Shayne Gostisbehere

At 31 years old, Shayne Gostisbehere has this physical status:

Shayne Gostisbehere (born April 20, 1993) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He is best described by his name, "Ghost" or "Ghost Bear."

Early life and education

Gostisbehere was born in Pembroke Pines, Florida, on April 20, 1993. Regis was born in France but moved to Florida in the hopes of becoming a top-notch jai alai player. Christine, Gostisbehere's mother, was working at the local jai alai restaurant, was on the meet. Gostisbehere's father sustained a career-ending eye injury when he was two years old. Gostisbehere's sister was a figure skater, and he'd join her at the local ice rink, which ignited his interest in ice hockey. Denis Brodeur, his maternal grandfather, was a member of a Québécois hockey team based in West Palm Beach, Florida, and he started teaching his grandchildren how to skate when Gostisbehere was three years old.

The Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL) was playing six months before Gostisbehere was born, and he learned how to ice skate at the Panthers' training facility in Coral Springs, Florida. Gostisbehere helped to win the Presidents' Day AAA Challenge championship in 2007 while skating with the Junior Panthers under the age of 18.'AAA's ice hockey team. Gostisbehere spent two years at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as an adolescent. Gostisbehere played on traveling teams before heading to South Kent School, a Connecticut boarding school, to finish his high school education and resume his hockey careers rather than playing for the school hockey team, which was less competitive than he hoped for.

Personal life

Felicia Besbehere's older sister was a national figure skater before suffering a career-ending hip injury at the age of 15. She now works as an emergency room trauma nurse in Fort Myers, Florida. Ugo Gostisbehere's cousin, who plays professionally in France, plays football. In May 2020, Gostisbehere proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Gina Valentine. Valentine works as a nurse at the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, and the couple has three French Bulldogs.

Gostisbehere paid tribute to his alma mater by wearing a "MSD Strong" decal on his helmet, as well as a Stoneman Douglas baseball cap during interviews. Gostisbehere hosted the Stoneman Douglas ice hockey team in Florida for a game against the Panthers and spoke with the team after the game.

Source

College career

Gostisbehere selected ice hockey for Union College in the ECAC Hockey Conference after being refused in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. With an assist in Union's 5–0 shutout victory over the Rochester Institute of Technology on October 22, 2011, his first collegiate point came on October 22, 2011. At the Festivus Faceoff in Lake Placid, New York, he scored his first collegiate goal on December 10, 2000, as part of a 5–2 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Gostisbehere earned ECAC Rookie of the Week awards at the start of February, when he tied for fourth assists in a 4–4 tie against Cornell, beating them a school record. He had five goals and 17 assists in 41 games during his freshman season, and was selected to both the 2011-12 ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team and the All-Tournament Team.

In the third round, 78th overall, the Philadelphia Flyers selected Gostisbehere in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft's third round. He was the seventh Union hockey player to be drafted and the first defensive player to be named. Gostisbehere decided to stay with Union rather than signing with the team right away rather than continuing to play college hockey. In his first 13 outings, he had a breakthrough 2012–13 season, averaging a point per game. During his sophomore season, Gostisbehere scored eight goals and 18 assists in 36 collegiate games, and was named on both the All-ECAC Hockey Second Team and the ACHA All-America East Second Team. Gostisbehere scored one of Union's three power play goals in a 5–1 upset of Boston College's reigning champions. Union's tournament campaign came to an end in the first three minutes and 12 seconds of the East Regional finals, with Matthew Peca scoring a hat trick in the first three minutes and 12 seconds, propelling Quinnipiac to a 5–1 victory.

Gostisbehere continued to dominate offensively as a junior in the 2013–14 season, scoring 15 points in the first 13 games of the year. Gostisbehere improved his defensive skills in 22 ECAC games, winning with a +18 plus-minus rating in addition to scoring four goals and 13 assists in 22 ECAC games. Gostisbehere was named both the ECAC Hockey Co-Player of the Year and the Best Defensive Defenseman of the Year for his efforts, as well as St. Lawrence senior Greg Carey. He was also selected to the All-ECAC and ACHA First Teams, as well as both the ECAC Hockey and the NCAA East Regional All-Tournament teams. In addition, Gostisbehere finished first in fan voting for the 2014 Hobey Baker Award, given to the best college hockey player in the United States, and was named a top-ten finalists for the award. Johnny Gaudreau of Boston College received the award in the end.

