Peter Lee (ice hockey)

Peter Lee
Lee in 2024
Born	(1956-01-02) January 2, 1956 Ellesmere, England, U.K.
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shot	Right
Played for	Pittsburgh Penguins Düsseldorfer EG Eisbären Berlin
NHL draft	12th overall, 1976 Montreal Canadiens
WHA draft	21st overall, 1976 Toronto Toros
Playing career	1976–1997

Peter John Lee (born January 2, 1956) is an English-born Canadian professional ice hockey manager and former professional ice hockey player. He played 431 National Hockey League games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lee has been serving as CEO of Eisbären Berlin of Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga since 2005.

Early life

Lee was born in Ellesmere, England, United Kingdom, and raised in Arvida, Quebec. As a youth, he learned to skate on the outdoor surface of Arvida's Powell Park, and later played for that town's Pee-Wee Orioles minor ice hockey. He played in the 1967, 1968 and 1969 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with the Orioles. The family moved to Ottawa in his mid-teen years.

Playing career

Lee was recruited along with his brother David by the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He enjoyed a stellar junior career with the Ottawa 67's, where he became one of the few junior players to record more than 400 career points. He was awarded CHL Player of the Year in 1975–76. He set the OHL career scoring record with 213 career goals—a record that lasted for 33 years, until March 8, 2009, when John Tavares scored his 214th to surpass Lee.

After setting a new league record with 81 goals in 1975–76, Lee was chosen in the first round of the 1976 NHL Entry Draft (12th overall) by the Montreal Canadiens. Though he would spend two seasons with their farm team, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, Lee never played for the Canadiens. On November 29, 1977, Montreal traded Lee, along with Peter Mahovlich, to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for emerging star Pierre Larouche and the rights to forward Peter Marsh.

Lee was a fine offensive addition to the Pens and was a key playmaker on the powerplay. He reached the 30-goal mark twice and scored a personal best 64 points in 1980–81 playing on a line with Greg Malone and Rod Schutt. Unfortunately, the Penguins were not a successful team at that time, and Lee only played 19 playoff games during his five and a half years with the organization. He finished his NHL career with 245 points in 431 games.

Following the 1982–83 season, Lee left North America to play for Düsseldorfer EG of Germany. He scored 340 goals in 450 matches with the club before retiring in 1997.

Lee was inducted into the German Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008.

Coaching and managing career

Lee replaced legendary coach Brian Kilrea behind the Ottawa 67's bench in 1994–95, but a dismal performance by the team prompted Kilrea to return and replace him for the 1995–96 campaign. He would return to Germany the following season and briefly resurrected his playing career.

Lee served as head coach of Eisbären Berlin from December 1997 until January 2000. He then was the manager of the club and got promoted to CEO in 2005. In 2008 and 2010 he received "Eishockey News DEL Manager of the Year" honours. During the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino, Lee served as an assistant coach of the Swiss National Team.

Family

He is the son of professional soccer player Eric Lee who competed for Great Britain at the 1948 Summer Olympics and a cousin of comedian Bob Mills

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1971–72	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		12	1	0	1	0		18	2	5	7	11
1972–73	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		63	25	51	76	110		9	4	8	12	14
1973–74	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		69	38	42	80	40		7	2	1	3	0
1974–75	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		70	68	58	126	82		7	6	5	11	6
1975–76	Ottawa 67's	OHA-Jr.		66	81	80	161	59		11	7	11	18	15
1976–77	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	AHL		76	33	27	60	88		12	5	3	8	6
1977–78	Nova Scotia Voyageurs	AHL		23	8	11	19	25		—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		60	5	13	18	19		—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		80	32	26	58	24		7	0	3	3	0
1979–80	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		74	16	29	45	20		4	0	1	1	0
1980–81	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		80	30	34	64	86		5	0	4	4	4
1981–82	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		74	18	16	34	98		3	0	0	0	0
1982–83	Baltimore Skipjacks	AHL		14	11	6	17	12		—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		63	13	13	26	10		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Düsseldorfer EG	1.GBun		46	25	24	49	56		4	5	1	6	7
1984–85	Düsseldorfer EG	1.GBun		33	29	34	63	55		4	3	0	3	27
1985–86	Düsseldorfer EG	1.GBun		32	40	34	74	38		9	7	15	22	20
1986–87	Düsseldorfer EG	1.GBun		43	40	35	75	77		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Düsseldorfer EG	1.GBun		34	31	31	62	24		10	4	5	9	18
1988–89	Düsseldorfer EG	1.GBun		36	31	34	65	46		11	11	7	18	14
1989–90	Düsseldorfer EG	1.GBun		20	17	18	35	18		11	8	8	16	10
1990–91	Düsseldorfer EG	1.GBun		37	23	26	49	26		13	10	5	15	2
1991–92	Düsseldorfer EG	1.GBun		44	24	20	44	24		9	4	6	10	6
1992–93	Düsseldorfer EG	1.GBun		44	29	26	55	28		11	4	6	10	6
1995–96	Eisbären Berlin	DEL		21	7	6	13	36		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	EHC Wolfsburg	DEU II		16	14	11	25	61		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Eisbären Berlin	DEL		50	14	13	27	42		8	0	1	1	4
NHL totals				431	114	131	245	257		19	0	8	8	4
1.GBun totals				369	289	282	571	392		82	56	53	109	110

See also

• List of National Hockey League players from the United Kingdom

External links

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