John Vanbiesbrouck

John Vanbiesbrouck
Born	September 4, 1963 (1963-09-04) Detroit, Michigan
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
Played for	New York Rangers Florida Panthers Philadelphia Flyers New York Islanders New Jersey Devils
National team	United States
NHL Draft	72nd overall, 1981 New York Rangers
Playing career	1981–2002

John Vanbiesbrouck (born September 4, 1963) is an American professional ice hockey executive and former goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils.

He worked as a broadcaster and in hockey-related businesses. In 2013, he was named the general manager of the United States Hockey League's Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Coaching Career

After retiring from the NHL, John took over as the head coach and director of hockey operations for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. In February 2003, the team had a record of 18-24-4-3.

A month later on March 7, 2003, the Greyhounds lost 6–1 to the Guelph Storm. After the game, John used a racial slur in expressing his anger with Trevor Daley (now with the Pittsburgh Penguins), a black player and Greyhounds' team captain at the time to two of Daley's white teammates.

Daley was told of the remarks by his teammates and was advised to leave the team by his agent Bobby Orr. He returned home to Toronto and informed the commissioner of the OHL about the remarks. The day after Daley left the team, John resigned his positions as the coach & general manager and sold his ownership stake in the team.

In his apology, John stated:

"I used the 'N' word instead of calling him Trevor, I used it just not thinking. It's a mistake and consequences have to be paid by me, I've embarrassed everybody and my family by this one comment. It's not what they represent and it's not what the Sault Greyhounds organization represents."

He added, "I told Trev this is an old wound with me, I grew up with it. I'm as sorry as anybody that it's stuck with me."

Daley returned to the team three days after leaving, but John would never returned to a coaching position.

Career Statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1980–81	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL		56	31	16	1	2941	203	0	4.14	—
1981–82	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL		31	12	12	2	1686	102	0	3.62	—
1981–82	New York Rangers	NHL		1	1	0	0	60	1	0	1.00	.967
1982–83	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL		62	39	21	1	3471	209	0	3.61	—
1983–84	Tulsa Oilers	CHL		37	20	13	2	2153	124	3	3.46	—
1983–84	New York Rangers	NHL		3	2	1	0	179	10	0	3.33	.882
1984–85	New York Rangers	NHL		42	12	24	3	2371	166	1	4.20	.877
1985–86	New York Rangers	NHL		61	31	21	5	3322	184	3	3.32	.887
1986–87	New York Rangers	NHL		50	18	20	5	2652	161	0	3.64	.882
1987–88	New York Rangers	NHL		56	27	22	7	3315	187	2	3.38	.890
1988–89	New York Rangers	NHL		56	28	21	4	3207	197	0	3.69	.881
1989–90	New York Rangers	NHL		47	19	19	7	2734	154	1	3.38	.887
1990–91	New York Rangers	NHL		40	15	18	6	2257	126	3	3.35	.891
1991–92	New York Rangers	NHL		45	27	13	3	2526	120	2	2.85	.910
1992–93	New York Rangers	NHL		48	20	18	7	2757	152	4	3.31	.900
1993–94	Florida Panthers	NHL		57	21	25	11	3440	145	1	2.53	.924
1994–95	Florida Panthers	NHL		37	14	15	4	2087	86	4	2.47	.914
1995–96	Florida Panthers	NHL		57	26	20	7	3178	142	2	2.68	.904
1996–97	Florida Panthers	NHL		57	27	19	10	3347	128	2	2.29	.919
1997–98	Florida Panthers	NHL		60	18	29	11	3451	165	4	2.87	.899
1998–99	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		62	27	18	15	3712	135	6	2.18	.902
1999–00	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		50	25	15	9	2950	108	3	2.20	.906
2000–01	New York Islanders	NHL		44	10	25	5	2390	120	1	3.01	.898
2000–01	New Jersey Devils	NHL		4	4	0	0	240	6	1	1.50	.935
2001–02	New Jersey Devils	NHL		5	2	3	0	300	10	0	2.00	.915
NHL totals				882	374	346	119	50,475	2503	40	2.98	.899

Post season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1980–81	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL		11	3	3	457	24	1	3.15	—
1981–82	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL		7	1	4	276	20	0	4.35	—
1982–83	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL		16	7	6	944	56	1	3.56	—
1983–84	Tulsa Oilers	CHL		4	4	0	240	10	0	2.50	—
1983–84	New York Rangers	NHL		1	0	0	1	0	0	0.00	.000
1984–85	New York Rangers	NHL		1	0	0	20	0	0	0.00	1.000
1985–86	New York Rangers	NHL		16	8	8	897	49	1	3.38	.897
1986–87	New York Rangers	NHL		4	1	3	195	11	1	3.38	.900
1988–89	New York Rangers	NHL		2	0	1	107	6	0	3.37	.889
1989–90	New York Rangers	NHL		6	2	3	298	15	0	3.02	.902
1990–91	New York Rangers	NHL		1	0	0	52	1	0	1.16	.955
1991–92	New York Rangers	NHL		7	2	5	368	23	0	3.75	.872
1995–96	Florida Panthers	NHL		22	12	10	1332	50	1	2.25	.932
1996–97	Florida Panthers	NHL		5	1	4	328	13	1	2.38	.929
1998–99	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		6	2	4	369	9	1	1.46	.938
NHL totals				71	28	38	3965	177	5	2.68	.915

International

Year	Team	Event			GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1982	United States	WJC			5	1	3	0	200	19	0	5.70
1983	United States	WJC			5	—	—	0	280	17	0	3.64
1985	United States	WC			9	6	3	0	492	46	0	5.64
1987	United States	WC			7	2	5	0	419	28	0	4.01
1987	United States	Can-Cup			4	2	2	0	240	9	0	2.00
1989	United States	WC			5	1	2	1	265	20	0	4.53
1991	United States	WC			10	3	4	2	526	41	0	4.67
1991	United States	Can-Cup			1	1	0	0	60	3	0	3.00
1998	United States	Oly			1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
Junior int'l totals					10	1	3	0	480	36	0	4.50
Senior int'l totals					37	15	16	3	2003	147	0	4.40

International Play

Medal record
Competitor for United States
Men's Ice hockey
Canada Cup
Silver	1991 Canada

John made his international debut in 1982 representing the United States at the World Junior Championship. In five games, he posted a 1–3–0 record with a 5.70 GAA, as the Americans finished in sixth place.

