Born November 25th, 1962 in Peterborough Ontario, Shannon Hope was to become one of the most decorated players of the modern era in British ice hockey.
It was 1984 when Hope first arrived in Britain, ironically to play for and be instrumental in helping the Peterborough Pirates to gain promotion from Division One to the Heineken Premier Division.
Hope returned to Canada for two years before John Lawless, who had been with him as a Pirate, convinced him to join the one-year old Cardiff Devils team - the year being 1987. Shannon hope would wear the red and white colours of the Devils for the next eleven seasons, during which time he and the club would win just about every honour available to them. Four league titles, three championship playoffs and a Benson & Hedges Cup all went to the Welsh capital, with Shannon Hope and future Hall-of-Famer himself, Lawless being major factors in those heady days.
International duty came along in 1992, when Hope made his debut for Great Britain in the Pool C world championship tournament staged on Humberside, and he was to remain a key member of the team until his retirement at the end of the 1997/98 season. During that period, GB gained successive promotions, reaching the dizzy heights of Pool A in 1994, the tournament staged in Bolzano, Italy. Sadly, GB were relegated, however the following year in Pool B saw Hope appointed captain of the national team, a post he was to proudly hold until his final appearance in Slovenia, 1998. Despite his qualities of leadership shown with the national team, Shannon Hope was never given the captaincy of the Cardiff Devils.
In his prime, Shannon Hope was one of the most difficult of defencemen to beat, though given the opportunity, he loved nothing more than to carry the puck forward deep into the opposition zone.
After hanging up his skates in 1998, Shannon Hope has remained heavily involved in ice hockey as firstly Marketing Manager for the Cardiff Devils and ever increasingly in running his own company, Shinedog, which designs and markets a wide range of sports and leisure wear.
His statistical record in domestic hockey for both Peterborough and Cardiff reads:- GP 560 Goals 278 Ass 659 Pts 937 PIM 1207
For Great Britain, he recorded figures of: GP 53 Gls 1 Ass 8 Pts 9 PIM 88
Compiled with research, provided by Anthony Beer - March 1999.
Read More
