Brian Propp

Brian Propp

Brian Propp, April, 2010
Born (1959-02-15) February 15, 1959
Lanigan, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
Boston Bruins
Minnesota North Stars
HC Lugano
Hartford Whalers
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 14th overall, 1979
Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career 1979–1994

Brian Phillip Propp (born February 15, 1959) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 15 seasons in the NHL from 1979 until 1994.

Propp was born in Lanigan, Saskatchewan, and grew up in Neudorf, Saskatchewan.

Playing career

Propp started career with the Melville Millionaires of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and broke the scoring record with 75 goals and 92 assists for 168 points in 57 games playing on a line with Kelly Dean and Dwayne Tuberfield. He then moved on to the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, at the same time when the team was one of the most dominating clubs in all of Canadian Major Junior Hockey. When Propp was with the team it produced future NHLer's such as Brad McCrimmon, Bill Derlago, Laurie Boschman, Dave Semenko, Glen Hanlon, Ray Allison and Walt Poddubny. Propp himself won two league scoring titles. At the end of his third season, he was drafted 14th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft.

Propp made the Flyers the next season, and proved his mettle in the NHL right away. He managed to score the game-winning goal in his first career game against NY Islanders goalie Billy Smith in the second period and had an assist in the game for a 2 point night. He played on a line with legends Reggie Leach and Bobby Clarke in his rookie season for his first 20 games and then was put on a line with Ken Linesman and Paul Holmgren and that contributed to his quick success. It would not be the last time Propp played with two elite players, as he played with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux for most of the 1987 Canada Cup Canadian team that won the tournament.

Propp in his rookie season would go on to beat Richard Martin's left wing rookie scoring record with 75 points in 1979-80 season. In the playoffs he led all rookie left wingers in goals (5), assists (10), and points (15) in the 1980 playoffs which the Flyers lost in the Stanley Cup Finals in Game 6. Propp made it to the Stanley Cup Finals 5 times in his career unfortunately 3 Dynasties (NY Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins) stood in the way and had too many talented players on their respected club teams.

In 1987 Propp had scoring success when he finished runner-up to Wayne Gretzky in the 1987 Playoff Scoring. He also led all left wingers that NHL post-season in games played (26), goals (12), assists (16), points (28), plus/minus (+11), power-play goals (5), short-handed goals (1), game-winning goals (3), and shots (104). The Flyers lost to the Oilers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

In Game 1 of the 1989 Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, which his Flyers lost in six games, Propp sustained a concussion from a hard, but unpenalized hit by Montreal defenseman Chris Chelios, where Chelios hit him with his elbow. Propp fell to the ice hard, hitting his head against the ice. Though Propp missed only one game, his teammates maintained their anger at Chelios. Finally, with 1:37 left in regulation in Game 6, Flyer goaltender Ron Hextall took matters into his own hands, slamming Chelios into the boards and pummeling him with blows, apparently in retaliation for the hit on Propp. Eventually, Hextall got suspended for 12 games. Propp was never the same after sustaining the concussion that would plague him for the rest of his career as well as other injuries. Propp was having a career playoff year when he scored 14 goals in his teams first 15 games and was scoring over 1.5 PPG rate until the chris chelios elbow to the head which resulted in a serious concussion which he was never the same player after that hit.

It took him until his 11th season to fail to score at least 65 points in a season, and that was the year when he was traded away by the Flyers. However, in his 10-plus seasons with the club, he was more or less the catalyst of the team, performing in all situations and wherever the team needed him.

In the 1980s he led all left wingers in the NHL and was first in 10 different categories such as, games played (750), assists (465), plus/minus (+308), game winning goals (55), shots (2529), defensive point shares (16.0), playoff goals (52), playoff points (112), playoff power play goals (18), and playoff shots (267). Propp was ranked 2nd in Goals (356), points (821), even strength goals (238), shorthanded goals (20), goals created (322), offensive point shares (54.4), point shares (70.4), playoff games played (116), playoff assists (60), playoff plus/minus (+17), playoff even strength goals (31), and playoff shorthanded goals (3). In all of the major categories in the regular season and playoffs he has made the top 3 among left wingers a remarkable 29 times in that decade.

The 1990–91 season was when Propp was a member of the Minnesota North Stars. Propp scored 73 points and helped the team to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brian moved past Bobby Hull on the all time playoff scoring list among left wingers to become the highest scoring left winger in nhl playoff history on April.12.1991 as Minnesota North Stars beat Chicago Blackhawks 6-0 in Game 5 in the series as he scored the game-winning goal on Dominik Hasek. He only played 68 games the next two seasons, and even took a sabbatical to play in Switzerland in 1993. During his time in Switzerland, he played for Team Canada in the Spengler Cup and helped them to win the tournament.

Propp played for the Hartford Whalers during the 1993–94 NHL season. Although Propp only scored 29 points, it was a productive season for him as he played both his 1000th NHL game and scored his 1000th NHL point in his last NHL season.

Propp holds a dubious achievement in that he went to the Stanley Cup Finals five times, with Philadelphia in 1980, 1985, and 1987, with the Boston Bruins in 1990 and with Minnesota in 1991, without ever winning . He also played in the NHL All-Star game five times. During the NHL labour stoppage in 1994, Propp played as a player-coach for HC Anglet in France. After the lockout, however, Propp did not return as a player to the NHL.

