Robert John Rouse (born June 18, 1964) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

player. He is a two-time

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

champion, winning in back to back years with the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Playing career

A prototypical

stay-at-home defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

, Rouse was drafted in 1982 by the Minnesota North Stars. After playing parts of six seasons with the North Stars, Rouse was traded to the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

at the trade deadline of the

1988–89 NHL season The 1988–89 NHL season was the 72nd season of the National Hockey League. The Calgary Flames won an all-Canadian Stanley Cup final against the Montreal Canadiens four games to two. This remains the last time two Canadian teams faced each other ...

in the deal that also sent

Dino Ciccarelli Dino Ciccarelli (born February 8, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League, primarily with the Minnesota North Stars, but also notably with the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he ha ...

to the Capitals. His steady and tough style of defensive play helped guide the Capitals to their first semifinals appearance, in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. During the middle of the 1990–91 season he was traded to the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

, along with

Peter Zezel Peter Zezel (April 22, 1965 – May 26, 2009) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who spent 15 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1984 to 1999. Early life Zezel was born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario. Zezel was an alumnus o ...

, in exchange for

Al Iafrate Albert Anthony Iafrate ( ; born March 21, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the National Hockey League between 1984 and 1998. He is perhaps most famous for his extremely hard slapshot. He set a record fo ...

. Rouse joined the

in 1994 as a free agent, and helped them in two of their

wins (

and

), one of which involved topping one of his former clubs, the Capitals. Rouse moved on to play with the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

in 1998–99 and retired during the 1999–2000 season after the Sharks released him. In 1,061 NHL games, Rouse had 37 goals, 181 assists, and 1,559 penalty minutes. He served as a full-time

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

with the Maple Leafs, and as part-time alternate captain with the Capitals and Red Wings.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

* WHL Second All-Star Team – 1983 * WHL East First All-Star Team – 1984

References

External links

* 1964 births Billings Bighorns players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Detroit Red Wings players Sportspeople from Surrey, British Columbia Lethbridge Broncos players Living people Minnesota North Stars draft picks Minnesota North Stars players Nanaimo Islanders players San Jose Sharks players Springfield Indians players Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players Washington Capitals players Ice hockey people from British Columbia {{Canada-icehockey-defenceman-1960s-stub