Tom Barrasso

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Thomas Patrick Barrasso (born March 31, 1965) was an American Professional Hockey Goaltender who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

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[edit] Playing career

Tom Barrasso grew up in the town of Acton, Massachusetts, playing ice hockey on an outdoor rink. He started playing goalie when he was only 4 years old and by the time he was a teenager, Barrasso was considered one of the most promising American goaltending prospects of all time. He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres with the 5th overall pick in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, being the highest drafted goalie ever until Roberto Luongo was taken 4th overall in 1997. Skipping a college career he went straight from High School to the NHL where he exceeded all expectations. Barrasso won the Calder Trophy and Vezina Trophy in his first season, becoming just the third player to win both awards in the same year. Nicknamed "Tomcat", he next made his debut for Team USA at the 1984 Canada Cup at only 19 years of age. He also played at the 1986 Ice Hockey World Championship and the 1987 Canada Cup.

In 1988, the Sabres traded Barrasso to the Pittsburgh Penguins where he won two Stanley Cups, in 1991 and 1992. It was his outstanding play in these Cup runs that established him as a "money goalie", someone who could deliver wins when it counted the most. In the next years, Barrasso almost entirely missed two seasons, the 1994-95 NHL season and the 1996-97 NHL season with injuries but came back with good performances in the next years. In 1997 he became the first American goaltender to record 300 NHL wins. A fiercely proud competitor, in his later seasons in Pittsburgh he developed a strained relationship with the local media whom he felt were disrespectful of him and his family. He eventually refused to speak with the media at all which tarnished his public image in Pittsburgh.

In March 2000, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators. A notable incident that happened was after the Senators were defeated in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, He told a Hockey Night in Canada reporter "I don't give a shit about what all of you think!!". After making that statement, he spent the 2000-01 season out of hockey and returned with the Carolina Hurricanes in time for the 2001-02 season. Due to nagging injuries Barrasso never regained his old status as an NHL star. He did however enjoy some late international success, winning Silver at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

In his last few seasons he briefly played for several teams, the Ottawa Senators, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues until retiring from ice hockey in 2003. He signed a pro forma contract with Pittsburgh on the day he declared retirement so he could leave hockey as a Penguin.

[edit] Awards & Achievements

[edit] Records

  • most NHL wins by a U.S.-born goaltender - 369
  • most NHL assists by a goaltender - 48
  • most NHL points by a goaltender - 48

[edit] Career Statistics

[edit] International Play

Barrasso won an Olympic silver medal for his role on the United States Men's Ice Hockey Team.

[edit] Trivia

Barrasso was the only member of the Pittsburgh Penguins to not allow the makers of the 1995 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Sudden Death to use his name in the film.

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Steve Larmer		 Winner of the Calder Trophy
1984		 Succeeded by:
Mario Lemieux
Preceded by:
Pete Peeters		 Winner of the Vezina Trophy
1984		 Succeeded by:
Pelle Lindbergh
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