Poul Peter Popiel - Born February 28, 1943 in Søllested, Denmark is a Danish-American retired ice Hockey defenceman and coach.

Poul Popiel First Danish Born Player in NHL.

- Ken McKenzie Trophy Winner 1964 with St. Louis Braves.

- Avco World Trophy / Avco Cup Champion 1974, 1975 with Houston Aeros.
Avco Cup finalist 1976.

Popiel made his NHL debut with Boston Bruins on October 24, 1965 vs Chicago Black Hawks at Boston Garden in a 6-2 Black Hawks win.

While playing for the Los Angeles Kings, Popiel scored his 1st NHL goal during the playoffs on April 18, 1968 vs Cesare Maniago of Minnesota North Stars at The Forum in a 9-4 North Stars win.

While playing for the Detroit Red Wings, Popiel scored his 1st regular season NHL goal vs Tony Esposito of Montreal Canadiens at :53 of 1st period on January 15, 1969 at Montreal Forum in a 4-0 Red Wings win. His goal was the game winner.

Popiel played in 225 regular season NHL games, scoring 13 goals (4 GWG), 41 assists with 212 penalty minutes and 4 NHL playoff games, scoring 1 goal with 4 penalty minutes.

Popiel played 6 seasons in the World Hockey Association / WHA with Houston Aeros, winning the Avco Cup in 1974 and 1975.

Popiel played in WHA All-Star Games 1974, 1975, 1977.

Popiel was in the news briefly in early 2007. The New York Islanders recalled Frans Nielsen and he made his NHL debut on January 6. At the time of his recall, the Islanders believed that Nielsen would be the first Danish-born player to play in the NHL. It turned out that Popiel had him beaten.... by about forty years.

Popiel (whose family moved to Canada in 1951 when he was a child) had become an American citizen prior to his NHL debut, however, leaving Nielsen with the honour of being the 1st Danish citizen to appear in an NHL game. Additionally, Nielsen is the 1st Danish NHL player at least partially trained in the Danish junior Hockey system.