Pat Verbeek

Pat Verbeek (born Patrick Martin Verbeek on May 24, 1964) is a Canadian former ice hockey player who played for the New Jersey Devils, Hartford Whalers, New York Rangers, Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings during his career.

He is currently the Assistant General Manager with the Tampa Bay Lightning along with his former Detroit teammate Steve Yzerman, the current General Manager of the Lightning. He previously served as pro scout with the Detroit Red Wings.

Pat's nickname, "The Little Ball of Hate" was given to him in 1995 by Glenn Healy after fellow New York Rangers teammate Ray Ferraro was tagged as the "Big Ball of Hate".

Playing Career
Pat was selected 43rd overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft.

He helped the Devils to their first playoff berth in the 1987–88 season, when he scored what was a club record 46 goals until it was broken in the 2005–06 season by Brian Gionta's 48 goals.

On April 18, 1988, Pat used his skate to cut the leg of Washington Capitals defenseman Rod Langway. The NHL ruled the incident accidental, but the incident added to the Patrick Division rivalry between Washington and New Jersey.

After the 1988–89 season, the Devils traded Pat to the Hartford Whalers on June 17, 1989 in exchange for Sylvain Turgeon. During his first season in Hartford, he led the team in goal scoring and in his second he was named team MVP.

In 1991, he made the All-Star team for the first time and in the following season, he was named the Whalers captain.

On March 23, 1995, Pat was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Glen Featherstone, Michael Stewart and the Rangers' first-round choice (Jean-Sebastien Giguere) in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft & a fourth-round choice Steve Wasylko in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.

After his short stint with the Rangers, he signed with the Dallas Stars as a free agent on August 21, 1996 where he won his first Stanley Cup in 1999.

On November 11, 1999, Pat signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings. While in Detroit, he passed the 1,000-point mark, scored his 500th goal and moved into the top 25 in career goal scoring before returning to Dallas for his final NHL season in 2001–02.

Pat is the only player in NHL history to total over 500 career goals and 2500 career penalty minutes.

Post-Playing Career
After retiring, Pat became a part-time color analyst for television broadcasts of Red Wings' road games.

He left his position as a broadcaster in September of 2006, to become a scout for the Red Wings.

Accolades

 * Member of one Stanley Cup winning team: 1999 with the Dallas Stars
 * Selected to two NHL All-Star Games: 1991 and 1996

Personal Life
Pat has three brothers: Tim, Gerard and Brian, who all played hockey as well.

He and his wife Dianne have five children: Kyle, Stephanie, Kendall, Haley and Georgeanne.

His son, Kyle played hockey for Sacred Heart University and his nephew, Ryan currently plays hockey for the Kingston Frontenacs.

On May 15, 1985, one of Pat's thumbs was cut off by an auger in a farming accident. Thanks to his father and brother his thumb was saved, and after extensive rehabilitation, He returned to hockey and did not miss any regular-season NHL games because of the injury.

Pat also invited future Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane to live with him and his family when Kane was 14 years old & played for Detroit HoneyBaked.