Greg Stefan

Greg Stefan
Greg Stefan
Born	February 11, 1961 (age 63); Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	Adirondack Red Wings (AHL) ; Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
NHL draft	128th overall, 1981; Detroit Red Wings
Playing career	1981–1990

Gregory Steven Stefan (born February 11, 1961, in Brantford, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League and currently serves as the goaltending coach for the Flint Firebirds in the Ontario Hockey League.

Greg Stefan was a goaltender who shared netminding duties with Glen Hanlon during the 1986-1987 and 1987-1988 seasons, when the Detroit Red Wings reached the Stanley Cup conference finals in back-to-back campaigns. Stefan was a left-handed catching goalie.^[1]^[2]

Biography

As a youth, Stefan played in the 1974 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Brantford which included Wayne Gretzky and Len Hachborn.^[3]

Drafted in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, Stefan became known for using his stick to clear skaters in front of the net, many times receiving penalties, and sometimes suspensions. He is also known for having played Pee Wee level hockey on the same team as Wayne Gretzky. He played in 299 games, winning 115 of them, before suffering an eventual career-ending knee injury in a game against the Edmonton Oilers.

Stefan began his coaching career in 1993 with the Detroit Jr. Red Wings of the Ontario Hockey League in 1993, and contributed to the team's first OHL championship in 1995. He remained with the club, which had relocated from Detroit to Plymouth, Michigan, and became the Plymouth Whalers, until 1998, before taking a job with the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. After moving around the Hurricanes system as a scout, and even as an assistant coach, Stefan returned to Plymouth in December 2007 to become the head coach of the club, taking over for Mike Vellucci, who would solely focus on his general manager duties.

The Whalers posted a record of 16–20–3 under Stefan, after starting the season with an 18–8–3 record under Vellucci, however, the team would make the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the post-season, the Whalers were quickly eliminated by the Kitchener Rangers in four games. Stefan came back to Plymouth for a second season in 2008–09, however, after a start of 6–11–2, he resigned from the position to return to the Carolina Hurricanes organization as a scout. In 2006, Stefan won the Stanley Cup as goalie coach and scout with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

			Regular season									Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%	GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1978–79	Oshawa Generals	OMJHL	33	—	—	—	1635	133	0	4.88	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	Oshawa Generals	OMJHL	17	8	6	0	897	58	0	3.88	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	Oshawa Generals	OHL	46	23	14	3	2407	174	0	4.34	—	6	2	3	298	20	0	4.02	—
1981–82	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	2	0	2	0	120	10	0	5.00	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL	29	11	13	3	1571	99	2	3.78	—	1	0	0	20	0	0	0.00	—
1982–83	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	35	6	16	9	1847	139	0	4.52	.853	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	50	19	22	2	2600	152	2	3.51	.876	3	1	2	210	8	0	2.29	.907
1984–85	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	46	21	19	3	2635	190	0	4.33	.860	3	0	3	138	17	0	7.39	.754
1985–86	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	37	10	20	5	2068	155	1	4.50	.856	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1986–87	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	43	20	17	3	2351	135	1	3.45	.875	9	4	5	508	24	0	2.83	.905
1987–88	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	33	17	9	5	1854	96	1	3.11	.896	10	5	4	531	32	1	3.62	.864
1988–89	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	46	21	17	3	2499	167	0	4.01	.871	5	2	3	294	18	0	3.67	.881
1989–90	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	7	1	5	0	359	24	0	4.01	.837	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL	3	1	0	1	128	7	0	3.28	.887	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Adirondack Red Wings	AHL	2	0	1	0	66	7	0	6.36	.759	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
NHL Totals			299	115	127	30	16333	1068	5	3.92	.868	30	12	17	1681	99	1	3.53	.875

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season							Post season
Team	Year	G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	Result
PLY	2007–08	39	16	20	–	3	74	5th in West	Lost in First Round
PLY	2008–09	19	6	11	–	2	14	5th in West	Resigned

References

^ Duff, Bob (2023-12-29). "Hutchinson Rare Right Choice Among Red Wings Netminders". Detroit Hockey Now. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
^ Pemberton, Dave (2011-07-12). "Former Red Wings goalie Stefan stays competitive with golf". The Oakland Press. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-11.

External links

Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by Mike Vellucci	Head coaches of the Plymouth Whalers 2007–2009	Succeeded by Mike Vellucci

[1] Duff, Bob (2023-12-29). "Hutchinson Rare Right Choice Among Red Wings Netminders". Detroit Hockey Now. Retrieved 2024-05-30.

[2] Pemberton, Dave (2011-07-12). "Former Red Wings goalie Stefan stays competitive with golf". The Oakland Press. Retrieved 2024-05-30.

[3] "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-11.

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