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Rod Braceful scores a coveted USA Hockey job. Assist to John Vanbiesbrouck

18 Thursday Oct 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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John Vanbiesbrouck, National Team Development Program, Rod Braceful, USA Hockey, USHL

Rod Braceful scored a plum job with USA Hockey. Give an assist to John Vanbiesbrouck.

Braceful, a 30-year-old former player from Detroit, Michigan, was named assistant director of player personnel for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program earlier this month.

Rod Braceful, assistant director of player personnel for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.

Braceful, who was director of scouting last season for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL, was the top choice from a large applicant pool for the NTDP job that he almost landed last season.

When Rick Comley Jr. left the assistant director of player personnel post to take an amateur scout position with the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes this season, Braceful jumped at the chance to reapply for the job.

“I told them that ‘I’m all in and I’m happy,'” Braceful said of his reaction when USA Hockey offered him the job. “It was a good call to have. There’s a lot of good, qualified people in the game looking for jobs, and there are not a lot of jobs.”

The NTDP position is more than just a job – it’s a launching pad. The last five assistant and chief player personnel directors have moved on to NHL jobs.

“Every person who really loves the game of hockey, of course, see themselves being part of the NHL, whether it’s playing or working,” Braceful said. “My playing career, which was short, I knew there was no way I could play there. But, of course, I’ve had thoughts of working there.”

Rod Braceful worked as director of scouting for John Vanbiesbrouck when he was general manager of the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks (Photo/Michael Caples/MiHockey).

Braceful’s resume spoke volumes to USA Hockey’s brain trust:  a scouting director for a USHL team; Midwest hockey director for Legacy Global Sports, where he organized and led camps for Selects Hockey; a former coach in Michigan’s famed Little Caesars and Compuware youth hockey programs; a former player and coach at NCAA Division III New England College.

“The goal of the job is to identify, evaluate, educate top American players for our program,” Kevin Reiter, the NTDP’s director of player personnel. “He’s done that for numerous years.”

While Braceful’s credentials did a lot of the talking, Vanbiesbrouck, USA Hockey’s assistant executive director for hockey operations, also lobbied on his behalf.

Vanbiesbrouck, a former NHL All-Star goaltender, had first-hand knowledge of Braceful’s abilities because he was general manager of the Lumberjacks before taking the USA Hockey gig in May.

“He worked hand-in-hand with John last year in building that (Muskegon) team, so he had a familiarity with the league and the players and the talent needed in that league,” Reiter said. “Beezer was really an advocate for him, and rightfully so, he did a great job. But there was a lot more to our digging and our homework to make sure we were making the right choice.”

John Vanbiesbrouck, USA Hockey’s assistant executive director, recommended Rod Braceful for the assistant director of player personnel job with the National Team Development Program (Photo/USA Hockey).

Vanbiesbrouck gave Braceful one of the ultimate compliments in the sport, calling him “a good hockey person.”

“I wanted Kevin to keep an open mind, but I definitely recommended him,” Vanbiesbrouck told me. “I wanted Rob to get the job, for sure. He does great work, he’s very personable. People like Rod and that element in recruitment is important to the position.”

“I think he’s got a great knowledge for hockey, he knows the game well. I think that, in a lot of ways, we think of the game very similar,” Vanbiesbrouck added. “For a young to have the knowledge that he has and to be all-in is a good combination, and that’s why I categorize him as a hockey guy.”

Rod Braceful began playing recreation hockey as a kid in Detroit and played NCAA Division III hockey at New England College (Photo/Courtesy Rod Braceful).

USA Hockey’s hiring of Vanbiesbrouck was controversial. In 2003, when he was coach and general manager of the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Vanbiesbrouck called his then-19-year-old defenseman Trevor Daley the N-word.

Vanbiesbrouck, discussing the episode with The Athletic’s Scott Burnside in August, said that he’s sorry and regrets using the word. He added that the incident “hasn’t defined my life” and that he’s a “very inclusive person.”

“So you ask the question, what have you done, what have you done?” he told Burnside. “I’ve done a lot of things. No. 1 is I had to repent…and ask God for forgiveness because I live by faith and I violated my own principles. And I know that.”

Braceful said working in Muskegon with Vanbiesbrouck, a fellow Michigander, was “a fine” educational experience.

