Thomas Dietmar Pöck (born 2 December 1981) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n 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 ...

. He 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 ...

with the

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 ...

and the

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 ( ...

Playing career

As a youth, Pöck played in the 1994

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, ...

with a team from

. Pöck was a star forward turned defenceman for the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

, an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

team. Pöck was never drafted in the NHL, but signed his first pro contract upon completing his senior year on 23 March 2004 with the

. He immediately made his NHL debut at the end of the 2003–04 season. Pöck played eight games for the New York Rangers in the 2005–06 season, scoring one goal, getting one assist, and accumulating four penalty minutes. He spent the majority of the season however with Rangers affiliate, the

Hartford Wolf Pack The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the XL Center. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. After a ...

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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

, accumulating an impressive 61 points in 65 games, to finish second in the league amongst defenseman and earn a selection to the AHL Second All-Star Team. During the following 2006–07 season, Pöck played in 44 games for the Rangers, scored four goals, collected four assists, and was assessed 16 penalty minutes. He also played in four first-round playoff games, amassing three assists. After only playing in one game with the Rangers to start the 2007–08 season, Pöck was sent down passing waivers, to play with the AHL's Wolf Pack due to the Rangers having seven other healthy defencemen on the roster. On 29 September 2008, Pöck was claimed on waivers by the Rangers' arch rivals, the

. Pöck joined the Islanders for training camp and played a career high 59 games with the Islanders in the 2008–09 season. On 28 May 2009, with lack of NHL interest, Pöck signed with Swiss team

Rapperswil-Jona Lakers The SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers are a professional ice hockey club from Rapperswil, Switzerland and are members of the National League. History The Lakers were founded in 1945 and were known as SC Rapperswil-Jona until 2005, when the club changed ...

of the Swiss

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

(NLA) on a two-year contract. In his two seasons with the Lakers, despite missing the playoffs in each year, Pöck led the team amongst defenseman in points. Upon his contract expiring with the Lakers, Pöck signed a one-year contract as a free agent, 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. ...

of 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 ...

on 28 April 2011. In helping Modo return to playoffs in the 2011–12 season, Pöck was the clear offensive threat among the blueline, scoring 25 points in 55 games. With the intention of returning for another opportunity in the NHL, Pöck signed a one-year two-way contract with the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

on 2 July 2012. Due to the

2012 NHL lockout 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 ...

and the absence of NHL training camps, Pöck was directly reassigned by the Avalanche to AHL affiliate, the

Lake Erie Monsters The Cleveland Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team began play in 2007 as the Lake Erie Monsters and since 2015 has served as the top affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hock ...

. In adding a veteran puck-moving presence to the Monsters blueline during 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, Pöck led the defense with 11 goals and finished second with 33 points in 62 games. Unable to add to his NHL experience, Pöck signed a two-year contract to return to his native Austria with original club, EC KAC, of the EBEL on 10 April 2013. After three seasons in Klagenfurt, he was not tendered a new contract. On 3 October 2016, he belatedly signed a contract with the Graz 99ers to remain in the EBEL. In the 2016–17 season, Pöck continued his scoring contributions to the blueline, in adding 6 goals and 30 points in 46 games. However, after a short playoff-run his contract with the 99ers was not renewed resulting in his release as a free agent. Pöck retired at the end of 2017 and was named head coach of the

Boston Pride The Boston Pride are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are one of the four charter franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL; 2015–2021). The ...

in the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and ha ...

. He left the Pride after one season. He was later named coach for the

Northern Cyclones The Northern Cyclones are a junior ice hockey organization playing in the United States Premier Hockey League. The team plays their home games at the Cyclones Arena, located in Hudson, New Hampshire. The Cyclones organization also fields junior ...

of the USPHL Elite.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pock, Thomas 1981 births Living people Austrian ice hockey defencemen Charlotte Checkers (1993–2010) players Graz 99ers players Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics EC KAC players Lake Erie Monsters players Modo Hockey players New York Islanders players New York Rangers players Olympic ice hockey players of Austria Sportspeople from Klagenfurt SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers players Undrafted National Hockey League players University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni UMass Minutemen ice hockey players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Austrian expatriate ice hockey people Expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Austrian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden