He played 13 seasons in the NHL. He scored two goals in his first NHL game, which happened to be at Maple Leaf Gardens. He's a two-time All-Star who worked on Wall Street in the off-seasons, and is now a successful broadcaster.
Dave Poulin might not be a household name in the city he began his life, but he is a member of the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame, and is fondly remembered as one of the best leaders in team history. It all started in 'The City with the Heart of Gold.'
"I lived in Timmins my first eight-plus years, then I moved to the west end of Toronto. My dad had a construction equipment company up there. He was up there from the early 50s, through 1967. It was orginally 'W.L. Ballantyne', then it got changed to 'Federal Equipment', and then it was 'FedQuip" said Poulin.
His father covered the entire region for more than 15 years, and so Poulin has memories of communities like Hearst, Hornepayne, Cochrane, Cobalt, and Latchford.
"All those towns up there are part of my memories growing up."
What is pretty amazing about Poulin, is the fact that he didn't actually play organized hockey until he was nine years old. Instead, many of his early memories of the ice were spent on figure skates. He vividly recalls the ice at the McIntyre Arena.
"I skated with a girl who went on pretty significantly in Canadian competition. Back then it was a huge summer skating place, and a lot of prominent national figure skaters came," he said.
Poulin later became a star for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the NCAA, from 1978 to 1982.
"A lot of people thought I was American when I played in the NHL because I came out of college in '82, and there was a real push on the U.S. college side, principally because of the 1980 Lake Placid team (The Miracle on Ice). So a lot of people assumed I was American. It was almost like the exact contradiction to being an American kid, was being from Timmins. I never said I was from Toronto, I always said I was from Timmins."
He said at the time, U.S. college players were seen as 'pretty good', but not necessarily tough, or gritty. During his NHL tenure, he played for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins, two of the toughest teams of the era.
"Interestingly enough, credibility wise, it was being from Timmins. As soon as you said you were from Timmins, then there was an understanding of the way I played. Even though I never really played minor hockey there," he said with a laugh.
When Poulin joined his first organized team when he was nine years old in Toronto, he was the best skater on the team.
"Of course you played street hockey. I played on ponds a lot. I played on Gillies Lake. They would build a number of outdoor rinks on Gillies Lake, so I spent a lot of time skating out there, just playing pickup hockey."
He lived on Bartleman Street in the city's north end, and would play every day after school on two 'impeccably maintained' rinks beside a religious school, likely located off of Eyre Boulevard.
At a recent golf tournament, Poulin bumped into hockey legends Peter and Frank Mahovlich.
"I reminded them that they're from the suburbs, they're from Schumacher. And Bobby Nevin is from South Porcupine, so I always give them grief when they say they're from Timmins," he said with a laugh, proving again that the city's neighbourhood hockey rivalries are never forgotten.
Dave Poulin in action against the New York IslandersAfter more than 30 years of living in the United States, Poulin is enjoying life in Canada. When his playing career ended after the 1994-95 season, he returned to Notre Dame, Indiana for 12 years, working as a coach and athletics director at his alma mater. After a couple of years in Chicago, he moved to Toronto where he has been since 2010.
He was Vice-President of Hockey Operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs for five years. He then jumped into the broadcasting field with TSN, serving as an analyst and pundit.
"I laugh when people tell me I'm a natural. You have no idea how hard I'm grinding up there."
He is a regular on the noon hour's 'Leafs Lunch' radio show with Andi Petrillo - a familiar face for viewers of Hockey Night in Canada, on TSN 1050 in Toronto, which he does three or four days each week. He's also a regular guest on 'That's Hockey' with Gino Reda, an early evening preview show, 'That's Hockey Tonight', a late evening highlights show, as well as SportsCentre. He also fills in on other radio shows and regional hockey broadcasts.
"It really keeps you fresh, it keeps you on top of the league. Its far from boring, doing one thing, because I literally do 6 or 7 things."
Poulin, who won the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 1987 as the NHL's best defensive forward, credits his father for instilling a strong work ethic in him at an early age.
"I think that's a pretty proud part of my Timmins roots, is that ability to whatever walk of life I've been in, I've simply tried to outwork the other person. And now its about doing preparation and watching a lot of video, and talking to a lot of people, and consuming a lot of information. I just try and outwork people in this business too now. It's no different for me than if I were killing a penalty or taking a face-off, I just always felt that if I worked harder than the other guy, I'd have a chance of sticking around," he said.
Poulin said he hasn't been to Timmins since 1971.
"I haven't been up in years. I've always had it on my list of things-to-do. I've got three daughters, and we've always talked about it. We will get back there."
Although his transition from executive to the studio didn't come naturally to him, he gets a little more comfortable every day.
"I really enjoy my work at TSN. You're part of the hockey world, and I work with some really great people, and I'm still involved."
Poulin also shared some of his predictions for the upcoming NHL season. We will have that story on Saturday.
