Alum Ed Lebler (BS ’81), NCAA champion and two-time Olympian, followed his dual passions for hockey and pharmacy

By Katie Ginder-Vogel

Like most Canadian kids, Ed Lebler (BS ’81) grew up loving and playing hockey. But unlike for most Canadian kids, the love of the game would take him around the world — including two visits to the Olympics.

Lebler, whose parents emigrated to Canada from Austria in the 1950s, first played minor hockey and stuck with it through junior hockey, hoping to get recruited to play on a college hockey team. Despite showing great promise, he didn’t get recruited for a college team his first year, but his coach encouraged him to play a second year, certain Lebler would land a spot in a university hockey program.

During that second year of junior hockey, his second passion began to take root: Lebler began taking college classes, planning to study chemistry. 

“I liked the sciences and always thought I’d be a dentist or pharmacist,” he says. 

As his coach had predicted, Lebler received numerous college scholarship offers that second year of junior hockey, but there was a roadblock: Because he had been taking university courses in Canada, American universities considered him a transfer student, and he would have to sit out a year of hockey.

However, Grant Standbrook, the assistant coach for the Wisconsin Badgers Hockey team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, was determined to get Lebler into a Badgers jersey. He made the case that because Lebler was not playing hockey at the university where he was taking courses, he should not have to sit out his first year at UW­­–Madison. The “powers that be” agreed, and Lebler was off to Madison, which would become the launching pad for his global careers in both pharmacy and hockey.

Studying in the School of Pharmacy

“I was going to finish my chemistry degree at UW–Madison and pursue hockey,” Lebler recalls. “My first week of classes at UW, we had a hockey gathering to meet the team, and I happened to meet Phil Mendel, our announcer at the Badger hockey games. He asked me what I was studying, and I said chemistry.”

Mendel (BS ‘49), who was an advisor and faculty member at the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy, in addition to the voice of Badgers Hockey for two decades, asked Lebler if he had ever considered studying pharmacy and encouraged Lebler to meet with him the following week to discuss opportunities in the School of Pharmacy. During that meeting, Mendel looked at Lebler’s transfer paperwork from Canada and admitted him to the School.

Lebler attended his first class the next day and had the good fortune to sit down next to Don Leetz (BS ‘81), whom he credits with helping him make it through his rigorous courses.

For three years, during the UW hockey season, Lebler and the Badgers would fly to play road games every other weekend. 

“We would fly out Thursday mornings, so I missed Thursday and Friday classes — all those lectures,” Lebler says. “Don was a very good notetaker, so when I came back, I’d contact Don, and he’d get me the notes, or I’d copy them. I’d study them for Monday, so I wouldn’t be behind. I couldn’t have done it without Don.” 

Lebler credits Mendel and Leetz, as well as Standbrook and legendary Badgers hockey coach Bob Johnson, with an unforgettable experience at UW–Madison.

“Everything in life is luck, chance, and who you meet,” says Lebler. “The School of Pharmacy is an amazing school, and I was fortunate to be there. My courses and professors were all excellent.” 

In the Badgers rink

As No. 26 on the Badgers hockey team, Lebler focused on improving his hockey game, in addition to growing his pharmacy skills and knowledge.

“Bob Johnson is an icon as a coach,” Lebler says. “He was so far ahead of anyone else at the time. For example, after every game, he’d do a video analysis; we’d watch video clips on a VHS, and he’d break down the game, then rewind to show us what we did right and what we could do better. Every professional and college team does that now, but not then. It was amazing; my hockey got better and better. Those years at Wisconsin were tremendous for my growth in hockey, and I credit the whole program for that.”

The Badgers won the NCAA playoffs in 1981, Lebler’s senior year. But they almost missed their shot: the Badgers lost to Colorado Tigers in the first round of the playoffs. But that year, seven NCAA teams were locked in, with one wild card to get to eight, and the Badgers were voted in as the eighth team. 

“It’s crazy that we were able to win that,” Lebler says. “We had a really good team. It was like a fairytale, to land there my last year of playing college hockey. There’s nothing better.”

Hockey around the world

After Lebler graduated from the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy, he was offered a contract to play hockey professionally in Austria. He moved there and returned to his hometown in Canada every summer to work at the local Rexall pharmacy for four months. Because Lebler’s parents are Austrian, he has dual citizenship in Austria and Canada.

“That first summer I came back from Austria, I wrote my exams in British Columbia to practice pharmacy in Canada, and I was able to work every summer,” Lebler says. “I played hockey for eight months, then came back in the summers to work in a pharmacy for four months. Things change quickly in pharmacy, so it was important to me to keep up with the profession.”

With the Austrian team, Lebler won five league titles and scored 921 points across 464 Austrian league games. He earned a reputation for his performance in the playoffs, earning the nickname “Play-off Eddy.”

Highlights of his playing career were his trips to the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo in 1984 and Calgary in 1988. 

“Winning the NCAA tournament in ‘81 and then playing with the Austrian national team in two Olympics, was very special,” Lebler says. “Playing against the best players in the world and representing your country is amazing. In 1988, my family and my friends were able to go watch those games in Calgary. I was able to get them tickets and share it with my teammates and family.” 

Continuing dual passions

Lebler retired from hockey in 1993, after 12 years, and returned to Canada. He moved to Penticton, British Columbia, where his parents had relocated after their retirement, and worked in the pharmacy of the Woolco department store. He became manager of the Woolco pharmacy, and then Walmart bought all the Woolcos in Canada.

“I ended up working for Walmart and still do today,” Lebler says. “I continued being manager for 20 years, then gave it up to cut back my hours. They’ve been good to me.” 

Now, Lebler works three days a week. 

“I can’t see myself quitting and doing nothing — I would go crazy,” he says. “Keeping up with pharmacy has been working out well for me and Walmart.”

Lebler also still coaches hockey, volunteering with the local junior hockey team once a week to work with the forwards — the position that dominated his career. He also coached his four sons’ hockey teams and is now watching as some of his seven grandchildren fall in love with the game. Ed’s son, Brian Lebler, was born in Klagenfurt, Austria, and grew up in Pentincton. He played hockey for the University of Michigan and now plays for Austria, like his father. Also like “Playoff Eddy,” he made it to the Olympics, at Sochi in 2014.

“I coached minor hockey and took turns coaching my kids’ teams as they went through minor hockey,” Lebler says. “Coaching is a lot of fun because hockey has been such a big part of my life, and I can stay involved.”

Like hockey, Lebler says pharmacy is also a dynamic field that requires ongoing agility and practice to stay on top of your game.

“Pharmacy is never boring,” he says. “There’s always something new going on at work. I enjoy helping people and communicating with them. It keeps my brain sharp.”