–61 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 61 17 16 33 22 8 2 2 4 0 1961–62 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 65 22 18 40 8 12 6 6 12 0 1962–63 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 69 20 41 61 12 6 2 3 5 9 1963–64 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 70 14 32 46 19 7 2 2 4 0 1964–65 Providence Reds AHL 6 2 1 3 2 — — — — — 1964–65 Boston Bruins NHL 60 9 9 18 6 — — — — — 1965–66 Detroit Red Wings NHL 43 6 16 22 6 10 1 4 5 2 1965–66 Memphis Wings CPHL 20 9 6 15 4 — — — — — 1966–67 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 61 25 31 56 22 9 5 2 7 4 1966–67 Detroit Red Wings NHL 12 2 0 2 2 — — — — — 1967–68 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 74 22 21 43 38 — — — — — 1968–69 St. Louis Blues NHL 68 21 21 42 12 12 2 1 3 10 1969–70 St. Louis Blues NHL 64 25 30 55 8 16 5 10 15 13 1970–71 St. Louis Blues NHL 20 0 5 5 6 — — — — — 1971–72 Detroit Red Wings NHL 19 2 3 5 0 — — — — — 1971–72 Tidewater Wings AHL 41 5 7 12 4 — — — — — 1972–73 Winnipeg Jets WHA 77 17 24 41 16 14 2 5 7 2 1973–74 Winnipeg Jets WHA 70 12 17 29 8 4 0 1 1 2 NHL totals 762 182 248 430 200 84 21 29 50 42 WHA totals 147 29 41 70 24 18 2 6 8 4

Awards and achievements MJHL Second All-Star Team (1953) Turnbull Cup MJHL Championships (1953 and 1954) MJHL Scoring Champion (1954) NHL All-Star Game (1958, 1959, 1961, 1969 and 1970) Stanley Cup Championships (1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961) Inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1996 "Honoured Member" of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame

Transactions June 7, 1960 – Traded to Chicago by Montreal with Reggie Fleming, Bob Courcy and Cec Hoekstra for Glen Skov, Terry Gray, Bob Bailey, Lorne Ferguson and the rights to Danny Lewicki. June 8, 1964 – Traded to Boston by Chicago with Reggie Fleming for Doug Mohns. May 31, 1965 – Traded to Detroit by Boston with Bob McCord and Ken Stephanson for Albert Langlois, Ron Harris, Parker MacDonald and Bob Dillabough. June 6, 1967 – Claimed by Pittsburgh from Detroit in Expansion Draft. June 11, 1968 – Traded to St. Louis by Pittsburgh for Lou Angotti. May 12, 1971 – Traded to Detroit by St. Louis with Bob Wall and Mike Lowe to complete transaction that sent Carl Brewer to St. Louis (February 22, 1971). February 12, 1972 – Selected by Winnipeg (WHA) in 1972 WHA General Player Draft.

Personal life McDonald and his wife Pat were married for sixty years, having three daughters and two sons together.