| Ed Olczyk | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 16, 1966 Chicago, IL, USA |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) |
| Position | Center |
| Shot | Left |
| Played for | Chicago Blackhawks Toronto Maple Leafs Winnipeg Jets New York Rangers Los Angeles Kings Pittsburgh Penguins |
| National team | United States |
| NHL Draft | 3rd overall, 1984 Chicago Blackhawks |
| Playing career | 1984–2000 |
Edward Walter "Eddie" Olczyk (pronounced /ˈoʊltʃɨk/; born August 16, 1966) is an American former head coach for the National Hockey League Pittsburgh Penguins and former center for Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins. He currently serves as a television color commentator for NBC, Versus and Chicago Blackhawks games on Comcast SportsNet Chicago and WGN-TV. He played 1,031 NHL games and produced 342 goals and 452 assists for a total of 794 points between 1984 and 2000.
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Olczyk grew up in Palos Heights, Illinois and went to Brother Rice High School. He was a star on the Illinois midget team that won the 1982 national title against a Detroit Compuware squad that featured future NHL stars Pat LaFontaine and Al Iafrate. He then moved to Canada to play for the Stratford Cullitons junior team before joining the United States Olympic hockey team.
Olczyk was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, first round, third overall. Olczyk was traded a number of times during his career. In 1987, he was traded to Toronto by Chicago with Al Secord for Rick Vaive, Steve Thomas and Bob McGill. He was traded again in 1990 to Winnipeg, with Mark Osborne for Dave Ellett and Paul Fenton. In 1992 he was traded for the third time in his career, this time to the New York Rangers for Kris King and Tie Domi. Olczyk missed most of 1993–94 season recovering from a thumb injury suffered in a game vs. Florida on January 3, 1994; he would, however, recover to play in one playoff game and win the Stanley Cup with the Rangers that season (although he and Mike Hartman's names were initially, and controversially, not engraved on the Cup for having not met the league's minimum playing time requirements for eligibility). In 1995 he was traded back to Winnipeg for their 5th round choice (who ended up being Alexei Vasiliev) in the 1995 Entry Draft. After signing as a free agent with Los Angeles in 1996, he wouldn't even finish the season with them before being traded to Pittsburgh for Glen Murray. He finished his career in Chicago.
He returned to Pittsburgh to become the color analyst for the Penguins on FSN Pittsburgh, where he was given the nickname "Edzo" by current radio announcer and then co-announcer Mike Lange. In 2003, he moved from the booth to the bench and served as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from June 11, 2003 until December 15, 2005. Despite adding marquee free-agents, the Penguins started the season with a disappointing 8–17–6 record, leading to Olczyk's dismissal on December 15.
Beginning with the 2006–07 NHL season, Olczyk is the game analyst for the Chicago Blackhawks television broadcasts, partnering play-by-play announcer Pat Foley. Olczyk is also the lead game analyst for NHL on NBC and the NHL on Versus. Olczyk was also the lead game analyst for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Men's Ice Hockey where he partners with Mike "Doc" Emrick. Perhaps his most notable moment as color commentator came at the end of the 5–3 U.S. victory over Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, when he described the game as being "tremendously tremendous" after U.S. forward Ryan Kesler scored an empty-netter. The audio of Olczyk saying "This has been tremendously tremendous" was an instant hit among hockey enthusiasts and was the subject of many spoofs online.
On December 30, 2010, it was announced that Foley and Olczyk signed a three-year extension to stay with the Blackhawks.
Olczyk has two children playing hockey: Eddie plays for the Minutemen and Tom, who plays for the Penn State Icers. His younger brother Rick Olczyk is a former hockey player for Brown University and is currently an assistant general manager for the Edmonton Oilers.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1984–85 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 67 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 11 | ||
| 1985–86 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 79 | 29 | 50 | 79 | 47 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1986–87 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 79 | 16 | 35 | 51 | 119 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1987–88 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 80 | 42 | 33 | 75 | 55 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 1988–89 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 80 | 38 | 52 | 90 | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 79 | 32 | 56 | 88 | 78 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14 | ||
| 1990–91 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 18 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 61 | 26 | 31 | 57 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 64 | 32 | 33 | 65 | 67 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1992–93 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 25 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | New York Rangers | NHL | 46 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | New York Rangers | NHL | 37 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1994–95 | New York Rangers | NHL | 20 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 13 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 51 | 27 | 22 | 49 | 65 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1996–97 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 67 | 21 | 23 | 44 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 12 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 1997–98 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 56 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 35 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1998–99 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 61 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Chicago Wolves | IHL | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 33 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 1031 | 342 | 452 | 794 | 874 | 57 | 19 | 15 | 34 | 57 | ||||
| Team | Year | Regular season | Post season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | Finish | Result | ||
| PIT | 2003–04 | 82 | 23 | 47 | 8 | 4 | 58 | 5th in Atlantic | Missed playoffs |
| PIT | 2005–06 | 31 | 8 | 17 | - | 6 | (58) | 5th in Atlantic | Missed playoffs |
| Total | 113 | 31 | 64 | 8 | 10 | ||||
1987 (seventh place), 1989 (sixth place), 1993 (sixth place)