Pat Stapleton | |||
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Born |
Sarnia, ON, CAN |
July 4, 1940 ||
Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | ||
Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
Position | Defence | ||
Shot | Left | ||
Played for |
AHL Buffalo Bisons NHL Boston Bruins Chicago Black Hawks WHA Chicago Cougars Indianapolis Racers Cincinnati Stingers |
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National team | Canada | ||
Playing career | 1959–1978 |
Patrick James "Whitey" Stapleton (born July 4, 1940) is a former Canadian ice hockey player. A defenceman, Stapleton played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA), most notably for the Chicago Black Hawks. He is the father of Mike Stapleton, who had a lengthy career in the NHL as well.
Stapleton played Junior B hockey with the Sarnia Legionnaires before spending two seasons with the St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Hockey Association, winning the Memorial Cup in 1960. With the Legionnaires he won two Western Jr. 'B' championships and one Sutherland Cup as an all-Ontario champion. Although he was a defenceman, he led the Legionnaires in scoring during his second season.
His first full season was with the Sault Thunderbirds of the Eastern Professional Hockey League in 1960–61. Stapleton had signed with the Chicago Black Hawks, but was claimed by the Boston Bruins in the intra-league draft in June 1961 and began his National Hockey League career with the Bruins in the 1961–62 season. The next year, he split his time between Bruins and their EPHL affiliate, the Kingston Frontenacs. Stapleton spent the next two years in the minor leagues, playing with the Portland Buckaroos of the Western Hockey League. He received the Hal Laycoe Cup as the WHL's top defenceman for the 1964–65 season.