Stephen Herbert Heinze (born January 30, 1970) is an American former

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 ...

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He played for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

, and

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

between 1992 and 2003. He was drafted in the third round, 60th overall, by the

in the

1988 NHL Entry Draft The 1988 NHL Entry Draft was the 26th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Forum in Montreal, Quebec. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Teemu Selanne, who retired after the 2013–14 season. Selections by round Below ...

. Internationally Heinze played for the American national team at the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

and the 2000 World Championships. Heinze was born in

Lawrence, Massachusetts Lawrence is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Merrimack River. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 89,143. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and Nort ...

, but grew up in

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is an affluent town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European c ...

Playing career

Heinze played three seasons for

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

earning All Hockey East Rookie Team, All Hockey East Team, All Hockey East Tournament Team, All New England and All American honors. He was inducted into the Boston College Hall of Fame in 2010. Heinze went on to play for the 1992 U.S. Olympic hockey team in Albertville, France. In March of that year, following the Olympic Games, he signed a multiyear contract with the Boston Bruins. After nine seasons with the Bruins, he joined the

for the 2000–01 season. The Blue Jackets traded him to the

at that season's trade deadline. He then joined the

as a free agent before the 2001–02 season, and played the final two seasons of his career there. Because of his last name, Heinze requested to wear #57 (as in

Heinz 57 Heinz 57 is a synecdoche of the historical advertising slogan "57 Varieties" by the H. J. Heinz Company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It was developed from the marketing campaign that told consumers about the numerous produ ...

ketchup) with the Bruins. However, the Bruins general manager

Harry Sinden Harry James Sinden (born September 14, 1932) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and executive. He served as a coach, general manager, and team president for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL), and was the coach of T ...

denied his request, stating that only

Ray Bourque Raymond Jean Bourque (born December 28, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He holds records for most career goals, assists, and points by a defenceman in the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the James Norris Memorial ...

(#77) could wear an unorthodox number.Catching Up With Steve Heinze
/ref> Instead, Heinze wore #23 in Boston. He was granted #57 when he joined the Blue Jackets and he wore it for the remainder of his NHL career. In his NHL career, Heinze appeared in 694 games. He scored 178 goals and added 158 assists. He also appeared in 69 NHL playoff games, scoring 11 goals and adding 15 assists.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heinze, Steve 1970 births Living people American men's ice hockey right wingers Boston Bruins draft picks Boston Bruins players Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey players Buffalo Sabres players Columbus Blue Jackets players Ice hockey players from Massachusetts Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics Los Angeles Kings players Manchester Monarchs (AHL) players Olympic ice hockey players of the United States Sportspeople from Lawrence, Massachusetts AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans