Mike Stapleton

Mike Stapleton	Mike Stapleton
Born 	May 5, 1966 (1966-05-05) (age 44),
Sarnia, ON, CAN
Height
Weight 	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
183 lb (83 kg; 13 st 1 lb)
Position 	Left wing
Shoots 	Right
Mike Stapleton (born May 5, 1966 in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada) is a retired National Hockey League hockey player who played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Atlanta Thrashers, New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks. He is the son of former NHL defenceman and 1972 Summit Series Team Canada member Pat Stapleton. He is married to wife Laura and has two sons, Luke and Nick.
== Junior career==
Stapleton played Junior B hockey for the Strathroy Blades and Junior A hockey in the Ontario Hockey League for the Cornwall Royals where he scored 104 goals and 258 points over three seasons and 182 games. He was rated OHL Leyden Division's hardest worker, best faceoff man and best penalty killer in a 1985–86 poll of league coaches.
== NHL career==
He was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks #132 overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. He played 697 NHL games for seven different teams netting 71 goals and 182 points along with 342 penalty minutes.
== Europe==
In 2001, Stapleton moved to Finland's SM-liiga and played for the Espoo Blues, scoring 18 goals and 37 points in 41 games. He then had a brief spell in the Swedish Elitserien for Leksands IF before returning to Espoo. He spent one more season in Finland for Tappara before retiring in 2004.
== International career==
Stapleton also played for Team Canada at the 1986 World Junior Championships where he won a silver medal.
== Coaching career==
Stapleton served as an assistant to head coach/GM Scott Gardiner with the NAHL's Traverse City North Stars during the club's inaugural 2005–06 season before accepting a position as associate coach of the OHL's Erie Otters. He has accepted a position to become the new assistant coach for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, beginning with the 2010-11 American Hockey League season.
Category:Atlanta Thrashers players