2000-01 Colorado Avalanche
Road KOHO Air-Knit, Size 56, Set 4, All Star Patch
Moderate overall use with many board burns, puck/stick
marks, light fraying, set stamp sewn into hem.
Shjon
Podein's interest in hockey was greatly enhanced by the electricity
that surrounds the high school hockey programs of his native Minnesota.
He skated for John Marshall High School and then made the leap to
the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 1987. By the end of his first
season on campus, he was already the property of the Edmonton Oilers.
He stuck with university until the completion of his junior year and
then turned pro with the AHL's Cape Breton Oilers in 1990. But within
the Oilers' domain, Podein never really caught on as a big-league
regular. Over the course of four years, he appeared in only 68 games,
spending most of his time in the AHL where he helped Cape Breton win
the Calder Cup in 1992-93.
It wasn't until 1994-95, when he signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia
Flyers, that he finally found his major-league niche. It was in Philly
that Podein established himself as a valuable and versatile special-teams
man. And although never blessed with great hands or leg speed, he
did succeed in combining a vast reserve of intensity and defensive
know-how to become a first-rate penalty killer. He also attained the
respect of his teammates as a team leader by example in the dressing
room.
During his five seasons with the Flyers, Podein helped his club regain
a playoff presence that peaked with a trip to the Stanley Cup finals
against the Wings in 1997. In 1998-99, he was traded to the Colorado
Avalanche in exchange for Keith Brown. In Denver, Podein assumed his
usual role as one of the Avs' penalty-killing kingpins. His hard work
and intensity brought big results in the form of a Stanley Cup victory
in 2000-01. Following Colorado's Stanley Cup victory in 2001, he was
traded to the St. Louis Blues midway through the 2001-02 season and
remains one of the premier defensive players on the Blues roster.
Away from the ice, he has gained notice for his work with the Shjon
Podein Children's Foundation and various inner-city youth hockey programs.
As acknowledgement, he was awarded the 2001 edition of the King Clancy
Memorial Trophy for his leadership role and off-ice humanitarian contributions.
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