“He was a good person to work under just because he has so much knowledge of the game from all the different parts of it,” Braceful said. “He had done some work with USA Hockey in the past and present. He knew the ins and the outs in dealing with the USHL as well as what they do with USA Hockey. And he knows a lot of people. You know what? He taught me a lot, as well as a lot of other guys at Muskegon.”

Rod Braceful started playing hockey at a young age, but didn’t get serious about the game until high school (Photo/Courtesy Rod Braceful).

Braceful has also learned from a few hockey coaches of color, particularly Jason Payne, the first-year assistant coach of the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, Jason McCrimmon, head coach and owner of Detroit’s Motor City Hawks of the U.S. Premier League, and Duante’ Abercrombie, the rookie head coach of the Washington Little Capitals 16U National Team, a youth program with a track record of developing players for junior, college and professional hockey teams.

He also can talk hockey with family. His older cousin, Cameron Burt, was a star player for NCAA Division I Rochester Institute of Technology from 2008-09 to 2011-12 and currently plays professionally in Slovakia.

Former Rochester Institute of Technology hockey star Cameron Burt is the cousin of Rod Braceful, the new assistant director of player personnel for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.

“I’ve actually had the pleasure of knowing and learning from some older guys who were able to take me under their wings and be kind of distant mentors,” Braceful said. “There have been guys doing good things around. I think maybe now, they’re starting to be noticed.”

“They’re just trying to make their own way in the game, they just want to make sure they do a good job, they want to be the best,” he added. “And just keep working their way up the ladder.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

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Former NHL star McKegney conflicted by USA Hockey hiring of Vanbiesbrouck

02 Saturday Jun 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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John Vanbiesbrouck, Tony McKegney, Trevor Daley, USA Hockey

Tony McKegney feels conflicted.

The retired National Hockey League forward isn’t sure how he feels about former NHL goaltender John Vanbeisbrouck becoming USA Hockey’s assistant executive director for hockey operations 15 years after he called a young Trevor Daley the N-word.

He knows Vanbiesbrouck from their days as teammates on the New York Rangers in 1986-87, McKegney’s only season on Broadway.

“John and I were good friends. We spent a lot of time together, we had a lot of fun together,” McKegney told me recently. “We went to concerts together, we golfed together, we must have roomed together at some point. We went to Florida together to my home in Jupiter. He was from near Detroit, I was from near Detroit, and we just got along.”

Former NHLer Tony McKegney was a teammate of John Vanbiesbrouck in New York (Photo/Soul on Ice Movie).

But having been one of the few black hockey players of his era, McKegney also knows the hurt that a then-19-year old Daley must have felt when Vanbiesbrouck – who was Daley’s coach and general manager with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds – used a racial slur in 2003 to define him.

“I just felt for the kid because it just brought back some memories for me,” McKegney said of the episode. “Going forward, I just don’t know how to feel about it now. I don’t know. When I hear that word, it brings up some tough memories.”

USA Hockey tapped Vanbiesbrouck last month to succeed Jim Johannson, who passed away in January. Vanbiesbrouck addressed the Daley controversy in a teleconference with reporters last week, saying he was “absolutely, 100 percent wrong” for using the slur.

“I’m extremely sorry for it,” he told reporters. “It’s not who I am, it doesn’t define me as a person and I have no prejudices in me, and it will never happen again.”

USA Hockey Executive Director Pat Kelleher added that Vanbiesbrouck looks at the incident as “a terrible situation, an awful mistake, something that’s helped change him for the better.”

Vanbiesbrouck’s hiring has been criticized on social media by hockey fans who say it sends the wrong message about a sport that says it promotes diversity and inclusion.

But others online have expressed support for Vanbiesbrouck, acknowledging that he made a terrible mistake, but asserting that 15 years is a long time to hold it against him.

Embed from Getty Images

McKegney says he’s not one to judge another person’s actions considering the troubled times he’s had in his life.

He pleaded guilty to impaired driving in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, in 2017 and guilty to operating a water craft in Kingston, Ontario, while intoxicated in 2015  – a case that brought incidents of substance and domestic abuse to light.

“I’ve certainly made some errors in my life, made some bad judgments, made some mistakes I would love to take back,” said McKegney, who attributes some of the problems to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative brain disease that he says stems from concussions he suffered during his playing career. “I’m certainly not defending anything.”

