1978-79 BWK Series — Day 8 — McDonald added physical edge, scoring

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This article was published 03/08/2021 (1766 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dave McDonald was one of the three unexpected gifts that fell into the lap of the Brandon Wheat Kings during the 1978-79 season.

McDonald wasn’t getting along with the coach at the University of Minnesota Duluth so the Winnipegger left the college team to join the Wheat Kings, who had acquired his rights in a trade a year earlier. His first game with the WHL club was on Nov. 9, 1978.

He was soon joined by his St. James Canadians teammates Stephen Patrick and Kelly Elcombe, giving Brandon an important infusion of talent. Like Patrick, whose dad Steve played in the Canadian football League, McDonald was the son of a professional athlete.

In fact, he was nicknamed Abby after his father Ab, who played 762 NHL games in 15 seasons and retired after two years in the World Hockey Association as captain of his hometown Winnipeg Jets.

McDonald put up 39 points (19 goals and 20 assists) with the Wheat Kings in 1978-79, and surely would have become their 10th 20-goal scorer if he had played more than 43 games. Still, he was drafted in the sixth round, 123rd overall, by the Hartford Whalers in 1979.

He returned to the Wheat Kings for the 1979-80 season, scoring 32 goals, before embarking on a three-year pro career. McDonald now lives in Minnedosa.

STEPHEN PATRICK: “Abby left Minnesota Duluth and went to Brandon in October. I left the Canadians — I was playing for the St. James Canadians and was going to play out my Grade 12 and go on a scholarship — and then I left so I got there at the end of October. Then Kelly Elcombe — the three of us were all real good friends in Winnipeg — Kelly left Wisconsin a few weeks later and ended up in Brandon. So we all got initiated at the same time.”

LAURIE BOSCHMAN: “Dave was a character, maybe like his father was. He was a solid left winger, left-handed shot, very tenacious on the puck.”

GREGG DRINNAN (Brandon Sun): “McDonald wasn’t humongously big but he was big by the standards of those days. He was thick and could handle himself, and won a lot of one-on-one puck battles. He had a lot of grit. As time went on, those guys really got comfortable and liked to go to war for one another and stand up for one another, and he was certainly one who didn’t mind the heavy going.”

RICK KNICKLE: “Dave was another guy who hung around with me and Steve and Kelly (Elcombe). He was salt of the earth. Abby was a guy that guys liked to bug, and was just a good guy. Everyone asks who was the best guy on the team, and it was Dave McDonald … He was another tough guy, and like Donny Dietrich, his ability on the ice was his hockey sense and hands and knowing how to play the game growing up in a hockey family with his dad.”

DAVE STEWART: “Abby is one of my best buddies … He’s a good guy, down to earth. He wouldn’t say anything bad about anybody. He was one of those guys who would give you the shirt off his back. He liked to jab you too.”

DON GILLEN: “(Dave) was a good guy. In hindsight, he had a lot of pressure on him from the shadow of his dad, Ab McDonald. He may not agree with that, but when he focused, he was very good and strong enough and tough enough. He was like a lot of us, he didn’t always focus to his ability. Sometimes we allowed ourselves distractions, and that’s part of being a junior hockey player.”

KELLY McCRIMMON: “His dad Ab McDonald was just one of the all-time great guys around the game of hockey, and just a tremendous ambassador for the Jets and hockey in general after he was done his career. Dave McDonald was his son. He was just identical. He was a great guy, funny, loved to laugh, a good player. I met Dave’s parents many times and he was a chip off the block.”

STEPHEN PATRICK: “Abby had a good shot and was really good positionally … Abby was always happy. He got pissed off one time against Regina — I’ve forgotten the guy’s name — knocked his front teeth out. Abby waited until the next game and beat the crap out of him. Abby was strong and he was tough. He had a lot of pride in playing for the Wheat Kings.”

TIM LOCKRIDGE: “(Dave) was a little bit of a s— disturber. I remember that. He wasn’t afraid to mix it up with anybody. I don’t know what it was in that whole group, but he was another very easy-going guy who you couldn’t rattle. I’ve run into him and had a beer with him a couple of times in the last couple of years, and I don’t think he’s changed. He’s the same I remember when he was 19 years old.”

MIKE PEROVICH: “Abby was funny. He had a good sense of humour and was not a bad hockey player. He was always laughing. Abby was a good guy.”

WES COULSON: “We used to call him Abby because of his dad, Ab McDonald. He was another guy who was fun loving and just loved life. You take a look at him and you wouldn’t think he had a mean streak, but I tell you what, he could throw the dukes too and didn’t really care. He was just happy to be there and play.”

DAVE CHARTIER: “Abby was just like his dad. What a gentleman. I’ve seen him a few times and he’s always had the smile on his face. He was a good player too. What he didn’t have in talent, he had in heart. We had a big team back then and he was one of the bigger ones so it made all of us young guys even stronger because our big guys were strong. He was a good guy.”

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