Joe Mullen

Joseph Patrick Mullen (born February 26, 1957) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins between 1980 and 1997. He was a member of three Stanley Cup championship teams, winning with the Flames in 1989 and the Penguins in 1991 and 1992. Mullen turned to coaching in 2000, serving as an assistant in Pittsburgh and briefly as head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He was an assistant with the Philadelphia Flyers from 2007 to 2017.

An undrafted player, Mullen was an all-star for the Boston College Eagles before turning professional in the Blues' organization. He was named the Central Hockey League (CHL) rookie of the year in 1980 and most valuable player in 1981 as a member of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles. He won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most gentlemanly player on two occasions as a member of the Flames, as well as the NHL Plus-Minus Award. Mullen was named to the first All-Star team in 1988–89 and played in three NHL All-Star Games.

Mullen played with the United States National Team on several occasions, including three Canada Cup tournaments. He was the first American player to score 500 goals and to reach 1,000 points in his career. Mullen received the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1995 in recognition of his contributions to the sport in the United States. He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000.

Early life Born February 26, 1957, in New York City, Mullen grew up in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan when it was controlled by Mickey Spillane. It was a rough neighborhood; Mullen later said that many of the people he grew up with fell into gangs and drug use, and several died before turning 21. He has three brothers, Ken, Tom Jr. and Brian, and a sister, Debbie.

The Mullen family lived less than a block from the old site of the third Madison Square Garden on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. Joe's father Tom was a longtime employee on the ice and maintenance staffs at the current Garden. Joe and his brothers often hung around the arena with their father, taking old sticks to play with. Including tournament games, he led the Eagles in goals the following three seasons with 39, 38 and 30 respectively, and points in 1977–78 with 68 and in 1978–79 with 56. Mullen led the Eagles to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship in 1977–78, and was named an all-star of the 1978 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament. He scored a goal in the championship game, but the Eagles lost to cross-town rival Boston University, 5–3.

In four seasons with Boston College, Mullen set school records of 110 goals and 212 points (both subsequently broken). He was named to the All-ECAC, All-New England and NCAA All-American teams in 1978 and 1979. He won the Walter Brown Award in 1978 as the top American-born player in New England, Boston College has twice honored Mullen; He was inducted into the school's Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1998, while the hockey program retired his jersey number 21 the following year.

St. Louis Blues While Mullen had a successful college career, he went undrafted by any National Hockey League (NHL) team. However, he received interest as a free agent from several teams following graduation as well as the United States Olympic Team. He was named to the first all-star team and won the CHL's Most Valuable Player Award. He again reached the 40-goal plateau in 1984–85, and had 92 points total. On February 1, 1986, the Blues dealt him to the Calgary Flames as part of a six player trade. Mullen went to Calgary, along with Terry Johnson and Rik Wilson, for Eddy Beers, Charlie Bourgeois and Gino Cavallini.

Calgary Flames

The Flames felt they needed a quality offensive player and expected Mullen to fulfill that role. He then led the league with 12 goals in the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs. He led the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs with 16 goals as the Flames defeated the Canadiens to win their first Stanley Cup championship. He was sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a draft day trade on June 16, 1990, in exchange for Pittsburgh's second round selection (26th overall, which turned out to be defenseman Nicolas Perreault).

Pittsburgh and Boston The move to Pittsburgh brought Mullen closer to his New York home and fulfilled his desire to raise his family in his native United States. He also appreciated that the Penguins felt he could aid their team. Penguins' head coach Bob Johnson, who had previously coached him in Calgary, influenced the team's decision to acquire him. an injury for which he could not identify a specific check or incident as the cause. He returned for the third game of the Penguins' Division semifinals series against the New Jersey Devils, scoring a goal. Mullen finished the 1991 Stanley Cup playoffs with eight goals, including two in game six of the Final, an 8–0 victory over the Minnesota North Stars that clinched Pittsburgh's first Stanley Cup. He appeared in only nine playoff games, however, as he suffered a knee injury that required surgery to repair in the second game of Pittsburgh's Division Final series against the New York Rangers. Mullen watched from the sidelines as the Penguins repeated as Stanley Cup champions. A 38-goal season in 1993–94 led to Mullen's third All-Star Game appearance. The game was a homecoming of sorts for Mullen, as it was played in Madison Square Garden.

In the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season, Mullen scored 37 points in 45 games. He left the Penguins following the season, signing a one-year contract as a free agent with the Boston Bruins. Mullen chose to wear number 11 with the Bruins as his usual number 7 had been retired by the Bruins in honor of Phil Esposito. He missed the majority of the season after requiring surgery for another herniated disc, then suffering a sprained medial collateral ligament. He appeared in only 37 games, scoring 15 points. He appeared in 54 games and scored 22 points. He retired as a player following the season.

Since his retirement Mullen has continued to play in amateur / charity games as a member of the Boston Bruins Alumni team.

International Mullen made his first appearance with the United States National Team following his graduation from Boston College. He was a member of three Canada Cup teams, appearing at the 1984, 1987 and 1991 tournaments. The Americans settled for second place, however, after losing to Canada in the championship series. The United States had a disastrous 12th-place finish in the 1998 tournament, requiring them to go into a qualifying round to avoid relegation to the B division for 1999. As the qualifying tournament was played in November, American NHL players were not available.

