John Tonelli
Tonelli with theNew York Islanders in 1980
Born	(1957-03-23)March 23, 1957 (age 68) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada[1]
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Houston Aeros New York Islanders Calgary Flames Los Angeles Kings Chicago Blackhawks Quebec Nordiques
National team	Canada
NHL draft	33rd overall,1977 New York Islanders
Playing career	1975–1992

John Alexander Tonelli (born March 23, 1957^[2]) is a Canadian former professional ice hockeyforward fromMilton, Ontario. Tonelli made his debut as a professional player at 18 in 1975 with theHouston Aeros of theWorld Hockey Association, where he played his first three seasons, which included making the Avco Cup Final in his rookie season. He joined theNew York Islanders of theNational Hockey League in 1978; in eight seasons, he served as a key part of a team that advanced to theStanley Cup Finals five consecutive years while winning four of them (1980-1983) in a row in the last great NHL dynasty, with Tonelli delivering the assist onBob Nystrom's goal that won the1980 Stanley Cup Finals. Tonelli was traded late in the 1985-86 season to theCalgary Flames, where he reached the Stanley Cup Final that year, his seventh professional hockey league Final appearance as a player. He subsequently played with theLos Angeles Kings,Chicago Blackhawks, and theQuebec Nordiques.

In 2020, the Islanders honored Tonelli by retiring his #27 jersey, the seventh to be given the honor by the team while also joining theIslanders Hall of Fame.

Tonelli was born at St. Joseph's Hospital inHamilton, Ontario, on March 23, 1957, to his parents Alex Tonelli, Jr. and Joy Sclisizzi of Milton.^[1] He has an older brother Raymond, a younger brother David and a younger sister, Sandra.^[3] Tonelli's mother Joy Sclisizzi is a relative ofEnio Sclisizzi, who was Milton's first NHLer.^[4]

As young man, Tonelli worked in Sclisizzi's bronze-plaque making factory where he washed the finished plaques.

Tonelli's father, who worked for 40 years in the steel business and set an example for his son for hard work, used to dam up the water in a culvert next to their home, which would freeze, and allowed Tonelli endless access to skating time near their home on Ontario St. in Milton.^[5]

Tonelli was a multi-sport athlete in his youth, serving as pitcher for the Red Sox in the Milton Minor Baseball Association in 1966, when he hit a grand slam in the same game he served as pitcher.^[6] In 1968, with his father as an assistant coach, Tonelli won an OBA championship for the Milton Mowbray Tykes.^[7] He had four one-hitters as a pitcher in the 1970 baseball season.^[8]

In 1971, he was Holy Rosary School's top basketball scorer with 42 points.^[9] In 1972, as a 15-year-old, he pitched a perfect game as a bantam baseball player.^[10] Tonelli began his hockey career in earnest when he played one year with the Milton Flyers of the Central Junior B Hockey League before joining the Marlies.^[11]

Tonelli was the first 15-year-old player to be signed by the Toronto Marlies OHA team, and the first Miltonian to play with the Marlies since Murray "Cowboy" Grenke in the 1948–49 and 1949–50 seasons.^[12]

In his first season with them, Marlies' coachGeorge Armstrong noted Tonelli was pro material.^[13]

Tonelli was one of the first players to challenge the Ontario Hockey Association and the Marlies OHA team, with which he had signed a contract at age 16.^[14] As he reached age 18, theWHA's Houston team offered him a contract worth $500,000 ($2.2 million CAD in 2016), but his contract with the Marlies tied him to the OHA team for three years plus an option.^[15]

In June 1975, the WHA owners voted to void Tonelli's Houston contract. Tonelli's agent threatened to sue, and the Marlies asked for $100,000 in compensation, plus 20 percent of Tonelli's three-year WHA contract.^[16]

Tonelli refused to play for Toronto in the playoffs after he turned 18, so that it would not imperil his legal arguments.^[17] Tonelli's agent Gus Badali sued the Marlies and the OHA, and eventually the Ontario courts ruled that the contract was unenforceable because Tonelli had been under the age of 18 when he signed it, and his parents had not signed it. Tonelli's teammate, future NHLerJohn Anderson, followed this same lead, sitting out for a period, but eventually returned to lead Toronto in theMemorial Cup.^[18]

