Edward Walter Olczyk Jr. (; born August 16, 1966) is a former

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

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 ...

for 16 seasons with the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...

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 ...

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

, and

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

. He won the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

with the Rangers in 1994. Olczyk was also the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from June 2003 to December 2005. He served as a television

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

for ''

NHL on NBC The ''NHL on NBC'' is an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by NBC Sports, and televised on NBC properties, including MSNBC, CNBC, Golf Channel, USA Network and NBCSN in the United States. While NBC covered t ...

'' until its end in 2021 and currently commentates on

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

and Seattle Kraken games on

Root Sports Northwest ROOT SPORTS Northwest (stylized as ROOT SPORTS Northwest) is an American regional sports network owned as a 60/40 joint venture between the Seattle Mariners and Warner Bros. Discovery respectively, the latter of which operates it through its spo ...

. He also currently serves as the Horse Racing Handicapper and Analyst for NBC's Horse Racing Coverage. Throughout his career as an NHL player, he played 1,031 NHL games and produced 342 goals and 452 assists for a total of 794 points. He was inducted into the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and ...

on February 22, 2013. Olczyk was tied with

Phil Kessel Philip Joseph Kessel Jr. (born October 2, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey winger for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Peng ...

for the second-longest point streak by an American-born player in NHL history, at 18 games, having set the original mark in 1989–90, while with Toronto. The record was broken by

Patrick Kane Patrick Timothy Kane II (born November 19, 1988) is an American professional ice hockey right winger and alternate captain for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blackhawks selected him with the first overall pick ...

of the Chicago Blackhawks during the season.

Playing career

Amateur career

As a youth, Olczyk played in the 1978 and 1979

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

s with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

team from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Olczyk grew up in

Niles, Illinois Niles is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located in the townships of Maine and Niles, directly neighboring the City of Chicago's far northwest border. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,912. The current mayor of Niles ...

and

Palos Heights, Illinois Palos Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwest suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 12,068. Geography According to the 2021 census gazette ...

and went to Brother Rice Catholic High School. He was a star on the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

midget AAA team (Team Illinois) that won the 1982 national title against a

Detroit Compuware The Detroit Compuware Ambassadors were an elite Midget Major ice hockey team playing in the Tier I Elite Hockey League. The Ambassadors previously had separate franchises that competed in the North American Hockey League and in the Ontario Hockey ...

squad that featured future NHL stars

Pat LaFontaine Patrick Michael LaFontaine (born February 22, 1965) is an American former ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and spent his entire playing career with the league's New York State-based teams. LaFontaine played for th ...

and

Al Iafrate Albert Anthony Iafrate ( ; born March 21, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the National Hockey League between 1984 and 1998. He is perhaps most famous for his extremely hard slapshot. He set a record fo ...

. He then moved to Canada to play for the

Stratford Cullitons The Stratford Warriors are a junior ice hockey team based in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Mid-Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The team was originally named the Warriors but was changed to Cullitons i ...

junior team before joining the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

U.S. Olympic hockey team.

Professional career

Olczyk was selected by the

as the third overall pick in the first round of the

1984 NHL Entry Draft The 1984 NHL Entry Draft was the 22nd NHL Entry Draft. It took place on June 9, 1984, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. The 1984 Entry Draft is noted for the unusually high number of future Hall of Famers picked, particularly in lower ...

. He scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game on October 11, 1984, versus the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

Chicago Stadium Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. ...

against

Greg Stefan Gregory Steven Stefan (born February 11, 1961, in Brantford, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League and currently serves as the goaltending coach for the Flint Firebirds in the Ontario Hockey League. ...

. From 1984 through 1987, Olczyk was a member of Chicago's infamous "Clydesdale Line" with

Troy Murray Troy Norman Murray (born July 31, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the NHL. He is currently the color analyst on NBC Sports Chicago broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hockey games. Murray was born in Calgary, A ...

and

Curt Fraser Curtis Martin Fraser (born January 12, 1958) is an American former professional ice hockey player Fraser was born in Cincinnati while his father played for the International Hockey League's Cincinnati Mohawks, and holds dual citizenship to Can ...

