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Peter McNab
Petermcnab
Position Centre
Height
Weight
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
Teams Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Vancouver Canucks
New Jersey Devils
Nationality Flag of the United States American & Flag of Canada Canadian
Born May 8, 1952(1952-05-08),
Vancouver, BC, CAN
Died November 6, 2022(2022-11-06) (aged 70),
Denver, Colorado
Pro Career 1973 – 1987

Peter McNab (born on May 8, 1952 in Vancouver, British Columbia, died November 6, 2022 in Denver, Colorado) was a retired professional ice hockey player who appeared in 954 NHL regular season games between 1973 and 1987. McNab belongs to one of ice hockey's most prominent families. His father Max McNab was a journeyman center who won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 1950. Max's long career as a player and coach was honored by his hometown of Watson, Saskatchewan, where a recreational park is named after him. Peter's brother David was an NHL scout and is now Assistant G.M. of the Anaheim Ducks.

Biography[]

Amateur career[]

Peter McNab spent his early childhood in British Columbia before moving to San Diego, CA at age 14, where his father was head coach of the minor-league San Diego Gulls. Peter initially excelled as a baseball player, he entered the University of Denver on a baseball scholarship and later made the hockey team, becoming an all-WCHA selection in 1973. In the early 1970s NCAA players rarely made it to the NHL, but McNab was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres while playing forward for the U.of Denver Pioneers in 1972.

Professional career[]

He led the Cincinnati Swords of the AHL in scoring in 1973–74, despite just playing in 49 of 76 games, and debuted with Buffalo that same season. While with Buffalo, he got his first NHL goal on December 15, 1973, against the Minnesota North Stars.

After a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1975, Peter McNab was traded to the Boston Bruins in 1976. He enjoyed the best years of his NHL career in Boston, scoring at least 35 goals and 75 points 6 seasons in a row and played in the 1977 NHL All Star game. He twice scored a playoff overtime winning goal. On December 23, 1979, during a game at Madison Square Garden in New York, McNab, teammate Mike Milbury, and several other Bruins climbed into the stands to confront fans. McNab engaged in a physical confrontation with one fan, and was soon joined by Milbury, who removed the fan's shoe and proceeded to strike the fan with the shoe several times. On April 9, 1981, Minnesota North Stars goaltender Don Beaupre stopped a McNab penalty shot. As a result, McNab holds the distinction of being the only Bruin ever awarded a penalty shot in a playoff game. Today, McNab is among the team's top 10 leaders in goals, points and playoff scoring.

Peter McNab was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in 1984, and played 2 seasons with the New Jersey Devils, where his father Max was the team's general manager at the time. He also made his international debut for Team USA at the 1986 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament in Moscow. He retired from professional hockey at the end of the 1986–87 season.

Broadcasting Career[]

Upon his retirement he would serve as color commentator for SportsChannel America's coverage of the New Jersey Devils broadcasts from the 1987-88 season to until the 1994-95 season.

He served as a color commentator for Altitude Sports and Entertainment's coverage of the Colorado Avalanche from their first season after relocating from Quebec City to Denver in 1995 until his passing in 2022.

He would also serve as The Sports Network's studio analyst for the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. and color commentator for Turner Network Television for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, and color commentator for NHL on NBC for their coverage of the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Awards and accomplishments[]

Award Year
All-WCHA First Team 1972–73 [1]
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1973 [2]
National Hockey League All-Star Game 1997 NHL All-Star Game
  • † (participation later vacated)


Personal life[]

McNab was part of a prominent ice hockey family. His father Max McNab was a center who won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 1950, and later became a coach and general manager. Peter's brother, David, spent 43 seasons as an NHL scout and executive before retiring from his position as the senior vice president of hockey operations for the Anaheim Ducks in May 2021.[3]

In 2021, McNab was diagnosed with cancer. He continued his role as Avalanche color analyst throughout his chemotherapy.[4] In February 2022, doctors informed McNab that his cancer was in remission.[5] McNab died on November 6, 2022, at the age of 70.[6]

Career statistics[]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1973–74 Cincinnati Swords AHL 49 34 39 73 16 5 2 6 8 0
1973–74 Buffalo Sabres NHL 22 3 6 9 2
1974–75 Buffalo Sabres NHL 53 22 21 43 8 17 2 6 8 4
1975–76 Buffalo Sabres NHL 79 24 32 56 16 8 0 0 0 0
1976–77 Boston Bruins NHL 80 38 48 86 11 14 5 3 8 2
1977–78 Boston Bruins NHL 79 41 39 80 4 15 8 11 19 2
1978–79 Boston Bruins NHL 76 35 45 80 10 11 5 3 8 0
1979–80 Boston Bruins NHL 74 40 38 78 10 10 8 6 14 2
1980–81 Boston Bruins NHL 80 37 46 83 24 3 3 0 3 0
1981–82 Boston Bruins NHL 80 36 40 76 19 11 6 8 14 6
1982–83 Boston Bruins NHL 74 22 52 74 23 15 3 5 8 4
1983–84 Boston Bruins NHL 52 14 16 30 10
1983–84 Vancouver Canucks NHL 13 1 6 7 10 3 0 0 0 0
1984–85 Vancouver Canucks NHL 75 23 25 58 10
1985–86 New Jersey Devils NHL 71 19 24 43 14
1986–87 New Jersey Devils NHL 46 8 12 20 8
NHL totals 954 363 450 813 179 107 42 40 82 20

External links[]



This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Peter McNab. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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