Ted Donato

Ted Donato
Ted Donato
	Donato in 2023
Born	April 28, 1969 (age 57); Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Boston Bruins; New York Islanders; Ottawa Senators; Mighty Ducks of Anaheim; Dallas Stars; Los Angeles Kings; St. Louis Blues; New York Rangers
National team	United States
NHL draft	98th overall, 1987; Boston Bruins
Playing career	1991–2004
	Coaching career
Biographical details
Alma mater	Harvard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2004–2026	Harvard
Head coaching record
Overall	334–292–77 (.530)
Tournaments	2–8 (.200)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	4× ECAC Hockey tournament (2006, 2015, 2017, 2022; ECAC regular season (2017);

Edward Paul Donato (born April 28, 1969) is an American former ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He most recently served as the head coach at Harvard University from 2004 to 2026, and is the winningest coach in program history.^[1]

Early and personal life

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Donato grew up in Dedham, Massachusetts and attended Catholic Memorial High School, where he became the high school's all-time leading goalscorer.^[2]^[3]

Playing career

Donato was selected 98th overall in the 1987 NHL entry draft by the Boston Bruins. He played his high school hockey at Catholic Memorial, college hockey at Harvard University, and then moved up to the NHL for the 1991–92 season. Donato played 796 career NHL games, scoring 150 goals and 197 assists for 347 points. During his career, Donato played for the Bruins, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers.

He played his youth hockey for the Hyde Park Eagles, a Boston neighborhood organization, where a banner still hangs honoring his time playing for Hyde Park Youth Hockey.

Donato is the second professional hockey player to appear on the show The Price Is Right (winning his way on-stage and making it to the Showcase Showdown), the first player in the NHL to appear.

In 2023 he would be named one of the top 100 Bruins players of all time.^[4]

Coaching career

Donato was the head coach of his alma mater, Harvard University from 2004 to 2026. On December 6, 2025, following a 3–0 victory against the Brown Bears, Donato became the winningest men's ice hockey coach in Harvard history, surpassing his former coach Bill Cleary.^[1] On May 7, 2026, he stepped down as head coach. He finished his career as the all-time winningest coach in program history, with a 334–292–77 record and led the Crimson to the 2017 Frozen Four, and won four ECAC tournament championships.^[5]

Personal life

Donato is married to Jeannine Donato. The couple have four children.^[3] His son Ryan was selected by the Boston Bruins in the 2014 NHL entry draft and currently plays with the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1986–87	Catholic Memorial School	HS-MA	22	29	34	63	30	—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Harvard Crimson	ECAC	28	12	14	26	24	—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Harvard Crimson	ECAC	34	14	37	51	30	—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Harvard Crimson	ECAC	16	5	6	11	34	—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Harvard Crimson	ECAC	28	19	37	56	26	—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	United States	Intl	52	11	22	33	24	—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Boston Bruins	NHL	10	1	2	3	8	15	3	4	7	4
1992–93	Boston Bruins	NHL	82	15	20	35	61	4	0	1	1	0
1993–94	Boston Bruins	NHL	84	22	32	54	59	13	4	2	6	10
1994–95	TuTo Hockey	SM-l	14	5	5	10	47	—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Boston Bruins	NHL	47	10	10	20	10	5	0	0	0	4
1995–96	Boston Bruins	NHL	82	23	26	49	46	5	1	2	3	2
1996–97	Boston Bruins	NHL	67	25	26	51	37	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Boston Bruins	NHL	79	16	23	39	54	5	0	0	0	2
1998–99	Boston Bruins	NHL	14	1	3	4	4	—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	New York Islanders	NHL	55	7	11	18	27	—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Ottawa Senators	NHL	13	3	2	5	10	1	0	0	0	0
1999–2000	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL	81	11	19	30	26	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Dallas Stars	NHL	65	8	17	25	26	8	0	1	1	0
2001–02	Manchester Monarchs	AHL	36	18	25	43	19	5	1	3	4	0
2001–02	Bridgeport Sound Tigers	AHL	1	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	New York Islanders	NHL	1	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	2	0	0	0	2	—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	St. Louis Blues	NHL	2	0	0	0	2	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Hartford Wolf Pack	AHL	18	8	12	20	14	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	New York Rangers	NHL	49	2	1	3	6	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Boston Bruins	NHL	63	6	5	11	18	2	0	0	0	0
2003–04	Providence Bruins	AHL	15	3	9	12	24	—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals			796	150	197	347	396	58	8	10	18	22

International

Year	Team	Event	Result	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1988	United States	WJC	6th	7	3	2	5	18
1992	United States	OG	4th	8	4	3	7	8
1997	United States	WC	6th	8	4	2	6	8
1999	United States	WC	6th	6	2	6	8	6
2002	United States	WC	7th	7	1	3	4	2
Junior totals				7	3	2	5	18
Senior totals				29	11	14	25	24

