Steve Heinze

Stephen Herbert Heinze (born January 30, 1970) is an American former National Hockey League right winger. He played for the Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres, and Los Angeles Kings between 1992 and 2003. He was drafted in the third round, 60th overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 1988 NHL entry draft. Internationally Heinze played for the American national team at the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 2000 World Championships. Heinze was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, but grew up in North Andover, Massachusetts.

Playing career Heinze played three seasons for Boston College 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 Columbus Blue Jackets for the 2000–01 season. The Blue Jackets traded him to the Buffalo Sabres at that season's trade deadline. He then joined the Los Angeles Kings 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 ketchup) with the Bruins. However, the Bruins general manager Harry Sinden denied his request, stating that only Ray Bourque (#77) could wear an unorthodox number. 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 Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1986–87 Lawrence Academy HS-Prep 23 26 24 50 — — — — — — 1987–88 Lawrence Academy HS-Prep 23 30 25 55 — — — — — — 1988–89 Boston College HE 36 26 23 49 26 — — — — — 1989–90 Boston College HE 40 27 36 63 41 — — — — — 1990–91 Boston College HE 35 21 26 47 35 — — — — — 1991–92 United States National Team Intl 49 18 15 33 38 — — — — — 1991–92 Boston Bruins NHL 14 3 4 7 6 7 0 3 3 17 1992–93 Boston Bruins NHL 73 18 13 31 24 4 1 1 2 2 1993–94 Boston Bruins NHL 77 10 11 21 32 13 2 3 5 7 1994–95 Boston Bruins NHL 36 7 9 16 23 5 0 0 0 0 1995–96 Boston Bruins NHL 76 16 12 28 43 5 1 1 2 4 1996–97 Boston Bruins NHL 30 17 8 25 27 — — — — — 1997–98 Boston Bruins NHL 61 26 20 46 54 6 0 0 0 6 1998–99 Boston Bruins NHL 73 22 18 40 30 12 4 3 7 0 1999–00 Boston Bruins NHL 75 12 13 25 36 — — — — — 2000–01 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 65 22 20 42 38 — — — — — 2000–01 Buffalo Sabres NHL 14 5 7 12 8 13 3 4 7 10 2001–02 Los Angeles Kings NHL 73 15 16 31 46 4 0 0 0 2 2002–03 Los Angeles Kings NHL 27 5 7 12 12 — — — — — 2002–03 Manchester Monarchs AHL 18 8 9 17 12 — — — — — NHL totals 694 178 158 336 379 69 11 15 26 48

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1989 United States WJC 7 2 1 3 2 1992 United States OLY 8 1 3 4 8 2000 United States WC 7 0 3 3 8 Junior totals 7 2 1 3 2 Senior totals 14 2 4 6 10

Awards and honors Award Year All-Hockey East Rookie Team 1988–89 Hockey East All-Tournament Team 1989 All-Hockey East First Team 1989–90 AHCA East First-Team All-American 1989–90