Sports
John Vanbiesbrouck
born 1963 · ice hockey goaltender
Detroit-born goaltender, son of Belgian and Italian immigrants, who won the Vezina Trophy in 1986 and took the Florida Panthers to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 63- Also known as
- The Beezer · JVB
- Detroit years
- 1963–1980
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Vanbiesbrouck was born in Detroit, the youngest of three sons of a Belgian immigrant bricklayer and an Italian immigrant mother, and he learned the game in the city's strong youth-hockey system, playing midget hockey for the Little Caesars club sponsored by Mike Ilitch's pizza company. He left for major junior hockey with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and was drafted by the New York Rangers in 1981. With the Rangers he won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goaltender in 1986. Taken by the expansion Florida Panthers in 1993, he carried the young team to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final in one of the great goaltending runs of the decade. He retired in 2002 with 374 wins, then a record for an American-born goalie, and was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.
Highlights
- Born in Detroit; played youth hockey for the Little Caesars club
- Vezina Trophy, 1986
- Led the Florida Panthers to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final
- 374 NHL wins, retiring in 2002
- U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, 2007