Ab McDonald, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and World Hockey Association pioneer, has been celebrated by the City of Winnipeg and True North Sports + Entertainment -- the parent company of the Winnipeg Jets -- which renamed the St. James Civic Centre arena for the Winnipeg hockey legend Friday.
Ab McDonald Arena honors Winnipeg icon, four-time Stanley Cup champion
Renamed for late forward who played 14 NHL seasons, finished playing career as original Jet in WHA
Alvin at birth but Ab to everyone, McDonald was famous during his 14-season NHL career for winning the Stanley Cup in four consecutive years: in 1958, 1959 and 1960 with the Montreal Canadiens and in 1961 with the Chicago Black Hawks.
The veteran of six NHL teams also was the first captain of the expansion Pittsburgh Penguins and assisted on the first goal in their history, scored by Andy Bathgate against the Canadiens on Oct. 11, 1967.
In 1972, changing leagues in the twilight of his playing career, McDonald was named the first captain of the Winnipeg Jets of the fledgling WHA. He scored their first goal on Oct. 12, 1972, never forgetting the milestone achieved for his new team in its first game on the road at the New York Raiders. Back home in Winnipeg that night, McDonald's wife, Pat, was giving birth to Kristina, the couple's fifth child.
Displays of Ab McDonald are now featured in Winnipeg's St. James Civic Centre, its arena renamed for the four-time Stanley Cup champion. City of Winnipeg
McDonald remains an admired champion in his hometown and throughout his native Manitoba and is adored for his volunteer work. His impact is still being felt, many local young people benefiting from the foundation his family created in his name after his death at age 82 on Sept. 4, 2018.
The arena salute, slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been in the works since October 2019. Winnipeg city councillors then unanimously agreed to a request presented by a community committee and the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, which in 1985 enshrined McDonald as an honored member.
The campaign was supported from the outset by Special Olympics Manitoba, for whom McDonald was a decades-long honorary coach, recruiter of volunteers, mentor and committee member.
"When Ab passed, everybody took a deep breath and said, 'We really need to do something,' " said Murray Peterson, Heritage Officer in Winnipeg's department of planning, property and development. "This is such a great project to honor such a great man."
Visitors to the St. James Civic Centre are now greeted by a new lobby featuring images, stories and statistics from McDonald's career. Aniko Szabo designed the installation, with contributions from Peterson, the NHL, Manitoba Special Olympics and the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.
Ab McDonald skates in October 1960 as a new member of the Chicago Black Hawks. Le Studio du Hockey/Hockey Hall of Fame
"Ab McDonald is one of the true legends of hockey in Winnipeg," Mayor Scott Gillingham said at the unveiling ceremony. "Renaming this arena is a fitting honor for someone who represented this city with great class throughout the hockey world, and these displays will share his story with future generations of players."
Work on the lobby installation was done during recent renovations to the Centre, which upgraded infrastructure, improved accessibility and refreshed spaces within the complex. The $14,500 installation was funded through the City's Land Dedication Reserve.
Also unveiled were two murals donated by TNSE located within Ab McDonald Arena. Designed by TNSE Hockey Creative Lead Marc Gomez, the murals feature images of McDonald during his playing career and celebrate his time with the Jets and induction into the Jets Hall of Fame.
"It is such an honor for our dad's legacy to be remembered by naming an arena after him in the city that he lived in and loved," the McDonald family said in a statement. "He was respected for his outstanding hockey career, but his greatest attribute was how he cared for and supported the people of Winnipeg and the community of Manitoba.
"Our family is so humbled that his city and community wanted to honor him, and we thank the City of Winnipeg and True North Sports + Entertainment for contributing these displays that will allow generations of Winnipeggers to learn his story."
Ab McDonald and his daughter, Kristina, with the puck McDonald used to score the first goal in WHA Winnipeg Jets franchise history on Oct. 12, 1972, the night Kristina was born; and McDonald with Chicago Black Hawks legend Pierre Pilote in 2011. McDonald family; Getty Images
Born Feb. 18, 1936, the youngest of seven children, McDonald grew up in Winnipeg's Weston district, his hockey career beginning at age 15 in St. Boniface, Manitoba, on a junior team sponsored by the Canadiens.
His rights owned by Montreal, he played in their farm system and that of Chicago in a shuffle that was wasn't uncommon at the time before being called up by the Canadiens from Rochester of the American Hockey League for two games in the 1958 Stanley Cup Playoffs, his name engraved on the trophy for that championship.
Between 1958-72, McDonald scored 430 points (182 goals, 248 assists) in 762 games as a left wing for the Canadiens, Black Hawks, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Penguins and St. Louis Blues and 50 points (21 goals, 29 assists) in 84 playoff games. He finishing third in voting for the 1958-59 Calder Trophy, voted as NHL rookie of the year, won that season by Canadiens teammate Ralph Backstrom.
Ab McDonald (left), Ralph Backstrom (center) and Bernie Geoffrion celebrate in the Montreal Canadiens dressing room. Each scored in the Canadiens' 3-2 win in Game 4 of the 1959 Stanley Cup Final against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Fame
McDonald was included in a nine-player trade between the Canadiens and Black Hawks on June 7, 1960, keeping his Stanley Cup streak alive in Chicago as a member of the 1961 championship team on the left side of the "Scooter Line" with center Stan Mikita and right wing Ken Wharram.
He scored the Cup-clinching goal in a 5-1 Game 6 victory against the Red Wings after the Black Hawks had ended the historic five-year title run of the heavily-favored Canadiens in the semifinals, then played his final two seasons (1972-74) for the WHA Jets, who posthumously inducted him into their Hall of Fame on Feb. 26, 2019.
McDonald retired to St. James, home for himself and his family since 1967, volunteering to coach two junior teams, playing on various NHL alumni and local old-timers' teams and working tirelessly in the community.
Top photo: Part of the display featuring Ab McDonald at the St. James Civic Centre, the arena in the complex renamed for the four-time Stanley Cup champion and WHA Winnipeg Jets pioneer. City of Winnipeg