, the nickname coined by Chicago's broadcaster

Pat Foley Pat Foley (born 1954) is an American retired play-by-play commentator for ice hockey. Personal life Born in Glenview, Illinois in 1954, Pat Foley is the son of Mary and Bob Foley. He is an alumnus of Loyola Academy and Michigan State Universi ...

, as each player weighed in at or around 200 pounds. He was traded several times during his career. In 1987, Olczyk was traded to the

with

Al Secord Alan William Secord (born March 3, 1958) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left wing who played in the National Hockey League for twelve seasons from 1978–79 until 1989–90. He's now a captain for American Airlines, flying Boein ...

for

Rick Vaive Richard Claude "Rick" Vaive (; born May 14, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the final season of the World Hockey Association (WHA), before playing the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NH ...

, Steve Thomas, and

Bob McGill Robert Paul McGill (born April 27, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. McGill played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1981 until 1994. Early life McGill began playing hockey when he moved to Leduc with his family ...

. In the 1989-90 season, Olczyk recorded an 18 game point streak, setting the record for longest point streak by an American player. Later tied by

, the record would stand until being passed by

in 2015-16 season. The 18 game streak would remain a Toronto franchise record (tied with

Darryl Sittler Darryl Glen Sittler (born September 18, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1970 until 1985 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings. He was ...

until being surpassed in December 2022 by

Mitch Marner Mitchell Marner (born May 5, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger and alternate captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected fourth overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2015 NHL Entry ...

. He was traded again in 1990 to the

, with Mark Osborne for

Dave Ellett David George John Ellett (born March 30, 1964) is an American-born Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the NHL for 16 seasons. He was born in Cleveland because his father, Bob, was a minor-league hockey player playing ...

and

Paul Fenton Paul Fenton may refer to: *Paul Fenton (musician) (born 1946), English drummer *Paul Fenton (ice hockey) Paul John Fenton Jr. (born December 22, 1959) is an American former ice hockey forward and executive. He has previously served as the gener ...

. In 1992, he was traded for the third time in his career, this time to the

for

Kris King Kristopher King (born February 18, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leaf ...

and

Tie Domi Tahir "Tie" Domi (born November 1, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Known as an enforcer, he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets over a 16-year NHL career. He is the Maple Leafs' all ti ...

. Olczyk missed much of the 1993–94 season recovering from a thumb injury suffered in a game versus the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

on January 3, 1994; he took part in one playoff game (conference final game 6) and on June 14, 1994, became

champion with the Rangers. During the next season, he was traded back to the Winnipeg Jets for their fifth-round choice (who ended up being Alexei Vasiliev) in the

1995 NHL Entry Draft The 1995 NHL Entry Draft was the 33rd NHL Entry Draft. It was held at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta. The drafting order was now set partially by a lottery system whereby teams would not be guaranteed first pick if they finished last. I ...

. After signing as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

in 1996, he would not finish the season with them before being traded to the

for Glen Murray. He finished his career in Chicago.

Post-playing career

He returned to Pittsburgh to become the color commentator for the Penguins on

FSN Pittsburgh AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh is an American regional sports network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit as part of the AT&T SportsNet brand of networks and is an affiliate of Bally Sports. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the chan ...

, where he was given the nickname "Edzo" by current radio announcer and then co-announcer

Mike Lange Mike Lange (born March 3, 1948) is a retired American sportscaster, best known for his long career as a play-by-play announcer for Pittsburgh Penguins hockey. In 2001, he received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his outstanding work as an NHL ...

. In 2003, he moved from the booth to the bench and served as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from June 11, 2003, until December 15, 2005. Despite adding marquee free-agents, the Penguins started the season with a disappointing 8–17–6 record, leading to Olczyk's dismissal on December 15. Mike

Beginning with the 2006–07 NHL season, Olczyk was the color commentator for the

television broadcasts Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

, partnering

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

announcer

. He also was the lead color commentator for ''

'', and previously for the ''

NHL on Versus ''The NHL on Versus'' was a presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games broadcast on Versus. Versus became the NHL's cable partner in the United States beginning in the 2005–06 season from previous partner ESPN, providing coverage of r ...

