Friday, June 23, 2017

Former Vernon Laker Poeschek Faces Criminal Charges:

Former Vernon Lakers forward Rudy Poeschek faces criminal charges-has a warrant out for his arrest.

Poeschek played one season in Vernon with the 1982-83 Vernon Lakers collecting (4-goals-10-assists-14-points) before leaving for the Western Hockey League.

Poeschek was drafted 238th overall by the New York Rangers in Round 12 of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. Poeschek played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League with four different teams (New York Rangers, Winnipeg, Tampa Bay & St. Louis).

Rudy Poeschek's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=70104

This was in the Kamloops This Week Newspaper:

Former NHLer Rudy Poeschek faces charge

By Tim Petruk - June 15, 2017

A former National Hockey League enforcer who is wanted on a warrant after missing a court date earlier this month is facing a new charge.

Rudy Poeschek has been on the lam since no-showing in Kamloops provincial court on June 2 for what would have been his trial on an allegation he breached his probation. A warrant for his arrest was issued and he has since been charged with one count of failing to appear in court.

The 50-year-old has previously told KTW his memory is failing him. He said he simply forgot to go to a meeting with his probation officer last summer and said he almost missed a court date in November for the same reason.

Poeschek is one of a number of former NHL players suing the league, alleging officials knew of the dangers posed by repeated head injuries and concussions.

In a series published in KTW in 2015, a Boston-based neurosurgeon suggested Poeschek may be suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a chronic brain disease found to have affected many former hockey and football players.

Robert Cantu described the symptoms of CTE as being similar to those of Alzheimer’s, and said the condition is caused by “rattling your brain around in your head — a lot.”

In the 2015 KTW series, Poeschek said he is considering donating his brain to science after his death — something that is being done by an increasing number of dying former professional athletes.

Poeschek was an enforcer in the NHL over parts of 12 seasons. He was selected by the New York Rangers in the 12th round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft while playing junior hockey in his hometown of Kamloops.

After a playing career that ended in 2001, Poeschek was arrested eight times while living in Tampa, Fla., culminating in a March 13, 2005, demolition derby that landed him behind bars. He moved with his family to Kamloops after his release from a Florida jail.

Poeschek was on probation last summer as part of a sentence he received after pleading guilty to a string of criminal charges — one count of assault and three of driving while prohibited — in 2015.

He was jailed for 45 days and placed on an 18-month probation term.

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