John Vanbiesbrouck (born September 4, 1963), nicknamed "the Beezer" and "JVB", is an American professional ice hockey executive and former player.
He won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender and was named a First Team NHL All-Star the following season.
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.
In 2013, Vanbiesbrouck was named the general manager of the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the Tier I junior United States Hockey League (USHL).
[9] 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.
[12] The lack of ice time often forced the Oilers to practice in a shopping mall where they were not allowed to shoot pucks.
[12] 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.
[11] Vanbiesbrouck made the Rangers full-time in the 1984–85 season, playing in 42 games and posted a 4.20 goals against average (GAA).
[16] In the off-season, Vanbiesbrouck was named a First Team NHL All-Star, won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender,[11] and signed a new three-year contract with the Rangers.
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.
[19] Vanbiesbrouck required five hours of microsurgery to remove glass from his wrist and repair the nerve and tendon damage.
[24][25] 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.
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).
[32] At the completion of his first season in Florida, he played in 57 games posting a 21–25–11 record, registering a 2.53 GAA, and his career best save percentage of .924[10] ranked him second in the league.
[41] During the series, Vanbiesbrouck held the Flyers scoreless for 116:46 straight minutes as Florida upset Philadelphia, winning four games to two.
[40] In the Conference Finals, the Panthers were again huge underdogs to the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that featured the league's two top scorers in Mario Lemieux and Jaromír Jágr.
[38] In Game 7, Vanbiesbrouck made 39 saves in a 3–1 Panthers victory, winning the Eastern Conference and putting them in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Early in the period, a long shot from Colorado's Uwe Krupp eluded Vanbiesbrouck, giving the Avalanche a 1–0 win and the Stanley Cup.
Vanbiesbrouck made 55 saves in the loss and even though his team was swept in the finals, he still finished third in voting for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
[45] By season's end, Vanbiesbrouck finished in the top ten in the NHL for save percentage (6), GAA (5) and tied for 11 in wins (27).
New Jersey made the deal with the intent to give starting goaltender Martin Brodeur some rest prior to the playoffs.
[67] NHL named him the best player to wear jersey number 34,[68] and on October 12, 2007, Vanbiesbrouck was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
Vanbiesbrouck posted a 6–3–0 record, defeating three of three top ranked teams in the world (Canada, Czech Republic and Sweden).
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.
[82] 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.
[4] Prior to the 1998 Winter Olympics, an announcement was made that NHL would shut down for two and a half weeks to allow its players to participate in the international tournament for the first time.
[83] Vanbiesbrouck 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.
[94] In 2010, Vanbiesbrouck, along with Steve Goldstein, formed the broadcast team for Westwood One's radio coverage of the Winter Olympic hockey games.
[4][6] During this time, John attempted to reach out to Frank, occasionally flying separately from the team on road trips to check in on his brother, and talking to him every day.
[100] Vanbiesbrouck is also the celebrity sponsor of a golf event in support of The Alan T. Brown Foundation to Cure Paralysis.