Still, Vanbiesbrouck’s hiring stoked memories of the 2003 incident for McKegney along with unpleasant recollections of the racial abuse that he endured from the time he started playing hockey as a kid through his 13-year NHL career.

McKegney said he heard racial slurs so much that “I thought the N-word was my middle name.”

Though Willie O’Ree was the NHL’s first black player, Val James the league’s first American-born black player, and goalie Grant Fuhr the first black player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, McKegney was the NHL’s first black star.

He was the first black player to score 40 goals in a season and the first to score 20 or more goals in eight seasons.

McKegney tallied 320 goals and 319 assists in 912 NHL season games for the Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, Quebec Nordiques, Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings between 1978-79 to 1990-91. He notched 24 goals and 23 assists in 79 Stanley Cup Playoff contests.

“Tony McKegney showed me it was possible for someone like me to play in the NHL,” future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla said in author Cecil Harris’ book, “Breaking The Ice, The Black Experience in Professional Hockey.” “He set the example. He was a role model.”

Embed from Getty Images

But McKegney’s on-ice accomplishments weren’t enough to shield him from racist taunts from fans and opposing players.

“In certain cities, we’d go to St. Louis, we’d go to Atlanta (Flames), Pittsburgh, for some reason, then Philadelphia,” McKegney said. “It was a small group of people, but you feared the words coming out.”

Occasionally, the racial insensitivity occurred on teams he played for.

“I had an assistant coach come up to me and ask me if I could date a black woman versus a white woman,” said McKegney, who was adopted and raised by white parents. “This happened in the early ’80s, and this (white) woman became my wife. When I heard that, I thought ‘My God.'”

Tony McKegney was a high-scoring forward for Buffalo, St. Louis, Detroit, Quebec, N.Y. Rangers. and Minnesota North Stars (Photo/Buffalo Sabres Archives).

When McKegney heard about the racial incident with Vanbiesbrouck, he said he reached out to Daley and chatted with briefly after a junior hockey game in Ontario.

“It was a one of those subjects where he wanted to focus on how well he was doing and just be positive and not dredge up anything, the past,” McKegney said. “Obviously, he was moving forward.”

McKegney’s trying to do the same thing these days. Instead of dwelling on an ugly moment in 2003, he prefers to think about how well Daley has done in his career.

Embed from Getty Images

A 2002 Dallas Stars second round draft pick, Daley, now 34, is a two-time Stanley Cup champions who has helped anchor defenses for the Stars, Chicago Blackhawks,Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings.

“Every time I see Trevor Daley, and see he’s still playing and having success, I think about that part,” McKegney said. “And I draw on that positive.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

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Hockey diversity advocates express dismay, disappointment over Vanbiesbrouck hiring

29 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Anson Carter, Detroit Red Wings, John Vanbiesbrouck, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Trevor Daley, USA Hockey

Several supporters of diversity and inclusion in hockey are expressing dismay and disappointment over USA Hockey’s decision to make retired NHL goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck its assistant executive director for hockey operations.

Anson Carter, who played in the National Hockey League for 11 seasons and now analyzes NHL and U.S. college hockey for NBC Sports Network, didn’t mince words about USA Hockey’s selection of Vanbiesbrouck, who called Detroit Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley the N-word when he played Canadian major junior hockey 15 years ago.

Former NHLer Anson Carter questions USA Hockey’s hiring of John Vanbiesbrouck.

“I understand people make mistakes and eventually they should be forgiven. However, I find it very hard to believe that USA Hockey couldn’t find anyone else that was a suitable candidate without that kind of baggage who was eligible to hold such an important position,” said Carter, who  also hosts “The MSG Hockey Show” in New York.

“Hockey is moving forward not going backwards.”

John Paris Jr., the first black head coach to win a professional ice hockey championship, wrote on the sports website Boxscore  that “John Vanbiesbrouck should not be branded a die-hard racist” for uttering a racial slur at Daley in 2003.

Daley was captain of the Sault. Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Vanbiesbrouck was coach and general manager of the Ontario Hockey League team at the time.

“However, his nomination by USA Hockey as an assistant director of hockey operations has created some confusion which has multiple ethnic groups questioning the why,” Paris wrote. “Could this be privilege or a poorly handled situation?”

