John Vanbiesbrouck (born September 4, 1963), nicknamed "the Beezer" and "JVB", is an American professional ice hockey executive and former player. As a goaltender, he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. Vanbiesbrouck played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1981 to 2002 for the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils. He began his career playing major junior hockey for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Following a successful season with the Greyhounds, he was drafted by the New York Rangers in the fourth round, 72nd overall, in the 1981 NHL Draft. After his junior career ended, he played for the Rangers minor league affiliate, the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League. Despite the team's near collapses due to financial concerns, Vanbiesbrouck led the Oilers to a league championship and shared the league's MVP honors.
Vanbiesbrouck began playing full-time with the Rangers in the 1984–85 season. He won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender and was named a First Team NHL All-Star the following season. After playing in parts of 11 seasons with the Rangers, he was selected in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft by the Florida Panthers. In Florida, Vanbiesbrouck was a three-time All-Star and led the Panthers to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance, in 1996. While in Florida, he recorded his 300th career victory, becoming the 15th goaltender and only the second American goalie in NHL history to do so. During his career, Vanbiesbrouck compiled a record of 374 wins, 346 losses, 119 ties and 40 shutouts, making him, at the time, the winningest American-born goaltender, and also at the time, tying Frank Brimsek for most career shutouts by an American-born goaltender. Both records have since been broken by Ryan Miller and Jonathan Quick.
Internationally, Vanbiesbrouck has represented the United States on several occasions. He played in the 1982 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships as well as four IIHF World Championships. He was named to the second All-Star team at the 1985 World Ice Hockey Championships. He also played in two Canada Cup tournaments, registering the lowest goals against average (GAA) in 1987 and was a back-up goaltender during the Americans' second-place finish in 1991. He represented Team USA for the final time in 1998, serving as the back-up on the Olympic ice hockey team.
Following his playing career, he took over as the head coach and general manager of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. However, after using a racial slur referencing team captain Trevor Daley, he resigned. Vanbiesbrouck worked as a broadcaster and in hockey-related businesses. In 2013, Vanbiesbrouck was named the general manager of the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the Tier I junior United States Hockey League (USHL). In 2018, he was hired by USA Hockey as the assistant executive director of hockey operations and would be involved with selecting players for the US national teams. In late 2021 Vanbiesbrouck was named general manager of the U.S. Olympics Men's hockey team.
Early life Vanbiesbrouck was born in Detroit, Michigan, as the youngest of three boys born to a Belgian immigrant bricklayer, Robert Vanbiesbrouck, and an Italian immigrant, Sara. He grew up with two older brothers; the oldest, Frank, who was also a goaltender in youth hockey, inspired Vanbiesbrouck to play goaltender. John later noted that he learned more about goaltending just from watching Frank than any coaching could, adding that no one ever helped him more to become the player he was.
Playing career
Junior and minor leagues
While playing midget level hockey, Vanbiesbrouck joined the Little Caesars hockey club, a minor ice hockey team in Detroit. During a tournament in Toronto, Vanbiesbrouck lost his jersey and was forced to wear a teammate's uniform. He played well in the tournament with junior scouts in attendance. Since Vanbiesbrouck wore another player's jersey, he went undrafted in the midget draft, while the player whose jersey he wore was drafted in the fourth round. After being unclaimed in the draft, Vanbiesbrouck was offered a try-out with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, members of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL), which later became the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). At the try-out, he made the team over several other players, and became the starting goaltender for the Greyhounds. Vanbiesbrouck played in 56 games and compiled a 31–16–1 record during his first season in Sault Ste. Marie. Following the 1980–81 season, he was drafted in the fourth round, 72nd overall, of the NHL Draft by the New York Rangers.
On December 5, 1981, just months after being drafted, Vanbiesbrouck made his professional debut with the Rangers as an emergency call-up. He helped defeat the Colorado Rockies 2–1. Despite only allowing one goal and earning his first NHL win, the Rangers decided to return him to Sault Ste. Marie, a move intended to aid his development. He finished the year with a 12–12–2 record for the Greyhounds and made his first international appearance, representing the United States at the 1982 World Junior Championships. He played one more season for the Greyhounds, playing 62 games winning 39 of them and being named to OHL second All-Star team.
