Steve Thomas (ice hockey)

Stephen Antony "Stumpy" Thomas (born July 15, 1963) is a British-born Canadian former ice hockey right winger who played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Detroit Red Wings. On June 30, 2016, he was named assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues.

Steve Thomas
Thomas in Oshawa, 2009
Born	(1963-07-15) July 15, 1963 Stockport, Cheshire, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Right Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	NHL Toronto Maple Leafs Chicago Blackhawks New York Islanders New Jersey Devils Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Detroit Red Wings AHL St. Catharines Saints
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	Undrafted
Playing career	1984–2004

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. As he often coasted in school on his hockey skills, he once had a teacher tell him to "smarten up, Steve; hockey can only take you so far". 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 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. His career looked to be over with Chicago, however the trade to the Ducks instantly rejuvenated his career. After scoring just 4 goals with the Blackhawks, Thomas had 10 goals in the final 12 games of the season with the Ducks and added 4 more goals in the postseason as his team made it to their first Stanley Cup Finals.[1] The Ducks had wanted to keep Thomas for 2003-2004 as well, but they ran out of money, and Thomas's absence negatively affected his former linemates.[2]

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 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, the first of his and the team's, but they lost to the New Jersey Devils in a hard fought 7 games.

Thomas signed a one-year contract (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 Brett Hull. At one stretch in the season, Thomas had 10 points in 13 games, and he enjoyed more ice time than he initially expected due to injuries among the Wings' roster.[2] 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.

Trades and 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. Traded to Anaheim by Chicago for Anaheim's 5th round choice (Chicago drafted Alexei Ivanov) in 2003 NHL Entry Draft, March 11, 2003. Signed as a free agent by Detroit, November 5, 2003.

Post playing career

He was an Assistant/Mentor Coach for the St. Michael's Buzzers, a Jr. A team in Toronto.

On September 3, 2010, Thomas was named player development consultant for the Tampa Bay Lightning, working with former Red Wings teammate Steve Yzerman, who served as Tampa Bay's general manager. Under this position, Thomas monitored and oversaw all of Tampa Bay's prospects. He later worked as the Lightning’s assistant coach from 2012-2016.[3]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1980–81	Markham Waxers	OPJHL		42	22	25	47	76		—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	Toronto Marlboros	OHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	Markham Waxers	OPJHL		48	68	57	125	113		—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	Toronto Marlboros	OHL		—	—	—	—	—		7	4	1	5	4
1982–83	Toronto Marlboros	OHL		61	18	20	38	42		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Toronto Marlboros	OHL		70	51	54	105	77		9	2	6	8	26
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
1999–2000	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	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	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

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1991	Canada	WC		10	5	3	8	12
1992	Canada	WC		5	2	2	4	4
1994	Canada	WC		6	1	5	6	0
1996	Canada	WC		8	2	3	5	29
Senior totals				29	10	13	23	45

Trivia

Thomas appeared in the 1986 hockey-themed movie Youngblood alongside Rob Lowe and Keanu Reeves and, in one scene, is memorably towel-snapped by Patrick Swayze.[4]

Personal life

Steve and his wife Lori, a practising pharmacist, have two children, a daughter Lauren Thomas (1994) and a son Christian Thomas (1992) , who is under contract with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. Christian Thomas was drafted 40th overall by the New York Rangers in the 2nd round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.[5][6] In his third OHL season in 2010–11, Christian Thomas finished second in the league with 54 goals and sixth in the league in scoring with 99 points, while also tying for the league lead in power play goals.[7][8][9] Steve and Christian Thomas are the first father son combination to each score 50 goals in a single OHL season.[6][10][11]

See also

• List of National Hockey League players from the United Kingdom
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

References

• 2005 NHL Official Guide & Record Book ISBN 0-920445-91-8
• # 32 Steve Thomas RW

1. "Steve Thomas".
2. "Burnside: Just happy to be here". 2003-12-08.
4. Barry, Sal (August 7, 2016). "The Making of 'Youngblood: An Oral History". The Hockey News. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
5. Brooks, L. (June 27, 2010). "Rangers Select Thomas, Son of Former Islanders & Devils Forward". New York Post. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
6. "Thomas' promise reflected in numbers". newyorkrangers.com. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
7. "2010-11 OHL Goal Leaders". Ontario Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
8. "2010-11 OHL Scoring Leaders". Ontario Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2011-04-06. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
9. "2010-11 OHL Power Play Goal Leaders". Ontario Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
10. Zwolinski, M. (March 24, 2011). "Generals' Christian Thomas follows in father Steve's 50-goal footsteps". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
11. "Nugent-Hopkins tops in WHL". Vancouver Sun. March 14, 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-25.

External links

• Steve Thomas career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database