Shawn Joseph Heins (born December 24, 1973) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. He played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

for the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

, and

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

Playing career

Heins was born in Eganville, Ontario. His style of play is that of an offensive defenceman and powerplay specialist. His

slapshot A slapshot (also spelled as slap shot) is a powerful shot in ice hockey. Its advantage is a high-speed shot that can be taken from a long distance; the disadvantage is the long time to set it up as well as its low accuracy. It has four stage ...

, though not well known, has been measured at speeds well over 100 miles per hour. Heins held the record for the hardest recorded shot of all time with the puck going 106 miles per hour, until December 3, 2006. The record was surpassed by Chad Kilger of the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

. On several occasions, Heins has been a member of Team Canada at the

Spengler Cup The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss team ...

. In the final stages of the 2012–13 season with Fribourg, Heins suffered a concussion and was unable to re-sign with the club, still suffering post-concussion symptoms months later.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

* 1999–00 – AHL First All-Star team * 2004–05 – DEL Champion * 2006–07 – NLA Most Penalized Player (127) * 2008–09 – NLA Most Penalized Player (174) *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

– Spengler Cup All-Star Team

References

External links

* 1973 births Atlanta Thrashers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Cape Breton Oilers players Chicago Wolves players EHC Basel players Eisbären Berlin players Hannover Scorpions players HC Fribourg-Gottéron players Kansas City Blades players Kentucky Thoroughblades players Living people Mobile Mysticks players Ice hockey people from Renfrew County Peterborough Petes (ice hockey) players Pittsburgh Penguins players San Jose Sharks players Undrafted National Hockey League players Windsor Spitfires players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Canadian ice hockey defencemen {{canada-icehockey-defenceman-1970s-stub