Tom Barrasso

Thomas Patrick Barrasso (born March 31, 1965 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a retired American professional goaltender who played all 18 seasons for the Pittsburgh Penguins 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 Massachusetts, playing ice hockey on an outdoor rink. He started playing goalie when he was only 5 years old and by the time he was a teenager, playing in net for Acton-Boxborough high school with fellow NHL players Bob Sweeney and 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 1983, the highest goaltender to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft until 1997, when Roberto Luongo was taken 4th overall. 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 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 missed most of 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 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 Olympics 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.