Verbeek the ‘Pig Farmer’ feasted on the opposition

Welcome to another edition of Blueshirts Briefs, a series profiling individuals who worked a short shift for the New York Rangers.

The way Pat Verbeek saw it, losing a thumb in a farming accident only enhanced his career as a professional hockey player.

Three years after being taken in the third round (43rd overall) in the 1982 Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils, Verbeek had his thumb cut off by an auger while working on his family’s pig farm just outside of Sarnia, Ontario, some 65 miles to the north and east of Detroit, where the St. Clair River meets the southern end of Lake Huron.

Instead of the injury ending his career, it was the motivation for what turned out to be a solid 20 years in the NHL. Listed at 5 feet, 9 inches, and 192 pounds, Verbeek played 1,424 regular-season NHL games for the Devils, Hartford Whalers, New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, and the Stars a second time before retiring after the 2001-02 season at age 38.

Verbeek’s longevity in professional hockey was keyed by a combination of farm-boy strength, a relentless work ethic, a ferocious temper, and a scoring touch that he attributed (in a 1991 interview with The Hartford Courant) to “all the cement draining” from his hands when he lost his thumb.

“The Little Ball of Hate”, as he came to be known during his six seasons with the Whalers, notched 522 goals and 540 assists for 1,062 points, along with a whopping 2,905 penalty minutes. He posted four 40-goal seasons, another four of at least 30 markers, and five more with no fewer than 20 tallies.

Verbeek was traded to the Rangers in March 1995 by the Whalers for defenseman Glen Featherstone, minor-leaguer Michael Stewart, as well as New York’s first-round choice in the 1995 Entry Draft and its fourth-round pick in the following year’s draft. Hartford took goalie Jean Sebastian Giguere with that first-rounder and center Steve Wasylko with the fourth-rounder.

Giguere eventually won a Conn Smythe in 2003 after guiding the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to the Finals (where they lost to New Jersey), and the Stanley Cup championship in 2007 by guiding the Ducks past the Ottawa Senators. Wasylko played in the Ontario Hockey League for two seasons after being drafted, but never played a single professional game and later returned to school.

Verbeek played 88 games for the Blueshirts — and made an immediate impact upon his arrival on Broadway. He notched 10 goals, 15 points, and 18 PIMs in 19 contests after the trade, then put up 10 points and 20 PIMs in 10 postseason matches, helping the Rangers beat the Quebec Nordiques in six games before they were swept by the Philadelphia Flyers. He tied Brian Leetch for the team lead with three power-play tallies that postseason.

In his only full season with the Rangers (1995-96), Verbeek finished second on the team in goals (41) and game-winners (six), first in power-play markers (17), and third in points (82) and PIMs (129). That postseason, he notched nine points and 12 PIMs in 11 games, helping New York oust the Montreal Canadiens in six before it lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in five. His nine playoff points were second-most on the team behind Mark Messier’s 11.

Verbeek leveraged his success on Broadway into a nice free-agent contract with the Stars, with whom he signed in August 1996 and won the Cup three years later.

Pat the ‘Pig Farmer’

Before Verbeek became known as “The Little Ball of Hate” he was recognized by another moniker.

“We were making an anti-drug appearance,” Verbeek told The Hartford Courant. “We were introducing ourselves and explaining where we came from. I said, ‘I’m Pat Verbeek. I’m a pig farmer.’ (Teammate) Dean Evason thought it was hilarious and spread it around the locker room.

“And it’s no joke. We’re pig farmers,” said Verbeek, whose father, Gerard, owns a spread just outside of Sarnia. “We’ve got 1,500 acres and about 5,000 pigs. It’s a good living, but lots of hard work.”

Verbeek was traded to Hartford by the Devils in June 1989 for Sylvain Turgeon. Each team hoped a change of scenery would reignite the scoring touch in each player after both had subpar production in 1988-89.

Turgeon was the second overall selection of the 1983 Entry Draft behind Brian Lawton (Minnesota North Stars) and ahead of Pat LaFontaine (New York Islanders) and Steve Yzerman (Detroit), taken at third and fourth overall, respectively.

A left-winger from Hull, Quebec, Turgeon didn’t disappoint Whalers’ brass or fans, scoring 40 goals in his first NHL season to earn all-rookie honors and finish third in voting for the Calder Trophy. Turgeon — whose younger brother, Pierre, also enjoyed a productive NHL career — followed his rookie campaign with seasons of 31 and 45 goals, respectively.

However, various injuries began taking their toll to where Turgeon’s production had diminished to the point Whalers’ brass wondered if he was done. He scored 23 goals in both 1987 and ’88, but then was limited to 42 games in 1989 and potted a career single-season worst 16 markers, setting off alarms in the Whalers’ front office.

Similarly, Verbeek enjoyed success with the Devils, only to see his production plummet in 1988-89.

His goal totals rose in each season from 1984-85 through 1987-88, from 15 to 25 to 35 to a single-season career-high 46 in 1988 as New Jersey earned its first postseason berth since the franchise relocated to the Meadowlands from Denver in 1983.

But in 1988-89, he notched just 26 goals and 47 points despite playing in 77 games, four more than he had the previous season. That’s still a decent season for most NHL wingers. For Verbeek, it marked a steep drop in goals and points (30 fewer).

Verbeek and Turgeon, it seemed, needed a change.

Sure enough, each had strong first seasons for their new teams after being traded for each other.

Verbeek led the NHL by playing all 80 of Hartford’s regular-season games and paced the Whalers in goals (44) and PIMs (228). He also finished second on the team in points with 89, a single-season personal best.

Meanwhile, the Devils squeezed 30 goals out of Turgeon before flipping him in September 1990 to Montreal for Claude Lemieux, who led New Jersey to the 1995 Cup with a team-best 13 playoff goals.

Champion at last

Verbeek won his only Stanley Cup while skating for the Stars in 1999 at age 35.

He notched three goals and four assists in 18 matches that postseason, including the winner in the first game of the opening round against the St. Louis Blues, as well as a marker in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Finals against Dominik Hasek’s Buffalo Sabres. Verbeek logged just under 30 minutes of ice time in Game Six, the longest Cup-winning game in Finals history, and second-longest match in the Finals overall, which ended at 14:51 of the third overtime on Brett Hull’s controversial goal.

After winning the Cup, Verbeek signed with Detroit and played there for two seasons before returning to Dallas for his final NHL campaign in 2001-02. After retiring from playing, he worked as a Red Wings’ scout for four years before joining Steve Yzerman in Tampa Bay as the Lightning’s assistant general manager. He then followed Yzerman back to the Red Wings in 2019 and is currently the team’s assistant general manager.