Paul Mulvey

Joseph Paul Mulvey (born September 27, 1958) is a Canadian retired ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League with the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Los Angeles Kings between 1978 and 1982. Mulvey was born in Sudbury, Ontario and raised in Merritt, British Columbia.

Paul Mulvey
Born (1958-09-27) September 27, 1958 (age 65)
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
PositionLeft wing
ShotLeft
Played forWashington Capitals
Pittsburgh Penguins
Los Angeles Kings
NHL draft20th overall, 1978
Washington Capitals
Playing career1974–1983

Playing career

A hard-nosed left-winger, Mulvey played junior hockey with the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Portland Winter Hawks. He was selected in the 1978 NHL Draft by the Washington Capitals and played for parts of three seasons with the Capitals. Prior to the 1981–82 NHL season, he was sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins as compensation for the Capitals signing of Orest Kindrachuk. He would later be claimed on waivers by the Los Angeles Kings during the middle of the season.

It was during his brief tenure with the Kings that he would be involved in one of the most controversial incidents in the NHL. On January 24, 1982 in a game against the Vancouver Canucks, a fight broke out, and Kings' Head Coach Don Perry ordered Mulvey out onto the ice to fight. Mulvey, who had just returned from a recent suspension, refused, which angered Coach Perry who then accused him of not standing up for his teammates. Mulvey was benched for the rest of the game, and was placed on waivers a week later. Coach Perry would later be fined and suspended for the incident, Mulvey would never play another game in the NHL. As he was seen as someone who would not stand up for his teammates when the time came.

Coaching career

For many years he was the head coach of the Reston Raiders of the Capital Beltway Hockey League. He then served as the head coach of the Virginia Statesmen of the Eastern Elite Amateur Hockey League and also coached Tier II hockey for the Prince William Panthers Hockey Club in Woodbridge, Virginia.

Personal life

After his playing career, Mulvey returned to the Washington, D.C.-area and settled in Reston, Virginia, where he bought a tennis club and turned it into a hockey facility with two rinks. His rink was instrumental in the growth of hockey in the Northern Virginia region and continues today under different ownership as SkateQuest of Reston.[citation needed]

His older brother, Grant Mulvey, had a long career with the NHL's Chicago Black Hawks.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1972–73Merritt CentennialsBCJHL
1973–74Merritt CentennialsBCJHL60273158200
1974–75Edmonton Oil KingsWCHL49181937179
1975–76Edmonton Oil KingsWCHL69293867331513413
1976–77Portland Winter HawksWCHL63432568251321311
1977–78Portland Winter HawksWCHL64433376262803360
1978–79Hershey BearsAHL2410313113
1978–79Washington CapitalsNHL55741181
1979–80Washington CapitalsNHL77151934240
1980–81Hershey BearsAHL194812211023554
1980–81Washington CapitalsNHL5571421166
1981–82Los Angeles KingsNHL1107750
1981–82New Haven NighthawksAHL1933665300014
1981–82Pittsburgh PenguinsNHL2717876
1982–83Moncton AlpinesAHL58111122270
NHL Totals225305181613