BREAKING: John Vanbiesbrouck accepts top position with USA Hockey #LGLJ https://t.co/NkvOYXZoL1 pic.twitter.com/s2ty09S5tp

— Muskegon Lumberjacks (@MuskegonJacks) May 23, 2018

Lexi LaFleur Brown, wife of forward J.T. Brown, who played for the Anaheim Ducks and Tampa Bay Lightning last season, tweeted “I buy @usahockey membership every year to play. I hope one day our kids will play.”

“But right now I am extremely disappointed,” she wrote in the May 25 tweet. “Does this new hire promote growth and the best experience? Shouldn’t growth include taking steps to assure no one is ever called a racial slur again?”

USA Hockey officials formally introduced Vanbiesbrouck as its new assistant executive director for hockey operations on Friday. He succeeds Jim Johannson, who passed away in January at the age of 53.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley.

Vanbiesbrouck addressed the Daley incident in a teleconference with reporters on Friday, saying “I was absolutely, 100 percent wrong” for using the slur against a then-19-year-old Daley.

“There’s not a lot of days that go by that I don’t feel remorse for that,” he added. “I’m extremely sorry for it. It’s not who I am, it doesn’t define me as a person and I have no prejudices in me, and it will never happen again.”

Vanbiesbrouck and USA Hockey officials said they’re committed to making hockey more diverse and inclusive in the United States.

“I’m proud to say that USA Hockey has a long-standing way forward and a really great slogan… and that is hockey is for everybody and for everyone,” Vanbiesbrouck told reporters Friday. “And we’re going to continue to build on that work and further diversity and inclusion, and I look forward to being a big part of those efforts.”

I buy a @usahockey membership every year to play. I hope one day our kids will play. But right now I am extremely disappointed. Does this new hire promote growth and the best experience? Shouldn’t growth include taking steps to assure no one is ever called a racial slur again?

— Lexi Brown (@lexilafleur) May 26, 2018

15 years ago, he shouldn’t be allowed to be forgiven or move on from that? He made a mistake and paid for it.

— Blake Meakin (@BlakeEMeakin) May 24, 2018

Still, Vanbiesbrouck’s appointment has received heavy criticism on social media. The 20-season NHL veteran has also received support from people who believe in the power of forgiveness and point out that the incident occurred 15 years ago.

Since then, Vanbiesbrouck and Daley have climbed hockey’s ladder. Vanbiesbrouck was general manager of the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL before taking the USA Hockey job.

Daley has developed into a solid NHL defenseman, playing for the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Red Wings. He won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins before signing with the Red Wings last season.

Val James, the NHL’s first U.S.-born black player, thinks it’s fine for John Vanbiesbrouck to hold a high-level position with USA Hockey – if he’s personally apologized to Trevor Daley for calling him the N-word in 2003.

Val James, who became the NHL’s first American-born black player when he joined the Buffalo Sabres in 1981-82 believes that Vanbiesbrouck needs to personally apologize to Daley and his family for the slur – if he hasn’t already –  as he assumes the USA Hockey post.

“I think John should personally apologize to Trevor for calling him that demeaning word,” James told me. “John now being in that position should wipe the slate clean.”

Vanbiesbrouck said he’s “a big fan” of Daley’s but added that their “paths have not crossed” over the years.

“I’m not in a lot of the big buildings where he’s been at the pro level,” Vanbiesbrouck told me. “I’ve been mostly in minor hockey buildings…he’s been far removed from that.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Vanbiesbrouck discusses Trevor Daley N-word incident and new USA Hockey job

26 Saturday May 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Detroit Red Wings, John Vanbiesbrouck, Ontario Hockey League, Sault Ste. MarieGreyhounds, Trevor Daley, USA Hockey

USA Hockey formally introduced its new assistant executive director for hockey operations Friday, former NHL All-Star goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, who wasted little time in addressing the elephant in the room: His use of the N-word against then-19-year-old defenseman Trevor Daley in 2003.

“I wanted to touch on a topic from my past that has resurfaced from my announcing and my hiring,” Vanbiesbrouck told a teleconference of reporters. “And that is an incident that happened 15 years ago when I was coach and general manager at Sault Ste. Marie and it was a racial slur and I was absolutely, 100 percent wrong.

Embed from Getty Images

“There’s not a lot of days that go by that I don’t feel remorse for that,” he added. “I’m extremely sorry for it. It’s not who I am, it doesn’t define me as a person and I have no prejudices in me, and it will never happen again.”

