Shawn P. Cronin (born August 20, 1963) is a retired American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) for the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

and

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

. Cronin was born in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

and grew up in

Flushing, Michigan Flushing is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,411 at the 2020 census. Flushing is considered a suburb of Flint. It is situated within the survey area of Flushing Charter Township, but is administrat ...

, graduating from Flushing Senior High School.

Playing career

Cronin was originally signed as a free agent in 1986 by the

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...

, although he never played for the parent team. In 1988 he was signed as a free agent by the

. After playing only one game for the Capitals he signed with the

. It was with Winnipeg where he played most of his NHL games, suiting up 193 times over three seasons. He scored one goal for the Jets during that time. Upon scoring his first goal (against the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

in November 1990),

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

commemorated the feat by donating $4,400 to the Winnipeg Jets Goals for Kids Charity. (Cronin's number with Winnipeg was the number 44, hence the $4,400 donation). He also played for the

and

. It was with Philadelphia that he scored two goals in one season (one of which was scored against his former team at the

Winnipeg Arena Winnipeg Arena was an indoor arena located in the Polo Park district of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The arena was the city's premier ice hockey venue from 1955 to 2004 and is best remembered as the home of the first Winnipeg Jets franchise, whic ...

). He recorded the 1st San Jose Shark playoff goal in team history. He retired from the NHL having scored three goals over seven seasons of play.

Career statistics

External links

* 1963 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen Baltimore Skipjacks players Binghamton Whalers players Fort Wayne Komets players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey players from Illinois Ice hockey players from Michigan Sportspeople from Joliet, Illinois Philadelphia Flyers players Salt Lake Golden Eagles (IHL) players San Jose Sharks players UIC Flames men's ice hockey players Undrafted National Hockey League players Washington Capitals players Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) players {{US-icehockey-defenceman-stub