To
win the Stanley Cup is the dream of every budding hockey player. Not only
did Joe Nieuwendyk fulfill that dream by playing for a team that won the
Stanley Cup but the Dallas Stars’ exciting forward also won the Conn Smythe
Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 1999 Stanley Cup finals. Born,
the Netherlands, the parents of Joe Nieuwendyk immigrated to Canada, 1959.
Settling, Oshawa, Joe was born just before the family re-located to Whitby
where he grew up playing two sports: lacrosse and hockey. He was just as
proficient in both games, but Cornell University offered him a chance to
play hockey at an Ivy League school and Joe leaped at the opportunity to
lace up for the Red Machine. Chosen 27th overall in the 1985 NHL Draft,
Joe left Cornell University to play professional hockey for the NHL’s Calgary
Flames. Voted Rookie of the Year, 1986, Joe has gone on to prove that an
immigrant’s son from the Netherlands is just as good as any player who
ever laced up and skated on a frozen pond. [Photo, courtesy, Gordon Nieuwendyk]