Tonelli played for Houston for three seasons. During his time in Houston, he was drafted by the New York Islanders in the second round (33rd overall) in the1977 NHL Amateur Draft afterJim Devellano, who was the Islanders Director of Scouting, came and visited Tonelli in Houston. Devellano was the only NHL scout to come and personally visit Tonelli in Houston while Tonelli was there, taking him out to dinner to talk. In his rookie season, the Aeros sought to defend theAvco World Trophy, which they had won the last two seasons. They reached the Avco Cup Final once again but lost in a sweep to the Winnipeg Jets; Tonelli scored 14 points in 17 postseason games.

Up until 1977, Tonelli often suffered once or twice a year from devastating migraine headaches that started age 10 and that doctors said were caused by his intensity and nervousness at game time.^[19]

Tonelli's NHL rights were reclaimed by NY Islanders after the Houston WHA franchise folded in July 1978.^[20]

In 1982 and 1985, Tonelli was a second teamAll-Starleft wing for the Islanders. He played in theStanley Cup finals in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1984 with the Islanders, winning four championships in the process, and made an additional appearance as runner-up in the Cup finals in 1986 with the Flames.

On May 24, 1980, Tonelli had the assist onBob Nystrom's overtimeStanley Cup-winning goal against thePhiladelphia Flyers, giving the Islanders their first of four straight Cups. In Game 6 atNassau Coliseum,Lorne Henning stole the puck at center ice, passed to Tonelli, who then criss-crossed with Nystrom, feeding him the puck on Nystrom's backhand for the winning goal at 7:11 of overtime. It was a play the two had perfected during practice. On January 6, 1981, Tonelli scored five goals in a game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[21][22]

Tonelli was a gritty forward with a never-say-die attitude for the Islanders. Tonelli, who was affectionately dubbed "The Greasy Jet" by his teammates, is remembered for scoring important "clutchgoals" in the Islanders' run of four straight Stanley Cups and five straight finals appearances, particularly during the 1981-82 season. During the playoffs that year, The Islanders were five minutes away from being eliminated by a much weakerPittsburgh Penguin team, trailing 3-1 in the deciding game. Tonelli assisted on aMike McEwen goal that closed the champions within one goal, and tied the game himself with 2:21 to play. For an encore, it was John Tonelli that scored in overtime to win the game for the Islanders, thus extending their long reign as Stanley Cup champions.

Tonelli also scored the winning goal in a February 20, 1982 game against theColorado Rockies, beating former teammateChico Resch with just 47 seconds to play to allow the Islanders to set an NHL record (since broken) with their 15th consecutive victory.^[23]

Early in his Islander days, Tonelli was a curiosity to his teammates. He arrived early and stayed late. He made demands of himself that were so harsh that coaches felt compelled to ask Tonelli to save some of that work for the games.^[5]

In his book, “Gretzky: An Autobiography” (1990), Wayne Gretzky states that, “I wouldn’t bench John Tonelli if he’d just stolen my car.”

He was known for being almost unbeatable in digging out thepuck in the corners of therink; however, Tonelli also had an excellent shot, was a good passer, and had excellent timing both offensively and defensively. Tonelli was also very versatile. During his eight seasons with the Islanders, coachAl Arbour used Tonelli on the famed "Banana Line" withWayne Merrick andBob Nystrom, on the top line withBryan Trottier andMike Bossy, and later he played flank forBrent Sutter andPatrick Flatley.

In his seventh season as a professional and his fourth with the Islanders, he scored 35 goals and 58 assists for 93 points, breakingClark Gillies's club record for a left wing, 91, set in 1978-79.^[19]

Although Tonelli played a key role in the four Cup victories the team won from 1980 to 1983, in some ways his career culminated in the fall of 1984 when he played for Canada in theCanada Cup, an invitation he almost turned down. He not only made the team, he had nine points, including a key assist on Mike Bossy's goal in overtime of the semifinal. Canada won the championship and Tonelli was named the tournament's best player, winning the 1984 Canada Cup MVP award.

He then rejoined the Islanders and had his best season ever, scoring 42 goals and 100 points in 1984-1985.

