Gary Lupul

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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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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[]

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