Brian Propp

Brian Propp
Born	(1959-02-15) February 15, 1959 Lanigan, SK, CAN
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Left wing
Played for	Philadelphia Flyers Boston Bruins Minnesota North Stars Hartford Whalers
National team	Canada
NHL draft	14th overall, 1979 Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career	1979–1994

Brian Phillip Propp (born February 15, 1959) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 15 seasons in the NHL from 1979 until 1994. He also worked as a broadcaster for the Philadelphia Flyers for seven seasons, finishing in 2008.

Playing career

Propp started his notable career with the Melville Millionaires of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and shattered the scoring record with 75 goals and 92 assists for 168 points in 57 games playing on a line with Kelly Dean and Dwayne Tuberfield. He then moved on to the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, at the same time when the team was one of the most dominating clubs in all of Canadian Major Junior Hockey. When Propp was with the team it produced future NHLer's such as Brad McCrimmon, Bill Derlago, Laurie Boschman, Dave Semenko, Glen Hanlon, Ray Allison and Walt Poddubny. Propp himself won two league scoring titles, and put up spectacular numbers in all three of his seasons in Junior. At the end of his third season, he was drafted 14th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, a draft that many hockey experts say was the most productive ever.

Propp made the Flyers the next season, and proved his mettle in the NHL right away. He managed to score the game-winning goal in his first career game. He played on a line with legends Reggie Leach and Bobby Clarke in his rookie season, and that contributed to his quick success. It would not be the last time Propp played with two elite players, as he played with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux for most of the 1987 Canada Cup Canadian team that won the tournament.

In Game 1 of the 1989 Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, which his Flyers lost in six games, Propp sustained a concussion from a hard, but unpenalized hit by Montreal defenseman Chris Chelios, where it appeared Chelios may have hit him with his elbow. Propp fell to the ice hard, hitting his head against the ice. Though Propp missed only one game, his teammates maintained their anger at Chelios. Finally, with 1:37 left in regulation in Game 6, Flyer goaltender Ron Hextall took matters into his own hands, slamming Chelios into the boards and pummeling him with blows, apparently in retaliation for the hit on Propp.

It took him until his 11th season to fail to score at least 65 points in a season, and that was the year when he was traded away by the Flyers. However, in his 10-plus seasons with the club, he was more or less the catalyst of the team, performing in all situations and wherever the team needed him.

The 1990–91 season was Propp's last hurrah when he was a member of the Minnesota North Stars. Propp scored 73 points and helped the team the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Propp only played 68 games the next two seasons, and even took a sabbatical to play in Switzerland in 1993. During his time in Switzerland, he played for Team Canada in the Spengler Cup and helped them to win the tournament.

Propp played for the Hartford Whalers during the 1993–94 NHL season. Although Propp only scored 29 points, it was a productive season for him as he played both his 1000th NHL game and scored his 1000th NHL point in his last NHL season.

Propp holds a very dubious achievement in that he went to the Stanley Cup Finals five times, with Philadelphia in 1980, 1985, and 1987, with the Boston Bruins in 1990 and with Minnesota in 1991, without ever winning a Stanley Cup. He also played in the NHL All-Star game five times.

During the NHL labour stoppage in 1994, Propp played as a player-coach for HC Anglet in France. The lockout, however, would finish Propp's NHL playing career at 1,016 games at age 34.

Post-playing career

In 1999, Brian Propp was named to the MasterCard Canadian Junior All-Time team, which also included Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, and Bernie Parent. The team was selected based on play in the Canadian Hockey League. Also in 1999, Propp was inducted into the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame. Propp was inducted into the Saskatchewan Rural Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002 and in 2003 he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Provincial Hall of Fame.

In 2007, Propp unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for an New Jersey Assembly seat in the 7th district of Burlington County. He is currently VP of Strategic Accounts for The Judge Group in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

Personal life

Propp has two children with his wife, Kris. He has a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Paige. He grew up as the son of a Lutheran minister, Ron and Margaret who currently reside in Saskatoon. He has 4 siblings.

Propp is a second cousin of Dylan Wruck of the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Awards

• Named to the SJHL All-Star Team (1976)
• Named as SJHL Rookie of the Year (1976)
• Named as SJHL Most Valuable Player (1976)
• Named to the WCHL All-Star Team (1977)
• Named to the WCHL All-Star Team (1978)
• Named to the WHL All-Star Team (1979)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1990)

Records

• Most goals by a left wing in the WHL, single season (94 in 1978–79)
• Most assists by a left wing in the WHL, single season (112 in 1977–78)
• Most points by a left wing in the WHL, single season (194 in 1978–79)
• Most game-winning goals in WHL, single season (16 in 1978–79)
• Philadelphia Flyers team record for most shorthanded goals (7) and game winning goals (55)
• Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars team record for most power-play goals in a playoff year (8 in 1991)
• Most points by a left wing in the NHL playoffs (64 goals, 84 assists for 148 points)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1975–76	Melville Millionaires	SJHL		57	76	92	168	36		—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	Brandon Wheat Kings	WCHL		72	55	80	135	47		16	14	12	26	5
1977–78	Brandon Wheat Kings	WCHL		70	70	112	182	200		8	7	6	13	12
1978–79	Brandon Wheat Kings	WHL		71	94	100	194	127		22	15	23	38	40
1979–80	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		80	34	41	75	54		19	5	10	15	29
1980–81	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		79	26	40	66	110		12	6	6	12	32
1981–82	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		80	44	47	91	117		4	2	2	4	4
1982–83	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		80	40	42	82	72		3	1	2	3	8
1983–84	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		79	39	53	92	37		3	0	1	1	6
1984–85	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		76	43	54	97	43		19	8	10	18	6
1985–86	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		72	40	57	97	47		5	0	2	2	4
1986–87	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		53	31	36	67	45		26	12	16	28	10
1987–88	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		74	27	49	76	76		7	4	2	6	8
1988–89	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		77	32	46	78	37		18	14	9	23	14
1989–90	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		40	13	15	28	31		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Boston Bruins	NHL		14	3	9	12	10		20	4	9	13	2
1990–91	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		79	26	47	73	58		23	8	15	23	28
1991–92	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		51	12	23	35	49		1	0	0	0	0
1992–93	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		17	3	3	6	0		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	HC Lugano	NLA		24	21	6	27	32		9	5	1	6	28
1993–94	Hartford Whalers	NHL		65	12	17	29	44		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	HC Anglet	Fr-2		27	32	19	51	74		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1016	425	579	1004	830		160	64	84	148	151
WHL totals				213	219	292	511	374		46	36	41	77	57

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1979	Canada	WJC		5	2	1	3	2
1982	Canada	WC		10	3	1	4	4
1983	Canada	WC		10	4	4	8	6
1987	Canada	CC		9	2	2	4	2
1992	Canada	SC		3	3	1	4	2
Senior int'l totals				32	12	8	20	14

See also

• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

External links

• Brian Propp career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Brian Propp at Hockey-Reference.com
• Brian Propp biography at Legends of Hockey (archived)
• Brian Propp player profile at NHL.com
• Meltzer, Bill Great Moments: Brian Propp at Philadelphiaflyers.com
• Total Hockey (Second Edition), Editor - Dan Diamond, ISBN 1–892129–85-X