Pat Stapleton during the photo session for the 1972 Summit Series.
photo: Hockey Hall of Fame
Pat “Whitey” Stapleton, one of the top defencemen for Canada during the historic Summit Series of 1972, passed away on 8 April after suffering a stroke. He was 79.
Although he had been in ill health the last few years, he was also the lead organizer for Team Canada as it looks to 50th anniversary celebrations in two years of the eight games that changed hockey forever.
Stapleton partnered on the blue line with Bill White, a pairing that was also successful with the Chicago Blackhawks and helped the team make it to the Stanley Cup finals in 1971 and 1973. The duo made perhaps the oddest couple on ice – Stapleton was short with a full head of hair and White was much taller and bald. Yet, their communication was second to none, and inside their own end they were without compare.
Born in Sarnia, Ontario, in 1940, Stapleton first rose to fame in junior hockey with the St. Catharines Teepees, helping the team win the coveted Memorial Cup in 1960. He made his NHL debut with Boston, but after a year and a half found himself in the minors, struggling to make it back up during the Original Six days when every spot was coveted and fiercely competed for.
Two and a half years later, though, Stapleton was claimed by the Blackhawks and successfully revived his NHL career. He joined a surging Hawks team that included the legendary Bobby Hull and young goalie Tony Esposito, and by the late 1960s the Hawks had established themselves among the best teams in the league.
Stapleton played in seven of the eight games of the Summit Series. He didn’t play in the first game, a shocking loss in Montreal, but coach Harry Sinden added him for game two in Toronto and “Whitey” remained an important player the rest of the way.
As great a player as he was during that Series, he is equally famous for what he did as the buzzer sounded to end game eight. While teammates mobbed each other in celebration, Stapleton picked up the game puck. Over the years he kept the puck to himself. Always a prankster, he hinted he had it and would one day show it to everyone, but that day never came. Unfortunately, he also never donated it to the Hockey Hall of Fame later in life.
Stapleton signed with the WHA’s Chicago Cougars in the summer of 1973 as a playing-coach for the team and captained Team Canada in 1974 when the WHA’s Canadians resurrected the Summit Series format against the Soviets. He retired in 1978 and spent most of his life in Strathroy, Ontario, but was an integral part of Team Canada’s alumni activities all these years.
Although he had been in ill health the last few years, he was also the lead organizer for Team Canada as it looks to 50th anniversary celebrations in two years of the eight games that changed hockey forever.
Stapleton partnered on the blue line with Bill White, a pairing that was also successful with the Chicago Blackhawks and helped the team make it to the Stanley Cup finals in 1971 and 1973. The duo made perhaps the oddest couple on ice – Stapleton was short with a full head of hair and White was much taller and bald. Yet, their communication was second to none, and inside their own end they were without compare.
Born in Sarnia, Ontario, in 1940, Stapleton first rose to fame in junior hockey with the St. Catharines Teepees, helping the team win the coveted Memorial Cup in 1960. He made his NHL debut with Boston, but after a year and a half found himself in the minors, struggling to make it back up during the Original Six days when every spot was coveted and fiercely competed for.
Two and a half years later, though, Stapleton was claimed by the Blackhawks and successfully revived his NHL career. He joined a surging Hawks team that included the legendary Bobby Hull and young goalie Tony Esposito, and by the late 1960s the Hawks had established themselves among the best teams in the league.
Stapleton played in seven of the eight games of the Summit Series. He didn’t play in the first game, a shocking loss in Montreal, but coach Harry Sinden added him for game two in Toronto and “Whitey” remained an important player the rest of the way.
As great a player as he was during that Series, he is equally famous for what he did as the buzzer sounded to end game eight. While teammates mobbed each other in celebration, Stapleton picked up the game puck. Over the years he kept the puck to himself. Always a prankster, he hinted he had it and would one day show it to everyone, but that day never came. Unfortunately, he also never donated it to the Hockey Hall of Fame later in life.
Stapleton signed with the WHA’s Chicago Cougars in the summer of 1973 as a playing-coach for the team and captained Team Canada in 1974 when the WHA’s Canadians resurrected the Summit Series format against the Soviets. He retired in 1978 and spent most of his life in Strathroy, Ontario, but was an integral part of Team Canada’s alumni activities all these years.