Greg Stefan Explained

Position:Goaltender
Catches:Left
Height Ft:5
Height In:11
Weight Lb:180
Played For:Adirondack Red Wings (AHL)
Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Birth Date:11 February 1961
Birth Place:Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Career Start:1981
Career End:1990
Draft:128th overall
Draft Year:1981
Draft Team:Detroit Red Wings

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 seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP W L T MIN GA SV%GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1978–79Oshawa GeneralsOMJHL33 1635 133 0 4.88
1979–80Oshawa GeneralsOMJHL17 8 6 0 897 58 0 3.88
1980–81Oshawa GeneralsOHL46 23 14 3 2407 174 0 4.34 6 2 3 298 20 0 4.02
1981–82Detroit Red WingsNHL2 0 2 0 120 10 0 5.00
1981–82Adirondack Red WingsAHL29 11 13 3 1571 99 2 3.78 1 0 0 20 0 0 0.00
1982–83Detroit Red WingsNHL35 6 16 9 1847 139 0 4.52 .853
1983–84Detroit Red WingsNHL50 19 22 2 2600 152 2 3.51 .8763 1 2 210 8 0 2.29 .907
1984–85Detroit Red WingsNHL46 21 19 3 2635 190 0 4.33 .8603 0 3 138 17 0 7.39 .754
1985–86Detroit Red WingsNHL37 10 20 5 2068 155 1 4.50 .856
1986–87Detroit Red WingsNHL43 20 17 3 2351 135 1 3.45 .8759 4 5 508 24 0 2.83 .905
1987–88Detroit Red WingsNHL33 17 9 5 1854 96 1 3.11 .89610 5 4 531 32 1 3.62 .864
1988–89Detroit Red WingsNHL46 21 17 3 2499 167 0 4.01 .8715 2 3 294 18 0 3.67 .881
1989–90Detroit Red WingsNHL7 1 5 0 359 24 0 4.01 .837
1989–90Adirondack Red WingsAHL3 1 0 1 128 7 0 3.28 .887
1990–91Adirondack Red WingsAHL2 0 1 0 66 7 0 6.36 .759
NHL Totals299 115 127 30 16333 1068 5 3.92 .86830 12 17 1681 99 1 3.53 .875

Coaching record

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish Result
2007–0839 16 20 3 74 5th in West Lost in First Round
2008–0919 6 11 2 14 5th in West Resigned

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Duff . Bob . 2023-12-29 . Hutchinson Rare Right Choice Among Red Wings Netminders . 2024-05-30 . Detroit Hockey Now . en-US.
  2. Web site: Pemberton . Dave . 2011-07-12 . Former Red Wings goalie Stefan stays competitive with golf . 2024-05-30 . The Oakland Press . en-US.
  3. Web site: Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA. 2018. Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2019-01-11. 2019-03-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20190306085544/https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf. dead.