Steve Thomas (ice hockey)

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Steve Anthony "Stumpy" Thomas (born 15 July 1963 in Stockport, Cheshire, UK) is a retired British-born Canadian ice hockey Right Winger who played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Detroit Red Wings.

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[edit] Playing career

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. Thomas was born in Stockport, England but was raised in Markham, Ontario, Canada where he attended Markham District High School. 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). 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.

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 Islanders that Thomas would have his best years. In the 1992-93 season, Thomas scored 37 goals and 50 assists for a career-high of 87 points. During the playoffs, when Islanders superstar Pierre Turgeon was injured by a Dale Hunter check in the first round, Thomas and teammate Ray Ferraro emerged as the unlikely heroes of the Islander's playoff run. Both made the top ten in postseason scoring as the Islanders made their Cinderella run to the Prince of Wales Conference finals. The next year he set a career-high in goals with 42.

Thomas had second stints with the Leafs (1998-2001) and Chicago (2001-2002) before moving to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Despite being considered a great playoff player, Thomas was never able to capture a Stanley Cup in his career. He came close in 2002-03 when his Anaheim Mighty Ducks made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Ducks eventually lost to the New Jersey Devils in 7 games.

Thomas played one last season (2003-2004) with the Detroit Red Wings before the 2004-05 NHL lockout and proved effective centering Brett Hull and Pavel Datsyuk. 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. He remains a non-active free agent and hopes to be signed by an NHL club before he calls it a career.

He now is working at Plain 'n Simple in Toronto, a promotional sportswear and event company, beginning his career there in November of 2006.

[edit] Career Statistics

                                  Regular Season              
Season  Team                    Lge   GP   G   A    Pts  PIM   
     
1984-85 Toronto Maple Leafs     NHL   18   1   1    2    2  
1985-86 Toronto Maple Leafs     NHL   65   20  37   57   36    
1986-87 Toronto Maple Leafs     NHL   78   35  27   62   114   
1987-88 Chicago Blackhawks      NHL   30   13  13   26   40  
1988-89 Chicago Blackhawks      NHL   45   21  19   40   69  
1989-90 Chicago Blackhawks      NHL   76   40  30   70   91  
1990-91 Chicago Blackhawks      NHL   69   19  35   54   129 
1991-92 Chicago/New York        NHL   82   30  48   78   97
1992-93 New York Islanders      NHL   79   37  50   87   111
1993-94 New York Islanders      NHL   78   42  33   75   139
1995    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
1997-98 New Jersey Devils       NHL   55   14  10   24   32
1998-99 Toronto Maple Leafs     NHL   78   28  45   73   33
1999-00 Toronto Maple Leafs     NHL   81   26  37   63   68
2000-01 Toronto Maple Leafs     NHL   57   8   26   34   46
2001-02 Chicago Blackhawks      NHL   34   11  4    15   17
2002-03 Chicago/Anaheim         NHL   81   14  16   30   53
2003-04 Detroit Red Wings       NHL   44   10  12   22   25

                   NHL Totals         1235 421 512  933  1306

[edit] Trivia

Steve Thomas appeared in the 1986 hockey-themed movie Youngblood alongside Rob Lowe and Keanu Reeves and, in one scene, is memorably towel-whipped by Patrick Swayze.

[edit] References

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