''; the latter later rebranded as

NBCSN NBCSN was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated t ...

in 2012. Olczyk was also the lead color commentator for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Men's Ice Hockey, where he partnered with

Mike Emrick Michael "Doc" Emrick (born August 1, 1946) is an American former network television play-by-play sportscaster and commentator noted mostly for his work in ice hockey. He was the lead announcer for National Hockey League national telecasts on bot ...

and "''Inside-the-Glass''" reporter ''

Pierre McGuire Regis Pierre McGuire (born August 8, 1961) is an American-Canadian ice hockey executive who last served as senior vice-president of player development for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously worked as a televis ...

''. At the end of the 5–3 U.S. win over Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Olczyk described the game as being "tremendously tremendous" after U.S. forward

Ryan Kesler Ryan James Kesler (born August 31, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey center. Selected in the first round, 23rd overall, by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Kesler spent the first ten years of his National Hoc ...

scored an empty-netter. The audio of Olczyk saying "This has been tremendously tremendous" was an instant hit among hockey enthusiasts and was the subject of many spoofs online. He was selected to repeat his duties alongside Emrick for the

2014 Sochi Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. In February 2016, it was announced that Olczyk would be the recipient of the Ring Lardner Award, which was founded in 2002 by the Chicago Athletic Association and honors broadcasters and writers who "exemplify the wit and warmth of Ring Lardner's writing." On July 11, 2012, Olczyk became the 16th Blackhawks player elected into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. The Blackhawks honored "Edzo" for his induction in a pregame ceremony on February 22, 2013, at the United Center. In 2009, Olczyk received an Emmy for "Outstanding Achievement for Individual Excellence On Camera: Programming," followed by a 2012 Emmy for "Outstanding Achievement for Sports Programs - Sporting Event/Game - Live/Unedited Program/Special." He was also inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. On April 8, 2010, Olczyk returned to Pittsburgh to join more than 50 former

players being honored in a pregame ceremony before the final regular season game at Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. On December 30, 2010, it was announced that Foley and Olczyk signed a three-year extension to stay with the Blackhawks. On May 5, 2014,

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

announced that "Eddie O" will provide color commentary for ''

NHL 15 ''NHL 15'' is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It is the 24th installment of the ''NHL'' series and was released on September 9, 2014 in North America then three days later in Europe, Australia and New ...

'' alongside play-by-play announcer

and "''Inside-the-Glass''" reporter

Ray Ferraro Raymond Vincent Ferraro (born August 23, 1964) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player and currently sports commentator, broadcaster for NHL on ESPN, ESPN/NHL on ABC, ABC and formerly of TSN Hockey, TSN. He played for 21 se ...

. The trio have provided commentary for every EA Sports NHL game until ''

NHL 19 ''NHL 19'' is an ice hockey simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and published by EA Sports. It was released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 14, 2018. It is the 28th installment in the ''NHL'' video game series and features N ...

'', when Ferraro became the new color commentator. Since the

2018–19 NHL season The 2018–19 NHL season was the 102nd season of operation (101st season of play) of the National Hockey League. 31 teams competed in an 82-game regular season. The regular season began on October 3, 2018, and ended on April 6, 2019. The 2019 St ...

, "Inside-the-Glass" reporter

Brian Boucher Brian Boucher ( ; born January 2, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who is a game and studio analyst on national ESPN and ABC games and also Philadelphia Flyers games on NBC Sports Philadelphia. He played 13 seasons ...

joins Emrick, Olczyk, and McGuire for big games. After Emrick retired on October 19, 2020, at the end of the

2020 Stanley Cup Finals The 2020 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2019–20 season and the culmination of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. This series was between the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning a ...

, he was paired with

Kenny Albert Kenneth Gary Albert (born February 2, 1968) is an American sportscaster, the son of NBA sportscaster Marv Albert and nephew of sportscasters Al Albert and Steve Albert. He is the only sportscaster who currently does play-by-play for all four ma ...

and

John Forslund John Forslund is an American sports announcer who is the television play-by-play announcer of the Seattle Kraken. He had previously filled the same role for the Carolina Hurricanes and was with the team since 1991 (when the team was the Hartford W ...

for most of the regular season but was paired with Albert for the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

and the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...

. Albert and Olczyk joined

after the Finals as their lead broadcast team (erstwhile NBC studio analyst Keith Jones was later added to join the pair). Olczyk also has an interest in

Thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...

