Shane Willis

Shane Willis (born June 13, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. Willis was born in Edmonton, Alberta, but grew up in Sylvan Lake, Alberta.

Career Willis was originally drafted by Tampa Bay 56th overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, but unable to come to terms, he re-entered the draft and was selected 88th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. Willis was drafted from the Western Hockey League where he played for the Prince Albert Raiders and Lethbridge Hurricanes.

In 1999, his first full professional season, Willis won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the top rookie of the American Hockey League, while playing for the Beast of New Haven. Shane made his NHL debut for the Hurricanes in the 1998–99 before breaking out in the 2000–01 season, enjoying career highs of 20 goals and 24 assists.

Carolina qualified for the postseason in 2001 and faced the New Jersey Devils in the conference quarterfinals. Late in game 2, Willis was leveled by a Scott Stevens hit. He sat out the rest of the series. Combined with another hit the following season, an elbow to the face by Bryan Marchment, the injuries would hinder Willis' game, who would never score as much as in his rookie season.

In 2005–06, he played in Europe for Davos in Switzerland and for Linköpings HC in Sweden. He returned to North America for the 2006–07 season, signing with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 18, 2006. However, Willis spent the year playing with the Hurricanes affiliate, the Albany River Rats.

On July 5, 2007, Willis signed a one-year contract with the Nashville Predators but after his first game with affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, he was ruled out for the season.

In the 2008–09 season Willis had signed a tryout contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the 2008–09 season but was subsequently released on September 25, 2008. On January 13, 2009, Shane was signed by the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL to a player/coach role. After one game Willis was then signed by former team the Springfield Falcons of the AHL to a professional try-out contract on January 16, 2009. Willis has played 174 career NHL games, scoring 31 goals and 43 assists for 74 points.

On September 8, 2011, Willis was hired as the Youth and Amateur Hockey Coordinator for the Carolina Hurricanes. He also serves as a television analyst for locally-broadcast Hurricanes games.

Awards and achievements 1996–97 WHL East First All-Star Team 1997–98 WHL East First All-Star Team 1998–99 AHL All-Rookie Team 1998–99 AHL First All-Star Team 1998–99 AHL Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award 2000–01 NHL All-Rookie Team

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1993–94 Red Deer Royals AAA AMHL 34 40 26 66 103 — — — — — 1994–95 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 65 24 19 43 38 13 3 4 7 6 1995–96 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 69 41 40 81 47 18 11 10 21 18 1996–97 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 41 34 22 56 63 — — — — — 1996–97 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 26 22 17 39 24 19 13 11 24 20 1997–98 Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 64 58 54 112 73 4 2 3 5 6 1997–98 Beast of New Haven AHL 1 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 1998–99 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 7 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1998–99 Beast of New Haven AHL 73 31 50 81 49 — — — — — 1999–00 Cincinnati Cyclones IHL 80 35 25 60 64 11 5 3 8 8 1999–00 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2000–01 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 73 20 24 44 45 2 0 0 0 0 2001–02 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 59 7 10 17 24 — — — — — 2001–02 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 21 4 3 7 6 — — — — — 2002–03 Springfield Falcons AHL 56 16 16 32 26 6 4 2 6 4 2003–04 Hershey Bears AHL 55 27 21 48 71 — — — — — 2003–04 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 12 0 6 6 2 — — — — — 2004–05 Springfield Falcons AHL 58 18 16 34 29 — — — — — 2005–06 HC Davos NLA 32 5 15 20 47 — — — — — 2005–06 Linköpings HC SEL 6 0 1 1 4 13 6 5 11 10 2006–07 Albany River Rats AHL 43 20 23 43 23 5 3 1 4 0 2007–08 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2008–09 Springfield Falcons AHL 32 5 10 15 8 — — — — — AHL totals 319 117 136 253 208 11 7 3 10 4 NHL totals 174 31 43 74 77 2 0 0 0 0

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1997 Canada WJC 7 0 0 0 0 Junior totals 7 0 0 0 0