Poile was born in
Fort William,
Ontario, and played junior hockey for the Fort William Rangers. He began his professional career in 1942 as an 18-year-old right winger for the
Toronto Maple Leafs and—after a break in his career to serve in the
Second World War—was a member of the Leafs'
Stanley Cup-winning team of 1947. The next season, he was traded to the
Chicago Black Hawks in a multi-player deal for
Max Bentley. A year later he was dealt to the
Detroit Red Wings. Before the 1949–50 season he was acquired by the
New York Rangers and was traded mid-season to the
Boston Bruins, which would be his final stop in the NHL. Poile would spend five more years playing in minor professional leagues as a player-coach, first for the
Tulsa Oilers of the
United States Hockey League in 1950–51. He then rejoined the Red Wings organization in 1951–52 as player coach of the Red Wings'
Maritime Major Hockey League affiliate, the
Glace Bay Miners. He moved up to the Wings'
Western Hockey League affiliate, the
Edmonton Flyers, in 1952–53. He retired as a player in 1954, but would continue to coach the Flyers until 1962. Poile then became head coach of the
San Francisco Seals from 1962 to 1966. With the NHL expansion in 1967, Poile became general manager of the
Philadelphia Flyers, acquiring key members of the team that would win the Stanley Cup in the 1970s. In 1970, Poile became general manager of another NHL expansion team, the
Vancouver Canucks, building that club until leaving in 1973 to join the
World Hockey Association as executive vice-president. He left the WHA in May 1976 in the fallout from a brawl in the playoffs between Quebec and Calgary. In August 1976, Poile became president of the
Central Hockey League. During the 1983–84 season he also became commissioner of the
International Hockey League. The CHL wound down its operations at the end of that season, and Poile continued in his role with the IHL until retiring in 1989. Poile was inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 1990 after a hockey career that spanned six decades. He died in Vancouver on January 4, 2005, of
Parkinson's disease. His son,
David Poile, has also had a long management career in the
National Hockey League and was the first general manager of the
Nashville Predators. Poile has had two professional hockey trophies named after him. The first was the N.R. "Bud" Poile Trophy of the International Hockey League, awarded from 1989 to 2001 to the most valuable player of the Turner Cup Playoffs. The second is the Norman R. "Bud" Poile Trophy of the American Hockey League, awarded to the team that finishes the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference. ==Awards==