George Konik
| George Konik | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
May 4, 1937 Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada | ||
| Died |
October 21, 2016 (aged 79) Eagan, Minnesota, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| National team |
 United States | ||
| Playing career | 1967–1973 | ||
George Samuel Konik (May 4, 1937 – October 21, 2016) was a Canadian American professional ice hockey player.
Career
Konik was a star on the University of Denver hockey team which won the NCAA hockey championship in 1960 and 1961. He signed a professional contract with the New York Rangers after that but did not make his NHL debut until 1967–68 after the expansion Pittsburgh Penguins traded for his rights. Konik made 52 appearances as a versatile role player for the Penguins that season, but drifted back to the minor professional leagues after that.
Konik (who settled in Minnesota in 1964[1]) eventually became a naturalized American citizen and joined the United States national team for the 1970 and 1971 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments; he was named best defenceman in 1970. Konik came out of retirement in 1972/73 to play a final season of major league pro hockey for the WHA Minnesota Fighting Saints before leaving hockey for good. Konik died in the morning of October 21, 2016; his death was announced later that day by the Penguins' official Twitter account.[2]
Business career
After Hockey Konik founded an engineering firm in 1974 named George Konik Associates.
Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1961–62 | Los Angeles Blades | WHL | 43 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1962–63 | Seattle Totems | WHL | 42 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 50 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 38 | ||
| 1963–64 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 72 | 19 | 22 | 41 | 80 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1965–66 | Minnesota Rangers | CPHL | 38 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 35 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 1966–67 | Omaha Knights | CPHL | 66 | 27 | 47 | 74 | 109 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 24 | ||
| 1967–68 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 52 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1968–69 | Rochester Mustangs | USHL | 29 | 18 | 30 | 48 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1969–70 | Rochester Mustangs | USHL | Statistics Unavailable | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1970 | US National Team | Intl | 13 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971 | US National Team | Intl | 49 | 16 | 35 | 51 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Minnesota Fighting Saints | WHA | 54 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL Totals | 52 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| All-WCHA Second Team | 1959–60 | |
| AHCA West All-American | 1959–60 | |
| NCAA All-Tournament First Team | 1960 | [3] |
| All-WCHA First Team | 1960–61 | |
| NCAA All-Tournament Second Team | 1961 | [3] |
- Central Professional Hockey League First All-Star Team (1967)
- 1970 World Ice Hockey Championships Pool B (WEC-B) All-Star Team (1970)
- Named Best Defenseman at WEC-B (1970)
References
- ^ http://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/162472/?fullname=george-konik
- ^ https://mobile.twitter.com/penguins/status/789535324749852672
- ^ a b "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- George Konik Associates
 | This biographical article relating to a Canadian ice hockey winger born in the 1930s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This biographical article relating to an American ice hockey winger is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1937 births
- 2016 deaths
- American men's ice hockey left wingers
- Baltimore Clippers players
- Canadian emigrants to the United States
- Canadian ice hockey left wingers
- Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey players
- Sportspeople from Flin Flon
- Los Angeles Blades players (WHL)
- Minnesota Fighting Saints players
- Minnesota Rangers players
- Pittsburgh Penguins players
- Seattle Totems (WHL) players
- Ice hockey people from Manitoba
- NCAA men's ice hockey national champions
- Canadian ice hockey winger, 1930s births stubs
- American ice hockey winger stubs