Gary Lupul

Gary Lupul
Born	(1959-04-20)April 20, 1959 Powell River, British Columbia, Canada
Died	July 18, 2007(2007-07-18) (aged 48) Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	172 lb (78 kg; 12 st 4 lb)
Position	Centre/Left wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Vancouver Canucks
NHL draft	Undrafted
Playing career	1979–1986

Gary John Lupul (April 20, 1959 – July 18, 2007) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League.^[1]

Playing career

Born and raised in Powell River, British Columbia, Lupul played his junior hockey career with the Nanaimo Clippers and the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League.

He signed a free agent contract with the Canucks a day prior to the team opening their training camp in Powell River. Lupul, at 5-foot-9 in height and 175 pounds, immediately demonstrated his feistiness by fighting Gerry Minor in his first day at training camp.

Lupul, known as the Pride of Powell River, played seven seasons as a forward with the Canucks, from 1979 to 1986. In 1982, he scored five points in 10 playoff games as Vancouver made it to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time.

Lupul had his best years in 1983 and 1984 playing on a line with Lars Molin and Dave "Tiger" Williams.^[2]

In 1984, Lupul was the first NHL player to fight Mario Lemieux and did so in Mario's home debut in his rookie season. Horribly overmatched by the much larger Lemieux, Lupul had to be rescued by goaltender John Garrett, who was then given a game misconduct for being the third player in the fight.^[3]

Post-playing career

Following retirement from professional hockey, Lupul was a junior and college scout for the Vancouver Canucks in Ontario.^[4] The Canucks first hired him to help Lupul address a substance abuse problem.^[1]

Lupul, who was known to have cardiovascular concerns, was found lifeless in his nephew's Burnaby condo.^[1][4]

Lupul was of Ukrainian descent.^[5][6]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1975–76	Nanaimo Clippers	BCJHL		66	49	68	117	—		—	—	—	—	—
1975–76	Victoria Cougars	WCHL		4	1	1	2	2		1	0	0	0	0
1976–77	Victoria Cougars	WCHL		71	38	63	101	116		4	1	0	1	2
1977–78	Victoria Cougars	WCHL		59	37	49	86	79		13	6	15	21	2
1978–79	Victoria Cougars	WHL		71	53	54	107	85		15	10	14	24	19
1979–80	Dallas Black Hawks	CHL		26	9	15	24	4		—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		51	9	11	20	24		4	1	0	1	0
1980–81	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		7	0	2	2	2		—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	Dallas Black Hawks	CHL		53	25	32	57	27		6	4	1	5	5
1981–82	Dallas Black Hawks	CHL		31	22	17	39	76		—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		41	10	7	17	26		10	2	3	5	4
1982–83	Fredericton Express	AHL		35	16	26	42	48		—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		40	18	10	28	46		4	1	3	4	2
1983–84	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		69	17	27	44	51		4	0	1	1	7
1984–85	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		66	12	17	29	82		—	—	—	—	—
1985–86	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		19	4	1	5	12		3	0	0	0	0
1985–86	Fredericton Express	AHL		43	13	2	15	76		3	2	0	2	4
1986–87	EV Brunico	ITA		42	28	38	66	34		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Berlin Capitals	GER		11	1	2	3	6		16	16	20	36	14
1987–88	EHC Kloten	SUI		—	—	—	—	—		1	1	0	1	0
NHL totals				293	70	75	145	243		25	4	7	11	13

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1979	Canada	WJC		5	2	1	3	0
Junior totals				5	2	1	3	0

References

1. Powell River's pride, NHL scrapper Gary Lupul dead at 48, By Linda Nguyen and Greg Douglas, Vancouver Sun, July 20, 2007.
2. Former Canuck Gary Lupul dead at 48, Staff Reporter, The Province, July 19, 2007.
3. Biography of Mario Lemieux, Legends of Hockey.
4. Nguyen, Linda (2007). "Former Canuck Lupul found dead". CanWest News Service. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
5. Windsor Public Library (2006). "Famous Ukrainian-Canadians". Retrieved February 27, 2011.
6. Czuboka, Michael (1983). Ukrainian Canadian, eh?. Winnipeg: Communigraphics. p. 158. ISBN 0-920073-00-X.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database