Memorable Manitobans: Alvin Brian “Ab” McDonald (1936-2018)

Hockey player.

Born at St. Andrews on 18 February 1936, youngest of seven children of Edith and Robert McDonald, he moved to Winnipeg with his family and was educated at Cecil Rhodes School and Daniel McIntyre Collegiate. In his youth, he played hockey with the St. Boniface Canadiens and St. Catharine Teepees then spent two years with the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League. He played more than 800 games over 14 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, and Pittsburgh Penguins, being the first Captain of the latter. His teams captured the Stanley Cup in four consecutive years (1958-1961) and he was selected to the All Star Team five times. He joined the Winnipeg Jets in its first year with the World Hockey Association (1972-1973), serving as the team’s first Captain and playing for two years before retiring and coaching the Portage Terriers in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame (1993), Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame (1996), and Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt (2016). He died at Winnipeg on 4 September 2018.

Sources:

“Jets’ Winnipeg-born first captain dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 September 2018, page C1.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 8 September 2018.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 8 September 2018

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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