Shortly after that, the hockey writers on the call proceeded ask Vanbiesbrouck questions, some of them deftly avoiding the elephant.

For the most part, the questions ranged from how Vanbiesbrouck views the future of  U.S. hockey to who he’d like to coach the 2019 U.S. world junior championship team after Boston University Head Coach David Quinn – who was tapped to be the American bench boss at the worlds – signed to coach the New York Rangers in 2018-19.

Only one reporter – Craig Custance from The Athletic – directly broached the Daley racial incident, asking USA Hockey Executive Director Pat Kelleher how much he looked into the March 2003 incident that led to Vanbiesbrouck quitting as coach and GM of the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and prompting  the OHL to level its stiffest penalty ever – a $50,000 fine – against the team.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley.

He asked Kelleher what he learned that made him comfortable enough to give Vanbiesbrouck a job in which he’ll focus on international men’s, women’s and sled hockey and bolster junior hockey within the United States.

“We certainly looked into it, we were aware of the situation, it’s something we had knowledge of,” Kelleher said of the N-word episode. “As John alluded to, it’s something that’s very difficult for him, it’s something he deals with all the time. He looks at it as a terrible situation, an awful mistake, something that’s helped change him for the better.”

Another hockey scribe, Chris Peters from ESPN, did ask what led USA Hockey to choose Vanbiesbrouck over other candidates.

“John’s experience in hockey, his background with us, will allow him to make the most of all the people we have because he really understands our organization and how everyone from volunteers to staff contributes to putting elite teams on ice for our men, the women, and our sled program,” Kelleher said.

Vanbiesbrouck’s hiring has been met with criticism on social media.

15 years ago John Vanbiesbrouck called 19-year-old prospect Trevor Daley the n-word multiple times and used the slur openly while other players were present.

How was there not a better candidate for this position? What kind of message does this send? https://t.co/bQuI9QzTff

— Mike Murphy (@DigDeepBSB) May 25, 2018

@usahockey Very confused about the decision to hire John Vanbiesbrouck given his history. How can we promote the game in this country with that kind of cloud hanging over? That language isn't an accident. Please reconsider.

— mattkoz (@mattkoz) May 25, 2018

But the former goalie who played parts of 20 NHL seasons with the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils also received words of encouragement online from people who say that 15 years is a long time and people can change.

Congrats to #NYR alum John Vanbiesbrouck! https://t.co/Zv1Jm6Q4CJ

— Rick Nadeau (@RickNadeau) May 23, 2018

It happened 15 years ago, it was disgusting. Can people not change or learn from mistakes? Dear god, get over it.

— Blake Meakin (@BlakeEMeakin) May 25, 2018

I had some questions for Vanbiesbrouck, but I wasn’t called on during the teleconference. I contacted USA Hockey, which put Vanbiesbrouck on the phone with me.

I asked him how he applies the lessons that he learned from the Daley incident to the way he conducts hockey business, and how he’ll apply the lessons to his USA Hockey job. Prior to landing his new post, Vanbiesbrouck served as general manager of the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL.

“First of all, I know that I’ve been forgiven and I’m strong in my faith,” Vanbiesbrouck told me. “I apply that every day because there’s a direction that comes from faith that guides you. Some people have an opinion, but I have (leaned) on that faith to know that I am forgiven, and I forgive others. So that’s important to me, and that’s probably the Number One, strongest way that I can tell you about it.”

He also told me that he applies the lessons learned through volunteerism, largely through USA Hockey.  He pointed to giving speeches for Hockey Ministries International and raising funds for the Alan T. Brown Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis.

“People who are disabled are in a minority group,” he said.

I asked Vanbiesbrouck if he’s spoken with Daley in the years since the N-word episode. Both are in Michigan. Vanbiesbrouck is a native of the state and  Daley finished his first season as a member of the Detroit Red Wings.

Embed from Getty Images

“Our paths have not crossed,” he told me. “I’m a big fan of Trevor’s – we live on the other side of the state. I’m not in a lot of the big buildings where he’s been at the pro level. I’ve been mostly in minor hockey buildings…he’s been far removed from that.”