Following his career with the Greyhounds, Vanbiesbrouck moved on to the minor leagues, joining the Central Hockey League's (CHL) Tulsa Oilers. During the 1983–84 season, his first with the Oilers, the ownership group was unable to sustain the team. They went bankrupt, were taken over by the league, and forced to play their remaining games on the road. After losing their home rink the team was housed in Denver, Colorado where they shared a practice facility with the University of Denver and fellow CHL team the Colorado Flames. The lack of ice time often forced the Oilers to practice in a shopping mall where they were not allowed to shoot pucks. For extra practice, Vanbiesbrouck had tennis balls hit at him in the parking lot. Despite all the adversity, the Oilers won the Adams Cup as league champions. Meanwhile, Vanbiesbrouck won the Terry Sawchuk Award, with back-up Ron Scott, for fewest goals against in the league and shared CHL MVP honors with Bruce Affleck by winning the Tommy Ivan Trophy.
New York Rangers
Vanbiesbrouck made the Rangers full-time in the 1984–85 season, playing in 42 games and posted a 4.20 goals against average (GAA). The following year, Vanbiesbrouck played in 61 games, winning a career high 31. The 31 victories accounted for all but five of the Rangers' regular season total. His success continued over to the post-season, where he led the Rangers to an upset over the Philadelphia Flyers in the opening round. He then followed it by defeating a Washington Capitals team that registered 107 points in the regular season. The Rangers lost in the Conference Finals to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. In the off-season, Vanbiesbrouck was named a First Team NHL All-Star, won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender, and signed a new three-year contract with the Rangers. He was unable to repeat his success in the next season, with 18 wins and 20 losses in 50 games.
Prior to the 1987–88 season, Vanbiesbrouck was hit by a puck under his mask in practice, which caused a non-displaced fracture of his lower jaw and a broken tooth. Fortunately for him, the injury did not require his jaw to be wired shut, and he was able to return to practice the next day. He showed no ill effects from the injury, playing in 56 games, winning 27. On June 13, 1988 Vanbiesbrouck suffered nerve damage to his left wrist after a glass coffee table he was sitting on collapsed and broken glass lacerated his ulnar nerve and three tendons. He was sitting on the table assembling video equipment in anticipation of the birth of his first child. The glass broke beneath him, and as he braced for the fall, his wrist was cut by the glass. Vanbiesbrouck required five hours of microsurgery to remove glass from his wrist and repair the nerve and tendon damage. He was initially expected to miss four-to-six months, but he recovered in time to attend the Rangers pre-season training camp just three months later. Again he played in 56 games, and increased his win total to 28.
Vanbiesbrouck began the 1989–90 season as the Rangers' starting goaltender, but after the Rangers struggled in early January, he began to share the duties with the recently called-up Mike Richter. During the playoffs, head coach Roger Neilson employed a rotation system between the two goaltenders. The Rangers won their first round match-up against the New York Islanders, but lost to the Washington Capitals in the second round. For his part, Vanbiesbrouck posted a 2–3 record with a 3.02 GAA and a .902 save percentage.
The following season, the two goaltenders formed the best duo in the NHL. The duo remained together even after Vanbiesbrouck had a chance to leave via free agency in 1992. A new collective bargaining agreement established him as a group 2 free agent, allowing the Rangers to match any offer from another team or to claim draft choices as compensation if he were to sign with another team. After not receiving much interest from other clubs, Vanbiesbrouck re-signed with the Rangers, signing a two-year deal with an option for the third averaging $1 million per season. At the end of the 1992–93 season, the decision was made to trade Vanbiesbrouck. With the upcoming expansion draft, the Rangers would only be able to protect one goaltender. Faced with the prospect of losing one of their two goaltenders, the Rangers decided to protect Richter and traded the "equally talented" but older Vanbiesbrouck to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for future considerations (ultimately, Doug Lidster).
Florida Panthers