Gostisbehere, who also worked as a junior, was instrumental in the Union's first-ever NCAA championship. Gostisbehere scored one goal and two assists in a 7–4 win over Minnesota in the championship game at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, home of the team that drafted him. It was Union's fourth and first championship appearance, and their first championship, and Gostisbehere was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player for his championship effort.

Professional career

Gostisbehere made a three-year, entry-level contract with the Flyers on April 15, 2014, and the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms, following his NCAA championship play. Gostisbehere joined the team for their final two games of the 2013–14 season, a 3–2 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on April 19, and a 2–1 loss to the Hershey Bears on April 20.

Gostisbehere joined the Phantoms in 2014-2015 but was sent to the Flyers as a replacement for injured defensemen Braydon Coburn and Andrew MacDonald. Gostisbehere's call-up was temporary, according to Flyers general manager Ron Hextall, who was looking for a veteran free agent to replace the injured skaters. Gostisbehere made his NHL debut on October 25, 2014, teaming with Luke Schenn in a 4–2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. On November 1, he was sent by the Phantoms to make room on the 23-player roster for the newly-healthy Vincent Lecavalier. Gostisbehere completed his second game in the AHL on November 7 and felt a "pop" in his knee, later diagnosed as an anterior cruciate ligament injury. In his first professional hockey season, he did not play again this year, winning only five AHL and two NHL games.

Gostisbehere spent the summer with Flyers athletic trainer Jim McCrossin, who concentrated on rehabilitating the skater's entire body rather than focusing on the injured knee. He excelled at training camp, scoring three goals in three preseason games, but head coach Dave Hakstol was forced to transfer Gostisbehere to the Phantoms for the 2015–16 season. In 14 games before receiving his second NHL call-up on November 14, 2015. In a thrilling 3–2 overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, he scored his first NHL point the same day while assisting in Wayne Simmonds' game-tying victory. His first goal came three days later, less than four minutes into a 3–2 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings. His second and third NHL goals came in overtime games, making Gostisbehere the first rookie in Flyers history to score multiple overtime goals in the same season.

In the third period of a 2–1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils, Gostisbehere scored his 10th goal of the season on February 13, 2016. It was his 11th game in a row, beating Barry Beck's 1978 record for the longest point streak of any rookie defenseman. Gostisbehere made history by becoming the first NHL rookie to score four overtime goals in one season by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5–4. After that game, his 15-game point streak came to an end, as he failed to score a point in the Flyers' 3–1 loss to the Hurricanes. Gostisbehere's point run was his third-longest rookie since 1988, and he was the longest defenseman since Chris Chelios scored 15 games in a row for the Chicago Blackhawks. Gostisbehere finished his rookie NHL season with 17 goals and 29 assists, and he became the youngest ever recipient of the Barry Ashbee Trophy, which is awarded to the Flyers' best defenseman. The Gostisbehere Memorial Award was also given to the player who displays the most "heart" by the Flyers. He was also the runner-up for the 2016 Calder Memorial Trophy, which is given each year to the top rookie in the NHL. The Blackhawks' Artemi Panarin ultimately received the award. Gostisbehere was officially named to the NHL All-Rookie Team for the 2015–16 season following the NHL Awards Show.

Following a disappointing postseason result at the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Flyers announced that Gostisbehere had been active throughout the season with a right hip injury. On May 17, 2016, he underwent hip surgery, with a predicted recovery time of ten to twelve weeks. Gostisbehere, who returned to the ice for the 2016–17 season, suffered both defensively and offensively. Gostisbehere was a healthy scratch three times, even in back-to-back games, as he battled to get out of the slump. Gostisbehere's phone went off as the positive fan reaction he had received during his rookie season had turned negative. He had returned to form by the end of the season, leading the Flyers defense for the second year in a row, winning 39 points in 76 games for the second year in a row. He averaged one point per game in the final eight games of the season, as well as a +3 plus-minus rating. Rather than lingering pain from his hip injury, he attributed his early-season pains to a mental block, and attributed his rise at the end of the year to a renewed sense of confidence and decreased anxiety.

