Poul Popiel

Poul Popiel
Date of birth	February 28, 1943
place of birth	Søllested , Denmark
size	178 cm
Weight	80 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
1960–1962	St. Catharines Teepees
1962-1963	St. Catharines Black Hawks
1963-1964	St. Louis Braves
1964-1965	Buffalo bison
1965-1967	Hershey Bears
1967-1968	Springfield Kings
1968-1970	Detroit Red Wings
1970-1972	Vancouver Canucks
1972	Rochester Americans
1972-1988	Houston Eros
1978-1979	Innsbruck EV
1979-1980	Edmonton Oilers Houston Apollos
1980-1982	Muskegon Mohawks

Poul Peter Popiel (* 28. February 1943 in Søllested ) is a former Danish - Canadian hockey player (defender) and - trainer , who from 1965 to 1980 for the Boston Bruins , Los Angeles Kings , Detroit Red Wings , Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers in played for the National Hockey League as well as for the Houston Eros in the World Hockey Association .

Career

Poul Popiel was born in Denmark and spent a large part of his childhood there. However, he only learned to play ice hockey in North America. in St. Catharines .

His rights for the NHL were with the Chicago Black Hawks , but here he was not included in the roster. Instead, he played in the American Hockey League for the Buffalo Bisons and in the Central Professional Hockey League for the St. Louis Braves . There he shared the title of Rookie of the Year with Garry Peters . In the Intra-League Draft, the Boston Bruins got him, but in addition to three games in the NHL, he was mostly used with the Hershey Bears in the AHL. When the league expanded in 1967, the Los Angeles Kings brought him in in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft . Here, too, he failed to make a breakthrough and again the AHL was his league, this time with the Springfield Kings .

A move to the Detroit Red Wings finally brought the hoped-for stakes in the NHL. But in his second season with the Red Wings he again spent a number of games in the AHL with the Cleveland Barons . Another NHL expansion draft in 1970 brought him to the Vancouver Canucks . After he had played a strong season, the disappointment was great to be used again in the AHL with the Rochester Americans in the 1971/72 season .

From the 1972/73 season he tried his luck in the newly formed World Hockey Association with the Houston Eros . Here he was able to win the Avco World Trophy several times in the team around Gordie Howe . Popiel was one of the strongest defenders in the new league. When the Eros broke up after six seasons, he moved to Innsbruck EV in Austria in 1978 .

When the Edmonton Oilers were weakened in the 1979/80 season by numerous injuries in defense, Glen Sather brought him for ten games in the squad. After serving with the Houston Apollos in the Central Hockey League and as a player-coach with the Muskegon Mohawks in the International Hockey League , he ended his career in 1982.

statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season	7th	224	13	41	54	212
NHL playoffs	2	4th	1	0	1	4th
WHA regular season	6th	467	62	265	327	618
WHA playoffs	6th	71	7th	47	54	118

Sporting successes

• Avco World Trophy : 1974 and 1975

Personal awards

• CPHL Rookie of the Year : 1964 (together with Garry Peters )
• WHA Second All-Star Team : 1975 and 1977
• Participation in the WHA All-Star Game : 1974, 1975 and 1977

Franchise Records

• 467 games for the Houston Eros

Web links

• Poul Popiel at hockeydb.com (English)
• Poul Popiel at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Poul Popiel at eliteprospects.com (English)