# Paul Hurley

Paul Michael Hurley (born July 12, 1946) is an American professional ice hockey player who played 477 games in the World Hockey Association and 1 game in the National Hockey League between 1969 and 1977. He also played for the American national team at the 1968 Winter Olympics.

## High school

At Melrose High School, he was a 3-time Middlesex all-star, 2-time first-team all-scholastic, 2-time first-team high school all-American, and 2-time award winner as the outstanding defenseman for the New England schoolboy tournament. Paul was part of the school's undefeated 1962 team that won the Middlesex league, State, and New England schoolboy hockey champions. During 1963 at Melrose High School, Paul tied for the league scoring championship while playing defense. He was first-team Middlesex all-star, all-State, and New England tournament all-star (for 2 years straight), scoring 26 goals. Paul was inducted into the first Melrose High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Paul went to Deerfield Academy for 1-year postgraduate in 1964. He had 31 goals as a defenseman and was recognized as a first-team all-prep all-star.

## College

During his freshman year at Boston College, he led the freshman Boston College Eaglets with 22 goals in 18 games as a defenseman. During his junior year, the only year he played forward, Hurley scored 32 goals in 28 games and had 6 hat tricks. During his college career, he was an All-New England, All-East, and first-team All-American award recipient. During his senior year, Paul was recognized as the Boston College team MVP and was a first-team All-American defenseman. Paul was later inducted into the Boston College Sports Hall of Fame.

## International

While playing hockey at Boston College, Hurley was also a member of the United States men's national ice hockey team for two years, playing in the 1967 Ice Hockey World Championships and the 1968 Winter Olympics.

## National Hockey League

At the end of his senior year of college hockey, Hurley was signed as a free agent by the Boston Bruins. He played his first and only NHL professional hockey game on March 30, 1969. During that game, Hurley and Ron Murphy assisted on Phil Esposito's 48th goal of the season making the Bruins the first team to reach 300 goals in a season; they finished with 303 goals.

## World Hockey Association

Paul started his WHA career with the New England Whalers in 1972-1973 and was part of the team's AVCO Cup champions of the World Hockey Association. In 1975, while with the Whalers, Paul won the team's Unsung Hero Award.
He played for the New England Whalers, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Cowboys.

## Career statistics
### Regular season and playoffs

| | | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1962–63 | Melrose High School | HS-MA | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1963–64 | Deerfield Academy | HS-MA | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1964–65 | Boston College | ECAC | 18 | 22 | 13 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1965–66 | Boston College | ECAC | 27 | 9 | 26 | 35 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1966–67 | Boston College | ECAC | 28 | 32 | 23 | 55 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1966–67 | Concord Coachmen | Exhib | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1966–67 | United States National Team | Intl | 21 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1967–68 | Concord Eastern Olympics | NEnHL | 21 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1968–69 | Boston College | ECAC | 26 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1968–69 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CHL | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1968–69 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1969–70 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CHL | 69 | 6 | 26 | 32 | 109 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1970–71 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CHL | 43 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 47 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 1971–72 | Boston Braves | AHL | 74 | 7 | 28 | 35 | 65 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 1972–73 | New England Whalers | WHA | 78 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 58 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| 1973–74 | New England Whalers | WHA | 52 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1974–75 | New England Whalers | WHA | 75 | 3 | 26 | 29 | 36 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 1975–76 | New England Whalers | WHA | 46 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1975–76 | Edmonton Oilers | WHA | 26 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1976–77 | Calgary Cowboys | WHA | 34 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — |
| WHA totals | WHA totals | WHA totals | 311 | 10 | 76 | 86 | 181 | 25 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 18 |
| NHL totals | NHL totals | NHL totals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |

### International

| Year | Team | Event | | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1968 | United States | OLY | | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

| Award | Year |
| All-ECAC Hockey First Team | 1968–69 |
| AHCA East All-American | 1968–69 |