John Vanbiesbrouck admits he shed a “tear or two” watching the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup in the spring of 1994. After nine full seasons with the Rangers, there was a still a part of him with the organization, even though he had just completed his first season with the Florida Panthers after being claimed in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft.
So, as he watched his friend and former goaltending partner Mike Richter help lead the Blueshirts to their first Stanley Cup championship in 54 years, did Vanbiesbrouck believe that the Rangers also would’ve ended their long championship drought if he was still their goalie?
“Yes. Absolutely,” Vanbiesbrouck responded when asked that exact question on the Rink Rap podcast presented by Forever Blueshirts.
The Beezer went on to explain that the Rangers were a “great team” and that’s first and foremost why they won the Cup. But he also believed in his own abilities as an elite successful NHL goalie, too.
“I do believe we would have won,” he continued. “You have to have confidence in yourself in order to do that.”
But how did it feel to see someone else between the pipes when the Rangers finally won the Cup?
“Mike Richter was a great goalie, he’s a good friend, and he deserved it and so did everybody. I was happy for them, genuinely,” Vanbiesbrouck explained.
There’s likely a generation of Rangers fans who wonder why this is even a conversation. Richter won 301 games with the Blueshirts, second most in franchise history, backstopped the Cup championship in 1994 and had his No. 35 retired by the organization and it’s now hanging in the rafters at Madison Square Garden.
So, what then about John Vanbiesbrouck?
WATCH: Exclusive 1-on-1 interview with John Vanbiesbrouck
John Vanbiesbrouck watched Rangers’ 1994 Stanley Cup run with ‘great emotion’
Before there was Richter — and even after he reached the NHL in 1989 — there was Vanbiesbrouck. The Vezina Trophy winner as top goalie in the NHL in 1985-86, Vanbiesbrouck started 38 or more games in each of his nine full seasons with the Rangers, including 44 or more six times. Though he shared the Rangers net with Bob Froese for a bit and later with Richter, he was a star in his own right.
Before “I-Gor! I-Gor” or “Hen-Rik! Hen-Rik!” or “Rich-Ter! Rich-Ter” chants at The Garden, there was “Bee-Zer! Bee-Zer!”
Vanbiesbrouck won 200 games with the Rangers, fifth most in franchise history, and finished his NHL career in 2001-02 with 374 victories. At the time, that was the most ever by a United States-born goalie in the NHL. Ryan Miller eventually passed that total and, just this past season, Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick became the all-time winningest NHL goalie from the U.S.
But the point is, Vanbiesbrouck was darn good. And he teamed with Richter for four seasons to give the Rangers a terrific 1-2 punch in goal. In fact, coach Roger Neilson alternated the pair every other start for the first 76 games of the 1991-92 season, winning the Presidents’ Trophy along the way.
Related: John Vanbiesbrouck shares what makes Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault so special
However, after the failed 1992-93 season, which included Neilson being fired, the Rangers were faced with a decision in goal, especially with an expansion draft on the horizon that summer to stock the rosters for the Panthers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
“Of course they had to make a choice,” Vanbiesbrouck noted.
The Rangers traded Beezer’s rights to the Vancouver Canucks for defenseman Doug Lidster and the goalie was claimed by the Panthers in the expansion draft. Richter remained in New York until concussion issues forced him to retire after the 2002-03 season.
“Was i disgruntled at the time? No, I looked at it as a new opportunity,” Vanbiesbrouck recalled. “I was happy for my opportunity that they weren’t getting, to start a franchise that now, when you look back on it, has really grown the sport in the state of Florida. The last five Stanley Cups have been played in the state of Florida. We have players coming from the state of Florida like never before. So, you feel like you may have contributed something.”
Vanbiesbrouck was a Vezina Trophy finalist in 1993-94 with the Panthers when the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy. Then in the postseason, he was a spectator, watching his former team’s memorable run to the championship.
“Boy, did I look at that and watch those games with great emotion and maybe even shed a tear or two … it wasn’t jealousy, it was kind of more towards happiness that they got it done because it’s so hard to do,” Vanbiesbrouck explained.
Beezer led the Panthers on a memorable postseason run just two years later, stunning everyone with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, where they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche. Then in the 1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Vanbiesboruck’s Panthers lost in five games in the first round to Richter’s Rangers.
“[Wayne] Gretzky lit me up, [Esa] Tikkanen scored a couple of overtime goals,” Vanbiesbrouck said with a laugh.
As for the goalies, Vanbiesbrouck and Richter became teammates again, and forever, when each was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
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