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Joel Prpic

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Joel Prpic
Born (1974-09-25) September 25, 1974 (age 49)
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 7 in (201 cm)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
Colorado Avalanche
Seibu Prince Rabbits
KHL Medveščak
National team  Croatia
NHL draft 233rd overall, 1993
Boston Bruins
Playing career 1997–2012

Joel Melvin Prpic (Croatian: Prpić; born September 25, 1974) is a Canadian-born Croatian[1] former professional ice hockey player of who played in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins and the Colorado Avalanche before ending his career with Croatian team, KHL Medveščak Zagreb, in the Austrian Hockey League.

Playing career

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As a towering 6 foot 7 forward for the Waterloo Siskins in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association Prpic was selected in the ninth round, 233rd overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Opting to pursue an education Prpic was recruited to play collegiate hockey with St. Lawrence University in the ECAC.

After his senior year and developing as one of the biggest forwards in hockey, Joel turned pro in the 1997–98 season with the Bruins AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. Scoring an effective 35 points in 73 games as a checking forward, Prpic made his NHL debut in a solitary game with the Bruins, a playoff-clinching win, against the New York Islanders.

Joel Prpic of the Seibu Prince Rabbits Pre-game January 17, 2009

Returned to Providence for the following season, it was not until the 1999–2000 season in which Joel played a further 14 games with Boston. He recorded his first point on a Cameron Mann goal and had his first multi-point game with another assist on a goal to Steve Heinze in a 5–4 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 4, 2000.[2]

On August 29, 2000, Joel then signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Colorado Avalanche. He was sent to AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, for the majority of the 2000–01 season, but played in three games for the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Avalanche, recording two penalty minutes against the Phoenix Coyotes in a 2–1 victory on November 29, 2000.[2] Prpic left the Avalanche in the off-season and signed a one-year deal with the San Jose Sharks on August 15, 2001.

In the 2001–02 season, Prpic never appeared with the Sharks but led the Sharks affiliate, the Cleveland Barons, with 80 games and scoring a professional high 48 points. Prpic left North America the following season having played in just 18 career games in the NHL, 15 for the Boston Bruins and three for the Colorado Avalanche, before joining Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo of the Asia League in the 2002–03 season. Prpic was one of the first notable players to join the developing Asian league and had held the record as the tallest to ever play in the League until Steve McKenna joined the league for the 2006–07 season.[3] He holds the records for the most penalty minutes in a season by receiving 175 in the 2006–07 season.[4]

After his seventh season with the Prince Rabbits organization in the Asia League, Joel left to sign a one-year deal as a free agent with Croat team, KHL Medveščak, of the Erste Bank Eishockey League on September 10, 2009.[5] In signing with Zagreb, Prpic returned to the roots of his ancestors, with eligibility and ambition to play with the Croatian national team.[1]

In the 2009–10 season, Prpic scored 43 points in a team-leading 54 games. On April 20, 2010, he was re-signed to a two-year contract as Medveščak finished seventh in the league.[6] Prpic expressed desire to end his career with KHL Medveščak.[7] After the completion of the 2011–12 season, and representing Croatia for the first time at the 2012 IIHF World Championship Division II, Prpic opted an end to his professional career and pursue a Firefighting career in Canada.[8] Nonetheless, Prpic played for the Croatian national team at the IIHF World Championship Division II in 2013 as well.[9]

Prpic most recently played for the Brantford Blast of the Ontario Hockey Association's Allan Cup Hockey.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1991–92 Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves GNML — — — — — — — — — —
1991–92 Sudbury Cubs NOHJL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1992–93 Waterloo Siskins MWJHL 45 17 43 60 160 — — — — —
1993–94 St. Lawrence University ECAC 31 2 5 7 88 — — — — —
1994–95 St. Lawrence University ECAC 32 7 10 17 62 — — — — —
1995–96 St. Lawrence University ECAC 32 3 10 13 77 — — — — —
1996–97 St. Lawrence University ECAC 34 10 8 18 57 — — — — —
1997–98 Providence Bruins AHL 73 17 18 35 53 — — — — —
1997–98 Boston Bruins NHL 1 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
1998–99 Providence Bruins AHL 75 14 16 30 163 18 4 6 10 48
1999–00 Providence Bruins AHL 70 9 20 29 143 14 3 4 7 58
1999–00 Boston Bruins NHL 14 0 3 3 0 — — — — —
2000–01 Hershey Bears AHL 74 16 23 39 128 12 1 1 2 26
2000–01 Colorado Avalanche NHL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2001–02 Cleveland Barons AHL 80 10 38 48 174 — — — — —
2002–03 Kokudo JIHL 29 14 18 32 26 — — — — —
2003–04 Kokudo ALH 16 8 25 33 56 — — — — —
2004–05 Kokudo AL 34 18 30 48 170 7 1 2 3 24
2005–06 Kokudo AL 16 7 19 26 48 12 9 7 16 54
2006–07 Seibu Prince Rabbits AL 24 16 28 44 175 7 8 9 17 16
2007–08 Seibu Prince Rabbits AL 27 17 30 47 147 — — — — —
2008–09 Seibu Prince Rabbits AL 35 13 30 43 174 11 9 7 16 48
2009–10 KHL Medveščak EBEL 54 15 28 43 143 11 0 4 4 46
2009–10 KHL Medveščak Zagreb II CRO — — — — — 1 0 1 1 0
2010–11 KHL Medveščak EBEL 51 13 36 49 163 5 0 2 2 12
2010–11 KHL Medveščak Zagreb II CRO — — — — — 3 3 6 9 0
2011–12 KHL Medveščak EBEL 35 8 22 30 77 5 3 2 5 35
2011–12 KHL Medveščak Zagreb II CRO — — — — — 4 4 6 10 18
2012–13 Brantford Blast ACH 9 12 10 22 22 10 5 6 11 35
2013–14 Brantford Blast ACH 21 18 25 43 32 12 10 9 19 42
2014–15 Brantford Blast ACH 17 18 28 46 26 9 3 6 9 27
2015–16 Brantford Blast ACH 15 7 22 29 36 9 5 10 15 34
2016–17 Brantford Blast ACH 15 8 25 33 25 2 1 0 1 14
2017–18 Brantford Blast ACH 12 10 7 17 24 — — — — —
AHL totals 372 66 115 181 661 44 8 11 19 132
NHL totals 18 0 3 3 4 — — — — —

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2012 Croatia WC-D2 3rd 5 3 10 13 2
Senior totals 5 3 10 13 2

References

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  1. ^ a b "Striker of Croatian descent has announced fight for fifth position and march to the EBHL Championship". www.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). 2010-01-19. Archived from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
  2. ^ a b "Legendsofhockey- Joel Prpic". LegendsofHockey.net. 2010-07-20. Retrieved 2010-07-20.
  3. ^ Kevin Dupont (2006-12-19). "Where Rising Sun Meets Ice". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
  4. ^ "Asia League Records". Asia League. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  5. ^ "KHL Medveščak to challenge with new additions". hrhokej.et (in Croatian). 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2010-07-20.
  6. ^ "John Hecimovic and Joel Prpic extend contracts with Medveščak". hrhkej.net (in Croatian). 2010-04-20. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
  7. ^ "Joel Prpic: Karijeru želim završiti u Zagrebu" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. 2010-01-19. Archived from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  8. ^ "Prpic: I could write a book on these 3 fantastic seasons". KHL Medveščak (in Croatian). 2012-04-27. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  9. ^ "Team Roster - Croatia" (PDF). IIHF. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joel Prpic.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward
1996–97 		Succeeded by
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