 He is the younger brother of former NHL player Poul Popiel.Popiel was drafted 10th overall in the 1964 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Black Hawks making him the highest drafted Danish-born player in NHL history until Mikkel Bødker was drafted in 2008 as number 8.Popiel, however, was raised in Canada (his family moved to St. Catharines, Ontario in 1951 when he was a child ) and is a Canadian citizen.