Pete Donnelly

1 NHL Game

December 14, 1968 Detroit Red Wings vs Oakland Seals. 3-1 win.

   December 14, 1968 the Detroit Red Wings were scrambling to find a backup goalie when Roger Crozier came down with a bad case of the flu. With Terry Sawchuck suffering from a broken finger, the Wings were left with just Roy Edwards on their roster to tend goal. The Red Wings had not anticipated that Crozier would be in such disrepair that the goalie had to be sent home from the rink. A netminder short and with a 2 pm matinee drawing near, Detroit general manager Jim Skinner called on local goalie Pete Donnelly. Donnelly was an amateur playing with the University of Detroit but had been scouted by the Red Wings as a junior. Donnelly was home watching a football game when he was asked to be at the rink within the hour to dress for the Detroit Red Wings. He happily obliged. "I never imagined I'd get a chance like this," Donnelly said post-game. "They give you so much money for a game but I wasn't even interested in that. I just wanted to come down and be in the same room with these men and sit on the bench with them. My biggest thrill was when I stopped Gordie Howe point blank. I know Mr. Hockey; my younger brother played hockey with his sons."(1) 

   At the time of his NHL call up with the Red Wings it seemed highly unlikely Donnelly would return to the big leagues. Donnelly, however, beat the odds and after attending the Philadelphia Flyers 1971 training camp but not making the cut, a new league gave light to new opportunity in 1972. Donnelly signed with the newly created New York Raiders and went on to spend three seasons in the World Hockey Association, the rival league to the NHL in the 1970s. Donnelly once again saw himself facing off against the great Gordie Howe. While Donnelly was a member of the Vancouver Blazers he actually surrendered Mark Howe's first professional goal while the young Howe was a member of the Houston Aeros. 

Career stats from hockeydb.com

Born Jun 14 1948 -- Detroit, MI 

Height 5.08 -- Weight 165 

RS Scoring			RS Goalie Stats										PO Scoring
Season	Team	Lge	GP	A	PIM	Min	GA	EN	SO	GAA	W	L	T	Svs	Pct	GP	A	PIM
1967-68	Kitchener Rangers	OHA	20	1	0
1967-68	Ottawa 67's	OHA	0	0	0
1970-71	Quebec Aces	AHL	1	0	0	40	1	0	0	1.50						-	-	-
1971-72	Jersey Devils	EHL	0	0	0		0	0	0	0.00						-	-	-
1971-72	New Haven Blades	EHL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	0	0
1972-73	New York Raiders	WHA	47	0	2	2606	155	1	2	3.56	22	19	2	1173	0.883	-	-	-
1973-74	Roanoke Valley Rebels	SHL	5	0	0	300	9	0	0	1.80	5	0	0	144	0.941	-	-	-
1973-74	Vancouver Blazers	WHA	49	1	9	2824	179	4	3	3.80	22	24	0	1346	0.883	-	-	-
1974-75	Tulsa Oilers	CHL	22	0	9	1265	70	0	0	3.32	8	10	4			1	0	0
1975-76	Quebec Nordiques	WHA	4	0	0	129	10	0	0	4.65	0	1	0	55	0.846	-	-	-
1975-76	Maine Nordiques	NAHL	41	0	19	2383	222	2	0	5.59	12	27	0			4	0	0
1977-78	Long Beach Sharks/Rockets	PHL	32	1	4

(1) From newspaper source: Omaha-World Herald, Dec. 15, 1968.