Joseph Mario Contini (born January 29, 1957) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who played 68 games in the

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

for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

and

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 fo ...

Junior career

Born in Galt,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Contini made an immediate impact during his rookie season as a member of the

Hamilton Fincups The Hamilton Fincups were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for 4 years, from 1974 to 1978. The team played in Hamilton, Ontario for three years, and in St. Catharines, Ontario for one. The Hamilton Fin ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

(OHL). Contini helped the Fincups to a 37–24–9 record in the 1974/75 season, amassing 90 points in the process. Contini continued his strong OHL career during the 1975/76 season earning 80 points his sophomore season. He was a key contributor on a very good Fincups team that won the

1976 Memorial Cup The 1976 Memorial Cup occurred from May 9 to 16 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. It was the 58th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Participating teams ...

. Contini had an outstanding

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between ...

, setting the record for fastest two goals during a Memorial Cup game (2 in 8 seconds) and fastest 3 goals (3 in 72 seconds) during their game on May 12, 1976 vs New Westminster. He is also tied for the most points ever in a single Memorial Cup game with 6 (May 12, 1976 vs New Westminster – 3 G, 3 A) in an 8–4 Hamilton victory. Contini's third and final OHL season was cut short due to injury, he played only 28 games, but amassed 46 points on 17 goals and 29 assists. Fortunately, Contini was able to play for

Canada men's national junior ice hockey team The Canadian men's national under-20 ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada internationally in under-20 competition. Their primary participation in this age group comes at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Juni ...

in the

1977 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 1977 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''1977 WJHC'') were held between December 22, 1976, and January 2, 1977, in Banská Bystrica and Zvolen, Czechoslovakia. The Soviet team won the tournament with a perfect 7–0 record. This was the f ...

. Contini finished third on the squad in points, with 4 goals and 6 assists in 7 games, and helped his country earn a silver medal.

Pro career

Contini was drafted by the

in the eighth round, 126th overall, in the 1977 NHL amateur draft. Contini played 37 games for the Rockies in the 1977/78 season, scoring 12 goals and adding 9 assists for 21 points. Contini followed up his rookie season with 5 goals and 12 assists in 30 games for the Rockies. Contini split the 1979/80 season between the

Fort Worth Texans The Fort Worth Texans were a professional ice hockey team based in Fort Worth, Texas. They started play in 1967 as the Fort Worth Wings, a minor league affiliate for the Detroit Red Wings. They were part of the Central Hockey League and played ...

, scoring goal and adding two assists for three points in 8 games, and the

Oklahoma City Stars The Oklahoma City Stars are the athletic teams that represent Oklahoma City University, located in Oklahoma City, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (N ...

, where he played 58 games, scoring 19 goals and adding 43 assists for 63 points. Contini signed with the

as a free agent prior to the 1980/81 season, but only suited up for the North Stars for 1 game. He spent the remainder of the season with the Oklahoma City Stars, scoring 32 goals and 63 assists for 95 points in 77 games. Contini played his final pro season with 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, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since ...

and the

Muskegon Mohawks The Muskegon Mohawks were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League from 1965 to 1984. Muskegon were Turner Cup champions in 1968. This team was originally named the Muskegon Zephyrs The Muskegon Zephyrs wer ...

. Contini played 56 games in Hershey, earning 57 points in 56 games with 20 goals and 37 assists and 17 games in Muskegon, where he tallied 9 goals and 7 assists.

Coaching

At the age of 26, Contini was named head coach of the

Guelph Platers The Guelph Platers were a junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Ontario Hockey League, Ontario Junior Hockey League, and Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League. They were originally known as the CMC's un ...

of the OHL. He spent two years at the helm, from 1982 to 1984.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Contini, Joe 1947 births Living people Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian ice hockey centres Colorado Rockies (NHL) draft picks Colorado Rockies (NHL) players Flint Generals players Fort Worth Texans players Hamilton Fincups players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Ontario Minnesota North Stars players Muskegon Mohawks players Oklahoma City Stars players Philadelphia Firebirds (AHL) players Phoenix Roadrunners (CHL) players Sportspeople from Cambridge, Ontario