Stephen John Coates (born July 27, 1950) is a Canadian retired 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 ...

player. He is currently the radio color commentator for the

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 ...

on 97.5 The Fanatic, after spending 14 seasons with the Flyers television team. Coates played five games 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 ...

with the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

during the 1976–77 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1973 to 1980, was spent in the minor leagues.

Playing career

Coates' professional hockey career began when he signed with the

in 1973 as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after four seasons with the

Michigan Tech Huskies Michigan Technological University's sports teams are called the Huskies. The Huskies participate in NCAA Division II as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), a member of the Central Collegiate Ski Association f ...

. After playing in four seasons in the Flyers' minor league system, he was dealt to the

along with

Terry Murray Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albrit ...

, Bob Ritchie, and Dave Kelly in exchange for

Rick Lapointe Richard Paul "Jumbo" Lapointe (August 2, 1955 – October 17, 1999) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Q ...

and

Mike Korney Michael Wayne Korney (born September 15, 1953) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player. He played in 77 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers between 1973 and 1978.. Mike played 2 years ...

during the 1976–77 season. In five games for the Red Wings that season, he scored one goal for his only NHL point. He spent the next three years playing in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

(CHL) and the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) before retiring.

Broadcasting career

Coates started his broadcasting career with the Flyers in 1980 as a radio color commentator, and switched over to television in 1999. He spent the next 14 seasons on television as a color commentator and between-the-benches reporter for the Flyers before moving back to radio at the start of the 2014–15 season.

"Coatesy's Corner"

From 1999 to 2011, Coates was the host of a short segment that aired during the first intermission of local Flyers television broadcasts, filmed prior to the game. These segments included interviews, explanations of NHL rules, analysis of current NHL events, and sometimes skits with Flyers players for comedic purposes. During the 2010–11 season, Coatesy's Corner began to air less and less and was eventually officially retired by the end of the season.

Personal life

Coates currently resides in

Egg Harbor Township Egg Harbor Township is a township in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 census reported the population as 47,842, an increase of 4,519 over the 43,323 counted in the previous decade in the 2010 ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

.Lulgjuraj, Susan
"Egg Harbor Township's Steve Coates in Flyers' corner as their voice on radio, TV"
''

The Press of Atlantic City ''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The newspaper designated market runs from Ware ...

'', June 3, 2010. Accessed March 12, 2011. "When loyal fans think about the Flyers, the Egg Harbor Township resident often comes to mind. The 59-year-old has broadcast Flyers games on radio and television for the last 30 years."

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, Steve 1950 births Living people Canadian ice hockey right wingers Des Moines Capitols players Detroit Red Wings players Kansas City Red Wings players Maine Mariners (AHL) players Michigan Tech Huskies men's ice hockey players National Hockey League broadcasters People from Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey Philadelphia Firebirds (AHL) players Philadelphia Flyers announcers Richmond Robins players Ice hockey people from Toronto Springfield Indians players Syracuse Firebirds players Undrafted National Hockey League players