Chris Kontos

Chris Kontos
Position	Left Wing
Shoots	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (89 kg)
Teams	New York Rangers Pittsburgh Penguins Los Angeles Kings Tampa Bay Lightning
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1963-12-10)December 10, 1963, Toronto, ON, CAN
NHL Draft	15th overall, 1982 New York Rangers
Pro Career	1982 – 1998

Chris Kontos (born December 10, 1963 in Toronto, Ontario) is a former National Hockey League forward who is best known for his surprising 9 goals in 11 playoff games while he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings and his shocking franchise opening night 4 goal performance (with the Tampa Bay Lightning) against that season's Vezina Trophy winner Ed Belfour.

During the 1981–82 OHL season he scored 42 goals, and after the season was drafted with the 15th selection in the first round of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. He split his time in both the NHL and minor leagues in his first two seasons. Kontos spent the first half of 1985–86 playing in Finland before returning to finish the year in the AHL. On January 21, 1987 Chris was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Ron Duguay, finishing his tenure with the Rangers with 38 points in 78 games. He would score 25 points in 67 games with the Penguins over two seasons before being dealt to the Los Angeles Kings on February 5, 1988.

He played only six games for the Kings in 87–88 tallying 12 points, and scored a goal in his first NHL playoffs. The following year, after returning from playing in Switzerland he scored three points in seven games, and his 9 playoff goals would help the Kings advance to the second round. He played only 11 games (6 regular season, 5 playoff) with Los Angeles after the 1988–89 playoff run, and decided to join the Canadian National Team in 1991–92.

When the Tampa Bay Lightning started play in 1992–93, Kontos signed on as a free agent. His surprising 4 goal-performance led the upstart Tampa Bay Lightning to a 7–3 shocker of the Chicago Blackhawks on October 7, 1992. He scored 27 goals in 66 games, second only to Brian Bradley. His 4 goals in one game is still a team record. He would return to the National Team in 93–94, help Canada win a silver medal at the 1994 Olympics, and played in Sweden for(Skellefteå AIK 94-95), the IHL and Germany before retiring in 1998.

References

• Chris Kontos's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Chris Kontos's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database