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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USA Hockey hiring of Vanbiesbrouck, stirs memories of Daley racial incident

24 Thursday May 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

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Detroit Red Wings, John Vanbiesbrouck, New York Rangers, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Trevor Daley, USA Hockey

USA Hockey hired NHL goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck  as its  assistant director for hockey operations Wednesday, prompting outrage from some hockey fans who remember that he called Detroit Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley the N-word in 2003.

Pat Kelleher, USA Hockey’s executive director said  in a written statement that “We are beyond thrilled to have John join our staff.”

Hall of Fame goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck has been named assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey → https://t.co/uiSDNc1pjr pic.twitter.com/mBm9ZgSuCu

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) May 23, 2018

“Through his exceptional playing career, what he has done since retiring and his history with USA Hockey, John is well positioned to lead a very important part of our organization and I know he is excited to get started.”

Vanbiesbrouck, who had been serving as general manager of the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL, said on the team’s website that he’s “humbled and honored” about taking a top position at the nation’s hockey governing body.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity USA Hockey has given me and the future of hockey in our country.”

He was hired to succeed Assistant Executive Director Jim Johannson, who passed away on Jan. 21 at the age of 53.

USA Hockey told me that the Daley incident “definitely was a topic of conversation in the interview process.”  An official said that the incident “was a mistake which John acknowledged, apologized for and in the end has been an isolated incident.”

The official said Vanbeisbrouck is “in lock step with USA Hockey’s way forward that hockey is for everyone.”

But many hockey fans blasted Vanbiesbrouck’s hiring on social media.

So did y'all just expect us to pretend he didn't say the racial slur to Trevor Daley? Because if you couldn't tell, no one is doing that.

— Alicia 🇲🇽🇺🇸 (@tankbarzal) May 23, 2018

Great message you're sending to athletes of colour, here. 🙄

— Puck Face (@puckfacepod) May 23, 2018

John Vanbiesbrouck joins USA Hockey in executive role the same day the NFL attempts to stop the silent protests of NFL players. The Beezer is most recently known for dropping the “N” word at a player. Banner day 4 African Americans @C_Layts @robinthe403 https://t.co/s1v6wZf1JD

— Rajiv Mathur (@rajivmathur99) May 23, 2018

But the former goalie known as “Beezer” also had his supporters.

For something that happened 15 years ago that he apologized and resigned for? If you actually knew anything about him you would know that he’s a great person and that he’ll do a fantastic job in his new role and that something said 15 years ago doesn’t define who he is.

— Carly (@carlymarie_14) May 23, 2018

Vanbiesbrouck called Daley the N-word in 2003 in front of teammates when Daley was captain of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Vanbiesbrouck was the team’s coach and general manager.

The incident prompted the Ontario Hockey League to level its harshest fine ever – $50,000 – against the Greyhounds. Vanbiesbrouck resigned from his positions and sold his shares in the team.

“I think there was an understanding on our part that what occurred was damaging to us in terms of a league and what we try to be,” OHL Commissioner David Branch said in 2003. “We had to respond in a strong, clear fashion to make sure everyone understands we do not stand for this and this is not part of our value system.”

Vanbiesbrouck confirmed to The Toronto Star in 2003 that he used the slur against Daley and acknowledged he had used the N-word  “more than once.”

“My comments were inappropriate and out of character, and I deeply regret my actions,” Vanbiesbrouck said in 2003.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley.

The episode prompted Daley to temporarily quit the Greyhounds. He returned to the major junior team, saying “While I am deeply disturbed by the hurtful and careless comments that were directed at me, I am proud and honored to be a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.”

The incident didn’t hinder Daley’s hockey career. The Dallas Stars selected him in the second round of the 2002 NHL Draft – a year before the N-word incident. He’s a two-time Stanley Cup champion who has seen action for the Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Red Wings.

Ironically, the Greyhounds and the OHL found themselves dealing with another racial incident last month after Kitchener Rangers forward Givani Smith, who is black, received a death threat and was subjected to racial slurs via social media following the Rangers 4-3 win against the Soo.

A Michigan native, Vaniesbrouck played  parts of 20 NHL seasons backstopping the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils.

Embed from Getty Images

He’s a five-time NHL All-Star who won 374 games, the most by an American-born NHL goaltender. He won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 1986 as a member of the Rangers.

Vanbiesbrouck led the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final against the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.  He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

 

 

 

 

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