Olczyk brings a wealth of knowledge to his position as Penguins coach, having been an accomplished international player, a productive NHL star and a broadcaster.

Olczyk was a gifted player
By John McGourty | NHL.com
Nov. 18, 2004

During his playing days, Pittsburgh Penguins coach Ed Olczyk was one of the gifted ones, a strong, well-balanced skater with a great shot and sharp passing skills. "Teenage phenom" was the label hung on him early and he didn't disappoint.

Olczyk had 342 goals and 452 assists in 1,031 NHL games, but that's only part of the story. He was already a champion and a prominent international player before he ever donned an NHL uniform. And, he did that at the minimum age of 18.

Olczyk was born and raised on the north side of Chicago, then moved with his family to the south side to be closer to his father's work. Olczyk was recruited to play for the Illinois midget team that won the 1982 United States national title by beating the Detroit Compuware team that included Pat LaFontaine and Al Iafrate. Olczyk then played a year of Junior B hockey in Stratford, Ontario, before being picked for the 1984 U.S. Olympic team that competed in Sarajevo.

"I was on the radar at 13, 14 and 15 and had been to the U.S. team's midget elite sports festival at Colorado Springs," Olczyk recalled. "They knew who I was and where I was going. I was 16 when I made the Olympic team. I was lucky to make that Team, but we were trying to fill the shoes of the 1980 team that had won the gold medal. There was a lot of pressure on us and it was a great challenge to try to duplicate that feat. The thinking was that since the 1980 team won, the 1984 should be in contention. It was a great experience and a lot of fun."

Olczyk was picked for the national team in the summer of 1983 and spent that fall and winter touring and preparing for the Olympics in February.

"I played on a line with LaFontaine and David A. Jensen. They called us the 'diaper line' because we were all under 18," Olczyk said. "I was lucky to have played against him when I was a kid. Pat's a year older but I always 'played up.' He was a dynamic player who could really bring people out of their seats at a young age because of the way he could skate and make plays.

"We beat his Compuware team for the national title in Manchester, N.H.," Olczyk continued. "They were 85-3-4 and had beaten us four straight times during the season and in exhibition and tournament games. They had our number. We were lucky to get into the finals against them and beat them, 4-2.

"Pat made me a much better player and had a positive impact on my career. When you play with fast guys, they make you faster and I wasn't fleet afoot. It was a real pleasure to play against him and then I finally got to play with him. I thought our chemistry was really special."

Their linemate earned the nickname "Wily Coyote" for his various off-ice misadventures.

"Jensen could skate as well as anybody I've ever seen or played with. He was a real go-getter, a puck pursuer who played with quite a bit of reckless abandon. He gave our line a different dimension. He was a typical Bostonian, loved his Red Sox and had that attitude, proud of where he came from. But he was always locking his keys in his car and other mishaps."

Expectations were high for the American team, but they failed to qualify for the medal round. Still, Olczyk saw that team as continuing the development of American hockey.

"The 1980 Olympic team opened a lot of doors for a lot of players," Olczyk said. "Over the years, their success had a great impact. Look at the evolvement of the different types of players. That team and ours had a huge impact on the transformation of the United States from an average hockey country to one that produces many American players of high caliber."

The overall experience and the long national-team schedule made more of an impact on Olczyk than the whirlwind that was the Olympics. He remembers Sarajevo as a beautiful, faraway place he never expected to visit. It pains him to think of what has happened there after civil war ravaged the area.

"We lost to Canada in the first game and never really recovered," Olczyk said. "I was only 17 and representing my country. A lot of it was a blur, with everything we went through with travel and welcoming parties in every town. You could probably go back to Sarajevo and not realize the Olympics were there. The rink became a bomb shelter and our dorm was blown up. Now, I'm amazed that I traveled to a place like that. It's an experience no one can ever take away from me and I learned a lot of things while I was there."

Olczyk wasn't wild about American coach Lou Vairo then, but later came to realize how he had helped him.

"It was really intimidating," he said. "Lou was very challenging and demanding. He was a big believer in the European influence, especially regarding the Olympics. I thought I was mature, but he prepared me for the Olympic team and turning pro. He helped my development. Most players have coaches they don't like, at certain times. But if you look back and see that they made an impact on your development and on your life, then they did a good job and Lou did."

Olczyk became eligible for the NHL Entry Draft that June and was selected by his hometown Chicago Blackhawks. Before he ever played an NHL game, even before he attended a pro training camp, he was selected to play for the United States in the 1984 Canada Cup. He would represent his country again in the 1987 Canada Cup.

Olczyk dreamed of playing for the Blackhawks and he had three good seasons there, playing mostly on a line with Troy Murray and Curt Fraser, but he was included in a blockbuster 1987 trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had his best seasons in Toronto. Playing on a line with Gary Leeman and Mark Osborne, Olczyk had 42 goals and 33 assists for 75 points.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself playing in my hometown. Denis Savard and Doug Wilson made a tremendous impact on me, personally and professionally. Troy was as good a two-way player as I've ever seen and Curt was as tough as they get," Olczyk said. "Toronto gave me a chance to go to a hockey hotbed and have the pressure of being counted on.

"I played center for the first time in my pro career and I took my game to another level. I really arrived in the NHL in Toronto. I was playing the position at which I was most comfortable and Toronto was hockey 24/7. It was a challenge I accepted and really enjoyed."