The Flyers signed Gostisbehere to a six-year, $27 million contract on June 9, 2017. The 2017 NHL Expansion Draft was released shortly after. He began the 2017-19 season with Robert Hägg's second defensive pair, but with Ivan Provorov on the top line for a brief period. Hakstol rearranged the lines and paired Provorov with Provorov once more during a December 23 match against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Hakstol, who was ecstatic with the results, continued the pair together until the end of the season. Provorov, a two-way player who Gostisbehere acknowledged as "years better than me defensively," helped him get to the offensive end, with improved shot suppression and a defensive zone in place. Gostisbehere continued to produce offensively on November 9, 2017, with a support from Jakub Voráek in a 3–1 victory over the Blackhawks, Gostisbehere became the fastest defenseman in Flyers history to score his 100th NHL point in 155 games. Behn Wilson, the previous record holder, won in 163 games. Gostisbehere had scored 150 points in his first three seasons by the end of the year, the most of any Flyers defenseman in his first three seasons. In the 2017–18 regular season, Gostisbehere earned his second Barry Ashbee Trophy in three years, scoring 13 goals and 52 assists.

Gostisbehere referred to the 2018–19 season as "the most difficult season I've been through personally in my four years." He dropped to 37 total points, nine goals, and 28 assists, as well as a '20 plus-minus.' He admitted after the season that knee injury he suffered during an October 22 game against the Colorado Avalanche had continued to bother him throughout the season, restricting his effectiveness on the ice. Gostisbehere spent time at the Flyers' training facility in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, working on the mental aspect of his game.

Gostisbehere's difficulties continued into the 2019-20 season, culminating in a three-game benching in November. He had started to improve, scoring 12 points in 40 games before losing a 5–4 overtime loss to the Hurricanes on January 7, 2020. Gostisbehere was out of the lineup for the remainder of January after suffering arthroscopic surgery, which kept him out of the game. He told reporters that he knew, even before suffering from an acute knee injury in North Carolina, that he'd have to worry about his recurring knee pains and that the surgery gave him the opportunity to recover and play without pain. However, Gostisbehere's return to the club was muddled, and Alain Vigneault admitted that rather than returning to NHL play immediately, he may have benefited from a rehabilitation assignment with the Phantoms. Gostisbehere's injury and a string of healthy scratches meant he appeared in just two of the Flyers' last 26 games before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to suspend play in March. Gostisbehere underwent a second surgery after realizing that his knee had not fully recovered from the first. Gostisbehere was one of 31 Flyers selected to play in the "bubble" when the NHL returned to Toronto for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. He appeared in the first two games of the Montreal Canadiens' first series, assassinating Matt Niskanen, who had been suspended one game from service. The Flyers, who were boosted by a solid defense, won the series and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Flyers were defeated in seven games by the New York Islanders.

Gostisbehere signed COVID-19 prior to the 2020-2021 season, causing him to miss the first six games of the season. Gostisbehere appeared to be back to form after getting off to a slow start as he regained his offensive ability, scoring five goals in ten games between late February and early March. However, the Flyers unexpectedly placed Gostisbehere on waivers on March 30, 2021, adding more "flexibility" to their 23-man roster. He cleared the paperwork and was put on the Flyers' taxi team. On April 15, Gostisbehere sustained another knee injury, a mild ACL sprain, keeping him out of the lineup for a week. Gostisbehere received a two-game suspension for a blow to former teammate Mark Friedman on May 5, in another match against the Penguins. The suspension, the first of Gostisbehere's career, was controversial, as the Washington Capitals' Tom Wilson had not been suspended for a high-profile attack on Artemi Panarin the day before. Despite the setbacks, Gostisbehere pushed through to score nine points in his final 16 games of the season. In 41 games of the 2021 season, he scored nine goals and 11 assists.

The Flyers traded Gostisbehere to the Arizona Coyotes on July 22, 2021. The Coyotes also received two 2022 NHL Entry Draft picks from the Flyers. Flyers fans had sluggish why the Flyers did not get any in exchange for Gostisbehere and the draft picks. Philadelphia had been hindered by the NHL's tight salary ceiling from the 2021–22 season, according to general manager Chuck Fletcher, and Gostisbehere's employment made it difficult to keep him.

Despite Gostisbehere's early success in Arizona, with 11 of his team's 48 points in the first 13 games of the 2021–22 season, the Coyotes were not as strong, going 1–11–1 in that time frame. Despite the team's bad track, Gostisbehere was happy with the move, adding that returning to Arizona was "a little bit of a restart for my work" and that it was "a good mix for myself and my family."

Source