Steve Thomas (ice hockey)

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Position Right Wing
Shoots Left
Nickname(s) Stumpy
Height
Weight		 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
185 lb (84 kg/13 st 3 lb)
Pro clubs Toronto Maple Leafs
Chicago Blackhawks
New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Detroit Red Wings
Nationality Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom &
Flag of Canada Canada
Born July 15, 1963 (1963-07-15) (age 44),
Stockport, England
NHL Draft Undrafted
Pro career 1984 – 2004

Stephen Anthony "Stumpy" Thomas (born 15 July 1963 in Stockport) is a retired English-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] Trades & Signings

Traded to Chicago by Toronto with Rick Vaive and Bob McGill for Al Secord and Ed Olczyk, September 3, 1987. Traded to NY Islanders by Chicago with Adam Creighton for Brent Sutter and Brad Lauer, October 25, 1991. Traded to New Jersey by NY Islanders for Claude Lemieux, October 3, 1995. Signed as a free agent by Toronto, July 30, 1998. Signed as a free agent by Chicago, July 17, 2001. Missed majority of 2001–02 season recovering from ankle injury suffered in game vs. Calgary, November 15, 2001. Traded to Anaheim by Chicago for Anaheim's 5th round choice (Alexei Ivanov) in 2003 Entry Draft, March 11, 2003. Signed as a free agent by Detroit, November 5, 2003.

[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 playing on a line with youngster Pavel Datsyuk and future Hall-of-Famer Brett Hull. 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 now is working at Plain 'n Simple in Toronto, a promotional sportswear and event company, beginning his career there in November of 2006.

He is currently the Assistant/Mentor Coach for the St. Michaels Buzzers, a Jr. A team in Toronto.

[edit] Career statistics

Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1981–82 Toronto Marlboros OHL 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
1982–83 Toronto Marlboros OHL 61 18 20 38 42 - - - - -
1983–84 Toronto Marlboros OHL 70 51 54 105 77 - - - - -
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
1999–00 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 Anaheim Mighty Ducks 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 1235 421 512 933 1306 174 54 53 107 187

[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.

"Stumpy" was named the Leaf with the tenth greatest nickname in a "Playstation top ten" list at one Leafs game.

[edit] References

[edit] External links