#15 – SHANE WILLIS
Shane Willis played parts of two seasons with the Lethbridge Hurricanes from 1997 until 1998.
The Hurricanes acquired Willis along with Chris Phillips at the 1997 Western Hockey League trade deadline from the Prince Albert Raiders in the biggest trade in franchise history.
Willis appeared in 90 games in a Hurricanes uniform racking up an impressive 151 points including 80 goals and 71 assists. Willis scored 39 points and 22 goals in 26 games with the ‘Canes after the trade in 1997. He added a career-high 58 goals and 112 points in 1997-1998.
The electric forward was a key member of the 1997 Championship Hurricanes registering 24 points (13g-11a) in 19 post-season games. He added four points (2g-2a) in five games at the 1997 MasterCard Memorial Cup helping the Hurricanes all the way to the final.
Willis was drafted twice in the National Hockey League draft first being selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1995 before re-entering the draft to be selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 1997 Entry Draft in the fourth round (88th overall).
After his four year WHL career with the Hurricanes and Raiders that saw him accumulate 331 points (179g-152a) in 265 games, Willis went on to play 11 professional season. The Edmonton, Alberta product appeared in 174 NHL games with the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning scoring 74 points (31g-43a) with 77 penalty minutes. He also appeared in 319 American Hockey League with the Beast of New Haven, Springfield Falcons, Albany River Rats and Milwaukee Admirals where he racked up 253 points (117g-136a) and 208 penalty minutes.
Willis retired from hockey as a player in 2009.
