Tim Stapleton

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Tim Stapleton
Timstapleton.jpg
Stapleton with the Winnipeg Jets in 2011
Born (1982-07-19) July 19, 1982 (age 42)
La Grange, Illinois, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Center
Shot Right
Played for Jokerit
Toronto Maple Leafs
Atlanta Thrashers
Winnipeg Jets
HC Dinamo Minsk
Ak Bars Kazan
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Metallurg Magnitogorsk
HC Lugano
Färjestad BK
HC Spartak Moscow
ERC Ingolstadt
National teamFlag of the United States.svg  United States
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 20062018

Timothy Gabriel Stapleton (born July 19, 1982) is an American former professional ice hockey center. He played in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Atlanta Thrashers and Winnipeg Jets between 2008 and 2012. In 2011, Stapleton scored the last goal in Thrashers' history. [1] He is the first player of Filipino descent to play a game in the National Hockey League. [2]

Contents

Playing career

Undrafted, Stapleton played for two seasons with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League. Stapleton then represented the University of Minnesota Duluth for four seasons, where he led the team in scoring as a freshman and had back-to-back 40 point seasons.

After a brief stint with the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, he signed with Jokerit of the Finnish SM-liiga, completing a tryout which led to a one-year contract. During his first Jokerit season, Stapleton won the SM-liiga silver medal and finished second in playoff scoring.

On June 6, 2008, Stapleton signed as a free agent to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2008–09 season. [3] Stapleton was assigned to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League on September 26, 2008.

On 26 February 2009, Stapleton played his first career NHL game with the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring the shootout winner. [4] In his next game Stapleton was credited with his first NHL goal against the Ottawa Senators, goaltender Brian Elliott on February 28, 2009. [5]

On July 1, 2009, Stapleton was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers with Pavel Kubina for Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart. [6] After signing with the Thrashers, Stapleton was then assigned to affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, for the 2009–10 season. [7]

For the 2010–2011 season, Stapleton signed a professional Try-out agreement with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL. On November 30, 2010, Stapleton was signed to a 2-year contract by the Atlanta Thrashers. [8]

On February 27, 2011, Stapleton scored his first goal since April 16, 2010. It was against his former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was invited and accepted an invitation to join the United States national team for the 2011 IIHF World Championship, 2013 IIHF World Championship, and 2014 IIHF World Championship, winning bronze in 2013.

At 13:15 of the 3rd period on April 10, 2011, against Brent Johnson of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Stapleton would score the final goal in the final game in Thrashers' history. [1] [9] [10] The following season, the Thrashers, including Stapleton, moved to Canada to become the Winnipeg Jets. For the first time Stapleton remained at the NHL level for an entire season, often playing the point on the power play despite playing his even-strength minutes as a third- or fourth-line forward; partly because of this, he logged career highs (and more than doubled his career NHL totals) in games played, goals, assists and points.

Despite this performance, Stapleton was not re-signed by the Jets when his contract expired the following summer. On July 10, 2012, it was announced that Stapleton had agreed to terms with Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. After a good performance with Dinamo, he signed in 2013 a two-year deal with Ak Bars Kazan.

After only one-season with Ak Bars, Stapleton was released from the remaining year of his contract and joined fellow KHL club, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk on a one-year deal on July 11, 2014. [11] Stapleton was traded to Metallurg Magnitogorsk on December 15, 2014. [12]

On April 17, 2015, Stapleton left the KHL and signed a one-year contract with Swiss club, EHC Biel of the NLA. [13]

On August 1, 2016 he signed with the Karlstad-based, Swedish club Färjestad BK, of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). After collecting just 4 points in 20 games, he parted company with the team on November 26, 2016, and inked a deal with HC Spartak Moscow in a return to the KHL for the remainder of the 2016–17 campaign the following day. [14] [15]

On April 21, 2017, Stapleton agreed to a one-year contract with EHC Olten of the Swiss League (SL). [16] He contributed with 21 points in 29 games before opting to leave Switzerland and join German club, ERC Ingolstadt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the closing stages of the 2017–18 season on January 6, 2018. [17]

Personal life

Despite being born and raised in the Chicago area, Stapleton is not related to 1970s Chicago Blackhawks star defenseman Pat Stapleton or former Winnipeg Jets and Atlanta Thrashers forward Mike Stapleton, despite wearing the latter's number with both franchises. Stapleton is half Filipino and half Irish. [18]

