Jean-François Labbé (born June 15, 1972) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

who played 15 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

and the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

between 2000 and 2003.

Playing career

As a youth, he played in the 1984 and 1986

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

s with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

team from Sherbrooke. After playing four seasons in the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

, Labbé began a very successful

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

career. He played for the

Prince Edward Island Senators The Prince Edward Island Senators were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1993 to 1996. Originally located in New Haven, Connecticut, for 21 seasons, including one as the affiliate of the National ...

Cornwall Aces The Cornwall Aces were the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Quebec Nordiques from 1993 to 1995 and the relocated Colorado Avalanche in 1995–96. They were based in the eastern Ontario city of Cornwall and pla ...

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that began to play in the 2015–16 OHL season, 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Bulldogs play their home games at FirstOntario Cent ...

Hartford Wolf Pack The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the XL Center. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. After a ...

and

Syracuse Crunch The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Syracuse, New York, at the Upstate Medical University Arena. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa ...

in his AHL tenure. His best season came in 1996–1997 with the Hershey Bears, when he won both the Hap Holmes Memorial Award for lowest

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

and the

Les Cunningham Award The Les Cunningham Award is given annually to American Hockey League's "Most Valuable Player" of the regular season, as voted on by AHL media and players. The award was first presented in the 1947–48 season, is named after Les Cunningham, a five ...

for league MVP. Labbé won the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

with the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. Labbé appeared in 15 NHL games: one with the

at the end of the 1999–2000 season and 14 with the

during the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons. He played for the Saint-Georges Garaga in the

Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey The Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH, ''"North American Hockey League"'') is a low-level professional ice hockey league based in the Canadian province of Quebec. Teams in the LNAH compete for the Vertdure Cup. History The league was fou ...

in 2003–2004 after a short stint with the Tolyatti Lada in the

Russian Hockey Super League The Russian Superleague (russian: Чемпионат России Суперлига, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was consi ...

. Labbé has played in the DEL for three seasons, with

Augsburger Panther The Augsburger Panther are a professional ice hockey team in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team is based in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. They play their home games at the Curt Frenzel Stadion. Founded in 1878, the team's name was Augsburger EV ...

in 2004–05 and with the Sinupret Ice Tigers in 2005–06 and 2006–07. For the 2008 and 2009 season he joined the

Vienna Capitals Vienna Capitals are an Austrian professional ice hockey club that participate in the Erste Bank Hockey League. Founded in 2001, the Capitals play their home games in Vienna, Austria, at Albert Schultz Eishalle. In the 2004–05 season, the Capit ...

in Austria's

Erste Bank Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...

. He finished his career in 2011 after a season with the Sherbrooke Saint-François in the

. Labbé was selected for induction as part of the American Hockey League Hall of Fame's 2016 class.

Records

Labbé currently holds records with the Syracuse Crunch for: *Lowest GAA in a single season - 2.18 (2001–02) *Highest single season save percentage - .928 (2001–02) *Career shutouts - 11

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Labbe, Jean-Francois 1972 births Augsburger Panther players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Austria Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Columbus Blue Jackets players Cornwall Aces players Flint Generals players French Quebecers Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players Hartford Wolf Pack players HC Lada Togliatti players Hershey Bears players Hull Olympiques players Ice hockey people from Quebec Living people New York Rangers players Nürnberg Ice Tigers players Prince Edward Island Senators players Sherbrooke Faucons players Sinupret Ice Tigers players Sportspeople from Sherbrooke Syracuse Crunch players Thunder Bay Senators players Trois-Rivières Draveurs players Undrafted National Hockey League players Vienna Capitals players