During fall 1985, Tonelli was a holdout and missed 22 days of training camp and the early regular season in a bitter standoff with the Islanders. Tonelli was the first player under contract in Islanders history to hold out.^[24] At the time, theNew York Times estimated he was making $200,000 per year on a four-year contract.^[5] After returning to the Islanders and playing out most of the season, he was traded to the Calgary Flames on March 11, 1986, forRichard Kromm andSteve Konroyd.^[25][23] The Flames, with Tonelli's experience, reached the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in 1986.

As a free agent, Tonelli was offered a termination contract by the Flames after they benched him during some playoff games in 1988, but he instead signed for the 1988–89 season with theLos Angeles Kings, where he was put on a line withWayne Gretzky at times. Gretzky was traded to the Kings six weeks after the Kings acquired Tonelli.^[26]

A book calledHockey Scouting Report, 1988-89, authored by former NHL goalieJohn Davidson, who had played for the Islanders' rival theNew York Rangers — which lost to the Islanders in the playoffs in 1981, 1982 and 1983 — and a couple of other writers, did a report on Tonelli that made his eyes water. "I don't want to point any fingers", Tonelli at the time. "Let's just say that the nature of the game is that some guys out there hold grudges a long time."^[27]

The book stated about Tonelli: "Once a good skater with a lot of power, Tonelli's skills are now on the downslide. He doesn't have the acceleration he once did, and for a straight-ahead player who had little agility, loss of speed and power is the worst loss that could be suffered. He retains a kind of laziness he's long had, in that he won't backcheck as well as he should, sort of coasting back to save his energy for another offensive rush."^[27]

However, Tonelli rewarded the Kings' faith in him by scoring back-to-back 31-goal seasons in 1988–89 and 1989–90.

During summer 1989, he entered a contract stand-off with Kings GMRogie Vachon before a deal was reached during the pre-season. "You know, I went through a holdout with the Islanders in '86, and that was terrible. I was out for 23 days and it became a bitter thing. That's something that I didn't want to have happen here. I told you that I was looking at other teams this summer. My agent was, really. My heart was right here", said Tonelli.^[25]

In May 1991, the Kings left Tonelli unprotected in the NHL expansion draft.^[28] Then a free-agent, he said he sensed the Kings were not interested in his returning next season and instead signed with theChicago Blackhawks.^[29]

On February 18, 1992, Tonelli was traded to theQuebec Nordiques by Chicago for future considerations. He finished the season there before retiring.

Tonelli finished his 1028-game NHL career with 325 goals and 511 assists for 836 points.

The John Tonelli Arena inMilton, Ontario is named in his honour. In 2021 it was announced that the sports centre had secured investment from the Government of Canada and from the town of Milton to upgrade and make improvements to the skating rink as well as to spectator facilities and access.

His older brother Ray was also a hockey and baseball player,^[30] and Tonelli's cousin is former NHLerRyan Jones.^[31]

With his ex-wife Karen, John has two daughters and a son, Jennifer, Ashley, Ryan and with his current wife Lauren he has 2 sons, Jordan, 19, and Zackary, 18.^[32][19] Tonelli coached his sons' hockey teams when they were younger.^[33] Zach and Jordan both play hockey forBrown University.^[34]

Tonelli is the only player in history to score a regular-season goal on an assist by Gordie Howe and another regular-season goal on an assist by Wayne Gretzky.

• Stanley Cup champion -1980,1981,1982,1983
• OMJHL First All-Star Team (1975)
• Most valuable player of the1984 Canada Cup tournament.^[35]
• Named to theNHL Second All-Star Team in1982 and1985^[35]
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (1982, 1985)^[35]
• Inducted into the inaugural class of theMilton Sports Hall of Fame in 2016^[36]
• Inducted into the Milton Walk of Fame in 2007^[37]
• Jersey #27 retired by the New York Islanders organization (2020)^[38]

• Notable families in the NHL
• List of NHL players with 1,000 games played

• Biographical information and career statistics fromNHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

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• Living people
• Calgary Flames players
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• New York Islanders draft picks
• New York Islanders players
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• 20th-century Canadian sportsmen
• Ice hockey people from Milton, Ontario
• Stanley Cup champions
• Toronto Marlboros players

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