Shawn Joseph Heins (born December 24, 1973) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former 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 ...

defenceman 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 ...

. He 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 ...

for the

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 ...

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

, 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

Heins was born in

Eganville, Ontario Eganville is a community occupying a deep limestone valley carved at the Fifth Chute of the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Eganville lies within the township of Bonnechere Valley. Eganville is also known as the Ordovici ...

. His style of play is that of an offensive defenceman and powerplay specialist. His

slapshot A slapshot (also spelled as slap shot) in ice hockey is a powerful shot. Its advantage is as a high-speed shot that can be taken from long distance; the disadvantage is the time to set it up as well as its low accuracy. It has four stages whi ...

, though not well known, has been measured at speeds well over 100 miles per hour. Heins held the record for the hardest recorded shot of all time with the puck going 106 miles per hour, until December 3, 2006. The record was surpassed by

Chad Kilger Chad William Lawrence Kilger (born November 27, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for several National Hockey League teams, most recently the Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing career As a youth, Kilger played in the 1 ...

of the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. On several occasions, Heins has been a member of Team Canada at the

Spengler Cup The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss tea ...

. In the final stages of the 2012–13 season with Fribourg, Heins suffered a concussion and was unable to re-sign with the club, still suffering post-concussion symptoms months later.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

* 1999–00 – AHL First All-Star team * 2004–05 – DEL Champion * 2006–07 – NLA Most Penalized Player (127) * 2008–09 – NLA Most Penalized Player (174) *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

– Spengler Cup All-Star Team

References

External links

* 1973 births Atlanta Thrashers players Cape Breton Oilers players Chicago Wolves players EHC Basel players Eisbären Berlin players Hannover Scorpions players HC Fribourg-Gottéron players Ice hockey people from Ontario Kansas City Blades players Kentucky Thoroughblades players Living people Mobile Mysticks players People from Renfrew County Peterborough Petes (ice hockey) players Pittsburgh Penguins players San Jose Sharks players Undrafted National Hockey League players Windsor Spitfires players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Canadian ice hockey defencemen {{canada-icehockey-defenceman-1970s-stub