Charles William "Pete" Conacher Jr. (July 29, 1932 – October 20, 2024) was a Canadian 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 who played 229 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 ...

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

. 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. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and

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 ...

. 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 The ...

. 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 League ...

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 the 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. Founded in 1890, the OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern ...

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. They played in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1949 to 1955 and were operated as an affiliate of the Chicago Black Hawks. Their home ...

. 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, in the central part of the Ontario Peninsula. The city had a population ...

) 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 Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

to play in the

Professional hockey career

In his 13 years as a professional hockey player, he played for the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

, 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 original Buffalo Bisons hockey team, which left the area in 1936 after its arena collapsed. They were ...

. In 1959, he played for the

and won the World Championship in Prague. By the end of his professional hockey career, Conacher had played 229 NHL regular season games, with 47 goals and 39 assists. After ending his professional career in 1966, he joined the NHL Oldtimers Hockey Club, playing charity hockey games across Canada for the following 13 years, and continued to play for the Oldtimers hockey team. Conacher was recognized for his 1959 World Championship success with the Belleville McFarlands by being inducted into the Belleville Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Conacher 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 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 (Toronto), ...

. Pete and his wife Ann lived in Etobicoke for over 48 years. He later sat 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 ( ; 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 cousin, Lionel Conacher Jr., 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 disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. Another cousin Brian Conacher represented Canada at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

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 played 70 games each, as six more teams were added for the 1967–68 season. This season saw the debut of one of the greate ...

Cory Conacher Cory Conacher (born December 14, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Undrafted, Conacher played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). ...

, 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. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

, is also a distant relative of Pete's. He was also a cousin with Murray Henderson. Pete Conacher died on October 20, 2024, at the age of 92.

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 () or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal was ...

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conacher, Pete 1932 births 2024 deaths Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey forwards Canadian people of Scottish descent Chicago Blackhawks players Galt Black Hawks players Galt Red Wings players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Toronto New York Rangers players Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players St. Louis Flyers players Toronto Maple Leafs players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen