Michael Patrick Stapleton (born May 5, 1966) is a Canadian 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 hock ...

player who played fourteen seasons 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 ...

from 1986 until 2001. Throughout his career Stapleton played for 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 ...

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 ...

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

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 ...

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

and

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

. After leaving the NHL he spent several years playing in Europe, retiring in 2004. The son of former NHL player Pat Stapleton, he also played internationally for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at the 1986 World Junior Championships, winning a silver medal. After his playing career ended Stapleton served as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and since 2014 has been a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

with the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

Playing career

Junior

Stapleton played Junior B hockey for the

Strathroy Blades The Strathroy Rockets are a junior ice hockey team based in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. History In 1965, the Rockets joined the old Western Junior "B" league. Whe ...

and Junior A hockey in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

for the

Cornwall Royals The Cornwall Royals were a junior ice hockey team based in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1969 to 1981, and the Ontario Hockey League from 1981 to 1992. This team shared its name with o ...

, where he scored 104 goals and 258 points over three seasons and 182 games. He was rated OHL Leyden Division's hardest worker, best faceoff man and best penalty killer in a 1985–86 poll of league coaches.

NHL

He was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks #132 overall in 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 played 697 NHL games for seven different teams, netting 71 goals and 182 points along with 342 penalty minutes.

Europe

In 2001, Stapleton moved to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

and played for the

Espoo Blues The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season. History The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...

, scoring 18 goals and 37 points in 41 games. He then had a brief spell in the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

for

Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, SHL, after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus earning promotion to the SHL. The c ...

before returning to Espoo. He spent one more season in Finland for

Tappara Tappara (; Finnish for "Battle axe") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. They play at ''Tampere Deck Arena'' in Tampere, Finland. The team has won 18 Finnish league championships (1959, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, ...

before retiring in 2004.

International career

Stapleton was named to the Canadian national junior team for the

1986 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 1986 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''1986 WJHC'') was the tenth edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was held from December 26, 1985, until January 4, 1986. It was held mainly in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The So ...

. Scoring 6 points in 7 games, Stapleton helped the team win the silver medal.

Coaching career

Stapleton served as an assistant to head coach/GM Scott Gardiner with the

NAHL Nahl or NAHL may refer to: * Nahl (surname) * National Accident Helpline, a British personal injury lawyer service * North American Hockey League, an American junior hockey league * North American Hockey League (1973–1977), an American professi ...

Traverse City North Stars The Traverse City North Stars were a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's North Division, and played out of 1,500-seat Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City, Michigan. The franchise was purchased by the Soo Eagles, ...

during the club's inaugural 2005–06 season before accepting a position as associate coach of the OHL's

Erie Otters The Erie Otters are a Major junior ice hockey team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Midwest division of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of only three American teams in the circuit. The team name refers to the North Am ...

. He accepted a position to become the new assistant coach for the

Syracuse Crunch The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Syracuse, New York, at the Upstate Medical University Arena. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa ...

of the AHL, the 2010-11 American Hockey League season.Ducks Name Stapleton Assistant Coach of Crunch
/ref> He served as the head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (often shortened to Soo Greyhounds) are a Junior ice hockey#Major junior, major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The Greyhounds play home games at the GFL Memorial Gardens. The present team was ...

for the 2011–12 season and part of the 2012–2013 season, but was fired on December 3, 2012, and replaced by

Sheldon Keefe Sheldon Keefe (born September 17, 1980) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. His younger brother Adam Keefe is the head coach of Elite Ice H ...

Personal life

Stapleton is the son of former NHL defenceman and

1972 Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (russian: Суперсерия СССР — Канада, Superseriya SSSR — Kanada), or Series of the Century (french: Série du siècle, Séries of the Century), was an eight-game ic ...

Team Canada member Pat Stapleton. Stapleton and his wife Laura and have two sons, Luke and Nick.

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Mike 1966 births Anaheim Ducks scouts Arvika HC players Atlanta Thrashers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian people of English descent Chicago Blackhawks draft picks Chicago Blackhawks players Cornwall Royals (OHL) players Edmonton Oilers players Espoo Blues players Ice hockey people from Ontario Indianapolis Ice players Leksands IF players Living people New York Islanders players People from Strathroy-Caradoc Phoenix Coyotes players Pittsburgh Penguins players Saginaw Hawks players Sportspeople from Sarnia Tappara players Vancouver Canucks players Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) players