page_title: Aggie Kukulowicz
section_title: Playing career
hierarchical_section_title: Aggie Kukulowicz / Playing career
caption_attribution_description: English: The Turner Cup on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame
context_page_description: Adolph Frank "Aggie" Kukulowicz was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and Russian-language interpreter. He played four games in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers, then played 12 combined seasons in the minor leagues and senior ice hockey leagues. He won two Turner Cup championships with the St. Paul Saints in the International Hockey League, and was a 1964 Allan Cup champion with the Winnipeg Maroons. He was fluent in Russian and Polish, had a brief coaching career with GKS Katowice in Poland, and later worked as a European scout for the Philadelphia Flyers.
  Kukulowicz spent six years in Moscow working for Air Canada. He was a regular member of Alan Eagleson's travelling entourage, and was the interpreter and travel coordinator for the Canada men's national ice hockey team at the 1972 Summit Series and 1974 Summit Series. He later worked as an interpreter for the International Ice Hockey Federation from 1975 to 1993, which included the Ice Hockey World Championships, the Canada Cup, and the Super Series. Kukulowicz was inducted into both the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, as a member of the Winnipeg Maroons.
context_section_description: Kukulowicz began playing junior ice hockey for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He scored 27 goals and had 30 assists in 36 games played during his first season. He transferred to the Quebec Citadelles in the Quebec Junior Hockey League for the 1951–52 season, and led his team in scoring with 24 goals. He began the 1952–53 season in the NHL with the New York Rangers, and scored a goal in his debut game. He finished the season with the Quebec Citadelles after playing three games in the NHL, and helped the Citadelles reach the Eastern Canada junior finals. He returned to the NHL for the 1953–54 season, but played only one game due to a back injury from a body check. His NHL tenure included just four games, and he continued his playing career in the minor leagues and in senior ice hockey leagues.
  Kukulowicz played the next five seasons in the Western Hockey League. He played the 1953–54 and 1954–55 seasons with the Saskatoon Quakers. On August 18, 1955, the New York Rangers traded the NHL rights to Kukulowicz and Billy Dea to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Bronco Horvath and Dave Creighton. Kukulowicz switched to the Brandon Regals for the 1955–56 season, a farm team of the Red Wings. He played for the New Westminster Royals during the 1956–57 season, and reached the finals for the Lester Patrick Cup in the WHL playoffs. He played the 1957–58 season for the Seattle Totems, and returned to the Saskatoon Quakers to begin the 1958–59 season. He played just 9 games for the Quakers and switched to senior ice hockey teams for the remainder of the season. After 14 games for the Quebec Aces in the Quebec Senior Hockey League, he moved to the Cornwall Chevies in the Eastern Ontario Hockey League. He played 18 regular season games for Cornwall, followed by the league's playoffs.
  Kukulowicz returned to professional hockey with the St. Paul Saints in the International Hockey League during the 1959–60 season. He scored 38 goals, 80 assists and 118 points that season, and was named the 1959–60 IHL second team All-Star. He scored six goals in the playoffs, and helped the Saints win the Turner Cup as champions of the IHL. He scored another six goals in the 1960–61 season playoffs, and the Saints repeated as the league's Turner Cup champions. Kukulowicz moved to the Minneapolis Millers in the same league for the 1961–62 season, but did not get beyond the first round of that year's IHL playoffs.
  Kukulowicz returned home for the 1962–63 season, and played senior ice hockey for the Winnipeg Maroons coached by Gord Simpson. The Maroons won the Manitoba Senior Hockey League that season, and reached the finals of the 1963 Allan Cup for the Canadian national senior ice hockey championship, but were defeated by the Windsor Bulldogs in five games. The Maroons went on a playing tour of Europe in early 1964, and the team was unsure if it would have enough players to participate in the 1964 Manitoba Senior Hockey League playoffs. The Maroons managed to find enough players, won 12 of 13 playoff games, and captured the 1964 Allan Cup by defeating the Woodstock Athletics in four consecutive games. Kukulowicz and his teammates were not paid salaries for the season, and the team donated proceeds from tickets to its home games to charities in Winnipeg.
  During the 1964–65 season, the Maroons played games versus teams in the Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League, and travelled to Europe in February and March 1965 as the second Canada men's national ice hockey team. Kukulowicz had his first international playing experience during the tour, and played against the national teams from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, United States and Sweden. He retired from playing during the season due to a serious on-ice accident.
caption: The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League.
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