Douglas John Palazzari (born November 3, 1952, in

Eveleth, Minnesota Eveleth is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,493 at the 2020 census. Eveleth is part of the Quad Cities, with Virginia, Gilbert, and Mountain Iron. U.S. Highway 53 and State Highway 37 (MN 37) are ...

) is a 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

USA Hockey USA Hockey is a national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United S ...

executive. He is the son of former NHL player Aldo Palazzari. Too small to become a regular 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 ...

, Doug Palazzari played a total of 108 games for the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

in 1974–79 but he spent most of his professional career in the minors with the

Providence Reds The Providence Reds were a hockey team that played in the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAHL) between 1926 and 1936 and the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1936 to 1977, the last season of which they played as the Rhode Island Reds. The t ...

, Kansas City Blues and

Salt Lake Golden Eagles The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were a minor professional hockey team based in Salt Lake City from 1969 to 1994. History They played in the Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974, the Central Hockey League from 1974 to 1984 and the International H ...

where he was a major star. Before turning professional, he was an accomplished player for the

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory, the college offers over 40 majors a ...

men's ice hockey team and he also played for the United States national team at the 1973 and 1974

Ice Hockey World Championship The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the E ...

tournaments. Palazzari was also a member of the United States team at the inaugural

1976 Canada Cup The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2 to 15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec City in Canada as well as in Philadelphia, in the United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup ...

. Palazzari is perhaps best known for his management work for amateur hockey in the United States after retiring from professional hockey in 1982. He was elected executive director of

in 1999 after spending 14 years with the organization in various capabilities. He resigned as director in 2005. Palazzari was inducted into the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials an ...

in 2000.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

*
United States Hockey Hall of Fame bio
1952 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey centers American people of Italian descent Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey players Kansas City Blues (ice hockey) players Salt Lake Golden Eagles (CHL) players Sportspeople from Eveleth, Minnesota Ice hockey people from St. Louis County, Minnesota St. Louis Blues players Undrafted National Hockey League players United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees USA Hockey personnel Ice hockey players from Minnesota 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-icehockey-center-stub