The next year, he again participated in the World Junior Championship. He appeared in five games and lowered his GAA to 3.64, helping the American team improve to fifth place.

In 1985, John played for Team USA at the IIHF World Championships where he posted a 6–3–0 record, defeating three of three top ranked teams in the world (Canada, Czech Republic and Sweden). He later noted that those three victories gave him the confidence to be successful at the NHL level.

The Americans were the second seed following the preliminary round, but they failed to win a single game in the championship round and finished the tournament in fourth place. Individually Vanbiesbrouck was named to the Second All-Star team.

Two years later he played in his second World Championship. He was unable to duplicate his prior success posting a 2–5–0 record, as Team USA finished in seventh place one position away from being relegated to Division I.

During 1987, John also participated in the Canada Cup, registering a 2–2–0 record with a 2.25 GAA. He registered the lowest GAA in the tournament, but the United States finished in fifth place.

He played in two more World Championships in 1989 and 1991 going 1–2–1 and 3–4–2 respectively, as the US improved to sixth place in 1989 and finished just short of winning a medal in 1991 placing fourth.

John was named to the Canada Cup team in 1991, but spent the tournament as Mike Richter's back-up. He played only one game in the tournament defeating Finland 4–3. The United States finished the Canada Cup in second place losing the best of three championship to Canada 2–0.

He was named to the 1996 World Cup of Hockey team, but missed the Americans' victory due to a small cartilage tear in his right shoulder that required off-season surgery to repair.

Prior to the 1998 Winter Olympics, an announcement was made that the NHL would shut down for two and a half weeks to allow its players to participate in the international tournament for the first time.

John was named to the United States team, but spent the majority of the tournament on the bench, playing in one game for only one minute. As a team, the Americans finished in a "disappointing" sixth place.

Accolades

• F. W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy (OHL – best rookie goals against average) winner in 1981
• Selected to the OHL Second All-Star team in 1983
• Selected to the CHL First All-Star Team in 1984
• Terry Sawchuk Trophy winner in 1984 (shared with Ron Scott)
• Tommy Ivan Trophy (CHL Most valuable Player) winner in 1984 (shared with Bruce Affleck).
• Selected to the NHL First All-Star Team in 1986
• Vezina Trophy Winner in 1986.
• Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award winner in 1990 (shared with Kelly Kisio).
• Selected to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1994
• Played in 1994, 1996, and 1997 NHL All-Star Games
• Became the 15th, and only the 2nd American, goaltender in NHL history to record 300 career wins
• Inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in October 2007
• Ranked #31 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book "100 Ranger Greats"
• Appears on the NHL 97 cover

Records

• Holds New York Rangers all-time franchise record for most assists in a single season by a goaltender (5) (shared)
• Holds New York Rangers all-time franchise record for most career assists by a goaltender (25)
• Holds NHL all-time record for most Victories among American born goaltenders (374)

Playing Style

John was a hybrid goaltender who combined the butterfly style and the more traditional stand-up style. He was strong at playing his angles and challenged shooters well.

Small for a goaltender, standing only 5' 8", he relied on his quickness to regain his feet after making saves or to make additional saves in goalmouth scrambles.

John was aggressive when it came to playing the puck which helped him tie the Rangers single season record for assists by a goaltender and set the Rangers career record as well.

Broadcasting & Management Career

After leaving the Greyhounds, John spent some time as a broadcaster, working as an analyst for Versus network as well as hockey broadcasts on HDNet.

In 2010, he formed the broadcast team for Westwood One's radio coverage of the Winter Olympic hockey games along with Steve Goldstein.

In 2013, John was named the general manager and director of hockey operations for the United States Hockey League's (USHL) Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Personal Life

John grew up as the youngest of three brothers.

His oldest brother, Frank, was a goaltender who played three seasons of junior-A hockey from 1974 until 1977. His other brother, Julian played left wing for the University of Michigan and briefly played in the International Hockey League as a member of the Toledo Goaldiggers.

When John was with the Rangers, his brother Frank showed signs of severe depression and suicidal tendencies. During this time, he attempted to reach out to Frank, occasionally flying separately from the team on road trips to check in on his brother and talked to him every day, but despite his efforts, Frank committed suicide in 1993.

John called Frank's death "devastating" and that he "felt very empty" when he died, adding that his Christian faith and the Bible helped him through the difficult time.

While playing with the Flyers, John and his family lived in Moorestown Township, New Jersey. He and his wife, Rosalinde, have four sons: Ian, Ben, Nicholas and Daniel. Ian was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) when he was 5 years old.

As a result, he started the Vanbiesbrouck Foundation for children with Attention Deficit Disorder to increase awareness of and raise money for children with ADD, but when he left Florida via free agency, the foundation was dissolved and the mission of the program went into an information service based in South Florida.

John is also the celebrity sponsor of a golf event in support of "The Alan T. Brown Foundation to Cure Paralysis". He returned to his home state of Michigan following his playing days.