Quick Facts
Biography
Stephen Michael Gionta (born October 9, 1983) is an American ice hockey left wing, currently under contract with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He formerly played with the New Jersey Devils. He is the younger brother of Buffalo Sabres player Brian Gionta, who played for the Devils from 2001 to 2009.
Playing career
He was not drafted by any team, but after graduating from Boston College he signed an amateur tryout agreement with the Albany River Rats, the AHL affiliate of his older brother's team at the time, the New Jersey Devils.
Stephen made his professional debut at the end of the 2005–06 AHL season with the River Rats. Gionta's first ever AHL game was on April 13, 2006 against the Springfield Falcons. Stephen led his team to a 5–3 victory by scoring 3 goals and adding 1 assist. He was named the first star of the game.
For the 2006–07 season, Stephen played for the Devils AHL affiliate, the Lowell Devils. He was on the team with Mike Pandolfo and Jordan Parise, who also have brothers (Jay and Zach, respectively) playing for the Devils, marking arguably the first time that three sets of brothers were playing for the same system simultaneously. This lasted until Brian signed with Montreal in 2009.
Stephen was called up by the New Jersey Devils on November 4, 2010. He made his NHL debut the following day playing in a home game 3–0 shutout loss to the New York Rangers.
Stephen scored his first NHL goal in the New Jersey Devils season finale on April 7, 2012 against Craig Anderson the Ottawa Senators. His goal was the game-winning goal, and he received first star honors of the game.
In his first ever home playoff game on Tuesday April 17, 2012, Stephen scored the second goal of the game for the New Jersey Devils in a 4–3 loss to the Florida Panthers. He would also score the Devils second goal in Game 7 against the Panthers in the Devils 3–2 Double overtime win.
On May 23, 2012, he scored his fourth NHL goal, and third playoff goal, against the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. As he also had an assist, it was his first multi-point playoff game.
On June 29, 2012, Gionta re-signed with the New Jersey Devils on a two-year contract. On July 1, 2014, Gionta re-signed for another two years.
After 11 seasons within the New Jersey Devils, Gionta association with the club ended as he was out of contract to become a free agent. Unsigned over the following summer, Gionta accepted a professional try-out contract to attend the New York Islanders training camp on September 12, 2016. At the end of training camp, he signed a one-year deal with the Islanders' AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. On December 21, 2016, Gionta agreed to a one-year, two-way deal with the Islanders.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1999–00 | Rochester Jr. Americans | NAHL | 41 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | U.S. National Development Team | USDP | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | U.S. National Development Team | USDP | 25 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Boston College | HE | 33 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Boston College | HE | 41 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Boston College | HE | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Boston College | HE | 39 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 3 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Lowell Devils | AHL | 67 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Lowell Devils | AHL | 63 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Lowell Devils | AHL | 52 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Lowell Devils | AHL | 68 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Albany Devils | AHL | 54 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Albany Devils | AHL | 56 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 2012–13 | Albany Devils | AHL | 11 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 48 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 66 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 61 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 82 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 270 | 15 | 35 | 50 | 93 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | United States | WJC18 | 6th | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2013 | United States | WC |  | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
| Junior totals | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||||
| Senior totals | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | ||||