Shane Churla

Shane Churla was born on June 24, 1965 in Fernie, British Columbia. He played his major-junior hockey with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The 6'1" right winger provided toughness for the team and had over 500 career penalty minutes. In 1985 amateur entry draft, the Hartford Whalers drafted Churla in the 6th round, 110th overall. Shane spent the first four years of his pro-hockey career shuffling between Hartford and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Binghamton Whalers.

In January of 1988, Shane Churla was traded by the Whalers along with defenseman Dana Murzyn to the Calgary Flames for Neil Sheehy, Carey Wilson and Lane MacDonald. Shane spent about one year within the Flames organization, also spending some time with the Salt-Lake Golden Eagles of the International Hockey League (IHL). In March 1989 he was on the move again, this time heading south with Perry Berezan to the Minnesota North Stars for Brian MacLellan and a draft pick which the Flames used to select Robert Reichel. It was in Minnesota that Shane Churla blossomed as a hockey enforcer. Paired up for a while with fellow tough guy Basil McRae, Churla was a very effective enforcer throughout the late 1980s to mid 1990s.

In 1991 he was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the expansion draft, but was traded back to the North Stars for Kelly Kisio. He moved with the team when they relocated to Dallas. In 1996 he was on the move again, sent to the Los Angeles Kings along with Doug Zmolek for young defenseman Darryl Sydor. Churla was in LA for a couple of months before being shipped off to the New York Rangers in a traded that also included Jari Kurri and Marty McSorley for Mattias Norstrom, Ian Laperriere, Ray Ferraro and Nathan Lafayette. By the 1996 season, Shane was reaching the end of his playing career. He suffered some facial injuries doing what he did best, but still never walked away from a good fight. After retiring, Shane Churla has scouted for the Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes.

Shane Churla's Career Statistics

Year      Team              League  GP   G   A   Pts   Pim
1983-84 Medicine Hat Tigers   WHL   48   3   7    10   115
1984-85 Medicine Hat Tigers   WHL   70  14  20    34   370
1985-86 Binghamton Whalers    AHL   52   4  10    14   306
1986-87 Binghamton Whalers    AHL   24   1   5     6   249
1986-87 Hartford Whalers      NHL   20   0   1     1    78
1987-88 Binghamton Whalers    AHL   25   5   8    13   168
1987-88 Hartford Whalers      NHL    2   0   0     0    14
1987-88 Calgary Flames        NHL   29   1   5     6   132
1988-89 S.L. Golden Eagles    IHL   32   3  13    16   278
1988-89 Calgary Flames        NHL    5   0   0     0    25
1988-89 Minnesota North Stars NHL   13   1   0     1    54
1989-90 Minnesota North Stars NHL   53   2   3     5   292
1990-91 Minnesota North Stars NHL   40   2   2     4   286
1991-92 Minnesota North Stars NHL   57   4   1     5   278
1992-93 Minnesota North Stars NHL   73   5  16    21   286
1993-94 Dallas Stars          NHL   69   6   7    13   333
1994-95 Dallas Stars          NHL   27   1   3     4   186
1995-96 Dallas Stars          NHL   34   3   4     7   168
1995-96 Los Angeles Kings     NHL   11   1   2     3    37
1995-96 New York Rangers      NHL   10   0   0     0    26
1996-97 New York Rangers      NHL   45   0   1     1   106
NHL Totals                         488  26  45    71  2301

Shane Churla's Hockey Goon Stat - 3.72

Shane Churla Pictures