Propp finished with 1,004 points over 1,016 NHL games over 15 NHL seasons, and ranks second in Flyers history in goals (369, behind Bill Barber), second in assists (480, second behind Bobby Clarke), and third overall in games played in a Flyers uniform (behind Barber and Clarke).

International Play
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Men's Ice hockey
World Championships
1982 Finland {{{3}}}
World Championships
1983 Soviet Union
Canada Cup
1987 Canada
Spengler Cup
1992 Sweden {{{3}}}

Brian Propp has represented his country five times in international play.


"The Guffaw"

Propp was known for his unique goal celebration dubbed "The Guffaw". After scoring a goal, Propp would skate towards center ice, place his right glove under his left arm and raise his right arm in a waving fashion. While making the gesture, Propp would say, "Guffaw!". Propp credits the celebration to comedian Howie Mandel.[1]

During an Atlantic City show Mandell suggested it would be great if, instead of cheering and clapping, everyone just waved their arms and said, "Guffaw!" Propp adopted "The Guffaw" and it became his signature move first appearing the 1986-87 season.

Post-playing career

In 1999, Propp was named to the MasterCard Canadian Junior All-Time team, which also included Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, and Bernie Parent. The team was selected based on play in the Canadian Hockey League. Also in 1999, Propp was inducted into the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame. Propp was inducted into the Saskatchewan Rural Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002 and in 2003 he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Provincial Hall of Fame. Propp was inducted into the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014 and also inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

A resident of Cinnaminson Township, New Jersey, Propp unsuccessfully ran as a Republican in 2007 for a seat in New Jersey General Assembly in the 7th Legislative District in Burlington County.[2] He is currently Director of Strategic Relationships for Wolf Commercial Real Estate in Marlton, New Jersey.

Personal life

Propp has two children with his wife, Kris. He has a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Paige. Propp is a second cousin of Dylan Wruck of the Iserlohn Roosters.[3]

In popular culture

In The Goldbergs 3rd season episode "12 Tapes For A Penny", the character Barry Goldberg (Troy Gentile) is wearing a Philadelphia Flyers jersey with Propp's name and number 26 on it.

Awards

WHL Records

NHL Team Records

NHL Records

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1975–76 Melville Millionaires SJHL 57 76 92 168 36 — — — — —
1976–77 Brandon Wheat Kings WCHL 72 55 80 135 47 16 14 12 26 5
1977–78 Brandon Wheat Kings WCHL 70 70 112 182 200 8 7 6 13 12
1978–79 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 71 94 100 194 127 22 15 23 38 40
1979–80 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 34 41 75 54 19 5 10 15 29
1980–81 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 79 26 40 66 110 12 6 6 12 32
1981–82 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 44 47 91 117 4 2 2 4 4
1982–83 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 80 40 42 82 72 3 1 2 3 8
1983–84 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 79 39 53 92 37 3 0 1 1 6
1984–85 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 76 43 54 97 43 19 8 10 18 6
1985–86 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 72 40 57 97 47 5 0 2 2 4
1986–87 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 53 31 36 67 45 26 12 16 28 10
1987–88 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 74 27 49 76 76 7 4 2 6 8
1988–89 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 77 32 46 78 37 18 14 9 23 14
1989–90 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 40 13 15 28 31 — — — — —
1989–90 Boston Bruins NHL 14 3 9 12 10 20 4 9 13 2
1990–91 Minnesota North Stars NHL 79 26 47 73 58 23 8 15 23 28
1991–92 Minnesota North Stars NHL 51 12 23 35 49 1 0 0 0 0
1992–93 Minnesota North Stars NHL 17 3 3 6 0 — — — — —
1992–93 HC Lugano NLA 24 21 6 27 32 9 5 1 6 28
1993–94 Hartford Whalers NHL 65 12 17 29 44 — — — — —
1994–95 HC Anglet FFHG-D1 27 32 19 51 74 — — — — —
NHL totals 1016 425 579 1004 830 160 64 84 148 151
WHL totals 213 219 292 511 374 46 36 41 77 57

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1979 Canada WJC 5 2 1 3 2
1982 Canada WC 10 3 1 4 4
1983 Canada WC 10 4 4 8 6
1987 Canada CC 9 2 2 4 2
1992 Canada SC 3 3 1 4 2
International totals 37 14 9 23 16

Post-hockey career

Propp is currently the Director of Strategic Relationships at Wolf Commercial Real Estate in Marlton, New Jersey. He also worked as a broadcaster for the Philadelphia Flyers for nine seasons, finishing in 2008.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ep #50: Brian Propp (Philadelphia Flyers)". Joeyritter.com. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  2. ↑ Burton, Cynthia. "Ex-Flyer tosses puck into ring All-star left winger Brian Propp has a new goal: A seat in the state Assembly.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 6, 2007. Accessed June 18, 2012. "Brian Propp, a longtime Flyer and five-time NHL all-star, is entering a new arena: state politics.... Both assembly seats in this district, which includes Propp's home of Cinnaminson, Edgewater Park and Mount Holly, have been held by since the late 1990s."
  3. ↑ "Oil Kings' Wruck on record-setting pace". Edmonton Journal. 2011-02-08.

External links

Preceded by
Danny Lucas		 Philadelphia Flyers' first round draft pick
1979 		Succeeded by
Mike Stothers


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