Charles William "Pete" Conacher, Jr. (born July 29, 1932) is a Canadian retired professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player who played 229 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

between 1951 and 1957. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1951 to 1966, was mainly spent in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. Conacher played with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

. In 1959, Conacher played for the

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Belleville McFarlands The Belleville McFarlands were a Canadian senior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1956 to 1961. The McFarlands were based out of Belleville, Ontario, playing home games at the Belleville Memorial Arena. History Th ...

. He is the son of NHL Hall of Famer,

Charlie Conacher Charles William "The Big Bomber" Conacher, Sr. (December 20, 1909 – December 30, 1967) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and New York Americans in the National Hockey Leagu ...

Junior hockey career

Pete Conacher began his hockey career in the Toronto Hockey League in 1943 with the Leaside PeeWee team. He went on to play for the North Toronto Kinsmen Terriers in the 1944-45 season; where he would go on to be a Minor Bantam finalist. At the age of 16, he became property of the Chicago Blackhawks but was sent to their

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

affiliate, the

Galt Black Hawks The Galt Black Hawks were a junior ice hockey team based in Galt, Ontario, now a part of the city of Cambridge, Ontario, Cambridge. They played in the Ontario Hockey League, Ontario Hockey Association from 1949 to 1955 and were operated as an affil ...

. He would play in Galt (now part of

Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand River (Ontario), Grand and Speed River, Speed rivers. The city had a population of 138,479 as of the 2021 Canadian census, 202 ...

) for two seasons. His best offensive season came in 1951-'52 where he would score 120 points (53G, 67A) in 51 games. In 1952, he turned pro with the Chicago Blac Hhawks to play in the

Professional hockey career

In his 13 years as a professional hockey player, he would also end up playing for the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

, St. Louis Flyers, and

Buffalo Bisons (AHL) The Buffalo Bisons were an American Hockey League ice hockey franchise that played from 1940 to 1970 in Buffalo, New York. They replaced the Buffalo Bisons (IHL), original Buffalo Bisons hockey team, which left the area in 1936 after Peace Brid ...

. In 1959, he would play for the

and go on to win the World Championship in Prague. By the end of his professional hockey career, Pete had played 229

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

regular season games, with 47 goals and 39 assists. After ending his professional career in 1966, he would join the

Oldtimers Hockey Club and would play charity hockey games across Canada for the following 13 years. To this day, he still plays for the Oldtimers hockey team. Pete was recognized for his 1959 World Championship success with the

by being inducted into the Belleville Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Pete was also a past President of the Ontario chapter of

Special Olympics Canada Special Olympics Canada is a national organization founded in 1969 to help people with intellectual disabilities develop self-confidence and social skills through sports training and competition. About The group is a national non-profit grassroot ...

. During summers he was not playing hockey, he would play in the Beaches Major Fastball League and senior baseball for Lizzies at the old Viaduct Stadium. He has also served as a board member for the

Throat Cancer Research Fund at the

Toronto General Hospital The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue's Hospital ...

. Pete and his wife Ann have lived in Etobicoke for the past 48 years. He currently sits on the Board of Directors with the

Ontario Sports Hall of Fame The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...

. Conacher's uncles,

Lionel Conacher Lionel Pretoria Conacher, MP (; May 24, 1900 – May 26, 1954), nicknamed "The Big Train", was a Canadian athlete and politician. Voted the country's top athlete of the first half of the 20th century, he won championships in numerous sports. ...

, and

Roy Conacher Roy Gordon Conacher (October 5, 1916 – December 29, 1984) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks. He was the ...

, also played in the NHL and were later inducted into the Hall of Fame. His cousins,

Lionel Conacher Jr. Lionel Conacher Jr. (born January 8, 1936) is a former running back in the Canadian Football League. He is the son of famed Canadian sports legend, Lionel Conacher. A graduate University of Western Ontario, his selection in the university draft ...

, was a first round draft pick in 1960 for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. Another cousin

Brian Conacher Brian Kennedy Conacher (born August 31, 1941) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, coach, executive and broadcaster. Conacher played 155 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings ...

represented Canada at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

and played for the

, winning a Stanley Cup with them during the

1966–67 NHL season The 1966–67 NHL season was the 50th season of the National Hockey League. This was the last season of only six teams in the NHL, as six more teams were added for the 1967–68 season. This season saw the debut of one of the greatest players ...

Cory Conacher Cory Conacher (born December 14, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL). Playing career Growing up ...

, formerly of the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

, is also a distant relative of Pete's. He is also a cousin with Murray Henderson.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

* Belleville Hall of Fame * Province of Ontario Special Achievement Award (1991) * Ontario Special Olympics Hall of Fame (First Inductee, 1992) *

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'or de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

(2002) * Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame (2002) * Bobby Orr Hall of Fame (2010)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conacher, Pete 1932 births Living people Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey forwards Canadian people of Scottish descent Chicago Blackhawks players Galt Black Hawks players Galt Red Wings players Hershey Bears players Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players New York Rangers players St. Louis Flyers players Ice hockey people from Toronto Toronto Maple Leafs players