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Brian Patrick Mullen
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Brian Mullen, brother of Hockey Hall of Famer Joey Mullen, was raised in the Hell's Kitchen borough of New York City. He grew up playing roller hockey and made the change to the ice game after seeing his older brother play. Brian's father helped him get a job at Madison Square Garden as the stickboy for the visiting teams.

Brian left New York for an education at the University of Wisconsin. He played for the Badgers under their coach, Bob Johnson. This, in turn, led to the Winnipeg Jets signing Mullen to a contract for 1982-83. The Jets put him on left wing with Dale Hawerchuk and the result was a 50-point rookie season. He kept that spot for the five seasons he played in Winnipeg.

He joined the New York Rangers for the 1987-88 season. This time, he was a regular in the home dressing room of Madison Square Garden. For four seasons he provided the steady production that marked his career. Unfortunately, the Rangers remained mired in their lack of post-season success.

When the NHL expanded to San Jose for the 1991-92 season, Brian Mullen became a Shark. In the first year of the club, he was second in team scoring. In 1992-93, he began playing for the biggest rival of his boyhood Rangers, the New York Islanders. That team produced one of the biggest upsets in modern Stanley Cup play when the Islanders eliminated the two-time defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. The series went seven games before the Islanders pulled off the upset in overtime.

Brian Mullen was not able to help the Islanders build on that springtime success. On August 9, 1993, he suffered a small stroke. For a brief time, he was unable to do the ordinary everyday things, like hold a set of car keys. The cause was determined to be a hole in his heart through which a blood clot had traveled to his brain. Amazingly, within two months of having open-heart surgery, Mullen was back on skates with a dream of returning to hockey.

In March 1994 he received word that the Islanders wished to send him to the minors for conditioning. Five minutes later, he suffered a seizure that ended his comeback attempt. A year later, his retirement as a player became official.



REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS
Season Club League GP G A TP PIM +/- GP G A TP PIM
1977-78 New York Westsiders NYJHL 33 21 36 57 38
1978-79 New York Jr. Rangers NYJHL 36 47 45 92
1979-80 New York Jr. Rangers NYJHL
1979-80 United States WJC-A 5 2 3 5 0
1980-81 University of Wisconsin WCHA 38 11 13 24 28
1980-81 United States WJC-A 5 0 2 2 6
1981-82 University of Wisconsin WCHA 33 20 17 37 10
1982-83 Winnipeg Jets NHL 80 24 26 50 14 +11 3 1 0 1 0
1983-84 Winnipeg Jets NHL 75 21 41 62 28 -12 3 0 3 3 6
1984-85 United States Can-Cup 4 0 0 0 0
1984-85 Winnipeg Jets NHL 69 32 39 71 32 +15 8 1 2 3 4
1985-86 Winnipeg Jets NHL 79 28 34 62 38 -17 3 1 2 3 6
1986-87 Winnipeg Jets NHL 69 19 32 51 20 -2 9 4 2 6 0
1987-88 New York Rangers NHL 74 25 29 54 42 -2
1988-89 New York Rangers NHL 78 29 35 64 60 +7 3 0 1 1 4
1988-89 United States WEC-A 10 2 3 5 4
1989-90 New York Rangers NHL 76 27 41 68 42 +7 10 2 2 4 8
1990-91 New York Rangers NHL 79 19 43 62 44 +12 5 0 2 2 0
1990-91 United States WEC-A 10 4 4 8 6
1991-92 San Jose Sharks NHL 72 18 28 46 66 -14
1992-93 New York Islanders NHL 81 18 14 32 28 +5 18 3 4 7 2
NHL Totals 832 260 362 622 414 62 12 18 30 30


Brother of Joe
Lester Patrick Trophy (1995) Played in NHL All-Star Game (1989)
Traded to NY Rangers by Winnipeg with Winnipeg's 10th round choice (Brett Barnett) in 1987 Entry Draft for Detroit's 5th round choice (previously acquired, Winnipeg selected Benoit Lebeau) in 1988 Entry Draft and NY Rangers' 3rd round choice (later traded to St. Louis - St. Louis selected Denny Felsner) in 1989 Entry Draft, June 8, 1987. Traded to San Jose by NY Rangers for Tim Kerr, May 30, 1991. Traded to NY Islanders by San Jose for the rights to Marcus Thuresson, August 24, 1992.
Suffered career-ending stroke during training, August 8, 1993.
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