Joel Kwiatkowski (born March 22, 1977) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

. Kwiatkowski played 282 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).

Playing career

Kwiatkowski was drafted in the eighth round, 194th overall by the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and were founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minne ...

in the

1996 NHL Entry Draft The 1996 NHL Entry Draft was the 34th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 22, 1996. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Zdeno Chára, who retired after the 2021–22 season. ...

. After finishing junior hockey, he signed with the

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *'' The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title * ...

as a free-agent, but never played in the NHL for the Ducks, instead he spent two seasons with the

Cincinnati Mighty Ducks The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks were a professional ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were members of the American Hockey League, and played their home games at the Cincinnati Gardens. Throughout their existence they were the primar ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

. He was traded to the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

for Patrick Traverse in 2000 and played a handful of games with the Sens. As well as that, he was a key player in the IHL with the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey Leag ...

, becoming an all-star in 2001. After three seasons with the Senators organization, he was traded to the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

for a ninth-round draft pick in the 2003 draft (a draft pick traded back to Washington just months later). He played much more ice time in his one full season with the Capitals, playing 80 games and scoring 6 goals and 12 points. He signed with the Florida Panthers in 2004, but spent the season with the

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sold ...

due to the

NHL Lockout The NHL lockout may refer to any of the four labour actions in the history of the National Hockey League: * The 1992 NHL strike, which postponed 30 games of the 1991–92 season * The 1994–95 NHL lockout, which cancelled many of the games of ...

which cancelled the 2004–05 season. He was later loaned to the

St. John's Maple Leafs The St. John's Maple Leafs were a minor ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, at Memorial Stadium from 1991 to 2001, and at Mile One Stadium from 2001 to 2005. The team was ...

for a run in the playoffs. When the lock-out was resolved, he finally played for the Panthers and in 73 games, he tied his NHL best of 12 points and scored 10 points in 41 games before being dealt to the

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 ...

where he played just one game. Joel Kwiatkowski 2008

He signed with the Atlanta Thrashers on August 30, 2007 as a free-agent and was assigned to the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

. He played one season in Chicago before going to the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

where he spent the 2008–09 season playing for the

Severstal Cherepovets Hockey Club Severstal is a professional ice hockey team based in Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League. History Founded in 1956, the club was originally known as Stroitel ...

. He remained in the KHL for the 2009–10 season with SKA St. Petersburg. Kwiatkowski moved to the Swiss National League and first played for

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern ('' Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. For the 18th year in a row, the club is the mos ...

from 2010–2012 before transferring to HC Fribourg-Gottéron for the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season compiling 23 points in 46 games. In his final professional season in 2015–16, Kwiatkowski opted to play in the Swedish Hockey League with

Modo Hockey Modo Hockey (or MoDo with uppercase letters) is a professional ice hockey club in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The team plays in Sweden's second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan. The club was founded in 1987 and has won one SHL championships; in 2007. ...

. Unable to help Modo avoid relegation, he produced 5 points in 42 games from the blueline. On September 12, 2016, Kwiatkowski confirmed the end of his playing career in accepting an assistant coaching position with the

Kalamazoo Wings The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Event Center. They are the affiliate ...

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 ...

International play

Kwiatkowski was a member of Team Canada at the

2009 IIHF World Championship The 2009 IIHF World Championship took place in Switzerland from 24 April to 10 May. The games were played in the PostFinance Arena in Bern and Schluefweg in Kloten. The PostFinance Arena in Bern was renovated and accommodates an attendance o ...

in Switzerland. Named to the alternate roster on April 13, 2009, Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong activated the

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

defenceman to suit up for the tournament game against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

on April 28, 2009.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and achievements

* Named to the WHL West Second All-Star Team in 1997 * Named to the WHL West First All-Star Team in 1998

References

External links

*
The National Post: Article April 27, 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwiatkowski, Joel 1977 births Atlanta Thrashers players SC Bern players Binghamton Senators players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Wolves players Cincinnati Mighty Ducks players Dallas Stars draft picks Florida Panthers players HC Fribourg-Gottéron players Grand Rapids Griffins players Sportspeople from Kindersley Kelowna Rockets players Living people Modo Hockey players Ottawa Senators players Pittsburgh Penguins players Prince George Cougars players St. John's Maple Leafs players San Antonio Rampage players Severstal Cherepovets players SKA Saint Petersburg players Tacoma Rockets players Washington Capitals players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden