Steve Tambellini

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Steve Tambellini (born on May 14, 1958 in Trail, British Columbia, Canada) is a former NHL player and is currently the Vice President and interim General Manager for the Vancouver Canucks hockey franchise in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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[edit] Playing career

Steve Tambellini played his junior hockey for the Lethbridge Broncos of the WHL from the 1975–76 season until the 1977–78 season, where he scored 155 goals and notched 181 assists in 193 games. He would earn the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the top rookie in the league for his effort in the 1975–76 season.

In the 1978 NHL Entry Draft, Tambellini was chosen 15th overall by the New York Islanders. He would spend two years with New York, winning a Stanley Cup with them in the 1980 season. Despite this cup victory, he would be traded late in the next season to the Colorado Rockies. He stayed with Colorado for two seasons, including their first season as the New Jersey Devils as the franchise was relocated in 1982. After the 1982–83 season, Steve was traded to the Calgary Flames. He would remain there for two seasons before signing on as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks, where he would round out his NHL career.

He would go on to play a minor amount of time in both the Swiss Hockey League and the Austrian Hockey League.

[edit] International Play

During his career, Steve Tambellini represented Canada on three separate occasions: In 1978 he played for Team Canada in the World Junior Hockey Championship, winning a bronze medal after scoring two goals and two assists. He played in the World Hockey Championship as well as the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he scored 11 goals.

[edit] After Retirement

After his retirement from hockey, he was hired by the Canucks as the Director of Public and Media Relations and has remained with the franchise ever since. In 1997, he would be promoted to Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations. In 1998 his position would change again, this time to the Vice President of Player Personnel. In this position he would oversee player development and professional player scouting. He would excel at this position, eventually being named Assistant General Manager to Dave Nonis and to Mike Gillis after Nonis was fired by the Canucks on 14 April 2008[1].

In 2002, he was the Director of Player Personnel for the gold medal winning Canadian Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He would be rewarded again, being named the Director of Player Personnel for both the 2003 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships as well as the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, in both of which he would see his team win gold.

In the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, his oldest son, Jeff Tambellini, was drafted 27th overall by the Los Angeles Kings. Jeff now plays for the team that drafted his father, the New York Islanders.

In 2004, he was inducted into the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame.

[edit] Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1975–76 Lethbridge Broncos WCHL 72 38 59 97 42 -- -- -- -- --
1976–77 Lethbridge Broncos WCHL 55 42 42 84 23 -- -- -- -- --
1977–78 Lethbridge Broncos WCHL 66 75 80 155 32 -- -- -- -- --
1976–77 Fort Worth Texans CHL 73 25 27 52 32 5 0 1 1 0
1978–79 New York Islanders NHL 1 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
1979–80 New York Islanders NHL 45 5 8 13 4 -- -- -- -- --
1980–81 New York Islanders NHL 61 19 17 36 17 -- -- -- -- --
1980–81 Colorado Rockies NHL 13 6 12 18 2 -- -- -- -- --
1981–82 Colorado Rockies NHL 79 29 30 59 14 -- -- -- -- --
1982–83 New Jersey Devils NHL 73 25 18 43 14 -- -- -- -- --
1983–84 Calgary Flames NHL 73 15 10 25 16 2 0 1 1 0
1984–85 Moncton Golden Flames AHL 7 2 5 7 0 -- -- -- -- --
1984–85 Calgary Flames NHL 47 19 10 29 4 -- -- -- -- --
1985–86 Vancouver Canucks NHL 48 15 15 30 12 -- -- -- -- --
1986–87 Vancouver Canucks NHL 72 16 20 36 14 -- -- -- -- --
1987–88 Canadian Nation Team Intl 10 2 3 5 2 -- -- -- -- --
1987–88 Vancouver Canucks NHL 41 11 10 21 8 -- -- -- -- --
1987–88 Villach VSV Aust 36 44 37 81 34 -- -- -- -- --
NHL Totals 553 160 150 310 105 2 0 1 1 0

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References