Gary John Lupul was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 player for the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 (NHL) team the Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...

.

Born and raised in Powell River, British Columbia

Powell River, British Columbia

Powell River is a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Most of its population lives near the eastern shores of Malaspina Strait, that part of the larger Georgia Strait between Texada Island and the Mainland...

, Lupul played his junior hockey career with the Nanaimo Clippers

Nanaimo Clippers

The Nanaimo Clippers are a Junior "A" Ice Hockey team based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Coastal Conference of the British Columbia Hockey League...

 and the Victoria Cougars

Victoria Cougars

The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1922 to 1924, and in the Western Hockey League from 1924 to 1926...

 of the Western Hockey League

Western Hockey League

The Western Hockey League is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada...

.

He signed a free agent

Free agent

In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....

 contract with the Canucks a day prior to the team opening their training camp in Powell River. Lupul, at 5-foot-9 in height and 175 pounds, immediately demonstrated his feistiness by fighting Gerry Minor

Gerry Minor

Gerald Minor was a professional ice hockey player who played his NHL career with the Vancouver Canucks. He played 5 NHL seasons with the Canucks, but spent most of his time in the minors where he played with various teams. His last professional ice hockey team was with the Muskegon Lumberjacks in...

 in his first day at training camp.

Lupul, known as the Pride of Powell River, played seven seasons as a forward with the Canucks, from 1979 to 1986. In 1982, he scored five points in 10 playoff games as Vancouver made it to the Stanley Cup

Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

 finals for the first time.

Lupul had his best years in 1983 and 1984 playing on a line with Lars Molin

Lars Molin (ice hockey)

Lars Molin is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey centre. He spent 3 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks between 1981 and 1984, and spent the majority of his career with Modo Hockey in the Swedish Elitserien...

 and Dave "Tiger" Williams

Tiger Williams

David James "Tiger" Williams is a former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1974–75 to 1987–88. He is the NHL's career leader in penalty minutes.-NHL career:...

.

In 1984, Lupul was the first NHL player to fight

Fighting in ice hockey

Fighting in ice hockey is an established tradition of the sport in North America, with a long history involving many levels of amateur and professional play and including some notable individual fights. Although a definite source of criticism, it is a considerable draw for the sport, and some fans...

 Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006...

 and did so in Mario's home debut in his rookie season. Horribly overmatched by the much larger Lemieux, Lupul had to be rescued by goaltender John Garrett, who was then given a game misconduct for being the third player in the fight.

Following retirement from professional hockey, Lupul was a junior and college scout for the Vancouver Canucks in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. The Canucks first hired him to help Lupul address a substance abuse

Substance abuse

A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...

 problem.

Lupul, who was known to have cardiovascular concerns, was found lifeless in his nephew's Burnaby condo..

Lupul was of Ukrainian descent.

External links