steve thomas

Maggie3and Me 05-18-2009, 07:53 PM

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Steve Thomas

Steve Thomas, called “Stumpy”, due to his 5’10” and his 195 pound frame, was a player a lot like Dirk Graham. Neither one of them were afraid to get dirty. They would dig in the corners play the entire length of the ice and were not shy about contact. Most of all, both were good teammates.

Steve Thomas entered the league in 1984-85, he became one the most consistent scorers in the game with nine 20-goal seasons to his credit.

This is a quote from Blackhawks Legends, by Joe Peelletier.
“Thomas was a high energy player, relying on explosive speed bursts to key a ferocious fore-check. With his low center of gravity and tree trunk legs, he was almost impossible to remove from the puck once he took it from a player. He possessed and absolutely lethal shot, a weapon that allowed him to score 421 times in the NHL. “

We got him on the Hawks in 1987, from Toronto.
“A blockbuster trade saw the Leafs prized youngster along with veteran leader Rick Vaive traded to division rivals Chicago Blackhawks for Ed Olczyk and Bob McGill. The trade was much discussed in the media and the fans - while Toronto was excited to get silky Ed Olczyk, they were saddened to lose Thomas. Thomas, who essentially was an opportunistic mucker and grinder. His physical game made him popular wherever he played.”

In the little over 4 years he was here, he played in 231 Games, collecting 95 Goals, 103 Assists, while having 355 PIM. Again, like Graham he was a grinder and was known for his physical style of play.

He was a Hawk until 1991, when we traded him to the Islanders for Adam Creighton, Brent Sutter, and Brad Lauer.

Thomas played for the Islanders, Devils , then Toronto again, before returning to the Hawks in 2001 until 2003, playing here for not quite 2 full seasons. He was traded to the Ducks in March of 2003. He sustained an ankle injury in November of 2001, which severely limited his playing time in the 2001-02 season. In his second stint with the Blackhawks he played in only 103 games, had 15 Goals, 17 Assists, with 68 PIM.

Steve Thomas, an often overlooked player, especially by those who did not see him play a lot, had a very good NHL career. Until you see the numbers, you don’t really appreciate what he accomplished.

He played 20 seasons and appeared in 1,235 games. He collected 421 Goals, 512 Assists, for a total of 933 Points. He accumulated 1,306 PIM.

Some people forget what a scrappy player he was and what heart he played with. I put him in the same category as a Ruskowski, Graham, type of player. He definitely was not afraid to get down and dirty.
Here are a few names on his fight card.

Mark Messier
Gary Nylund
Terry Ruskowski
Scott Stevens
Basil McRae
Chris Simon
Sandy McCarthy
Mark Tinordi
Darren McCarty
Enrico Ciccone
Garth Butcher

To him, size did not matter.

All in all, not a bad career for anyone, especially a guy they kiddingly called "Stumpy"

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