Tom Barrasso

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size = 200px
position = Goaltender
played_for = "NHL"
Buffalo Sabres
Pittsburgh Penguins
Ottawa Senators
Carolina Hurricanes
Toronto Maple Leafs
St. Louis Blues
"AHL"
Rochester Americans
caught = Right
height_ft = 6
height_in = 3
weight_lb = 210
nationality = USA
birth_date = Birth date and age|1965|3|31|mf=y
birth_place = Boston, MA, U.S.
draft = 5^th overall
draft_year = 1983
draft_team = Buffalo Sabres
career_start = 1983
career_end = 2003

Thomas Patrick Barrasso (born March 31, 1965 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a retired American professional ice hockey goaltender who played 18 seasons for the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, and the only goalie to ever play in the NHL directly from high school, without having played major junior or college hockey first. He is considered the best goaltender in Penguins franchise history due to the length of his career and his critical role in backstopping the team to successive Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992. He currently serves as the goaltending coach and director of goaltending development for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Playing career

Tom Barrasso grew up in the town of Burlington, 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, playing in net for Acton-Boxborough high school with fellow NHL player Jeff Norton, 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, becoming 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. At the time of his debut with the Sabres on October 5, 1983, less than six months after graduating from high school, Barrasso was the youngest goaltender to play and win a game in the NHL since Harry Lumley nearly forty years prior. He won the Calder Trophy and Vezina Trophy in his first season, becoming just the third player to win both awards in the same year.

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 following 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.

In March 2000, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators for Ron Tugnutt and Janne Laukkanen. He spent the 2000–01 season out of hockey and returned with the Carolina Hurricanes in time for the 2001–02 season. He enjoyed 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.

Barrasso now serves as the goaltender coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. He lives with his wife Megan, as well as his three daughters, Ashley, Kelsey, and Mallory. Barrasso founded the Ashley Barrasso Cancer Research Fund during the early 1990s after his daughter survived a bout with neuroblastoma cancer.

Awards and achievements

* 1984 - Calder Trophy (Top rookie in NHL)
* 1984 - Vezina Trophy (Top goaltender in NHL)
* 1984 - NHL First All-Star Team
* 1985 - NHL Second All-Star Team
* 1985 - William M. Jennings Trophy (Team with fewest goals allowed - shared with Bob Sauve)
* 1985 - Played in NHL All-Star Game
* 1991 - Stanley Cup Champion (Pittsburgh Penguins)
* 1992 - Stanley Cup Champion (Pittsburgh Penguins)
* 1993 - NHL Second All-Star Team
* 2002 - Olympic ice hockey silver medalist (Team USA)
* 2007 - Inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame

Records

* Second most NHL wins by a U.S.-born goaltender - 369
* Most NHL assists by a goaltender - 48
* Most NHL points by a goaltender - 48
* Most consecutive NHL playoff wins - 14 (May 9, 1992 to April 22, 1993)
* Tied for most consecutive wins in one NHL playoff season - 11 in 1992
* Tied for most wins in one NHL playoff season - 16 (1992)

Career statistics

"Numbers in bold indicate league leader; italics indicate a tie for the lead"

International play

Barrasso won an Olympic silver medal as part of the U.S. national men's ice hockey team at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. He played in one game, an 8–1 victory over Belarus on February 18.

Barrasso had originally intended to play for the 1984 U.S. Olympic team in Sarajevo, but chose to begin his professional career instead and left the team in September 1983 to sign with the Sabres. He made his debut for Team USA at the 1984 Canada Cup, at the age of 19 . He also played at the 1986 World Ice Hockey Championships and the 1987 Canada Cup.

ee also

*List of AHL seasons
*List of NHL seasons
*List of NHL players
*NHL Goaltenders

External links

*hockeydb|216
*legendsofhockey|18212
* [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1983/83005.html Tom Barrasso's profile at Hockeydraftcentral.com]
* [http://www.databasehockey.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BARRATOM01 More Career Stats]

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