Leafs Add to Front Office

More than 30 years ago, when Dave Poulin was skating for the Dixie Beehives junior club in Mississauga, he couldn’t get a single NHL team interested in drafting him.

Today, he’s found a new home with one of the league’s most historic clubs.

The Star has learned that Poulin, 50, will be announced at 10 a.m. today as the new vice-president of player development for the Maple Leafs, essentially moving into the third slot in the Leaf executive lineup behind president/GM Brian Burke and his right-hand man, Dave Nonis.

Poulin fills a hole in the Leafs front office left by the departure of Joe Nieuwendyk earlier in the summer to become GM of the Dallas Stars. Burke has repeatedly said he expects Nonis will be scooped up by another NHL team as a GM next summer, so the hiring of Poulin fills a need for a succession plan.

A native of Timmins, Poulin eventually parlayed a scholarship at the University of Notre Dame into a tryout with the Philadelphia Flyers after a brief stint in Sweden. It was one of the best signings the Flyers ever made, as Poulin went on to captain the club and won the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward in 1987. In all, he played 13 years in the NHL as an industrious, checking centre, including playing for Boston and Washington.

After retirement, he ran the Fighting Irish hockey program for a decade, and in recent years has split time working for a headhunting firm in Chicago and doing part-time scouting work for the Anaheim Ducks.

Comments

[Norman]

The fact that Burke repeatedly says something does not mean anything of the kind will actually happen. We've heard lots of things from Burke that never happen. I seriously doubt any other NHL team would have any interest at all in Dave Nonis, especially since he has now been tainting having been associated with a loser organization such as the Leafs.

[Dan in Michigan]

You should be enjoying your vacation Damien. Hope you land some big fish.

[Nelson]

Hey Norman, the one who posted first, In the last decade, many wrong decisions were made by the leafs board. Hiring of John Ferguson as a rookie in this environment was one of them. However when they brought Cliff Fletcher, We had a great team, one that if the opportunity came along would have beaten the Canadiens to win the cup. Back then, you would have not said that. Today we have Brian Burke, who has won a cup with the Ducks that Beat Detroit. Who in less than a year has remolded the team from no personality to one with character and grit. If I'm not mistaken, don't you need sand paper to go the distance in the playoffs. Yet we don't have Rick Nash or a prominent top six forward. Is that his fault? The circumstances are they were under contract, had they not been signed by their respective clubs either the Sedins or Nash would be wearing blue and white today. If you took a closer look at our line up of youth, you would have to say that we got more than one 1st round draft pick. Bozak, Hanson, Gustavsson would all be considered first round picks. We don't need a top six because hungry youth to push veterans and we have assets we didn't have before. So until you post an opinion, educate yourself on all the little things that were done to put the team into where it needed to be. Until we are half way through the season, then post a comment if this team is at it's very heart a bunch of losers. Damien, when you get back, please keep us up to date on the Kaberle front. If I'm not mistaken, Kaberle's stock will only go up based on our new defense core.
So by the 11 hour on Aug 5th it should be interesting in Leaf land.

[Justaminute]

Poulin was the quintessential diamond-in-the-rough signing by the Flyers. Nobody wanted him it seems or scouting US college hockey was not a priority at the time. As I remember him he was a great blend of skill and character and I suppose toughness (but the "good" kind) and went on to be captain of each of 3 franchises he played with. If this has translated to his post hockey playing career, it will have been a great addition.