Joe Kocur
Joe George Kocur ( born December 21, 1964 in Calgary, Alberta) is a former Canadian ice hockey player. Kocur is considered one of the toughest and best pugilists in the NHL history and was especially known for the striking power of his right hand. In the 1980s and 1990s he was regarded as most feared opponent in the NHL.
- 2.1 As a player
- 2.2 As a coach
Career
Joe Kocur started his career with the Yorkton Terriers in a junior league in Saskatchewan, before moving into the Junior League WHL 1982 on the Saskatoon Blades. There he showed in his first season, his strengths as a physically tough player showed. With just over 100 kilos to 1.83 m Kocur was for the role of enforcer also perfect. He was selected it in the NHL Entry Draft in 1983 in the fifth round by the Detroit Red Wings at position 88. He stayed another year in the WHL, where he collected 81 points and 258 penalty minutes.
Shortly after the end of the WHL season, he was named to the playoffs in the AHL, brought into the squad of the Adirondack Red Wings, the farm team of Detroit. In the following season 1984/85 he came to 17 missions in the NHL, before 1985/86 was able to prevail in the Detroit Red Wings themselves. In 59 games, he spent 377 minutes in the penalty box.
Kocur established himself as a defensive strong striker in the team of the Red Wings and played in 1989/90 its by far the best season of his career with 36 points.
In March 1991 he was transferred to the New York Rangers, where he helped the team to win in 1994 for 54 years the first Stanley Cup. In spring 1996, Kocur was transferred to the Vancouver Canucks, but where he only played for a short time, because the Canucks extended his contract to the end of the season.
No NHL team wanted to sign him until the season starts in October 1996 under contract, so he joined the San Antonio Dragons in the unterklassigen IHL. In December 1996, he was finally signed an agreement with his former employer, the Detroit Red Wings. Kocur continued his style of playing very hard on, but he no longer collected nearly as many penalty minutes as in his first years in Detroit.
In 1997 and 1998 he won with the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup. During the season 1998/99 Kocur injured his groin and fell for the rest of the season. In May 1998, he eventually underwent surgery. This led but to the fact that it additionally the entire 1999/2000 season had to pause.
In October 2000, he finally announced end of his career.
In the eighties, Joe Kocur was known as one of the " Bruise Brothers". Together with Bob Probert, he formed one of the toughest duos in the history of the NHL. Kocur played not only hard but also went no brawl on the ice out of the way. In addition, belonged to the " Grind Line" the Red Wings along with Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby.
NHL stats
Coaching career
He was taken up by the Red Wings as a video coach in the coaching staff in 2001 and remained there until the resignation of head coach Scotty Bowman after the Stanley Cup victory in 2002. Successor of Bowman was Dave Lewis and Kocur became one of his assistant coaches. The team broke up in 2004 by Lewis and thus also of Kocur.
Awards and achievements
As a player
- Stanley Cup 1994 ( with the Rangers), 1997 and 1998 ( with Detroit ) 2002 ( as a video coordinator for the Red Wings )
As a coach
- Stanley Cup 2002 ( As a member of the coaching staff of Detroit )