Steve Thomas

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Flag of Canada and the United Kingdom.png  Steve Thomas Ice hockey player
Steve Thomas
Date of birth July 15, 1963
place of birth Stockport , England , UK
size 180 cm
Weight 84 kg
position Right wing
Shot hand Left
Career stations
1980-1982 Markham Waxers
1982-1984 Toronto Marlboros
1984-1987 Toronto Maple Leafs
1987-1991 Chicago Blackhawks
1991-1995 New York Islanders
1995-1998 New Jersey Devils
1998-2001 Toronto Maple Leafs
2001-2003 Chicago Blackhawks
2003 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
2003-2004 Detroit Red Wings

Template: Infobox ice hockey player / file type

Steve Anthony Thomas (born July 15, 1963 in Stockport , England ) is a former British - Canadian ice hockey player and coach as well as current official, who played 1411 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks from 1981 to 2004 , New York Islanders , New Jersey Devils , Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League on the right winger position . His son Christian is also a professional ice hockey player.

Career

Thomas was committed after two strong seasons with the Markham Waxers in the Ontario Junior Hockey League in the summer of 1982 by the Toronto Marlboros from the Ontario Hockey League . There he knew how to convince and developed into one of the Marlboros' achievers. In the NHL Entry Draft , the franchises had not selected him, but after his final junior season, the Toronto Maple Leafs decided to sign him.

Initially he played on the farm team for the St. Catharines Saints in the American Hockey League , but his strong performances there let him make the leap into the NHL in his first season 1984/85 . In the 18 games that he was allowed to play, he also managed his first goal in the NHL. Although he could not play all games at the Saints, he was his team's best scorer. He also started the following season in the AHL. After 18 goals in his first 19 games, he finally made his breakthrough in the NHL. He scored 20 times for the Maple Leafs in the regular season and was his team's best scorer in the playoffs with 14 points. After another good season in Toronto, the Maple Leafs gave him to the Chicago Blackhawks together with Rick Vaive for Al Secord and Ed Olczyk . In Chicago, injuries plagued him in his first two years. When he was finally able to play almost all games in the 1989/90 season , he showed his performance potential with 40 goals. In October 1991, shortly after the start of the season, he joined the New York Islanders with Adam Creighton , who gave Brent Sutter to the Blackhawks, among others . When the star of the Islanders, Pierre Turgeon , injured himself in the playoffs of the 1992/93 season , it was next to Ray Ferraro also Steve Thomas who took over responsibility and ensured a surprisingly successful postseason in which the reigning Stanley Cup champion, took out the Pittsburgh Penguins . In the following season, Thomas scored 42 goals, a career best.

In exchange for Claude Lemieux , he moved to the New Jersey Devils for the 1995/96 season . His scores dropped with the Devils, but given the team's defensive style of play, this was not surprising. After his contract expired in 1998, he returned to the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent . There he played very successfully for three years. For the 2001/02 season he moved again from Toronto to Chicago, but the time with the Blackhawks was not so successful. In November 2001 he suffered a severe foot injury and spent the rest of the season off. Just four goals after 69 games in the 2002/03 season gave the impression that his career had come to an end, but he changed teams again shortly before the end of the season. He joined the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for a fifth round draft pick . At that time, the team was still fighting for qualification for the playoffs. With ten goals in the last twelve games, he played a major role in making it into the playoffs. Here the Ducks surprised and made it into the finals of the Stanley Cup. In the fourth game he was able to equalize the series with a goal in overtime and also in the sixth game he scored the decisive goal. Back in New Jersey, however, the Devils prevented Thomas from winning his first Stanley Cup. He made another attempt at the Detroit Red Wings , but after a strong season in the playoffs, success failed. After the next season was canceled due to a strike , he tried again in Toronto to make the jump to the squad, but he could not prevail in the training camp.

After his active career, he was briefly assistant coach with the St. Michael's Buzzers, a Jr. A-Team from Toronto. In 2010 he became Director of Player Development for the Tampa Bay Lightning from the NHL. In the course of the dismissal of head coach Guy Boucher , he took over the position of assistant coach under Jon Cooper in March 2013 . He held this until the end of the 2015/16 season, after which he became an assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues . They released him in May 2017.

International

For Canada , Thomas took part in the 1991 , 1992 , 1994 and 1996 World Championships . With the national team he won the silver medal in 1991 and 1996 and the gold medal at the 1994 World Cup.

Achievements and Awards

International

Career statistics

Regular season Play-offs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1981/82 Toronto Marlboros OHL 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
1982/83 Toronto Marlboros OHL 61 18th 20th 38 42 - - - - -
1983/84 Toronto Marlboros OHL 70 51 54 105 77 - - - - -
1984/85 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 18th 1 1 2 2 - - - - -
1984/85 St. Catharines Saints AHL 64 42 48 90 56 - - - - -
1985/86 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 65 20th 37 57 36 10 6th 8th 14th 9
1985/86 St. Catharines Saints AHL 19th 18th 14th 32 35 - - - - -
1986/87 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 78 35 27 62 114 13 2 3 5 13
1987/88 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 30th 13 13 26th 40 3 1 2 3 6th
1988/89 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 45 21st 19th 40 69 12 3 5 8th 10
1989/90 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 76 40 30th 70 91 20th 7th 6th 13 33
1990/91 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 69 19th 35 54 129 6th 1 2 3 15th
1991/92 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 11 2 6th 8th 26th - - - - -
1991/92 New York Islanders NHL 71 28 42 70 71 - - - - -
1992/93 New York Islanders NHL 79 37 50 87 111 18th 9 8th 17th 37
1993/94 New York Islanders NHL 78 42 33 75 139 4th 1 0 1 8th
1994/95 New York Islanders NHL 47 11 15th 26th 60 - - - - -
1995/96 New Jersey Devils NHL 81 26th 35 61 98 - - - - -
1996/97 New Jersey Devils NHL 57 15th 19th 34 46 10 1 1 2 18th
1997/98 New Jersey Devils NHL 55 14th 10 24 32 6th 0 3 3 2
1998/99 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 78 28 45 73 33 17th 6th 3 9 12
1999/00 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 81 26th 37 63 68 12 6th 3 9 10
2000/01 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 57 8th 26th 34 46 11 6th 3 9 4th
2001/02 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 34 11 4th 15th 17th 5 1 1 2 0
2002/03 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 69 4th 13 17th 51 - - - - -
2002/03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 12 10 3 13 2 21st 4th 4th 8th 8th
2003/04 Detroit Red Wings NHL 44 10 12 22nd 25th 6th 0 1 1 2
OHL total 132 69 74 143 119 16 6th 7th 13 30th
AHL total 83 60 62 122 91 - - - - -
NHL overall 1235 421 512 933 1306 174 54 53 107 187

International

Represented Canada to:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1991 Canada WM 2nd place, silver 10 5 3 8th 12
1992 Canada WM 8th place 5 2 2 4th 4th
1994 Canada WM 1st place, gold 6th 1 5 6th 0
1996 Canada WM 2nd place, silver 8th 2 3 5 29
Men overall 29 10 13 23 45

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ nhl.com: "Lightning name Jon Cooper as head coach" (English, March 25, 2013, accessed December 3, 2013)
personal data
SURNAME Thomas, Steve
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thomas, Steve Anthony (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-Canadian ice hockey player, coach and official
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Stockport , England