Vanbiesbrouck To Enter U.S. Hockey Hall Of Fame
Florida Panthers
Aug 15, 2007, 5:04 PM EDT
By Dave Joseph for floridapanthers.com
Goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, who helped lead the Panthers to the 1996 Stanley Cup finals, was one of four players announced Wednesday who will be enshrined come October into the US Hockey Hall of Fame.
Vanbiesbrouck, a native of Detroit, Mich., will be inducted Oct. 12 along with Bobby Carpenter, Aaron Broten and the late John MacInnis as a member of the Class of 2007 during a dinner ceremony at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, ND.
“It’s a truly a humbling time,” Vanbiesbrouck said Wednesday during a conference call.
Vanbiesbrouck’s 20-year, NHL career (1982-2002) represents the longest tenure for an American-developed goaltender in NHL history. In total, he played in 882 games and recorded 374 wins, the most by any American-born goalie.
During his five seasons with the Panthers, Vanbiesbrouck, selected in the Expansion Draft, played in 268 games, winning 106. During the 1995-96 season, Vanbiesbrouck was 26-20-7 with a 2.68 goals against average. He was 12-10 in the playoffs with a 2.25 goals against average.
It was early during the 1995-96 season that Vanbiesbrouck used the term ‘Rat Trick’ to describe teammate Scott Mellanby scoring two goals in a game after killing a rat in the Panther dressing room. It officially kicked off the Panthers’ ‘Year of the Rat.’
>>OK, I've got to say that "the Beezer" is one of my all time favorites. Seems to be a "heck" of a nice guy and by far the best goaltender the Panthers have ever had. Wish we had a guy like this back in the net this season.
I'm still hoping for the best this season. At least we'll have "good eats" and a the club lifestyle as we enjoy the half season of games.
Go Panthers!!! (I hate the new "go cats")
-Tick2
2 comments:
So like I was tellin ya, "go cats" looks like the Kentucky wildcats!
I know the guy who wrote this -- we did some work for him at his house in Plantation a few years ago. Cool guy. Anyway, I'm glad you wrote a tribute to Beezer and not Belfour. After that chicken dance against the Hurricanes in that last game, I thought people were going to start throwing beer on the ice a la the Rangers at the Garden. What a douche.
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