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Tim Stapleton

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Tim Stapleton
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 team  United States
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2006–2018

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]

Playing career

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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

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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

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1996–97 Fenwick High School HS=IL — — — — — — — — — —
1997–98 Fenwick High School HS-IL — — — — — — — — — —
1998–99 Chicago Chill 16U AAA 16U AAA — — — — — — — — — —
1999–00 Chicago Chill 16U AAA 16U AAA — — — — — — — — — —
2000–01 Green Bay Gamblers USHL 52 7 15 22 8 4 1 2 3 4
2001–02 Green Bay Gamblers USHL 61 24 36 60 10 7 4 7 11 0
2002–03 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 42 14 28 42 6 — — — — —
2003–04 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 43 16 25 41 18 — — — — —
2004–05 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 38 19 20 39 6 — — — — —
2005–06 University of Minnesota Duluth WCHA 39 14 16 30 4 — — — — —
2005–06 Portland Pirates AHL 9 0 5 5 4 4 0 0 0 2
2006–07 Jokerit SM-l 56 19 29 48 28 10 6 4 10 8
2007–08 Jokerit SM-l 55 28 33 61 36 14 9 8 17 8
2008–09 Toronto Marlies AHL 70 28 51 79 26 6 2 0 2 2
2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 4 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
2009–10 Chicago Wolves AHL 73 30 29 59 18 14 4 9 13 12
2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 6 2 0 2 2 — — — — —
2010–11 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 45 5 2 7 12 — — — — —
2010–11 Chicago Wolves AHL 4 1 3 4 2 — — — — —
2010–11 San Antonio Rampage AHL 20 8 7 15 2 — — — — —
2011–12 Winnipeg Jets NHL 63 11 16 27 10 — — — — —
2012–13 Dinamo Minsk KHL 52 24 16 40 30 — — — — —
2013–14 Ak Bars Kazan KHL 54 16 17 33 16 6 0 1 1 2
2014–15 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk KHL 37 14 12 26 30 — — — — —
2014–15 Metallurg Magnitogorsk KHL 18 4 1 5 10 9 4 0 4 14
2015–16 EHC Biel NLA 24 5 8 13 20 — — — — —
2015–16 HC Lugano NLA 19 6 8 14 8 5 1 0 1 6
2016–17 Färjestad BK SHL 20 1 3 4 4 — — — — —
2016–17 HC Spartak Moscow KHL 22 1 6 7 4 — — — — —
2017–18 EHC Olten SWI-2 29 9 12 21 6 — — — — —
2017–18 ERC Ingolstadt DEL 8 3 6 9 0 5 1 0 1 0
AHL totals 176 67 95 162 52 24 6 9 15 16
NHL totals 118 19 18 37 24 — — — — —
KHL totals 183 59 52 111 90 15 4 1 5 16
Medal record
Representing  United States
Ice hockey
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Sweden/Finland

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2011 United States WC 8th 7 0 1 1 0
2013 United States WC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 10 2 3 5 2
2014 United States WC 6th 8 0 2 2 2
Senior totals 25 2 6 8 4

References

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  1. ^ a b 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.
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