Jeff Sharples

Jeff Sharples (born July 28, 1967 in Terrace, British Columbia) is a retired NHL player. He played in 105 games for the Detroit Red Wings. However, he did go onto have a long minor league career in both the AHL and IHL.

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Sharples was among the first group of minor hockey players in the City of Terrace as the ice arena only opened in 1972. Amazingly, Sharples and his teammates developed into a hockey powerhouse in British Columbia. Sharples' teams won three provincial AAA titles (PeeWee in 1980/81, Bantam in 1981/82, and Midget in 1983/84). After winning the provincial midget title, the Terrace team went on to the National Air Canada Cup championship. Although they did not win a game in that tournment, this was still an amazing feat. In the history of the National Midget Championship, now known as the Telus Cup, the Terrace squad is one of only two British Columbia teams that have made it that far, when they were not the host. The other team was the 1982 Burnaby Midgets led by Cliff Ronning, who won the championship. After a successful minor hockey career, Sharples went on to Junior A hockey where he played with the Kelowna Wings, Spokane Chiefs, and the Portland Winterhawks. With Portland, Sharples became a Western Hockey League all-star, including being named to the all-star team in the 1986 Memorial Cup championship. This led to Sharples became a second round draft choice of the Detroit Red Wings in 1985. By 1987, Sharples was a regular in the Red Wings lineup. Unfortunately, a knee injury in 1988 dropped Sharples from the regular lineup and he was replaced by players that were chosen after him in the draft, including Steve Chiasson and Doug Houda. Sharples was unable to become a regular in the National Hockey League and was eventually traded away to the Edmonton Oilers in the deal that brought Jimmy Carson to the Red Wings. Sharples went on to a long and successful career in the minor leagues before retiring from professional hockey.

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