Playing career

Amateur career

Olczyk grew up in Palos Heights, Illinois and went to Brother Rice Catholic High School. He was a star on the Illinois midget AAA team (Team Illinois) that won the 1982 national title against a Detroit Compuware squad that featured future NHL stars Pat LaFontaine and Al Iafrate. He then moved to Canada to play for the Stratford Cullitons junior team before joining the 1984 U.S. Olympic hockey team.

Professional career

Olczyk was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of 1984 NHL Entry Draft, the third overall pick. He scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game on October 11, 1984 vs the Detroit Red Wings in Chicago Stadium against Greg Stefan. From 1984 thru 1987, #16 Olczyk was a member of Chicago's infamous "Clydesdale Line" with #19 Troy Murray and #8 Curt Fraser, the nickname coined by Blackhawks broadcaster Pat Foley, as each player weighed in at or around 200 pounds. He was traded a number of times during his career. In 1987, Olczyk was traded to Toronto with Al Secord for Rick Vaive, Steve Thomas, and Bob McGill. He was traded again in 1990 to Winnipeg, with Mark Osborne for Dave Ellett and Paul Fenton. In 1992 he was traded for the third time in his career, this time to the New York Rangers for Kris King and Tie Domi. Olczyk missed most of 1993-94 season recovering from a thumb injury suffered in a game vs. Florida on January 3, 1994; he would, however, recover and took part in one playoff game (conference final game 6) and on June 14 1994 became Stanley Cup champion with the Rangers that season. During the next season he was traded back to Winnipeg for their 5th round choice (who ended up being Alexei Vasiliev) in the 1995 Entry Draft. After signing as a free agent with Los Angeles in 1996, he wouldn't even finish the season with them before being traded to Pittsburgh for Glen Murray. He finished his career in Chicago.

Post-playing career

He returned to Pittsburgh to become the color analyst for the Penguins on FSN Pittsburgh, where he was given the nickname "Edzo" by current radio announcer and then co-announcer Mike Lange. In 2003, he moved from the booth to the bench and served as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from June 11, 2003 until December 15, 2005. Despite adding marquee free-agents, the Penguins started the season with a disappointing 8-17-6 record, leading to Olczyk's dismissal on December 15.

Beginning with the 2006-07 NHL season, Olczyk was the game analyst for the Chicago Blackhawks television broadcasts, partnering play-by-play announcer Pat Foley. Olczyk is also the lead game analyst for NHL on NBC, and previously for the NHL on Versus; the latter later rebranded as NBCSN in 2012. Olczyk was also the lead game analyst for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Men's Ice Hockey where he partners with Mike "Doc" Emrick. Perhaps his most notable moment as color commentator came at the end of the 5-3 U.S. win over Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, when he described the game as being "tremendously tremendous" after U.S. forward Ryan Kesler scored an empty-netter. The audio of Olczyk saying "This has been tremendously tremendous" was an instant hit among hockey enthusiasts and was the subject of many spoofs online. He was selected to repeat his duties alongside Emerick for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

On April 8, 2010, Olczyk returned to Pittsburgh to join more than 50 former Penguins being honored in a pre-game ceremony before the final regular season game at Mellon Arena.

On December 30, 2010, it was announced that Foley and Olczyk signed a three-year extension to stay with the Blackhawks.

On October 15, 2012, Olczyk was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame along with Mike Modano and Lou Lamoriello. In 2004, Ed Olczyk was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame.

On May 5, 2014, EA Sports announced that Olczyk will provide color commentary for NHL 15 alongside play-by-play commentator Mike "Doc" Emrick and ice level analyst Ray Ferraro.

Olczyk also has an interest in Thoroughbred horse racing, appearing in advertisements for Xpressbet and serving as a guest commentator and handicapper for major horse racing events such as the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks on the NBC Sports cable network.

Personal life

Olczyk has four children, two which are currently playing hockey: Nick plays for the South Shore Kings of the USPHL, and Tom, who plays for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Eddie Jr. spent a season with the Bloomington Thunder of the SPHL and is currently an assistant coach with the Niagara Purple Eagles. His younger brother Rick Olczyk is a former hockey player for Brown University and is currently an assistant general manager for the Carolina Hurricanes. Olczyk also has a daughter, Zandra, who is a student at the University of Alabama.

Career statistics

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1984-85	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		70	20	30	50	67		15	6	5	11	11
1985-86	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		79	29	50	79	47		3	0	0	0	0
1986-87	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		79	16	35	51	119		4	1	1	2	4
1987-88	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		80	42	33	75	55		6	5	4	9	2
1988-89	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		80	38	52	90	75		—	—	—	—	—
1989-90	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		79	32	56	88	78		5	1	2	3	14
1990-91	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		18	4	10	14	13		—	—	—	—	—
1990-91	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		61	26	31	57	69		—	—	—	—	—
1991-92	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		64	32	33	65	67		6	2	1	3	4
1992-93	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		25	8	12	20	26		—	—	—	—	—
1992-93	New York Rangers	NHL		46	13	16	29	26		—	—	—	—	—
1993-94	New York Rangers	NHL		37	3	5	8	28		1	0	0	0	0
1994-95	New York Rangers	NHL		20	2	1	3	4		—	—	—	—	—
1994-95	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		13	2	8	10	8		—	—	—	—	—
1995-96	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		51	27	22	49	65		6	1	2	3	6
1996-97	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		67	21	23	44	45		—	—	—	—	—
1996-97	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		12	4	7	11	6		5	1	0	1	12
1997-98	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		56	11	11	22	35		6	2	0	2	4
1998-99	Chicago Wolves	IHL		7	2	2	4	6		—	—	—	—	—
1998-99	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		61	10	15	25	29		—	—	—	—	—
1999-00	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		33	2	2	4	12		—	—	—	—	—
NHL Totals				1,031	342	452	794	874		57	19	15	34	57

Awards and achievements

• Stanley Cup Champions 1993-94 New York Rangers
• US Hockey Hall of Fame 2012

Coaching record

		Regular season							Post season
Team	Year	G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	G	W	L	Result
PIT	2003-04	82	23	47	8	4	58	5th in Atlantic	Did not qualify
PIT	2005-06	31	8	17	—	6	58	5th in Atlantic	Did not qualify
Total		113	31	64	8	10

• † - Replaced midseason

International Record for Team USA

• 1984 Winter Olympics (seventh place)
• 1984 Canada Cup (fourth place)
• 1987 Canada Cup (fifth place)
• 1991 Canada Cup (second place)
• Ice Hockey World Championships: 1985 (fourth place), 1986 (sixth place), 1987 (seventh place), 1989 (sixth place), 1993 (sixth place)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]