Steve Thomas (ice hockey)
Steve Thomas | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born |
Stockport, Cheshire, England | July 15, 1963|||||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | |||||
Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) | |||||
Position | Right wing | |||||
Shot | Left | |||||
Played for |
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Detroit Red Wings | |||||
National team |
NHL Draft | Undrafted | ||||
Playing career | 1984–2004 |
Stephen Antony "Stumpy" Thomas (born July 15, 1963) is a
Playing career
Thomas was born in Stockport, England but was raised in Markham, Ontario, Canada where he attended Markham District High School. As he often coasted in school on his hockey skills, he once had a teacher tell him to "smarten up, Steve; hockey can only take you so far". He played junior hockey for the Toronto Marlboros of the OHL (he was the last original Toronto Marlboro to make it to the Maple Leafs of the NHL[citation needed]). Prior to playing in the NHL, Thomas won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award in 1985 as the top rookie in the American Hockey League, while playing for the St. Catharines Saints.
Thomas went undrafted after his junior career but signed as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He began his NHL career in the 1984–85 season. He developed into a bona-fide NHL goal scorer with Toronto, scoring 35 goals in the 1986–87 season. He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks that summer and played for Chicago until 1991–92 and was then traded to the New York Islanders.
It would be with the
Thomas had second stints with the Leafs (1998–2001) and Chicago (2001–2002) before moving to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. His career looked to be over with Chicago; however, the trade to the Ducks instantly rejuvenated his career. After scoring just 4 goals with the Blackhawks, Thomas had 10 goals in the final 12 games of the season with the Ducks and added 4 more goals in the postseason as his team made it to their first Stanley Cup Finals.[1] The Ducks had wanted to keep Thomas for 2003-2004 as well, but they ran out of money, and Thomas's absence negatively affected his former linemates.[2]
Despite being considered a great playoff player, Thomas was never able to capture a
Thomas signed a one-year contract (2003–2004) with the Detroit Red Wings before the 2004–05 NHL lockout and proved effective playing on a line with youngster Pavel Datsyuk and Brett Hull. At one stretch in the season, Thomas had 10 points in 13 games, and he enjoyed more ice time than he initially expected due to injuries among the Wings' roster.[2] The Wings finished first in the league but lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Calgary Flames.
After the 2004–05 NHL lockout he was invited to the Toronto Maple Leafs tryout in 2005, but he was cut before the regular season started.
Trades and signings
Traded to
Post-playing career
Thomas was an assistant/mentor coach for the St. Michael's Buzzers, a Jr. A team in Toronto.
On September 3, 2010, Thomas was named player development consultant for the Tampa Bay Lightning, working with former Red Wings teammate Steve Yzerman, who served as Tampa Bay's general manager. Thomas monitored and oversaw all of Tampa Bay's prospects. He later worked as an assistant coach for the Lightning from 2012 to 2016.[3]
Thomas was named an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues on June 30, 2016. He spent one season on the Blues' staff.[4]
Personal life
Thomas and his wife Lori have two children, a daughter Lauren (born 1994), and a son
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season
|
Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1980–81 | Markham Waxers | OPJHL
|
42 | 22 | 25 | 47 | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1980–81 | Toronto Marlboros | OHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1981–82 | Markham Waxers | OPJHL | 48 | 68 | 57 | 125 | 113 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1981–82 | Toronto Marlboros | OHL | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | ||
1982–83 | Toronto Marlboros | OHL | 61 | 18 | 20 | 38 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1983–84 | Toronto Marlboros | OHL | 70 | 51 | 54 | 105 | 77 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 26 | ||
1984–85 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1984–85 | St. Catharines Saints | AHL | 64 | 42 | 48 | 90 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1985–86 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 65 | 20 | 37 | 57 | 36 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 9 | ||
1985–86 | St. Catharines Saints | AHL | 19 | 18 | 14 | 32 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1986–87 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 78 | 35 | 27 | 62 | 114 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | ||
1987–88 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 30 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 40 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
1988–89 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 45 | 21 | 19 | 40 | 69 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | ||
1989–90 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 76 | 40 | 30 | 70 | 91 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 33 | ||
1990–91 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 69 | 19 | 35 | 54 | 129 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 15 | ||
1991–92 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 11 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1991–92 | New York Islanders | NHL | 71 | 28 | 42 | 70 | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1992–93 | New York Islanders | NHL | 79 | 37 | 50 | 87 | 111 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 37 | ||
1993–94 | New York Islanders | NHL | 78 | 42 | 33 | 75 | 139 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
1994–95 | New York Islanders | NHL | 47 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1995–96 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 81 | 26 | 35 | 61 | 98 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1996–97 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 57 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 46 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 18 | ||
1997–98 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 55 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 32 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
1998–99 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 78 | 28 | 45 | 73 | 33 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 12 | ||
1999–2000 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 81 | 26 | 37 | 63 | 68 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 10 | ||
2000–01 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 57 | 8 | 26 | 34 | 46 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 4 | ||
2001–02 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 34 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
2002–03 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 69 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2002–03 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
|
NHL | 12 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 21 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||
2003–04 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 44 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
NHL totals | 1,235 | 421 | 512 | 933 | 1,306 | 174 | 54 | 53 | 107 | 187 |
International
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Representing Canada | ||
World Championships | ||
1994 Italy |
||
1991 Finland |
||
1996 Austria |
Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1991
|
Canada | WC
|
10 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 12 | |
1992
|
Canada | WC | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
1994
|
Canada | WC | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | |
1996
|
Canada | WC | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 29 | |
Senior totals | 29 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 45 |
Trivia
Thomas appeared in the 1986 hockey-themed movie Youngblood alongside Rob Lowe and Keanu Reeves and, in one scene, is memorably towel-snapped by Patrick Swayze.[13]
See also
- List of National Hockey League players from the United Kingdom
- List of NHL players with 1000 games played
References
- 2005 ISBN 0-920445-91-8
- # 32 Steve Thomas RW
- ^ "Steve Thomas".
- ^ a b "Burnside: Just happy to be here". 2003-12-08.
- ^ "Lightning hire Steve Thomas as player consultant". tsn.ca. Archived from the original on 2010-09-07.
- ^ Associated Press. "St. Louis Blues shake up coaching roster". ESPN.com. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ Brooks, L. (June 27, 2010). "Rangers Select Thomas, Son of Former Islanders & Devils Forward". New York Post. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
- ^ a b "Thomas' promise reflected in numbers". newyorkrangers.com. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
- ^ "Lauren Thomas is Adam Henrique's Wife: Here's Everything About Her". 2 November 2022.
- ^ "2010-11 OHL Goal Leaders". Ontario Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
- ^ "2010-11 OHL Scoring Leaders". Ontario Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2011-04-06. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
- ^ "2010-11 OHL Power Play Goal Leaders". Ontario Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
- ^ Zwolinski, M. (March 24, 2011). "Generals' Christian Thomas follows in father Steve's 50-goal footsteps". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
- ^ "Nugent-Hopkins tops in WHL". Vancouver Sun. March 14, 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
- ^ Barry, Sal (August 7, 2016). "The Making of 'Youngblood: An Oral History". The Hockey News. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database