Playing style "Mully spent a career excelling in areas of the ice a lot of guys wouldn't visit on a threat of death. Great balance on his skates. Great desire. Great teammate. A little guy with big talent and a huge heart."

The first American player in NHL history to score 500 goals and 1,000 points, and Phil Housley, respectively. Along with his brother Brian, Mullen was named a recipient of the Lester Patrick Award in 1995 in recognition of his contributions to hockey in the United States. He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998, the Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame as well and two years later, to the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2011, the St. Louis Blues honored four players who wore uniform number 7 for their team. Mullen, Red Berenson, Garry Unger and Keith Tkachuk were each celebrated as part of the ceremony.

Coaching career Mullen turned to coaching in 2000, joining the Penguins' staff as an assistant under Ivan Hlinka. He remained on the staff when Hlinka was fired one year later, under replacement Rick Kehoe, then Ed Olczyk. Mullen was removed from his role midway through the 2005–06 NHL season when the Penguins fired Olczyk and his entire staff. He was retained by the organization, however, and named interim head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the remainder of the American Hockey League (AHL) season. In 52 games, Mullen achieved a record of 28 wins, 16 losses, 3 ties and 5 overtime losses. The Penguins chose not to retain Mullen following the season. He moved to Pittsburgh's cross-state rival, the Philadelphia Flyers, first as an assistant with the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms in 2006–07, Mullen coached the team's power play, and was a member of the staff when the team reached the 2010 Stanley Cup Final. He remained on the Flyers' staff through the end of 2016–17 season.

Personal life Mullen and his wife, Linda, have four children: sons Ryan, Michael and Patrick, and daughter Erin. Patrick is also a professional hockey player. He signed a contract with the Ottawa Senators organization for the 2013–14 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1971–72 New York 14th Precinct NYJHL 30 13 11 24 2 — — — — — 1972–73 New York Westsiders NYJHL 40 14 28 42 8 — — — — — 1973–74 New York Westsiders NYJHL 42 71 49 120 41 7 9 9 18 0 1974–75 New York Westsiders NYJHL 40 110 72 182 20 13 24 13 37 2 1975–76 Boston College Eagles ECAC 24 16 18 34 4 — — — — — 1976–77 Boston College Eagles ECAC 28 28 26 54 8 — — — — — 1977–78 Boston College Eagles ECAC 34 34 34 68 12 — — — — — 1978–79 Boston College Eagles ECAC 25 32 24 56 8 — — — — — 1979–80 Salt Lake Golden Eagles CHL 75 40 32 72 21 13 9 11 20 0 1979–80 St. Louis Blues NHL — — — — — 1 0 0 0 0 1980–81 Salt Lake Golden Eagles CHL 80 59 58 117 8 17 11 9 20 0 1981–82 Salt Lake Golden Eagles CHL 27 21 27 48 12 — — — — — 1981–82 St. Louis Blues NHL 45 25 34 59 4 10 7 11 18 4 1982–83 St. Louis Blues NHL 49 17 30 47 6 — — — — — 1983–84 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 41 44 85 19 6 2 0 2 0 1984–85 St. Louis Blues NHL 79 40 52 92 6 3 0 0 0 0 1985–86 St. Louis Blues NHL 48 28 24 52 10 — — — — — 1985–86 Calgary Flames NHL 29 16 22 38 11 21 12 7 19 4 1986–87 Calgary Flames NHL 79 47 40 87 14 6 2 1 3 0 1987–88 Calgary Flames NHL 80 40 44 84 30 7 2 4 6 10 1988–89 Calgary Flames NHL 79 51 59 110 16 21 16 8 24 4 1989–90 Calgary Flames NHL 78 36 33 69 24 6 3 0 3 0 1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 47 17 22 39 6 22 8 9 17 4 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 77 42 45 87 30 9 3 1 4 4 1992–93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 72 33 37 70 14 12 4 2 6 6 1993–94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 84 38 32 70 41 6 1 0 1 2 1994–95 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 45 16 21 37 6 12 0 3 3 4 1995–96 Boston Bruins NHL 37 8 7 15 0 — — — — — 1996–97 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 54 7 15 22 4 1 0 0 0 0 NHL totals 1,062 502 561 1,063 241 143 60 46 106 42

International Year Team Comp GP G A Pts PIM 1979 United States WC 8 7 1 8 2 1984 United States CC 6 1 3 4 2 1987 United States CC 4 3 0 3 0 1991 United States CC 8 2 3 5 0 1999 United States WC 3 0 3 3 0 Senior totals 29 13 10 23 4

Coaching League Team Season Regular season Post season G W L OTL SOL Pct Division rank Result AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2005–06 52 28 16 3 5 .615 1st East Division Lost in second round3ICETeam Mullen 2022 21 16 5 — — .762 1st place Lost in Patrick Cup Finals 2023 6 3 3 — — .500 5th place Missed playoffs AHL totals 52 28 16 3 5 .615

Awards and honors

Award Year University Walter Brown AwardOutstanding American-born player in New England 1978 All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1977–781978–79 All-New England Team 1977–781978–79 NHL Plus-Minus Award 1988–89 Played in NHL All-Star Game 1989, 1990, 1994 Lester Patrick TrophyContribution to hockey in the United States 1995 Team awards Molson Cup Most three-star selections (Calgary) 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89