Poul Popiel

Poul Popiel
Born	(1943-02-28) February 28, 1943 Søllested, DEN
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Played for	AHL Buffalo Bisons Hershey Bears Springfield Kings Cleveland Barons Rochester Americans NHL Edmonton Oilers Vancouver Canucks Detroit Red Wings Los Angeles Kings Boston Bruins WHA Houston Aeros
Playing career	1962–1980

Poul Peter Popiel (born February 28, 1943 in Søllested, Denmark and raised in Georgetown, Ontario) is a retired NHL defenceman, and head coach. He played in the OHA, AHL, WHA, NHL, CPHL, and IHL. He played a brief 12 games in the IHL with the Muskegon Mohawks, then halfway through the year, he retired and became the head coach. He was the first player along with Garry Peters to win the Ken McKenzie Trophy (In 1963-1964.). His younger brother Jan Popiel is also a former professional hockey player.

Popiel was in the news briefly in early 2007. The New York Islanders recalled Frans Nielsen and he made his NHL debut on January 6. At the time of his recall, the Islanders believed that Nielsen would be the first Danish-born player to play in the NHL. It turned out that Popiel had him beaten—by about forty years.

Popiel (whose family moved to Canada in 1951 when he was a child ) had become an American citizen prior to his debut, however, leaving Nielsen with the honour of being the first Danish citizen to appear in an NHL game. Additionally, Nielsen is the first Danish NHL player at least partially trained in the Danish junior hockey system.

Awards

• Ken McKenzie Trophy

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1960–61	St. Catharines Teepees	OHA		38	2	9	11	0		—	—	—	—	—
1961–62	St. Catharines Teepees	OHA		49	3	16	19	0		—	—	—	—	—
1962–63	St. Catharines Black Hawks	OHA		50	11	34	45	0		—	—	—	—	—
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
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		—	—	—	—	—
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

External links

• Poul Popiel career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database