Ed Belfour

Ed Belfour’s hockey goaltending career began in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, where he spent three seasons with the Winkler Flyers from 1983 through 1986. He then entered the University of North Dakota, where he spent a year on their hockey team and won a National Collegiate Athletic Association title with them in 1987. Despite this, he went undrafted, but signed with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), spending most of the next two seasons with the affiliated Saginaw Hawks of the International Hockey League. He did, however, make his NHL début in the latter season, appearing in 23 games with the Blackhawks.

Belfour only represented the Blackhawks in the playoffs for the 1989-90 season, but then spent the next seven years with the team. During that time, he also won a gold medal with his country at the 1991 Canada Cup. That same year, he also won the Calder Memorial Trophy, given to the NHL’s best rookie, the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender, and the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltender who allowed the fewest goals. He was also named to the first all-star team, a feat that he would repeat again in 1993, along with earning the Veniza and Jennings trophies. He was also the Jennings trophy winner in 1995.

Belfour was traded to the San Jose Sharks at the end of the 1996-97 season, but only played 13 games with them before signing with the Dallas Stars. Remaining with the team through 2002, he won the Stanley Cup in 1999, along with his fourth and final Jennings trophy. In 2000, he earned the Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award for having the best save percentage for a regular player in goal. Once his tenure with the Stars ended, he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for three seasons, before a final NHL season with the Florida Panthers in 2006-07. During this time, he was also a reserve with the Canadian team at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, but he did not see any playing time in Canada’s victorious run through the tournament.

After a season with Leksands IF of the second Swedish League, Belfour retired from active competition. He then became involved in the liquor business, running Belfour Spirts out of Dallas. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.