5 random players you forgot were on the Winnipeg Jets, Atlanta Thrashers
By Al Daniel
1. Steve Shields
As with Ponikarovsky, the Jets/Thrashers franchise could not get Shields to start working in their favor for a change.
Hockey Reference no longer mentions Atlanta by name, even though the team relocated five years after Shields’ unceremonious NHL exit. Come what may, his splits show five career wins against the franchise. That is more than what he attained against any other Eastern Conference team, and trails only his fortunes against the Canucks and Coyotes overall.
Ironically, the Thrashers were just starting to solve Shields when they acquired him. In 2003-04, he won his Florida Panthers debut at Philips Arena, improving to 5-0-0 all-time against Atlanta. He then let in eight aggregate goals over a pair of losing decisions.
On the other side of the season-long lockout, and with a pair of injuries draining their veteran presence in net, the Thrashers put Shields in their own crease.
The experiment lasted five games in a span of one month. A seven-goal drubbing via rookie Sidney Crosby‘s Penguins set the tone for a 1-2-1 ride. An unsuccessful relief outing against the Rangers closed it.
With that 1-2-1 showing for Atlanta, Shields failed to win multiple NHL games in a single season for the first time since going 1-0-0 as a Buffalo rookie 10 years earlier. He returned to the Chicago Wolves for two appearances in January of 2006, then wrapped up his competitive career with one game for the AHL’s Houston Aeros.
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