Shawn Bates

Number: 17
Born: Melrose, MA, 4/3/1975
Position: Center

 

     The Islanders signed Shawn Bates as a free agent on July 6th, 2001. At the time, nobody knew what impact this signing had in store as Bates would become a fan favorite and very integral member of the team. Drafted by the Boston Bruins with their 4th pick, 103rd overall in the 1993 draft, Shawn was slated to be a group II free agent for the summer of 2001. But in what would turn out to be a blessing for the Islanders, Bates was not tendered a qualifying offer by Boston, making him an unrestricted free agent. He never got in more than 45 games in his previous 4 seasons and was predominantly used as a third and fourth line player. The Islanders newly appointed coach Peter Laviolette had a prior knowledge of Bates because he coached him in Providence of the AHL and as an assistant coach with Boston. 

     The plan was to use Bates' speed to be kind of a rover, not penciled in to any line but ready to serve whenever he may be put out on the ice. Well Shawn turned out to be much more for the Islanders as he became a regular on the second line. In fact the line of #17 Bates, #27 captain Michael Peca and sniper #37 Mark Parrish came to be known as the "Lucky 7's" line and carried the team for a large portion of the first half of the 2001-02 season. Shawn went on to set career highs in games, goals, assists and points and his play prompted coach Laviolette to call him the biggest surprise of the season. He scored 4 shorthanded goals and together with Peca's six combined to make the Islanders the most deadliest shorthanded team in the NHL with 17 total. Pictured below is the biggest goal he scored all year on a penalty shot  in game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarter Finals versus Curtis Joseph and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Update: Bates was the Islanders hottest player during November of 2005 and went on a tear where he scored 7 goals in 5 games played. Unfortunately he badly injured both groin muscles during a game in Florida and missed just about all of December. In fact, even before the injury, Bates was skating with bad groin muscles. His loss though proved to be detrimental to the Islanders as the team went from hot to very cold following the injury. Bates struggled when he returned, but still managed to record 15 goals on the season which was only 2 shy of the career high 17 goals he scored for the Islanders in 2001-02. 

Bates was re-signed to a three year extension by former Islander GM Mike Milbury in March of 2006. He will receive a raise in 2006-07 to $1.2 million, up from $800,000 in 2005-06. Bates has recorded 12 shorthanded goals in his Islander career which ranks him tied for 6th all-time in franchise history with Brent Sutter. 



 
Milestones: 
  • Islander debut 10/5/01 at Tampa Bay
  • First Islander point/assist 10/5/01 at Tampa Bay
  • First Islander goal 10/6/01 at Florida ( Empty Net )
  • 200th career NHL game 4/3/02 at Buffalo
  • 100th game as an Islander 12/13/02 at Florida
  • 100th point as an Islander 11/1/03 vs. Anaheim
  • 300th career NHL game 11/26/03 vs. Carolina
  • 200th game as an Islander 2/10/04 at Colorado
  • 100th assist as an Islander 3/10/06 vs. Toronto
  • 400th career NHL game 3/19/06 at Tampa Bay
  • 300th game an as Islander 11/22/06 vs. Carolina

Nickname(s): Batesy

 

 

Season  Club                League  GP   G   A  Pts  PIM
--------------------------------------------------------
2001-02 New York Islanders  NHL     71  17  35   52   30
2002-03 New York Islanders  NHL     74  13  29   42   52
2003-04 New York Islanders  NHL     69   9  23   32   46
2005-06 New York Islanders  NHL     66  15  19   34   60
2006-07 New York Islanders  NHL     48   4   6   10   34
2007-08 New York Islanders  NHL      2   0   0    0    0
--------------------------------------------------------
                            Total  330  58 112  170  222




 

NYI Database

islesinfo


1998-2008 Tom Mascioli
email