Steven Charles Shields (born July 19, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. During his playing career, which lasted from 1994 to 2006, he played ten seasons in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Boston Bruins,

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

, and

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

Playing career

Shields grew up in North Bay, Ontario, playing minor hockey until bantam level with the local Athletics AA program of the NOHA. At age 16, Shields moved to southern Ontario to play for the St. Marys Lincolns Jr.B. club of the OHA before accepting a scholarship to the University of Michigan. As a collegiate player, Shields became the first goalie in NCAA history to record 100 career victories and was a two-time All American. Shields was drafted in the fifth round (#101 overall) in the

1991 NHL Entry Draft The 1991 NHL Entry Draft was the 29th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. A total of 264 players were drafted. The worst team in the previous 1990–91 season, the Quebec Nordiques, was give ...

by the Buffalo Sabres out of the University of Michigan. Shields was a journeyman NHL goaltender over his tenure. In his NHL career, Shields would play for the Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Boston Bruins,

, and

1996 AHL Calder Cup champion

After starting the season with only a .500 record, the Rochester Americans rallied late in the season to go on and win the Calder Cup in game seven defeating the

Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks fr ...

2-1. Steve Shields set an American Hockey League record with 15 playoff victories.

John Tortorella John Francis Tortorella (born June 24, 1958) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Tortorella was previously the head ...

was the coach.

1997 playoffs

One of his career highlights was during the 1997 playoffs, when Dominik Hašek was injured. Hašek had been the team MVP and the league's best goalie during the regular season and he had been considered crucial to the Sabres' playoff hopes. With Hašek leaving in the midst of game three of the first round, Shields was forced to step in but he helped the Sabres to rally and defeat the Ottawa Senators. Shields then played the second round series against the Philadelphia Flyers, as Hašek was suspended for three games after an altercation with reporter

Jim Kelley James Thomas Kelley Jr. (October 26, 1949 – November 30, 2010) was a professional sports news columnist from South Buffalo. His 30-year career focused primarily on the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, and the greater Buffalo ...

. A line brawl between the two teams broke out in game one that resulted in a memorable goaltender fight between Shields and the Flyers'

Garth Snow Garth E. Snow (born July 28, 1969) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender and former general manager, president and alternate governor of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted by the Quebec Nordiq ...

. Hašek was set to return in game four with the team down by three games in the series, but he told the Sabres' coaching staff he felt a twinge in his knee and left the ice after the pregame skate. Shields turned in another season-saving performance as Buffalo staved off the almost inevitable sweeping elimination with a win. Again before the fifth game, Hašek declared himself unfit to play and Shields would finish the series with Buffalo losing 6–3 and being eliminated.

1999–2000 season

Shields's best season was in the 1999–2000 season, when he played in 67 games for the San Jose Sharks while posting respectable goaltending numbers for the team (27 wins, 30 losses, four shutouts, a 2.56 GAA, and a .911 save percentage). San Jose made it to the second round of the playoffs that year.

Goalie mask design

Shields had a notable goalie mask which was designed while he was a member of the Boston Bruins during the 2002-03 season. Shields's mask was a tribute to former Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers famed "stitch mask". He continued wearing the stitch mask after he was traded to the

, and being signed by the

Coaching career

Shields served under

Mel Pearson Melvin K. Pearson (born February 8, 1959) is a former college ice hockey player and the former head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team. Pearson played for Michigan Tech from 1977 to 1981, then served as an assistant coach for ...

as a volunteer assistant coach at

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...

for two seasons from 2011 to 2013 before joining the

as a goaltending consultant in the summer of 2013. On May 7, 2015, it was announced that Shields was named a volunteer assistant coach for the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Steve 1972 births Living people Atlanta Thrashers players Boston Bruins players Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Chicago Wolves players Florida Panthers coaches Florida Panthers players Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey people from Ontario Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey players Mighty Ducks of Anaheim players Rochester Americans players San Jose Sharks players South Carolina Stingrays players Sportspeople from Toronto Canadian ice hockey coaches AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans