Joe Nieuwendyk was born in Oshawa, Ontario. He played 20 seasons in the NHL with five different teams and scored 564 goals.
Joe Nieuwendyk could be considered a draft-day steal. After all, picking up a future hall-of-famer in the second round, 27th overall is a pretty good deal. However, at the time, it was considered a horrible deal. Calgary traded Kent Nilsson-who had, that previous season, scored 99 points in 77 games-for this 27th pick. It was bad enough that a local newspaper's headline was "Joe Who?" After two more seasons in the minors, Joe finally got the chance to prove himself to the Calgary crowd in 87-88. He scored 92 points in 75 games, running away with the Calder. After his second 51 goal season in 88-89, he helped the Flames to their first Stanley Cup, scoring ten goals in those playoffs.
After great success in Calgary, the Flames shipped him to Dallas for another likely Hall-of-Famer: Jarome Iginla. Nieuwendyk scored 20 goals five times in Dallas, and after a 55 point season, exploded for 21 points in the playoffs to win his second Stanley Cup, along with the Conn Smythe, as six of his 11 goals that postseason were game-winners.
Midway through the 01-02 season, the Stars moved him to New Jersey. He scored his 500th goal and 1000th point with the Devils, along with winning his third and final Stanley Cup victory in 2003, making him one of only ten players to win a Stanley Cup with three different teams. After stops in Toronto and Florida, Nieuwendyk retired with 564 goals, 562 assists, and 1126 points in 1257 games.
Today is also the birthday of Tim Hunter, a teammate of Nieuwendyk's for the Flames in the 80s.
And finally, happy birthday to Jordan Staal, the third of the Staal brothers.
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