Stapleton is Co-Host of the Raw Knuckles Podcast With Chris "Knuckles" Nilan.[ citation needed ]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGP G A Pts PIM GPGAPtsPIM
1996–97 Fenwick High School HS=IL
1997–98Fenwick High SchoolHS-IL
1998–99Chicago Chill 16U AAA16U AAA
1999–00Chicago Chill 16U AAA16U AAA
2000–01 Green Bay Gamblers USHL 5271522841234
2001–02 Green Bay GamblersUSHL6124366010747110
2002–03 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 421428426
2003–04 University of Minnesota DuluthWCHA4316254118
2004–05 University of Minnesota DuluthWCHA381920396
2005–06 University of Minnesota DuluthWCHA391416304
2005–06 Portland Pirates AHL 9055440002
2006–07 Jokerit SM-l 56192948281064108
2007–08 JokeritSM-l55283361361498178
2008–09 Toronto Marlies AHL702851792662022
2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 41010
2009–10 Chicago Wolves AHL733029591814491312
2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers NHL62022
2010–11 Atlanta ThrashersNHL4552712
2010–11Chicago WolvesAHL41342
2010–11 San Antonio Rampage AHL2087152
2011–12 Winnipeg Jets NHL6311162710
2012–13 Dinamo Minsk KHL 5224164030
2013–14 Ak Bars Kazan KHL541617331660112
2014–15 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk KHL3714122630
2014–15 Metallurg Magnitogorsk KHL1841510940414
2015–16 EHC Biel NLA 24581320
2015–16 HC Lugano NLA196814851016
2016–17 Färjestad BK SHL 201344
2016–17 HC Spartak Moscow KHL221674
2017–18 EHC Olten SWI-2 29912216
2017–18 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 8369051010
KHL totals1835952111901541516
NHL totals11819183724
Medal record
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Ice hockey
World Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2013 Sweden/Finland

International

YearTeamEventResultGPGAPtsPIM
2011 United States WC 8th70110
2013 United StatesWCBronze medal icon.svg102352
2014 United StatesWC6th80222
Senior totals252684

References

  1. 1 2 Wyshynski, Greg (August 30, 2012). "The Essentials: Atlanta Thrashers and Winnipeg Jets (1.0) Edition!". y!sports. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  2. Clinton, Mitchell (November 8, 2022). "Stapleton thrilled to return for Filipino Heritage Night: Former Jet was first Filipino-American to play in the NHL". nhl.com. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  3. "Leafs ink Stapleton". Toronto Maple Leafs. June 6, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
  4. "Maple Leafs 5, Islanders 4". CBS Sports . February 26, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  5. "With NHL on his mind, Wolves Stapleton glad to be home". DailyHerald. November 24, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
  6. "Thrashers acquire Kubina and Stapleton from Toronto". Atlanta Thrashers. July 1, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
  7. "Thrashers agree to terms with three RFA's". Atlanta Thrashers. July 17, 2009. Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
  8. "Thrashers Sign F Tim Stapleton; Activate F Patrice Cormier from IR and Assign to Chicago (AHL)". Atlanta Thrashers. November 30, 2010. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
  9. ESPN (April 10, 2011). "Penguins 5-2 Thrashers (April 10, 2011) Final Score". ESPN . Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  10. Associated Press (April 11, 2011). "Penguins close regular season by beating Thrashers". ESPN . Archived from the original on May 28, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  11. "Stapleton receives contract offer from Neftekhimik" (in Russian). Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. July 11, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  12. "Stapleton traded to Magnitogorsk". Metallurg Magnitogorsk. December 15, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  13. "EHC Biel committed to Tim Stapleton" (in German). EHC Biel. April 17, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  14. "Tim Stapleton lämnar Färjestad". Färjestad BK. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  15. "Tim Stapleton signs with Spartak". HC Spartak Moscow (in Russian). November 27, 2016. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  16. "EHC Olten signs Tim Stapleton, captain Stefan Hürlimann leaves the club". www.swisshockeynews.ch. Archived from the original on August 24, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  17. "ERC brings in Tim Stapleton" (in German). ERC Ingolstadt. January 6, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  18. "Bulldog Sportlight: Time Stapleton". Men's Hockey. University of Minnesota Duluth. November 8, 2005. Retrieved April 1, 2015.