Steve Thomas
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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 |
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
- 1991 silver medal at the world championship
- 1994 gold medal at the world championship
- 1996 silver medal at the world championship
Career statistics
Regular season | Play-offs | |||||||||||||
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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 | |
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1991 | Canada | WM |
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10 | 5 | 3 | 8th | 12 | |
1992 | Canada | WM | 8th place | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4th | 4th | |
1994 | Canada | WM |
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6th | 1 | 5 | 6th | 0 | |
1996 | Canada | WM |
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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
- Steve Thomas at legendsofhockey.net (English)
- Steve Thomas at eliteprospects.com (English)
- Steve Thomas at hockeydb.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ nhl.com: "Lightning name Jon Cooper as head coach" (English, March 25, 2013, accessed December 3, 2013)
personal data | |
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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 |