Dean Charles Talafous (born August 25, 1953) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player. He played 497 regular season games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) between 1974 and 1981 for the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

as a

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

College

Talafous played for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

where he helped the team win a

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Talafous scored the winning goal in the championship game.

Playing career

Talafous was drafted 53rd overall by the

in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft. He scored his first NHL goal on December 12, 1974 at Washington in a 2-2 tie. It was the only goal Talafous scored as an Atlanta Flame. Talafous played 18 games for the Flames before being traded to the

. In international hockey he played for the United States in the

1976 Canada Cup The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2 to 15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec City in Canada as well as in Philadelphia, in the United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup to ...

and

1981 Canada Cup The 1981 Labatt Canada Cup was the second best-on-best ice hockey world championship and involved the world's top six hockey nations. Tournament games were held in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Ottawa. The Soviet Union defeated Canada in a sin ...

. In 1978 Talafous signed as a free agent with the

. On December 30, 1981, the Rangers traded him with

Jere Gillis Jere Alan Gillis (born January 18, 1957) is an American-born Canadian former professional ice hockey player, actor and stuntman. Background Gillis was born in Bend, Oregon and raised in Montreal, the son of skier Gene Gillis (a member of the Ame ...

to the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

for

Robbie Ftorek Robert Brian Ftorek (born January 2, 1952) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player. He was enshrined as member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. Playing career Ftorek played in the 1962, 1963 and 1964 Queb ...

, however, Talafous decided to retire after learning that the Nordiques would not offer him a contract past the end of the season. The Rangers were then forced to give up Pat Hickey as compensation.

Coaching

Juniors

*Head of player development - Hudson Crusaders

MJHL The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirteen teams all based ...

*Head Coach - St. Paul Vulcans

USHL The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

Head coaching record

After hockey

Talafous lives in Hudson, Wisconsin, and founded Total Hockey Training with his wife, Jax, and son, Pete; Talafous retired in 2011 and Pete now runs the organization as Exceed Hockey. In 2013 Talafous was inducted in the Badger Athletic Hall of Fame.

Awards and honors

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Hockeydraftcentral.com profileTotal Hockey Training
1953 births Living people Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey coaches American ice hockey coaches American men's ice hockey right wingers Atlanta Flames draft picks Atlanta Flames players Cincinnati Stingers draft picks Ice hockey people from Duluth, Minnesota Minnesota North Stars players New York Rangers players Omaha Knights (CHL) players University of Alaska Anchorage people Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey players Wisconsin–River Falls Falcons men's ice hockey coaches NCAA men's ice hockey national champions {{US-icehockey-winger-stub