Head coaching record

Record table
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Harvard Crimson (ECAC Hockey) (2004–present)
2004–05	Harvard	21–10–3	15–5–2	2nd	NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals
2005–06	Harvard	21–12–2	13–8–2	4th	NCAA East Regional Semifinals
2006–07	Harvard	14–17–2	10–10–2	t-7th	ECAC Quarterfinals
2007–08	Harvard	17–13–4	12–7–3	3rd	ECAC Runner-Up
2008–09	Harvard	9–16–6	9–7–6	t-5th	ECAC First Round
2009–10	Harvard	9–21–3	7–12–3	t-8th	ECAC Quarterfinals
2010–11	Harvard	12–21–1	7–14–1	6th	ECAC Quarterfinals
2011–12	Harvard	13–10–11	8–5–9	3rd	ECAC Runner-Up
2012–13	Harvard	10–19–3	6–14–2	12th	ECAC First Round
2013–14	Harvard	10–17–4	6–12–4	11th	ECAC First Round
2014–15	Harvard	21–13–3	11–8–3	6th	NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinals
2015–16	Harvard	19–11–4	12–6–4	3rd	NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals
2016–17	Harvard	28–6–2	16–4–2	t-1st	NCAA Frozen Four
2017–18	Harvard	15–14–4	11–8–3	4th	ECAC Semifinals
2018–19	Harvard	19–11–3	13–7–2	T–3rd	NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals
2019–20	Harvard	15–10–6	11–6–5	5th	ECAC Quarterfinals
2021–22	Harvard	21–11–3	14–6–2	T–2nd	NCAA East Regional Semifinals
2022–23	Harvard	24–8–2	18–4–0	2nd	NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals
2023–24	Harvard	7–19–6	6–10–6	8th	ECAC Quarterfinals
2024–25	Harvard	13–17–3	9–10–3	7th	ECAC Quarterfinals
2025–26	Harvard	16–16–2	11–10–1	6th	ECAC Quarterfinals
Harvard:		334–292–77	225–183–65
Total:		334–292–77
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Awards and honors

Award	Year
All-NCAA All-Tournament team	1989	^[6]
NCAA Tournament MVP	1989
All-ECAC Hockey First Team	1990–91

References

1 2 "Donato Becomes Winningest Coach in Hockey Program History as Harvard Beats Brown 7-3 | Sports | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
↑ "Ted Donato - 1990-91 - Men's Ice Hockey". Harvard University. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
1 2 "Ted Donato '91 - The Robert D. Ziff '88 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Ice Hockey - Staff Directory". Harvard University. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
↑ Bruins Announce “Historic 100” Ahead of All-Centennial Team Reveal https://www.nhl.com/bruins/news/bruins-announce-historic-100-ahead-of-all-centennial-team-reveal
↑ "After two decades, Ted Donato to step away as coach at Harvard". hockeyjournal.com. May 7, 2026. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
↑ "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 19, 2013.

External links

Harvard Crimson bio

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

Awards and achievements

Preceded by

Bruce Hoffort

NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player
1989

Succeeded by

Chris Tancill

[:0-1] 1 2 "Donato Becomes Winningest Coach in Hockey Program History as Harvard Beats Brown 7-3 | Sports | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved December 9, 2025.

[2] "Ted Donato - 1990-91 - Men's Ice Hockey". Harvard University. Retrieved December 9, 2025.

[:1-3] 1 2 "Ted Donato '91 - The Robert D. Ziff '88 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Ice Hockey - Staff Directory". Harvard University. Retrieved December 9, 2025.

[4] Bruins Announce “Historic 100” Ahead of All-Centennial Team Reveal https://www.nhl.com/bruins/news/bruins-announce-historic-100-ahead-of-all-centennial-team-reveal

[5] "After two decades, Ted Donato to step away as coach at Harvard". hockeyjournal.com. May 7, 2026. Retrieved May 7, 2026.

[ncaa-6] "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 19, 2013.

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v t e Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey
Venues	Franklin Park (1897–1904) Harvard Stadium Rink (1904–1911) Boston Arena (1911–1917, 1921–1956) Pavilion Rink (1919–1921) Donald C. Watson Rink (1956–1978) Walter Brown Arena (1978–1979) Bright Hockey Center (1979–present)
Coaches	no coach (1897–1903, 1918–19) Alfred Winsor (1903–17, 1923–24) William Henry Claflin Jr. (1919–23) Edward Bigelow (1924–27) Joseph Stubbs (1927–38) Clark Hodder (1938–42) John Chase (1942–43, 1945–50) Cooney Weiland (1950–71) Bill Cleary (1971–90) Ronn Tomassoni (1990–99) Mark Mazzoleni (1999–2004) Ted Donato (2004–2026) Rob Rassey (2026–present)
Seasons	1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Conference affiliations	Intercollegiate Hockey Association (1901–1911) Intercollegiate Hockey League (1912–1917) Triangular Hockey League (1919–1926) Pentagonal League (1933–1943, 1946–1955) ECAC Hockey (1961–present)
Rivalries	Cornell Yale
Culture & lore	Beanpot Love Story
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Scott Fusco (240 Points) Lane MacDonald (111 Goals) Grant Blair (72 Wins)
Retired numbers	Bill Cleary (4)
National championships	1989
Frozen Four appearances	1955 1957 1958 1969 1971 1974 1975 1983 1986 1987 1989 1994 2017
NCAA Tournament appearances	1955 1957 1958 1969 1971 1974 1975 1982 1983 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1993 1994 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2015 2016 2017 2023
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC Hockey: 1963 1971 1983 1987 1994 2002 2004 2006 2015 2017
Hobey Baker winners	Mark Fusco (1983) Scott Fusco (1986) Lane MacDonald (1989) Jimmy Vesey (2016)
Harvard University Cambridge, MA