| Position | Left wing |
|---|---|
| Shoots | Left |
| Height | 6 ft |
| Height in | 5 |
| Weight lb | 212 |
| Birth date | February 3, 1956 |
| Birth place | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Death date | July 25, 2023 (aged 67) |
| Career start | 1976 |
| Career end | 1981 |
| Draft (1976) | 33rd overall |
| Draft team | Buffalo Sabres |
| Wha draft (1976) | 64th overall |
| Wha draft team | Indianapolis Racers |
| Played for | Buffalo Sabres |
Joseph Douglas Kowal (February 3, 1956 – July 25, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left wing who played 22 games in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres between 1976 and 1978. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1976 to 1981, was spent in the minor American Hockey League.
He was drafted in the second round, 33rd overall, by the Sabres in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, after his performance as part of the 1975-76 OMJHL J. Ross Robertson Cup and the 1976 Memorial Cup Champion Hamilton Fincups, after previously playing junior in both OPJAHL Whitby and in Oshawa.
Kowal died on July 25, 2023, at the age of 67. [1]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1973–74 | Whitby Knob Hill Farms | OPJAHL | 38 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974–75 | Oshawa Generals | OMJHL | 61 | 18 | 26 | 44 | 93 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 1975–76 | Oshawa Generals | OMJHL | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | Hamilton Fincups | OMJHL | 52 | 32 | 45 | 77 | 100 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 39 | ||
| 1975–76 | Hamilton Fincups | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | ||
| 1976–77 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 16 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 46 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 75 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 1977–78 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1977–78 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 45 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978–79 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978–79 | Binghamton Dusters | AHL | 52 | 17 | 31 | 48 | 75 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | ||
| 1979–80 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 66 | 20 | 27 | 47 | 139 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1980–81 | Nova Scotia Voyageurs | AHL | 34 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 166 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| AHL totals | 255 | 68 | 104 | 172 | 513 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 28 | ||||
| NHL totals | 22 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||