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Colin Shields

Ice hockey player

Colin Shields MBE (born 27 January 1980) is a former Scottish professional ice hockey forward who played most of his career in the United Kingdom's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). He is the EIHL's all-time leading point scorer.

01Playing career

Amateur

Shields started his career in North America and played for Cleveland Jr. Barons in the NAHL for two seasons, 1998-2000. Shields was a sixth-round pick for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2000 NHL entry draft. Shields opted to attend and play for the University of Maine for three seasons, finishing as the top scorer for the 2003-04 season.

Professional

For the 2004-05 season Shields was split between the San Diego Gulls, Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies and Greenville Grrrowl of the ECHL, tallying 35 points in 62 games. For 2005-06, Shields moved back to his native United Kingdom for a spell with the Belfast Giants of the EIHL, where he played alongside former NHL star Theoren Fleury. 2006-07 saw a return to the ECHL, with 43 points in 57 games for the Fresno Falcons and Idaho Steelheads. Shields had a career year in 2007-08 for the Newcastle Vipers of the EIHL, scoring 73 points in 57 games. This led to a two-year contract with the Belfast Giants. Shields served as captain of the Giants, replacing George Awada, who was ruled out with injury.

On 7 April 2011, it was announced that Shields had left the Giants to sign for Morzine-Avoriaz in France.

On 22 March 2012, it was announced that Shields had signed to play the 2012-13 season for the Sheffield Steelers in the EIHL.

02Retirement and life after hockey

He announced his retirement effective from the end of the 2018-19 season on 26 March 2019.

In November 2021, Shields was inducted into the Ice Hockey UK Hall of Fame.

Ahead of the 2022-23 Elite League season, Shields was announced as a new addition to the Premier Sports broadcast team - alongside Aaron Murphy, Paul Adey and Angela Taylor.

Shields was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to ice hockey.

03Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1997-98 Kitchener Dutchmen MWJHL
1998-99 Cleveland Jr. Barons NAHL 55 30 30 60 44 , , , , ,
1999-2000 Cleveland Jr. Barons NAHL 55 46 49 95 40 3 1 3 4 2
2001-02 University of Maine HE 42 29 17 46 39 , , , , ,
2002-03 University of Maine HE 34 14 13 27 18 , , , , ,
2003-04 University of Maine HE 44 18 26 44 40 , , , , ,
2004-05 San Diego Gulls ECHL 34 3 11 14 10 , , , , ,
2004-05 Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies ECHL 19 6 12 18 4 , , , , ,
2004-05 Greenville Grrrowl ECHL 9 0 3 3 2 , , , , ,
2005-06 Belfast Giants EIHL 27 10 27 37 22 7 1 5 6 6
2006-07 Fresno Falcons ECHL 24 7 7 14 22 , , , , ,
2006-07 Idaho Steelheads ECHL 33 9 20 29 10 , , , , ,
2007-08 Newcastle Vipers EIHL 47 30 31 61 18 3 1 3 4 4
2008-09 Belfast Giants EIHL 54 29 41 70 12 2 1 1 2 0
2009-10 Belfast Giants EIHL 56 34 63 97 65 4 1 4 5 0
2010-11 Belfast Giants EIHL 54 18 48 66 34 3 0 1 1 0
2011-12 Pingouins de Morzine-Avoriaz FRA 26 6 9 15 10 5 1 3 4 4
2012-13 Sheffield Steelers EIHL 22 8 14 22 26 , , , , ,
2012-13 Belfast Giants EIHL 20 6 15 21 6 4 2 2 4 0
2013-14 Belfast Giants EIHL 52 15 35 50 6 4 3 2 5 0
2014-15 Belfast Giants EIHL 51 13 26 39 14 4 1 4 5 0
2015-16 Belfast Giants EIHL 41 13 11 24 8 2 1 0 1 0
2016-17 Belfast Giants EIHL 52 26 23 49 23 3 0 2 2 0
2017-18 Belfast Giants EIHL 51 27 28 55 4 2 1 2 3 0
2018-19 Belfast Giants EIHL 32 5 7 12 6 4 1 1 2 0
ECHL totals 119 25 53 78 48 , , , , ,
EIHL totals 559 234 369 603 244 42 13 27 40 10

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1997 Great Britain WJC C 41018
1998 Great Britain WJC C
2000 Great Britain WJC C 44594
2001 Great Britain WC D1 56284
2002 Great Britain WC D1 52354
2003 Great Britain WC D1 54042
2004 Great Britain WC D1 50226
2005 Great Britain WC D1 42246
2006 Great Britain WC D1 540410
2009 Great Britain OGQ 31120
2009 Great Britain WC D1 524614
2010 Great Britain WC D1 50112
2011 Great Britain WC D1 31230
2012 Great Britain WC D1A 53580
2013 Great Britain OGQ 61566
2013 Great Britain WC D1A 51012
2014 Great Britain WC D1B 55160
2015 Great Britain WC D1B 50220
2016 Great Britain OGQ 32350
2016 Great Britain WC D1B 53144
2017 Great Britain WC D1B 54482
2018 Great Britain WC D1A 51230
2019 Great Britain WC 60004
Junior totals 8 5 5 10 12
Senior totals 95 42 40 82 66

04Awards and honours

Watch videos about Colin ShieldsExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Colin Shields, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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