doherty .......••.......•.•........... Hall of Fame release .................. Poile ....... 1111111 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: POILE SKATES INTO NORTHEASTERN HALL OF FAME It was some 20 years ago that Dave Poile seriously doubted his chances of making the varsity hockey team at Northeastern University. It is some 20 years later that Poile has a chance to ponder his entrance into the athletic Hall of Fame of his alma mater. Poile, a success story in his own right as the Vice President/General Manager of the Washington Capitals, will take the podium for his acceptance speech on Friday evening (May 1) during formal induction ceremonies at Northeastern's Matthews Arena. The sporting evolution of Dave Poile concerned a young man blessed with hockey genes who grew up in the arid state of California wielding a tennis racket. His unrequited -t/iC,/ passion for a game played on solid water wa ~ scenario of his teen athletic years. "There wasn't much ice time in California," recalled Poile, who will join five others for Hall of Fame induction. "I had grown up on skates but tennis was my game in high school." Poile's family background was conducive to spawning a future in hockey. His dad, Norman "Bud" Poile )was a former professional hockey player and General Manager of both the Philadelphia Flyers" and Vancouver Canucks. Pond hockey in Edmonton, where he was raised as a child, had planted the seed, but the Poile family's migration to California temporarily changed young Dave's athletic path. Not to worry, Poile's natural ability for hockey would surface sooner than later. Through the encouragement of a family friend, Poile moved East to enroll at Northeastern in the fall of 1966. In retrospect, it would be a franchise-type decision on P\ le's part, one that would bring into focus both his athletic and professional goals. " Still, Poile was hardly a superstar recruit when he landed in Boston; more like one of the boys, and an out-of-towner at that. "I remember the first day of freshman tryouts," said Poile. "There seemed to be over 100 guys out there on the Arena ice. I really didn't know where I stood in terms of my hockey-playing ability." .... doherty .•...•..•••.................... Hall Of Fame release .......•. Poile ............. 2222 Poile survived all the cuts and made the Huskies freshman team, but failed to convince himself of his hockey legitimacy. "I made the freshman squad but to tell you the truth I wasn't absolutely sure that I would make the varsity the next season," recalled Poile, a rangy center- iceman for coach Jimmy Bell's Red and Black. Slowly but surely, though, Poile's anxiety would be replaced with confidence. In a few short years, Poile would become one .of the greatest goal-scorers in the annals of Northeastern hockey. Poile endured a bout with mononucleosis a t the start of his first varsity season as a sophomore in 1966-67 to record an aggregate of 14-13-27 in just 18 contests. From then on, he accepted the commission as the Huskies offensive hub with relish, potting 31 and 3 7 goals the 'it/ two campaigns. He was the Team Most Valuable Player in two of his three seasons under the tutelage of Bell, and captured the prestigious Paul Hines Award as the Most Improved Player in New England as voted by the Hockey Writers Associa tion as a junior in 1967-68. By the time he was entering his senior year, Poile had established himself as a household name in the division 1 ranks of the Eastern College Athletic Conference. "Dave was a natura lly-gi f t e d goal scorer," commented John "Tinker" Connolly, also A a Northeastern Hall of Fame r and Poi l e ' s f r eshman hockey coach. "Some people have it and some don't, and there was never any question that Dave knew what to do with the puck." Undoubtedly, it wa s Poile ' s uncanny ability to deposit pucks behind goaltenders ,.,,.""' that distinguished~ a s an a thle t e at Nor theastern. As a senior captain in 1970, Poile punctuated his sniper acumen when he tallied 37 times in 23 games to produce the University's second-leading season goa l t ot a l and per game goal average (1.63) eve r. "Goal scoring was my f orte ," under s t a t ed Poile . "But I played with s ome pretty good linemates." Poile, Northeastern's gunslinger f rom the West, would s kate three varsity seasons f or Bell and Company and gr adua t e as t he second all time•l eading goa l scor er (82) and A. f ourth- l eadi ng point man (118). -more- .. doherty ••..•.••••.......... Hall of Fame Release .....•............... Poile ............. 3333. A meteoric hockey career at Northeastern gave way eventually to a career in Sports Administration. After graduating with a degree in Business Administartion in 1971, Poile launched his hockey management career with the Atlanta Flamaes, where he was Assistant General Manager for six years before taking over with the Caps. As a precocious NHL Exec. in Washington, Poile engineered one of the ballyhooed hockey trades of the decade. In a deal with the Montreal Canadiens, poile swapped Ryan :::. e Walter and Rick Green for defense~ Rod Langway and Brian Engblom, along with forwards Craig Laughlin and Doug Jarvis. A bold move, to be sure, but one that paid dividends for Capital fans and management. Twice, in 1982-83 and in 1984-85, Poile was recognized by his peers with the National Hockey League Executive of the Year Award. Now in his sixth year of directing the basic hockey operations of the Capitals, the 38-year-old Poile is fast-approaching veteran status as he makes his year round home in Maryland with his wife Elizabeth and children Brian and Lauren. But on Friday night, May 1, as he returns to the original Arena of his fam:, will be accepting varsity status all over again. -30-.