Poul Popiel

Poul Popiel
Born (1943-02-28) February 28, 1943 (age 81)
Søllested, Denmark
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
Los Angeles Kings
Detroit Red Wings
Vancouver Canucks
Houston Aeros
Innsbrucker EV
Edmonton Oilers
Playing career 1962–1980

Poul Peter Popiel (born February 28, 1943) is a Danish-American former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA), and also served as a head coach in the minor leagues. Following a brief 12 games in the International Hockey League (IHL) with the Muskegon Mohawks, he retired and became the head coach. Popiel and Garry Peters were co-winners of the inaugural Ken McKenzie Trophy as Central Professional Hockey League rookies of the year in 1963-64. His younger brother Jan Popiel is also a former professional hockey player.

Popiel was the first Danish-born player in the National Hockey League.[1] Popiel's family moved to Canada in 1951 when he was a child, and subsequently moved to the United States and he acquired American citizenship before making his NHL debut.[2]

Awards

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1960–61 St. Catharines Teepees OHA-Jr. 38 2 9 11 74 3 0 1 1 2
1961–62 St. Catharines Teepees OHA-Jr. 49 3 16 19 128 6 0 0 0 11
1962–63 St. Catharines Black Hawks OHA-Jr. 50 11 34 45 131 — — — — —
1962–63 Buffalo Bisons AHL 2 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
1963–64 St. Louis Braves CPHL 54 9 14 23 78 6 0 1 1 17
1963–64 Buffalo Bisons AHL 4 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
1964–65 Buffalo Bisons AHL 48 7 12 19 76 9 0 1 1 29
1965–66 Hershey Bears AHL 63 6 26 32 101 3 0 0 0 2
1965–66 Boston Bruins NHL 3 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
1966–67 Hershey Bears AHL 63 5 27 32 134 5 1 0 1 10
1967–68 Springfield Kings AHL 72 8 27 35 180 4 0 0 0 4
1967–68 Los Angeles Kings NHL 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 4
1968–69 Springfield Kings AHL 13 0 10 10 19 — — — — —
1968–69 Detroit Red Wings NHL 62 2 13 15 82 — — — — —
1969–70 Cleveland Barons AHL 22 3 15 18 14 — — — — —
1969–70 Detroit Red Wings NHL 32 0 4 4 31 1 0 0 0 0
1970–71 Vancouver Canucks NHL 78 10 22 32 61 — — — — —
1971–72 Rochester Americans AHL 12 7 4 11 10 — — — — —
1971–72 Vancouver Canucks NHL 38 1 1 2 36 — — — — —
1972–73 Houston Aeros WHA 73 16 48 64 158 10 2 9 11 23
1973–74 Houston Aeros WHA 78 7 41 48 126 14 1 14 15 22
1974–75 Houston Aeros WHA 78 11 53 64 123 13 1 10 11 34
1975–76 Houston Aeros WHA 78 10 36 46 71 17 3 5 8 16
1976–77 Houston Aeros WHA 80 12 56 68 87 11 0 7 7 10
1977–78 Houston Aeros WHA 80 6 31 37 53 6 0 2 2 13
1978–79 Innsbrucker EV AUT 34 6 28 34 99 — — — — —
1979–80 Edmonton Oilers NHL 10 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1979–80 Houston Apollos CHL 57 2 27 29 28 6 0 1 1 10
1981–82 Muskegon Mohawks IHL 12 0 4 4 10 — — — — —
AHL totals 299 36 122 158 540 21 1 1 2 45
NHL totals 224 13 41 54 212 4 1 0 1 4
WHA totals 467 62 265 327 618 71 7 47 54 118

Coaching statistics

Season Team League GP W L W%
1981–82 Muskegon Mohawks IHL 55 24 30 0.445

References

  1. ^ Duff, Bob (11 November 2016). "Detroit's Nielsen holds place in Danish NHL history". Windsor Star. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  2. ^ Sapurji, Sunaya (28 November 2017). "Grassroots to Gold: Denmark's tight-knit hockey family is..." The Athletic. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  3. ^ Surgent, Scott (2013). The Complete World Hockey Association, 9e. Tempe, Arizona. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-9644774-4-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)


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