John Tonelli

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.

In his first season with them, Marlies' coach George Armstrong noted Tonelli was pro material.

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.

John Alexander Tonelli (born March 23, 1957 ) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward from Milton, Ontario.

He was a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the New York Islanders, and also played with the Calgary Flames, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, and the Quebec Nordiques of the National Hockey League.

Tonelli was born at St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, on March 23, 1957, to his parents Alex Tonelli, Jr. and Joy Sclisizzi of Milton.

He has an older brother Raymond, a younger brother David and a younger sister, Sandra.

Tonelli's mother Joy Sclisizzi is a relative of Enio Sclisizzi, who was Milton's first NHLer.

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.

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.

In 1968, with his father as an assistant coach, Tonelli won an OBA championship for the Milton Mowbray Tykes.

He had four one-hitters as a pitcher in the 1970 baseball season.

In 1971, he was Holy Rosary School's top basketball scorer with 42 points.

In 1972, as a 15-year-old, he pitched a perfect game as a bantam baseball player.

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.

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.

Tonelli refused to play for Toronto in the playoffs after he turned 18, so that it would not imperil his legal arguments.

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 NHLer John Anderson, followed this same lead, sitting out for a period, but eventually returned to lead Toronto in the Memorial Cup.

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 the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft after Jim 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.

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.

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

He played in the Stanley 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 on Bob Nystrom's overtime Stanley Cup-winning goal against the Philadelphia Flyers, giving the Islanders their first of four straight Cups.

In Game 6 at Nassau 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.

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 "clutch goals" 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 weaker Pittsburgh Penguin team, trailing 3-1 in the deciding game.

Tonelli assisted on a Mike 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.

In 1982 and 1985, Tonelli was a second team All-Star left wing for the Islanders.

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

Early in his Islander days, Tonelli was a curiosity to his teammates.

As he reached age 18, the WHA'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.