Kevin Stevens

Kevin Stevens (born April 15, 1965 in Brockton, Massachusetts) is a retired NHL hockey player and current NHL scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is best known for being the left wing for Mario Lemieux during the Penguins' Stanley Cup Championships in 1991 and 1992 seasons. During his career, he played with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.

Early career

While attending Silver Lake Regional High School in Kingston, Massachusetts, Kevin Stevens played both hockey and baseball. He was invited to try out for both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies; however, admitting that he wasn't a great hitter in baseball, he decided to play hockey instead. Stevens accepted a full scholarship to play hockey for Boston College, and was drafted in the sixth round (108th overall) in the 1983 NHL draft by the Los Angeles Kings. Several months later, his rights would be traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Anders Hakansson, a left winger from Sweden who had recently been traded to the Penguins along with Ron Meighan from the Minnesota North Stars for the Penguins' first round pick of the 1983 draft (Brian Lawton).

Upon graduating from Boston College in 1987, Stevens joined the U.S. National Team under the direction of famed head coach Herb Brooks. Stevens' play steadily improved during his time with the team and he finished with 45 points in 44 games.

NHL

After a year of jumping back and forth from the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League (IHL), Stevens became one of the top left wingers and power forwards in the league over the next four seasons. He had four-straight seasons of at least 40 goals and 80 points from 1990–94 and surpassed 50 goals and 100 points in back to back seasons of 1991–92 and 1992–93. In the 1991–92 NHL season, Stevens became only the 3rd person in NHL history to outscore Wayne Gretzky in the regular season, though he still finished 2nd in points to teammate Mario Lemieux. His 123 points that year also set a record for the most points by an American-born player and a left wing in one season. During the Pittsburgh Penguins back-to-back Stanley Cup seasons of 1990–91 and 1991–92, Stevens was the only Penguin to play in every regular season and playoff game.

On May 14, 1993, the Penguins were playing the New York Islanders in game seven of the Patrick Division Finals when Kevin Stevens suffered a terrible injury. Early in the first period, Stevens skated in and attempted to hit Islanders defenceman Rich Pilon, but instead was met by Pilon's visor which promptly knocked Stevens unconscious. He fell and hit the ice face first, and was unable to use his hands or arms to cushion the blow. Stevens then needed extensive reconstructive surgery on his face. Doctors cut an incision below his hairline from ear-to-ear, which was later closed with over 100 stitches, peeled back his skin and reassembled the bones in Stevens face with the use of metal plates. Stevens came back to have one more strong season for the Penguins in 1993–94 (41 goals, 47 assists), before being traded the next year.

Stevens was sent to the Boston Bruins in 1995 along with Shawn McEachern for Glen Murray and Bryan Smolinski. After being traded from the Penguins, Stevens never again reached the success that he had while in Pittsburgh. After "disappointing" in Boston with 23 points in 41 games, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. After a dismal season, he was traded to the New York Rangers in 1997, where he experienced several solid seasons, but failed match the expectations levied on him when he played for the Penguins.

During the 1999–2000 season, Stevens would hit rock bottom in his NHL career. Not only did he rarely see the ice during this season, but after a game against the St. Louis Blues, he was caught in a St. Louis motel with a prostitute and crack cocaine, supposedly bought with stolen meal money from the Rangers. After this humiliating event, Stevens entered the NHL Substance Abuse Program. After being released from the program, he played a brief stint with the Philadelphia Flyers before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a second time. After one decent season and another season where he rarely received playing time, he retired from the NHL in 2002.

Post-NHL

On September 1, 2005, Stevens began his NHL career off the ice as he was hired by the Pittsburgh Penguins as a talent scout.

In 2005, Stevens again found national attention when a video clip from the early 1990s was circulated on the internet. The clip, taken from the NHL raw feed of a Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Minnesota North Stars game during the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals, shows Stevens and fellow Penguin Bryan Trottier mercilessly taunting Minnesota's Brian Bellows, calling him a "broad" among other, more raunchy taunts. [http://mondesishouse.blogspot.com/2006/10/brian-bellows-bryan-trottier-and-kevin.html]

Transactions

*September 9, 1983- Traded by the Los Angeles Kings to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Anders Hakansson.

*August 2, 1995- Traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Shawn McEachern, to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Glen Murray, Bryan Smolinski and Boston's 1996 3rd round draft choice.

*January 5 1996- Traded by the Boston Bruins to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Rick Tocchet.

*August 28, 1997- Traded by the Los Angeles Kings to the New York Rangers in exchange for Luc Robitaille.

*July 7, 2000- Signed as free agent with the Philadelphia Flyers.

*January 14, 2001- Traded by the Philadelphia Flyers to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for John Slaney.

External links

*hockeydb|5177