Joseph Pierre Stéphane Robidas (born March 3, 1977) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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 l ...

and currently an assistant coach for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

. Robidas played over 900 games in the NHL, most of which came within the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

' organization. He also played for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

, and

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. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

Playing career

Amateur

As a youth, Robidas played in the 1990 and 1991

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

s with a

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

team from

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

, Quebec.

Montreal Canadiens

Robidas was selected 164th overall by the

in the 7th round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. During his three seasons with the Canadiens, Robidas recorded 23 points in 122 games.

Dallas Stars

On October 4, 2002, Robidas was claimed by the

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 NHL sea ...

as part of the NHL Waiver Draft, and subsequently was dealt to the Dallas Stars for a 6th round selection in 2002. He appeared in a career-high 76 games during the

2002–03 NHL season The 2002–03 NHL season was the 86th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the New Jersey Devils, who won the best of seven series 4–3 against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. League business Entry draft ...

Chicago Blackhawks

Robidas was traded to the

in November 2003 for Jon Klemm and a fourth round selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Robidas skated in 45 games for the Blackhawks during the subsequent season. Due to the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, Robidas played for the

Frankfurt Lions The Frankfurt Lions were a German professional men's ice hockey club from Frankfurt, Germany that played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The club ceased operations in 2010 due to financial difficulty. History * The hockey team was founded as a ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

(DEL) during the entire 2004–05 lockout season. Later in the season, he was joined on the team by fellow NHLer

Doug Weight Douglas Daniel Weight (born January 21, 1971) is an American professional ice hockey coach, executive, and former player. He is also the former head coach and assistant General manager (ice hockey), general manager for the New York Islanders. Dur ...

, and the pair became fan favorites.

Return to Dallas

In August 2005, following the lockout, Robidas returned to the Stars by signing a two-year contract. In December 2006 the Stars signed him to a three-year, USD$4.5 million contract extension. On March 17, 2007, he was punched while charging

Jordin Tootoo Jordin John Kudluk Tootoo (; born February 2, 1983) is a Canadian former professional hockey player, who played for the Nashville Predators, Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils and Chicago Blackhawks. Of Inuit, Ukrainian and English descent, h ...

of the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

after

Mike Modano Michael Thomas Modano Jr. (; born June 7, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played as a Centre (ice hockey), center and spent most of his career with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars franchise. He spent the fina ...

had been checked by Tootoo. Tootoo still had his gloves on when he punched Robidas, and he hit Robidas square in the face. Robidas went down hard and was taken off the ice on a stretcher. He was taken to a hospital for examination. He later checked out of the hospital after being diagnosed with a concussion and flew back to Dallas with the team. During the 2008 NHL playoffs against the

in game 5, Robidas took a clearing shot from

Todd Marchant Todd Michael Marchant (born August 12, 1973) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played nine seasons with the Edmonton Oilers and almost six seasons with the Anaheim ...

off the face that broke his nose. He returned to the game after receiving stitches and had a solid outing even though Dallas came up short 5–2. The next game in Dallas, Robidas scored the game tying goal shortly before he would set up

Stu Barnes Stuart Douglas Barnes (born December 25, 1970) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey Forward (ice hockey), forward. He played 16 seasons at Centre (ice hockey), centre in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets (1972–96), Winnipeg Jets, ...

for the series-clinching goal, as Dallas went on to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 4–1 and take the series 4–2 on home ice. Robidas was selected to play in the 57th NHL All-Star Game in Montreal despite having suffered a broken jaw. Robidas won TSN's "No Guts, No Glory" contest, an unofficial award for the

2008–09 NHL season The 2008–09 NHL season was the 92nd season of operation (91st season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). It was the first season since prior to the 2004–05 lockout in which every team played each other at least once during the sea ...

's toughest player. He was selected as the winner after a loose puck had broken his jaw in a game against the Phoenix Coyotes; Robidas missed only one shift after the incident and played more minutes than any skater in that game. He was also placed on a stand-by list by

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics ** Canadian Olympic Committee * Canada at the Paralympics ** Canadian Paralympic Committee * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at ...

for the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

should an injury occur during the tournament.

Anaheim Ducks

During the 2013–14 season, on November 29, 2013 against the

Robidas broke his right leg in a collision with the boards behind the net. Nearing a return to full health, Robidas was traded to the

for a

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

fourth-round draft pick on March 4, 2014. During the

2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2013–14 season. They began on April 16, 2014, and ended June 13, 2014, when the Los Angeles Kings defeated the New York Rangers four games t ...

, in his first game back in Dallas as a member of the Ducks, Robidas fractured his right leg again just above the previous fracture.

Toronto Maple Leafs

On July 1, 2014, Robidas signed a three-year, $9 million contract with the

. In poor health due to the two leg fractures sustained in the 13–14 season, Robidas, after one season with the Leafs, sat out the entirety of the following 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons. Robidas' extended time on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) coined a phrase, "Robidas Island", meaning when a Maple Leafs player is placed on LTIR and is never expected to return to the team for the duration of his contract.

Coaching career

Robidas joined the Maple Leafs' front office as a consultant in January 2017, effectively signalling his retirement from playing professional hockey. He became an assistant director of player development in September 2017 and was promoted to become the director of player development in August 2018. In July, 2022, Robidas was hired as an assistant coach by the Canadiens. He replaced

Luke Richardson Luke Glen Richardson (born March 26, 1969) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He most recently served as List of NHL head coaches, head coach for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was sel ...

, who was hired as the new head coach of the

earlier that summer.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robidas, Stephane 1977 births Anaheim Ducks players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Blackhawks players Dallas Stars players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Frankfurt Lions players Fredericton Canadiens players HIFK (ice hockey) players Living people Montreal Canadiens draft picks Montreal Canadiens players Montreal Canadiens coaches National Hockey League All-Stars Quebec Citadelles players Shawinigan Cataractes players Ice hockey people from Sherbrooke Toronto Maple Leafs coaches Toronto Maple Leafs players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland