Donald Clarke Sweeney (born August 17, 1966) is a Canadian former ice hockeydefenceman who played over 1,100 games in the National Hockey League (NHL), mostly with the Boston Bruins. He ranks among the top ten in many Bruins team statistics, including fourth overall in total games played. After retiring from hockey following the 2003–04 season, he worked briefly as a broadcaster before rejoining the Bruins as a team executive in 2006. His name was engraved on the Stanley Cup when the Bruins won in 2011.
Sweeney grew up in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. In high school, he skated for St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire.[1] He was drafted to the NHL by the Bruins out of high school, 166th overall in the eighth round, but he postponed his NHL career in order to attend college. He decided to attend Harvard University, where he lived in Grays Hall during his freshman year. He played hockey for four years there for the Crimson ice hockey team, where he was named an NCAA East All-American and an ECAC First Team All-Star in 1988.[2]
In 1992–93, Sweeney played in all 84 games and put up 36 points and ended up winning the Adams Trophy that year. In both the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons he was second amongst Boston defenceman with 22 and 28 points, respectively. In 1997–98, Sweeney missed the last 23 games of the season with a fractured shoulder that he suffered on March 1. In the next season, Sweeney achieved 205 hits and 85 blocked shots in 81 games. In the 1999–2000 season, he had 301 hits and 84 blocked shots, and in the following year he had 172 hits in 72 games and in 2000–01 season he contributed 18 points in 81 games. In the 2002–03 season, Sweeney scored only eight points in 67 games as his team nestled into third place in the division. On November 14 that year, he also played in his 1,000th NHL game.
Sweeney played a total of 15 seasons and 1,051 games for Boston, being one of just four players—and two defencemen—in team history to play in over 1,000 games.
Since July 2006, he has ranked third on the Bruins' all-time games played list, while amongst all-time club defencemen, he ranks tenth in career goals (52), eighth in assists (210) and ninth in points (262).
Sweeney ended his playing career in 2003–04 as a member of the Dallas Stars. He retired with NHL totals of 52 goals and 221 assists for 273 points and 681 penalty minutes in 1,115 career regular season games. He added nine goals and ten assists for 19 points with 81 penalty minutes in 108 career playoff games.
Executive career
Following the firing of Peter Chiarelli as Bruins' general manager on April 15, 2015,[3] speculation had surrounded Sweeney's status within the Bruins front office, as Sweeney's early May 2015 meeting with Bruins head coach Claude Julien may have been an indication that as well as Julien remaining as the Bruins' head coach into the 2015–16 season, Sweeney could possibly have been in line to become the Bruins' next general manager.[4] On May 20, the Bruins named Sweeney as the team's general manager.[5]