Al Iafrate

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United StatesUnited States  Al Iafrate Ice hockey player
Date of birth March 21, 1966
place of birth Dearborn , Michigan , USA
size 191 cm
Weight 101 kg
position defender
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 1984 , 1st round, 4th position
Toronto Maple Leafs
Career stations
1982-1983 Detroit Compuware Ambassadors
1983-1984 Team USA
1984 Belleville Bulls
1984-1991 Toronto Maple Leafs
1991-1994 Washington Capitals
1994-1996 Boston Bruins
1996-1998 San Jose Sharks

Albert Anthony "Al" Iafrate (born March 21, 1966 in Dearborn , Michigan ) is a former American ice hockey player who played 870 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs , Washington Capitals , Boston Bruins during his playing career between 1982 and 1998 and San Jose Sharks played in the National Hockey League on the position of defender . Iafrate, who took part in the NHL All-Star Game four times , was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1993 . He became better known for his extremely hard slap shot , with which he set a record of 169.3 km / h in the NHL All-Star Games that same year, which was only broken 16 years later.

Career

At the beginning of his career in the 1983/84 season Iafrate played for the junior team of the US national ice hockey team , which he also represented at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo . He then played ten games in the same season for the Belleville Bulls in the Ontario Hockey League before he was selected in the first round of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round in 1984 .

The Maple Leafs brought him straight into the NHL. After three problematic early years in Toronto, in which he was able to convince with his offensive skills, the defender made his final breakthrough in the 1987/88 season with 52 points. Pre-season Iafrate had the invitation of the American Hockey Association , at the 1987 Canada Cup participate refused to be defensive play to improve during the summer break. Iafrate's efforts were rewarded with his first appointment to the NHL All-Star Game , which he played four times in his entire career. In the course of the 1990/91 season, the Maple Leafs transferred the American for Bob Rouse and Peter Zezel to the Washington Capitals , where he continued his old performance after a knee injury suffered in March 1990. There he played the best season of his career in the 1992/93 season with 66 points in 81 games, which also earned him an appointment to the NHL Second All-Star Team . In addition, he set a record valid until 2009 in the so-called skills competition of the All-Star Games with a slap shot of 105.2 miles per hour (169.3 kilometers per hour). The Capitals gave Iafrate in March 1994 for Joé Juneau to the Boston Bruins . For this he ran on only twelve games during the rest of the season before he had to undergo knee surgery because his symptoms had become chronic. Due to the operation, the defender missed the entire 1994/95 and 1995/96 seasons and was released to the San Jose Sharks in June 1996 . In return, Jeff Odgers and a draft law moved to Boston. Iafrate played two more seasons for the Sharks, but kept falling out due to knee problems and only played 59 games for the team. He also played again for the US national team at the 1998 World Cup in Switzerland , when the team narrowly escaped relegation to the B class.

In June 1998, the newly formed Nashville Predators selected him in the NHL Expansion Draft , but Iafrate decided to sign a contract with the Carolina Hurricanes . The contract concluded in July, however, became obsolete due to his declaration of resignation in September.

Achievements and Awards

Career statistics

Regular season Play-offs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1982/83 Detroit Compuware Ambassadors MNHL 66 30th 45 75 90 - - - - -
1983/84 USA hockey International 55 4th 17th 21st 26th
1983/84 Belleville Bulls OHL 10 2 4th 6th 2 3 0 1 1 5
1984/85 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 68 5 16 21st 51 - - - - -
1985/86 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 65 8th 25th 33 40 10 0 3 3 4th
1986/87 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 80 9 21st 30th 55 13 1 3 4th 11
1987/88 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 77 22nd 30th 52 80 6th 3 4th 7th 6th
1988/89 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 65 13 20th 33 72 - - - - -
1989/90 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 75 21st 42 63 135 - - - - -
1990/91 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 42 3 15th 18th 113 - - - - -
1990/91 Washington Capitals NHL 30th 6th 8th 14th 124 10 1 3 4th 22nd
1991/92 Washington Capitals NHL 78 17th 34 51 180 7th 4th 2 6th 14th
1992/93 Washington Capitals NHL 81 25th 41 66 169 6th 6th 0 6th 4th
1993/94 Washington Capitals NHL 67 10 35 45 143 - - - - -
1993/94 Boston Bruins NHL 12 5 8th 13 20th 13 3 1 4th 6th
1994/95 Boston Bruins NHL not played after knee surgery
1995/96 Boston Bruins NHL not played after knee surgery
1996/97 San Jose Sharks NHL 38 6th 9 15th 91 - - - - -
1997/98 San Jose Sharks NHL 21st 2 7th 9 28 6th 1 0 1 10
NHL overall 799 152 311 463 1301 71 19th 16 35 77

International

Represented the USA at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1984 United States Olympia 7th place 6th 0 0 0 2
1998 United States WM 12th place 4th 0 2 2 6th
Men overall 10 0 2 2 8th

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Iafrate, Al
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Iafrate, Albert Anthony (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Dearborn , Michigan