PATRICK DONNELLY was born and raised in Lynn, Mass., and is the Bruins beat writer for BostonSportsJournal.com.

Education: Patrick graduated high school from Malden Catholic in 2018, where he played golf and nothing more than JV hockey, quickly realizing he’d accomplish more talking about sports as opposed to playing. He wrote for the Crystal 99 student newspaper, becoming sports editor and managing editor as an upperclassman. He also blogged and podcasted about Boston sports with classmates and friends. Patrick, a Francis Ouimet scholar, graduated with a journalism degree from Boston University in 2022, where he spent four years primarily covering BU Hockey and doing it all for WTBU Sports, from directing the sports department, editing, leading written coverage, broadcasting, podcasting and photography. He also had a brief stop at the Boston Hockey Blog and Daily Free Press. He was fortunate to bookend his time in school by covering a women’s Beanpot title in 2019 as a freshman and a men’s Beanpot title in 2022 as a senior.

Career: While still in college, Patrick got his start writing about the Bruins for Black ’N Gold Hockey, blogging and handling breaking news. He interned for NBC10 Boston and NECN, mainly taking on general assignment work on the digital and web side, before interning with his hometown North Shore Navigators of the NECBL, primarily serving as the team photographer while contributing to social media, written content and other multimedia projects. During his senior year he got his first crack on the Bruins beat as a correspondent for NHL.com, covering Bruins home games and breaking news for Boston as well as visiting teams as needed. After graduating school, Patrick was a post grad editorial intern for NCAA Digital at Warner Bros. Discovery. There, he led NCAA.com’s men’s and women’s college hockey coverage for the 2022-23 season, producing original weekly content for the website and @NCAAIceHockey on Twitter and Instagram, in addition to game coverage. He also handled general assignment work outside of hockey, programmed the website and assisted in coverage for all NCAA fall and winter championships. He covered the 2023 men’s Frozen Four on-site in Tampa, creating written and on-camera content before joining BSJ full-time. 

Personal: Patrick resides in Lynn. You’ll usually find him on a golf course (playing or caddying), playing beer league, exploring the White Mountains, taking photos or with his dog, Ella.

Getting to know Patrick

Fondest sports memory growing up: Going to Beanpots with my dad. Plus, playing pickup hockey and messing around with friends during the ice time after helping with Learn to Skate on weekends at Connery Rink in Lynn.

Sports memory you'd like a mulligan on: Playing in a holiday tournament in Marlborough my sophomore year of high school, blindly passed it right to a forechecker coming down the middle on our breakout, and he scored an easy goal. Still bothers me. 

Favorite Boston sports moment you've witnessed: Spring of my freshman year at BU in 2019, my friend and I hastily decided to buy tickets in the nosebleeds for Game 7 between the Bruins and Maple Leafs after the B’s took Game 6 on Easter Sunday. The Bruins dominated that game, and the Garden was nuts. The wallet definitely hurt, but it was worth it.

The snapshot moment you love as a reporter: The final seconds of any title-clinching game – Beanpots, conference and championships, in my experience so far. The anticipation, followed by the explosion of sticks, helmets and gloves flying into the air in celebration, never disappoints. 

On a rare off day, you'll find me: Hopefully playing golf, relaxing, or in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, where I’m ideally golfing, skiing or hiking to a remote photo location.