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| 1981 NHL DRAFT PICK |
 | Gord
Donnelly
Selected in third round
No.
62 overall by St. Louis Blues
Born April 5,
1962
 | Position:
Defense
Height: 6-1 Weight: 195
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| BEFORE THE DRAFT |
Last Team:
Sherbrooke (QMJHL)
Birthplace: Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
Hometown:
Montreal, Quebec |
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 |
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| PRE-DRAFT
STATISTICS | | Year |
Team | League |
GP | G |
A | TP |
PIM | | 1977-78 |
Notre Dame | Que. AA |
-- | -- |
-- | -- |
-- | | 1978-79 |
Laval | QMJHL |
71 | 1 |
14 | 15 |
79 | | 1979-80 |
Laval | QMJHL |
44 | 5 |
10 | 15 |
47 | | |
Chicoutimi | QMJHL |
24 | 1 |
5 | 6 |
64 | | 1980-81 |
Sherbrooke | QMJHL |
67 | 15 |
23 | 38 |
252 |
|
PRE-DRAFT AWARDS AND HONORS
QMJHL Playoffs Penalty-Minutes Leader: 1980 (Chicoutimi) (35), 1981 (Sherbrooke)
(106)
Miscellaneous: Not selected in 1980 NHL Entry Draft despite being
eligible. ... Laval's first-round pick in 1978 QMJHL midget draft. |
| NHL CAREER |
Debut: October 16, 1983 (Quebec at
Washington)
Numbers: 28, 34 (Quebec); 22, 34
(Winnipeg); 34 (Buff.); 43 (Dallas)
Stanley Cup: Never won.
Playing Status: Retired 2000 |
| CAREER NHL STATISTICS | | Years |
Teams | GP |
G | A |
TP | PIM | |
1983-1995 | QUE, WIN, BUF, DAL |
554 | 28 |
41 | 69 |
2,069 |
|
| CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS | | Years |
Teams | GP |
G | A |
TP | PIM | | 1986-1992 |
Quebec, Winnipeg, Buff. | 26 |
0 | 2 |
2 | 61 |
|
NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
Quebec Penalty-Minutes Leader: 1987-88 (301)
Winnipeg
Penalty-Minutes Leader: 1988-89 (228), 1990-91 (265)
Scouting
Career: Named Chicago amateur scout prior to 2002-03 season and remained
in that position into 2003-04 season.
Miscellaneous: Fined $500 by
NHL for kicking Kelly Buchberger's chin as the two fell to the ice during
Game 5 of Winnipeg's first-round playoff series at Edmonton on April 12, 1990.
Donnelly claimed he had simply lost his balance, but Edmonton general manager
Glen Sather said the kick was deliberate. No penalty was called on the play,
but Sather's protests led to the fine. ... Set Winnipeg single-season record
(since broken) for penalty minutes by a defenseman with 265 in 1990-91. ...
Set Buffalo single-season record (since broken) for penalty minutes by a right
wing with 305 in 1991-92. ... Missed start of 1995 season with bone chips in
right elbow, an injury diagnosed prior to the start of Dallas'
lockout-shortened season in January 1995.
Defense and Right Wing: A
defenseman throughout his minor hockey, junior and minor-league professional
career, Donnelly shifted from defense to right wing with Quebec prior to
1987-88 season so that he could play more of an enforcer role, and he became
one of the NHL's most feared fighters. He remained a right wing until the
1989-90 season when he was switched back to defense. He shifted back to right
wing upon joining Buffalo during the 1991-92 season, and then played both
right wing and defense for Buffalo in 1992-93. He ended his NHL career as a
defenseman with Dallas in 1993-94 and 1995.
Season of Suspensions: Donnelly
sat out 10 games during the 1987-88 season due to two five-game
suspensions and then received a third, 10-game suspension that kept him out of
the end of the season's final four games and the first six games of the
1988-89 season. The first of Donnelly's three suspensions came as a result of his
kneeing Willi Plett in the head during a fight in Quebec's Oct. 29, 1987, game
at Boston. Donnelly was given a five-minute match penalty for intent to
injure, although the Nordiques protested that he was fighting in in self-defense
after Plett had speared and head-butted him. They also said Donnelly's kneeing
had been accidental, caused by Donnelly slipping on the ice as the two players
lost their balance. Video replays
showed that the kneeing was no accident, however, and after a hearing on the
matter, NHL vice president Brian O'Neill suspended Donnelly on Nov. 5, 1987.
He was not allowed to return to action until Quebec's Nov. 18, 1987, game at
Edmonton. A few months later, Donnelly was suspended for another five games
and fined $100 by NHL for fighting John Kordic prior to the start of Quebec's
Feb. 23, 1988, game vs. Montreal. The feud with Kordic had dated back three
days to Quebec's Feb. 20, 1988, game at Montreal, when Donnelly fought Kordic
as soon as the puck was dropped. When they lined up for the opening faceoff on Feb. 23, they didn't even wait for the puck to drop. Donnelly and Kordic were ejected and fined $100, while both teams received
$25,000 fines. Two days later, the NHL held a hearing for Donnelly and Quebec
coach Ron Lapointe. At the hearing, O'Neill suspended Donnelly for five games
and fined Lapointe $1,000. Montreal's Kordic and coach Jean Perron were given
the same punishment at a later hearing with O'Neill. Donnelly was not
allowed to return to action until Quebec's March 6, 1988, game vs. N.Y.
Islanders. Just three weeks after his return, Donnelly got in trouble once
more for clubbing Jim Johnson with his stick during Quebec's March 27, 1988,
game vs. Pittsburgh. This time, the NHL gave Donnelly a 10-game suspension,
keeping him out of the balance of the 1987-88 season and the first six games
of the following season. Donnelly did not return to regular-season action
until Quebec's Oct. 20, 1988, game at Philadelphia. |
| NON-NHL CAREER |
Post-Draft Teams: Sherbrooke (QMJHL); Salt
Lake (CHL); Fredericton (AHL); Kalamazoo (IHL); Houston, Chicago (IHL);
Villach (Austria)
NON-NHL
AWARDS AND HONORS
Austrian Championship: 1999 (Villach)
Coaching Career: Named Concordia (OUAA) assistant coach prior to 2001-02
season and remained in position through 2002-03 season.
Personal: Full name is Gordon
Donnelly. ... Also known as Gordon Donnelly during his playing days. |
| HOW HE GOT AWAY |
| COACH-SIGNING COMPENSATION: St. Louis sent
Donnelly and Claude Julien to Quebec as compensation for the signing of
Jacques Demers as head coach on August 19, 1983. Demers, who was coaching the
Nordiques' AHL affiliate in Fredericton, had been under
contract to the Quebec organization when he began negotiating with St. Louis.
Before St. Louis began talking to Demers, it worked out a deal with Quebec in
which the Nordiques would Julien as a good-faith measure for letting St. Louis
talk to Demers and would also receive Donnelly in the event that St. Louis
signed Demers to a contract. |
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|
SNAPSHOT '81 | | Total Selected: |
211 | | Forwards: |
119 | | Defense: |
67 | | Goaltenders: |
25 | | Major Junior: |
122 | | Tier II/Jr. B: |
10/4 | | College Players: |
21 | | High School: |
18 |
| Canadian: |
139 |
| Euro-Canadian: |
3 | | USA Citizens: |
37 | | U.S.-Born: |
36 |
| European: |
32 |
| Reached NHL: |
114 |
| Stanley Cup: |
17 | | Hall of Fame: |
2 |
| All-Star Game: |
14 |
| Year-end All-Star: |
7 |
| Olympians: |
30 |
| Picks Traded: |
38 |
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