Thomas Pöck

Thomas Dietmar Pöck (born December 2, 1981) is an Austrian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders.

Thomas Pöck
Born (1981-12-02) 2 December 1981
Klagenfurt, Austria
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for EC KAC
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers
Modo Hockey
Graz 99ers
National team  Austria
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2004–2016

Playing career

As a youth, Pöck played in the 1994 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a team from Austria.[1]

Pöck was a star forward turned defenceman for the University of Massachusetts Amherst Minutemen, a NCAA Division I Hockey East team.[2] Pöck was never drafted in the NHL, but signed his first pro contract upon completing his senior year on 23 March 2004 with the New York Rangers. He immediately made his NHL debut at the end of the 2003–04 season.

Pöck played eight games for the New York Rangers in the 2005–06 season, scoring one goal, getting one assist, and accumulating four penalty minutes. He spent the majority of the season however with Rangers affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League, accumulating an impressive 61 points in 65 games, to finish second in the league amongst defenseman and earn a selection to the AHL Second All-Star Team.[3] During the following 2006–07 season, Pöck played in 44 games for the Rangers, scored four goals, collected four assists, and was assessed 16 penalty minutes. He also played in four first-round playoff games, amassing three assists.

After only playing in one game with the Rangers to start the 2007–08 season, Pöck was sent down passing waivers, to play with the AHL's Wolf Pack due to the Rangers having seven other healthy defencemen on the roster.[4]

On 29 September 2008, Pöck was claimed on waivers by the Rangers' arch rivals, the New York Islanders. Pöck joined the Islanders for training camp and played a career high 59 games with the Islanders in the 2008–09 season.[5]

On 28 May 2009, with lack of NHL interest, Pöck signed with Swiss team Rapperswil-Jona Lakers of the Swiss National League A (NLA) on a two-year contract.[6] In his two seasons with the Lakers, despite missing the playoffs in each year, Pöck led the team amongst defenseman in points.

Upon his contract expiring with the Lakers, Pöck signed a one-year contract as a free agent, with Modo Hockey of the Swedish Elitserien on 28 April 2011.[7] In helping Modo return to playoffs in the 2011–12 season, Pöck was the clear offensive threat among the blueline, scoring 25 points in 55 games.

With the intention of returning for another opportunity in the NHL, Pöck signed a one-year two-way contract with the Colorado Avalanche on 2 July 2012.[8] Due to the 2012 NHL lockout and the absence of NHL training camps, Pöck was directly reassigned by the Avalanche to AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters. In adding a veteran puck-moving presence to the Monsters blueline during the 2012–13 season, Pöck led the defense with 11 goals and finished second with 33 points in 62 games.

Unable to add to his NHL experience, Pöck signed a two-year contract to return to his native Austria with original club, EC KAC, of the EBEL on 10 April 2013.[9] After three seasons in Klagenfurt, he was not tendered a new contract. On 3 October 2016, he belatedly signed a contract with the Graz 99ers to remain in the EBEL. In the 2016–17 season, Pöck continued his scoring contributions to the blueline, in adding 6 goals and 30 points in 46 games. However, after a short playoff-run his contract with the 99ers was not renewed resulting in his release as a free agent.[10]

Pöck retired at the end of 2017 and was named head coach of the Boston Pride in the National Women's Hockey League. He left the Pride after one season.[11] He was later named coach for the Northern Cyclones of the USPHL Elite.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1998–99 Klagenfurt AUT 31 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
1999–00 Klagenfurt AUT 13 1 4 5 14 — — — — —
2000–01 University of Massachusetts Amherst HE 33 6 6 12 59 — — — — —
2001–02 University of Massachusetts Amherst HE 23 5 7 12 26 — — — — —
2002–03 University of Massachusetts Amherst HE 37 17 20 37 46 — — — — —
2003–04 University of Massachusetts Amherst HE 37 16 25 41 48 — — — — —
2003–04 New York Rangers NHL 6 2 2 4 0 — — — — —
2004–05 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 50 1 5 6 55 6 0 1 1 8
2004–05 Charlotte Checkers ECHL 3 0 2 2 2 — — — — —
2005–06 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 67 15 46 61 99 6 0 3 3 15
2005–06 New York Rangers NHL 8 1 1 2 4 — — — — —
2006–07 New York Rangers NHL 44 4 4 8 16 4 0 3 3 4
2006–07 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 4 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
2007–08 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2007–08 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 74 7 37 44 63 5 0 0 0 8
2008–09 New York Islanders NHL 59 1 2 3 35 — — — — —
2009–10 Rapperswil-Jona Lakers NLA 49 11 22 33 58 — — — — —
2010–11 Rapperswil-Jona Lakers NLA 47 8 17 25 40 — — — — —
2011–12 Modo Hockey SEL 55 9 16 25 32 6 0 0 0 6
2012–13 Lake Erie Monsters AHL 62 11 22 33 61 — — — — —
2013–14 EC KAC EBEL 52 10 15 25 50 — — — — —
2014–15 EC KAC EBEL 54 6 26 32 70 9 2 3 5 12
2015–16 EC KAC EBEL 52 8 17 25 60 6 0 0 0 8
2016–17 Graz 99ers EBEL 46 6 24 30 38 5 0 0 0 14
NHL totals 118 8 9 17 55 4 0 3 3 4

International
Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1999 Austria WJC18-D1 5 6 7 13 2
1999 Austria WJC-D2 4 0 2 2 10
2000 Austria WJC-D2 4 4 7 11 2
2002 Austria OG 4 0 0 0 2
2002 Austria WC 6 1 1 2 4
2003 Austria WC 6 1 0 1 4
2004 Austria WC 6 0 0 0 10
2005 Austria WC 3 0 1 1 2
2010 Austria WC-D1 5 2 0 2 6
2013 Austria WC 7 0 3 3 18
2014 Austria OG 4 0 1 1 0
Junior totals 13 10 16 26 14
Senior totals 41 4 6 10 46

Awards and honours
Award Year Notes
College
All-Hockey East Second Team 2002–03
Hockey East All-Tournament Team 2003 [12]
All-Hockey East First Team 2003–04
AHCA East First-Team All-American 2003–04
Hockey East All-Tournament Team 2004 [12]
AHL
Second All-Star Team 2006 [3]
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References
  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  2. "Pock Ready To Pitch In, Play His Way Back Up". courant.com. 20 March 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  3. "2006 AHL All-Star Teams unveiled". American Hockey League. 6 April 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  4. "Pöck gets Wolf Pack". oursportscentral.com. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  5. "Islanders claim Thomas Pöck". islanders.nhl.com. 28 September 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
  6. "NHL defenseman Thomas Pöck signs with Lakers". (in German) lakers.ch. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  7. "Modo announces additions" (in Swedish). Modo Hockey. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  8. "Avalanche signs six players". Colorado Avalanche. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  9. "Pock, Weinhandle committed to KAC" (in German). EC KAC. 10 April 2013. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  10. "Squad decision for 2017-18" (in German). Graz 99ers. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  11. "USNT's Paul Mara Named Head Coach of the Boston Pride". OurSportsCentral.com. 30 May 2018.
  12. "2013-14 Hockey East Media Guide". Hockey East. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
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