John Clark Donatelli (born November 22, 1965) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and is the current head coach of the

Tipos Extraliga The Slovak Extraliga, known as the Tipsport liga since the 2025–26 season for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. From 2018–19 to 2020–21, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. Teams fro ...

HC Nové Zámky HC Nové Zámky is a professional ice hockey team playing in the Tipos Extraliga, the top level of ice hockey in the country. They play in the city of Nové Zámky, Slovakia at Nové Zámky Ice Stadium. The team is nicknamed ''Býci'', meaning " ...

. Donatelli was a long-time minor league player in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) and International Hockey League (IHL). He played 35 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). Internationally Donatelli played for the American national team at several

World Championships 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 ...

, the

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

and

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

Playing career

Donatelli was drafted in the fifth round, 98th overall, in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the

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

. After three seasons with

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

and one with the U.S. national team, Donatelli made his NHL debut with the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

during the 1989–90 season. Donatelli played a full season with the International Hockey League's

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team based in San Diego. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Anaheim Ducks. The team plays its home games at Pechanga Arena. History On Jan ...

in 1990–91, and joined the NHL's

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

briefly in the 1991–92 season. After several seasons in the IHL and

, as well as one in

Roller Hockey International Roller Hockey International was a professional inline hockey league that operated in North America from 1993 to 1999. It was the first major professional league for inline hockey. History League president Dennis Murphy had been involved in ...

with the

San Diego Barracudas The San Diego Barracudas were a professional inline hockey team based in San Diego, California, that competed in Roller Hockey International. The team played its home games at the San Diego Sports Arena. The team played from 1993 through 1996. Th ...

, Donatelli retired in 1996.

Coaching career

After retiring, Donatelli took up coaching and eventually was named head coach of the

Wheeling Nailers The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey Lea ...

in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

during the 2011–12 season. During the 2015–16 season, the Nailers'

affiliate

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (sometimes known as the WBS Penguins) are a professional ice hockey team based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Pengui ...

promoted him as the interim head coach as their head coach, Mike Sullivan, had been promoted to

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

. He became the permanent head coach of the WBS Penguins after the season ended. Donatelli had a record of 154–94–20–9 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, leading the Penguins to three Calder Cup Playoff appearances and a regular season title in 2016–17.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donatelli, Clark 1965 births Living people American men's ice hockey left wingers Boston Bruins players Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey players Detroit Vipers players Ice hockey coaches from Rhode Island Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players Minnesota North Stars players New York Rangers draft picks Olympic ice hockey players for the United States Providence Bruins players San Diego Barracudas players San Diego Gulls (IHL) players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coaches AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Ice hockey people from Providence, Rhode Island American inline hockey players 20th-century American sportsmen