Steven Rice

Steven Rice, born on May 26, 1971, in Kitchener, Ontario, is a former professional ice hockey right winger who made his mark in the National Hockey League during the 1990s. Drafted twentieth overall by the New York Rangers in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, Rice quickly gained recognition for his skills, particularly after captaining Canada to a gold medal at the 1991 World Junior Hockey Championships.

In a significant trade, Rice was sent to the Edmonton Oilers in the summer of 1991 as part of the deal that brought superstar Mark Messier to New York. His early years in Edmonton were challenging, as he spent much of his time with the AHL affiliate. However, he broke through as a full-time NHL player during the 1993-94 season, where he scored seventeen goals, showcasing his potential as a power forward.

After his successful stint with the Oilers, Rice signed a free-agent offer sheet with the Hartford Whalers, joining the team when Edmonton chose not to match the offer. Over three seasons in Hartford, he solidified his role as a reliable player, achieving a career-high twenty-one goals in the 1996-97 season. Unfortunately, his performance took a downturn during the 1997-98 season following the franchise's relocation to Carolina, where he managed only two goals, leading to an early retirement at the age of twenty-seven.

In 2002, Rice made a comeback, playing in the Ontario Hockey Association's Major League Hockey for the Cambridge Hornets until 2006, and briefly for the Brantford Blast before retiring for good. Throughout his NHL career, he played in three hundred twenty-nine games, accumulating sixty-four goals and sixty-one assists for a total of one hundred twenty-five points.