# Dean Talafous

Dean Charles Talafous (born August 25, 1953) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played 497 regular season games in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1974 and 1981 for the Atlanta Flames, Minnesota North Stars and New York Rangers as a right winger.

## College

Talafous played for the Wisconsin Badgers where he helped the team win a National Championship in 1973, and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Talafous scored the winning goal in the championship game.

## Playing career

Talafous was drafted 53rd overall by the Atlanta Flames in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft. He scored his first NHL goal on December 12, 1974 at Washington in a 2-2 tie. It was the only goal Talafous scored as an Atlanta Flame. Talafous played 18 games for the Flames before being traded to the Minnesota North Stars. In international hockey he played for the United States in the 1976 Canada Cup and 1981 Canada Cup. In 1978 Talafous signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers.
On December 30, 1981, the Rangers traded him with Jere Gillis to the Quebec Nordiques for Robbie Ftorek, however, Talafous decided to retire after learning that the Nordiques would not offer him a contract past the end of the season. The Rangers were then forced to give up Pat Hickey as compensation.

## Coaching
### Juniors

* Head of player development - [ Hudson Crusaders ] MJHL
* Head Coach - St. Paul Vulcans USHL

## Head coaching record

Statistics overview :
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Wisconsin–River Falls Falcons (NCHA) (1989–1996) ||||||
| 1989–90 | Wisconsin–River Falls | 13-13-3 | | | NCHA Semifinals |
| 1990–91 | Wisconsin–River Falls | 6-18-3 | | | |
| 1991–92 | Wisconsin–River Falls | 6-17-1 | | | |
| 1992–93 | Wisconsin–River Falls | 19-13-1 | | | NCAA Runner-Up |
| 1993–94 | Wisconsin–River Falls | 21-8-4 | | | NCAA Champion |
| 1994–95 | Wisconsin–River Falls | 19-10-4 | | | NCAA Frozen Four |
| 1995–96 | Wisconsin–River Falls | 26-5-2 | | | NCAA Frozen Four |
| Wisconsin–River Falls: | Wisconsin–River Falls: | 110-84-18 | | | |
| Alaska–Anchorage Seawolves (WCHA) (1996–2001) ||||||
| 1996–97 | Alaska–Anchorage | 9-23-4 | 7-21-4 | 9th | WCHA First Round |
| 1997–98 | Alaska–Anchorage | 6-25-5 | 5-19-4 | 9th | WCHA First Round |
| 1998–99 | Alaska–Anchorage | 13-18-5 | 10-13-5 | 6th | WCHA First Round |
| 1999–00 | Alaska–Anchorage | 15-18-3 | 11-14-3 | 7th | WCHA First Round |
| 2000–01 | Alaska–Anchorage | 7-24-5 | 4-20-4 | 9th | WCHA First Round |
| Alaska–Anchorage: | Alaska–Anchorage: | 50-108-22 | 37-87-20 | | |
| Total: | Total: | 160-196-40 | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||

## After hockey

Talafous lives in Hudson, Wisconsin, and founded Total Hockey Training with his wife, Jax, and son, Pete; Talafous retired in 2011 and Pete now runs the organization as Exceed Hockey. In 2013 Talafous was inducted in the Badger Athletic Hall of Fame.

## Awards and honors

| Award | Year |
| All-NCAA All-Tournament Team | 1973 |

## 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 |
| 1968–69 | Hastings High School | HS-MN | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1969–70 | Hastings High School | HS-MN | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1970–71 | Hastings High School | HS-MN | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1971–72 | University of Wisconsin | WCHA | 37 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1972–73 | University of Wisconsin | WCHA | 40 | 21 | 32 | 53 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1973–74 | University of Wisconsin | WCHA | 34 | 17 | 29 | 46 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1974–75 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 18 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1974–75 | Omaha Knights | CHL | 11 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1974–75 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 43 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1975–76 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 79 | 18 | 30 | 48 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1976–77 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 80 | 22 | 27 | 49 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1977–78 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 75 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1978–79 | New York Rangers | NHL | 68 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1979–80 | New York Rangers | NHL | 55 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 1980–81 | New York Rangers | NHL | 50 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 28 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| 1981–82 | New York Rangers | NHL | 29 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — |
| NHL totals | NHL totals | NHL totals | 497 | 104 | 154 | 258 | 163 | 21 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 11 |

### International

| Year | Team | Event | | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1973 | United States | WC B | | 7 | 2 | 8 | 10 | — |
| 1974 | United States | WC B | | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1976 | United States | CC | | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 1981 | United States | CC | | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Canada Cup totals | Canada Cup totals | Canada Cup totals | Canada Cup totals | 11 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 |