, appearing in advertisements for

Xpressbet Xpressbet, LLC is a subsidiary of Stronach Group Company founded in 2002 and based in Washington, Pennsylvania. The company provides pari-mutuel action services that enable account holders to watch and wager on thoroughbred, harness, and quarter ...

and serving as a guest commentator and handicapper for major horse racing events such as the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred Filly, fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky O ...

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...

, and the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

networks, and on

WGN Sports WGN Sports (originally known as WGN-TV Sports from 1948 to 1993) was the programming division of WGN-TV (channel 9), an independent television station located in Chicago, Illinois, United States—which is owned by the Nexstar Media Group—that w ...

coverage of the

Arlington Million The Arlington Million is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred horses aged three years and upward on the turf. It was originally raced at the now-closed Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois over a distance of m ...

that is fed nationally. Despite his arrival at Turner for hockey, Olczyk’s deal will allow him to remain at NBC to cover handicap horse racing. On July 18, 2022, Olczyk left the Blackhawks following a contract dispute to join the broadcasting team for the

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. ...

Personal life

Olczyk and his wife, Diana, have three sons, all former hockey players, and one daughter.

Nick Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Place ...

played for the

Colorado College Tigers The Colorado College Tigers are composed of 16 teams representing Colorado College in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, and track and field. Men's sports in ...

and, in 2022, became a television studio analyst for the

. Tom, who played hockey at Penn State, most recently played professionally for the

Indy Fuel The Indy Fuel are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL that began play in the 2014–15 season. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Fuel play their home games at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum on the Indiana State Fairgrounds. They are a ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

and the

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

of the AHL. Eddie III spent a season with the Bloomington Thunder of the SPHL, has been an assistant coach with the

Bemidji State Beavers The Bemidji State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Bemidji State University, located in Bemidji, Minnesota, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Beavers compete as members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for ...

, and is an amateur scout for the Kraken. Olczyk's daughter Zandra attended the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

Rick Olczyk Rick Olczyk (born March 10, 1970) is an American ice hockey executive and assistant general manager of the Seattle Kraken. Previously he was the assistant general manager for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL) for six seasons ...

, Eddie's younger brother, is a former hockey player for Brown University and became an assistant general manager for the Kraken in 2019. On August 8, 2017, Olczyk issued a statement through the Blackhawks to announce that he had been diagnosed with a form of colon cancer. He underwent a surgical procedure to remove the tumor. In March 2018, Olczyk announced that he was officially "cancer-free." In October 2019, Olczyk released his autobiography, ''Eddie Olczyk: Beating the Odds in Hockey and in Life'', in which he shares details of his fight with stage 3 colon cancer.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and achievements

champion –

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

(New York Rangers) *

2012 *

National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1973. The mission of the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame is to recognize and preserve outstanding achievement by individuals of Polish heritage in the field of ...

2004

National team

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

(seventh place) *

1984 Canada Cup The 1984 Labatt Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament played during the first three weeks of September 1984. The best-of-three final took place between Canada and Sweden, with Canada winning a two game sweep. Canadian ...

(fourth place) *

1987 Canada Cup The 1987 Labatt Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament held from August 28 to September 15, 1987. The finals took place in Montreal on September 11 and Hamilton, on September 13 and September 15, and were won by Team ...

(fifth place) *

1991 Canada Cup The 1991 Labatt Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament played in August and September 1991. The finals took place in Montreal on September 14 and Hamilton on September 16, and were won by Canada. The Canadians defeated ...

(second place) *

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...

: 1985 (fourth place), 1986 (sixth place), 1987 (seventh place), 1989 (sixth place), 1993 (sixth place)

Coaching record

References

External links

*
Ed Olczyk's profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olczyk, Ed 1966 births Living people American expatriate ice hockey players in Canada American men's ice hockey centers American ice hockey coaches American people of Polish descent Chicago Blackhawks announcers Chicago Blackhawks draft picks Chicago Blackhawks players Chicago Wolves (IHL) players Ice hockey coaches from Illinois Ice hockey players from Illinois Ice hockey players at the 1984 Winter Olympics Los Angeles Kings players National Hockey League broadcasters National Hockey League first-round draft picks New York Rangers players Olympic ice hockey players of the United States American horse racing commentators People from Palos Heights, Illinois Pittsburgh Penguins coaches Pittsburgh Penguins players Seattle Kraken announcers Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) players