Pat Stapleton

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Patrick James "Pat" Stapleton (born July 4, 1940 in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada) is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenseman. Stapleton is also known by the nickname of "Whitey". He is the father of Mike Stapleton, who had a lengthy career in the NHL as well.

1 Junior Career
2 NHL and WHA Career
3 Interantional Career
4 Post-NHL Career
5 External links

[edit] Junior Career

Stapleton played Junior B hockey with the Sarnia Legionnaires before spending two seasons with the St. Catharines Teepees of the OHA.

[edit] NHL and WHA Career

Pat was claimed by the Boston Bruins in the Inter-League Draft in June of 1961 and started his National Hockey League career with the Bruins that same year. He would spend two years in the Boston organization, though mostly in the minors with the Portland Buckaroos, before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Chicago Blackhawks claimed Stapleton from Toronto on June 9, 1965. Later, he would play for the Chicago Cougars, Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association. He was three-time member of the NHL All-Star Team (1966, 1971, and 1972), each time making the second team. He won the Dennis A. Murphy Award as the WHA's top defenceman after the 1973-74 season.

Stapleton played with the Hawks in the Stanley Cup finals in 1971 and 1973. He retired in 1978 after scoring 337 points in the NHL and 238 in the WHA.

[edit] Interantional Career

Pat was a member of the Canadian team at the 1972 Summit Series. During the tournament he was a +6 and was often paired with his Blackhawks teammate Bill White. Stapleton is the owner of the puck that was used by Paul Henderson to score the series-winning goal.[1]

He also played in Summit 74 with the WHA All Stars and recorded 3 assists in 8 games.

[edit] Post-NHL Career

Stapleton lives in Strathroy, Ontario and is a member of the advisory board of the Junior B Strathroy Rockets of the Western Ontario Junior Hockey League. He has a Strathroy and District Hockey Association award named after him.