Poul Peter Popiel (born February 28, 1943) is a Danish-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 hock ...

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

who played 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) and

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

(WHA), and also served as a head coach in the minor leagues. Following a brief 12 games in the International Hockey League (IHL) with the

Muskegon Mohawks The Muskegon Mohawks were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League from 1965 to 1984. Muskegon were Turner Cup champions in 1968. This team was originally named the Muskegon Zephyrs. After the completion of ...

, he retired and became the head coach. Popiel and Garry Peters were co-winners of the inaugural

Ken McKenzie Trophy The Ken McKenzie Trophy was awarded annually to the Central Hockey League's leading points scorer in the regular season. The award was named for Ken McKenzie, the co-founder and longtime president and publisher of ''The Hockey News''. Previously ...

Central Professional Hockey League The Central Professional Hockey League was a minor professional ice hockey league that operated in the United States from 1963 to 1984. Named the Central Hockey League for the 1968–69 season and forward, it was owned and operated by the Natio ...

rookies of the year in 1963-64. His younger brother

Jan Popiel Jan Popiel (born October 9, 1947) is a Danish-Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 296 games in the World Hockey Association. He played for the Chicago Cougars, Denver Spurs, Houston Aeros and Phoenix Roadrunners. He is t ...

is also a former professional hockey player. Popiel was the first Danish-born player in the National Hockey League. Popiel's family moved to

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 ...

in 1951 when he was a child, and subsequently moved to the United States and he acquired

American citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

before making his NHL debut.

Awards

*Played in WHA All-Star Game (1974, 1975, 1977)

Career statistics

Coaching statistics

References

External links

* 1943 births Boston Bruins players Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Danish emigrants to Canada People from Lolland Municipality People from Lolland Danish ice hockey defencemen Detroit Red Wings players Edmonton Oilers players Hershey Bears players Houston Aeros (WHA) players Houston Apollos players Ice hockey people from Ontario Living people Los Angeles Kings players Muskegon Mohawks players People from Halton Hills Rochester Americans players Springfield Kings players Vancouver Canucks players Sportspeople from Region Zealand {{Denmark-icehockey-bio-stub