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Walt Poddubny
Walt Poddubny
Born February 14, 1960(1960-02-14)
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Died March 21, 2009(2009-03-21) (aged 49)
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
Played for NHL
Edmonton Oilers
Toronto Maple Leafs
New York Rangers
Quebec Nordiques
New Jersey Devils
AHL
St. Catharines Saints
Utica Devils
Worcester IceCats
NHL Draft 90th overall, 1980
Edmonton Oilers
Playing career 1980–1995

Walt Poddubny (born Walter Michael Poddubny on February 14, 1960) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and coach who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1981–1982 until 1991–1992.

Playing Career[]

Walt played his junior hockey for the Brandon Wheat Kings, the Kitchener Rangers and the Kingston Canadiens from 1978 to 1980.

He was drafted 90th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft where he played for only 4 games before spending the next two seasons playing in the minors for the Wichita Wind in the CHL.

On March 9, 1982, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Phil Drouillard in exchange for Laurie Boschman where he got 59 points in 72 games in his first full season with the team.

Once Walt was established as a NHL players, criticisms began to surface that he was a floater who was guilty on inconsistent play. Due to sustaining various injuries, he was sent to play for St. Catharines in the AHL.

On August 18, 1986, he was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Mike Allison. While with the Rangers, Walt scored a career-high of 40 goals and 47 assists in 75 games.

He was also the recipient of the New York Rangers Fan Club's Frank Boucher Trophy for the most popular player on and off the ice in both years and the team's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award from the Professional Hockey Writers Association in 1987.

On August 1, 1988, Walt was traded to the Quebec Nordiques along with Jari Gronstrand, Bruce Bell and New York's 4th-round choice in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Jason Lafreniere and Normand Rochefort.

While in Quebec, he continued to put up impressive numbers, but on June 17, 1989, he was traded to the New Jersey Devils along with Quebec's 4th-round choice in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Joe Cirella, Claude Loiselle and New Jersey's 8th-round choice in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.

Walt played in New Jersey for 21 games until he retired from the NHL in 1991. Two years later, he attempted a comeback with the Worchester Ice Cats where he played with them for 34 games before retiring for good in 1995.

During his career, Walt played 468 career NHL games, scoring 184 goals and 238 assists for 422 points.

Coaching Career[]

After his career in the NHL, Walt coached several hockey teams including six seasons as the head coach of the Anchorage Aces.

Death[]

On March 21, 2009, Walt died from a heart attack after collapsing at his sister's home in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada at the age of 49.

Career Statistics[]

Ice hockey[]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1978–79 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 20 11 11 22 12
1979–80 Kitchener Rangers OMJHL 19 3 9 12 35
1979–80 Kingston Canadians OMJHL 43 30 17 47 36
1980–81 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 5 4 2 6 4
1980–81 Wichita Wind CHL 70 21 29 50 207 11 1 6 7 26
1981–82 Wichita Wind CHL 60 35 46 81 79
1981–82 Edmonton Oilers NHL 4 0 0 0 0
1981–82 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 11 3 4 7 8
1982–83 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 72 28 31 59 71 4 3 1 4 0
1983–84 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 38 11 14 25 48
1984–85 St. Catharines Saints AHL 8 5 7 12 10
1984–85 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 32 5 15 20 26
1985–86 St. Catharines Saints AHL 37 28 27 55 52
1985–86 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 33 12 22 34 25 9 4 1 5 4
1986–87 New York Rangers NHL 75 40 47 87 49 6 0 0 0 8
1987–88 New York Rangers NHL 77 38 50 88 76
1988–89 Quebec Nordiques NHL 72 38 37 75 107
1989–90 Utica Devils AHL 2 1 2 3 0
1989–90 New Jersey Devils NHL 33 4 10 14 28
1990–91 New Jersey Devils NHL 14 4 6 10 10
1991–92 New Jersey Devils NHL 7 1 2 3 6
1992–93 EC Bad Nauheim 2.GBun 37 35 41 76 149
1994–95 Worcester IceCats AHL 34 7 6 13 62
NHL totals 468 184 238 422 454 19 7 2 9 12

Roller hockey[]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1994 Las Vegas Flash RHI 19 21 26 47 32
1995 Orlando Rollergators RHI 10 7 10 17 12
RHI totals 29 28 36 64 44

Coaching[]

     
Season Team League Type GP W L T OTL Pct Result
1994–95 Orlando Rollergators RHI Head Coach 23 7 16 0 0 0.304
1995–96 Daytona Beach Breakers SHL Head Coach 60 33 20 7 0 0.608 Lost in round 1
1996–97 Anchorage Aces WCHL Head Coach 64 41 18 0 5 0.68 Lost in Finals
1997–98 Anchorage Aces WCHL Head Coach 64 36 20 0 8 0.625 Lost in round 2
1998–99 Anchorage Aces WCHL Head Coach 71 46 22 0 3 0.669 Lost in round 2
1999–00 Anchorage Aces WCHL Head Coach‡ 56 30 21 0 5 0.58
2000–01 Anchorage Aces WCHL Head Coach 72 27 41 0 4 0.403
2001–02 Anchorage Aces WCHL Head Coach‡ 40 9 26 0 5 0.287 Lost in round 1

‡ - Midseason Replacement

Roller Hockey Career[]

Walt played roller hockey for the Las Vegas Flash and the Orlando Rollergators in 1994 and 1995 respectively.

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