Steven Reed Konowalchuk (born November 11, 1972) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played in the NHL with the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

and the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (N ...

. He is currently the head coach of the WHL's

Red Deer Rebels The Red Deer Rebels are a Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The Rebels play at the Peavey Mart Centrium. History A "Name the Team" contest ran in Red Deer from October 7 to 17, 1991. The top t ...

. Konowalchuk is the first player born and raised in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

to make it to the NHL level.

Playing career

He was drafted by the

in the

1991 NHL Entry Draft The 1991 NHL Entry Draft was the 29th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. A total of 264 players were drafted. The worst team in the previous 1990–91 season, the Quebec Nordiques, was g ...

, 3rd Round, 58th overall from the

Portland Winterhawks The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon, playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL), one of three leagues making up the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Prior to the 2021-22 season, the Winterhawks split thei ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

. During the

2001–02 NHL season The 2001–02 NHL season was the 85th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams competed in an 82-game regular season. The regular season began on October 3, and the playoffs concluded on June 13, with the Detroit Red Wings de ...

he served as co-captain of the Capitals alongside teammate Brendan Witt. In October 2002 it was announced that he would serve as the tenth full-time captain of the Capitals. He would hold the position until he was traded to Colorado by Washington with Washington's third selection in the

2004 NHL Entry Draft The 2004 NHL Entry Draft was the 42nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 and 27, 2004 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is especially notable because it was the last NHL event to take place before the beginning of the lockout ...

in exchange for Bates Battaglia and the rights to Jonas Johansson on October 22, 2003. On September 29, 2006, Konowalchuk announced his retirement after a regular examination detected

Long QT syndrome Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a condition affecting repolarization (relaxing) of the heart after a heartbeat, giving rise to an abnormally lengthy QT interval. It results in an increased risk of an irregular heartbeat which can result in fainting, ...

Coaching career

After his retirement, Konowalchuk remained within the Avalanche organization and served as an assistant coach to

Joe Sacco Joe Sacco (; born October 2, 1960) is a Maltese-American cartoonist and journalist. He is best known for his comics journalism, in particular in the books '' Palestine'' (1996) and '' Footnotes in Gaza'' (2009), on Israeli–Palestinian rela ...

during the 2009–10 and

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season. In June 2011, he was named head coach of the

Seattle Thunderbirds The Seattle Thunderbirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in the city of Kent, Washington, south of Seattle. They are part of the U.S. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League. They play their games at home in acc ...

of the

. He led the team to a WHL championship in the 2016–17 season. In June 2017, Konowalchuk left the

to join the NHL's

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center ...

as an assistant coach. Konowalchuk was fired from the Ducks after just one season. In September 2018, he was hired by the NHL's

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

as an amateur scout, mainly focused on prospects in the Western Hockey League. On June 8, 2021, the

announced that Konowalchuk would take over from owner & general manager,

Brent Sutter Brent Colin Sutter (born June 10, 1962) is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player and former head coach of the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames. Selected by the New York Islanders 17th overall at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, Sut ...

as head coach of the hockey club.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Coaching record

Awards

* WHL West First All-Star Team – 1992

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Konowalchuk, Steve 1972 births Living people American men's ice hockey left wingers American people of Ukrainian descent Anaheim Ducks coaches Baltimore Skipjacks players Colorado Avalanche coaches Colorado Avalanche players Ice hockey people from Utah Portland Pirates players Portland Winterhawks players Seattle Thunderbirds coaches Sportspeople from Salt Lake City Washington Capitals captains Washington Capitals draft picks Washington Capitals players