John Thomas Blue (born February 19, 1966) is an American former

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 ...

. He played 46 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

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

and

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

between 1992 and 1996. The majority of his career, which lasted from 1987 to 1995, was spent in various minor leagues. Internationally Blue was part of the American national team at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

, but he did not play. He also was part of the American team at three

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, though only played one game, in the

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 ...

and 1997 tournaments.

Playing career

Blue was the starting goaltender for each of his three seasons on the University of Minnesota hockey team (1984–87). He was named a

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

First Team All-Star in 1986 and won 64 games during his Gopher career, the fourth highest win total in team history. During the 1983–84 season he played in the USHL for the Des Moines Buccaneers. He was drafted in the tenth round, 197th overall, by the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...

in the

1986 NHL Entry Draft The 1986 NHL Entry Draft was the 24th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 21, 1986, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams selected 252 players eligible for entry into professional ranks, in the revers ...

. Blue made his NHL debut on January 7, 1993 against the Quebec Nordiques. He played in the

for the

and

and was the first Californian goaltender in the history of the National Hockey League.

International play

He was a backup goalie for the American national team at the

, but did not play any games. Blue was also part of the American team at the

and 1992 World Championships, only played 5 games in 1990. Named to the national team once more for the 1997 World Championships, he played in one game.

Personal life

Blue was born in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

, then left for Spokane, Washington at age 5. He began ice skating in Spokane, then after his family moved to San Jose, he became youth goaltender for the Santa Clara Blackhawks in Northern California. Throughout his career, he called

Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...

his offseason home. He currently works as a pastor after having become deeply involved in religious studies during his playing days.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

*
John Blue @ hockeygoalies.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue, John 1966 births Living people Albany Choppers players American men's ice hockey goaltenders Austin Ice Bats players Boston Bruins players Buffalo Sabres players Des Moines Buccaneers players Fort Wayne Komets players Ice hockey players from California Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players Knoxville Cherokees players Maine Mariners players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Peoria Rivermen (IHL) players Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL) players Providence Bruins players Rochester Americans players Sportspeople from Huntington Beach, California Virginia Lancers players Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) draft picks