Steve Shutt

Lore & Background

As a youth, he played in the 1964 and 1965 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with minor ice hockey teams from Toronto. Partnered with Jacques Lemaire and Guy Lafleur on the Montreal Canadiens, to form the top line in the NHL, Shutt became the first left-winger in NHL history to score 60 goals in a single season, with the historic goal being scored on April 3, 1977, against the Washington Capitals. During his career with Montreal, he was named to the NHL First All-Star team in 1977, and the NHL Second All-Star team in 1978 and 1980.

In Their Own Story

The lights hummed over the Capital Centre ice in 1978, casting long shadows across the rink. Shutt skated forward with purpose, his red jersey a stark contrast to the home team's burgundy. The crowd roared as he deked past a defender, stickhandling with quiet precision before firing a wrist shot that rattled the post. It was another night of dominance for the visiting Canadiens star.

Reader's Guide

Despite being of relatively small stature and possessing average skating ability, Shutt had remarkable spatial awareness and was very positionally sound. He was consistently able to get into dead areas of coverage on the ice, either by anticipating where the puck was going to be or by arriving late on a play. He was also a masterful goal scorer, possessing a diverse arsenal of shots. His wrist shot was known for its superior accuracy, and Shutt was noted for his ability to consistently pick corners or hit the five-hole. Moreover, Shutt was famous for the power and unusual level of accuracy found in his slap shot, which he could get off in full stride while coming down the wing. Shutt was frequently able to let fly one or two steps inside the offensive zone and beat goalies clean. In addition to having a superb slap shot on the fly, the precision and consistency of Shutt's one timer also earned him a spot as the point man on the Habs’ power play over many of the defencemen on his team. However, the most noteworthy part of Shutt's game was his ability to collect rebounds and turn them into so-called 'garbage goals'. He had exceptional hand-eye coordination, and a deft knack for converting loose pucks into deflections – even batting in pucks which had bounced one or two feet off the ice.

Did You Know?

• Shutt became the first left-winger in NHL history to score 60 goals in a single season, scoring the historic goal on April 3, 1977, against the Washington Capitals.
• He won the Stanley Cup five times with the Montreal Canadiens: in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979.
• Shutt was a middle school classmate of rock star and bassist Geddy Lee, and Lee credits Shutt with introducing him to his future Rush bandmate, guitarist Alex Lifeson.