Steve Shields

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, and Atlanta Thrashers.

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 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, Florida Panthers, and Atlanta Thrashers.

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 2–1. Steve Shields set an American Hockey League record with 15 playoff victories. John Tortorella 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. 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. 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's famed "stitch mask". He continued wearing the stitch mask after he was traded to the Florida Panthers, and being signed by the Atlanta Thrashers.

Coaching career Shields served under Mel Pearson as a volunteer assistant coach at Michigan Tech for two seasons from 2011 to 2013 before joining the Florida Panthers 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 Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1988–89 North Bay Trappers NOJHL — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1989–90 St. Marys Lincolns WOHL 26 — — — — 1512 121 0 4.80 — — — — — — — — — 1990–91 University of Michigan CCHA 37 26 6 3 — 1963 106 0 3.24 .878 — — — — — — — — 1991–92 University of Michigan CCHA 37 27 7 2 — 2090 99 1 2.84 .885 — — — — — — — — 1992–93 University of Michigan CCHA 39 30 6 2 — 2027 75 2 2.22 .909 — — — — — — — — 1993–94 University of Michigan CCHA 36 28 6 1 — 1961 87 0 2.66 .892 — — — — — — — — 1994–95 Rochester Americans AHL 13 3 8 0 — 673 53 0 4.72 .830 1 0 0 20 3 0 9.00 .824 1994–95 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 21 11 5 2 — 1158 52 2 2.69 .912 3 0 2 144 11 0 4.58 — 1995–96 Buffalo Sabres NHL 2 0 1 0 — 75 4 0 3.19 .875 — — — — — — — — 1995–96 Rochester Americans AHL 43 20 17 2 — 2357 140 1 3.56 .891 19 15 3 1127 47 1 2.50 .912 1996–97 Buffalo Sabres NHL 13 3 8 2 — 789 39 0 2.96 .913 10 4 6 570 26 1 2.74 .922 1996–97 Rochester Americans AHL 23 14 6 2 — 1331 60 1 2.70 .914 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Buffalo Sabres NHL 16 3 6 4 — 785 37 0 2.83 .909 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Rochester Americans AHL 1 0 1 0 — 59 3 0 3.04 .885 — — — — — — — — 1998–99 San Jose Sharks NHL 37 15 11 8 — 2162 80 4 2.22 .921 1 0 1 60 6 0 6.00 .833 1999–00 San Jose Sharks NHL 67 27 30 8 — 3797 162 4 2.56 .911 12 5 7 696 36 0 3.10 .889 2000–01 San Jose Sharks NHL 21 6 8 5 — 1135 47 2 2.48 .911 — — — — — — — — 2001–02 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 33 9 20 2 — 1777 79 0 2.67 .907 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Boston Bruins NHL 36 12 13 9 — 2112 97 0 2.76 .896 2 0 2 119 6 0 3.03 .897 2003–04 Florida Panthers NHL 16 3 6 1 — 732 42 0 3.44 .879 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 5 1 2 — 1 266 19 0 4.28 .853 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Chicago Wolves AHL 4 2 2 0 — 240 9 0 2.25 .902 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Houston Aeros AHL 1 0 0 0 — 10 3 0 17.65 .750 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 246 80 104 39 1 13632 606 10 2.67 .907 25 9 16 1444 74 1 3.07 .901

Awards and honours Award Year College All-CCHA First Team 1992–93 AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1992–93 All-CCHA First Team 1993–94 AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1993–94