Early career

Barrasso grew up in the town of Stow, Massachusetts, playing ice hockey on an outdoor rink. He started playing goaltender at the age of five years and by the time he was a teenager, was playing in net for Acton-Boxborough with fellow NHL players Bob Sweeney and Jeff Norton, as well as fellow goalie Kelly Dyer, to whom he refused to speak. Barrasso was considered one of the most promising American goaltending prospects of all time. He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres with the fifth overall pick in 1983. Skipping a college career, he went straight from high school to the NHL. At the time of his debut with the Sabres on October 5, 1983, less than six months after graduating from high school, Barrasso was the youngest goaltender to play and win a game in the NHL since Harry Lumley nearly forty years prior. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy and Vezina Trophy in his first season, becoming the third player to win both awards in the same year.

Pittsburgh Penguins

On November 12, 1988, the Sabres traded Barrasso, with a third round draft pick in the 1990 draft (Joe Dziedzic) to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Doug Bodger and Darrin Shannon.

Barrasso won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1991 and 1992. It was his play in these Cup runs that established him as a "money goalie". In the following years, Barrasso almost entirely missed two seasons, the 1994–95 NHL season and the 1996–97 NHL season with injuries but came back with good performances in the next years. In 1997, he became the first American goaltender to record 300 NHL wins. A fiercely proud competitor, in his later seasons in Pittsburgh he developed a strained relationship with the local media, who he felt were disrespectful of him and his family. This probably factors into why his #35 was not retired by the Penguins (current starting goaltender Tristan Jarry currently wears #35), as only Mario Lemieux's, Michel Brière's, and Jaromír Jágr's jerseys are retired.

Last years

In March 2000, Barrasso was traded to the Ottawa Senators for Ron Tugnutt and Janne Laukkanen in a deal that was seen as a risk for both teams.^[2] He was uneven in Ottawa, going 3–4 in seven starts and losing the first two games of Ottawa's first round series with rivals Toronto before bouncing back and winning the next two games to even the series. After evening the series, Barrasso caused a furor during the CBC's broadcast when he said during an on-air interview on April 20 that he "really couldn't give a shit what you people have to say".^[3] Barrasso would apologize the next day for using vulgar language, although he stood by his sentiments in the interview, stating the year had been very stressful for him.^[3] The Senators would go on to lose the next two games and the series to the Maple Leafs in six games.

After his playoff run with Ottawa, Barrasso's contract expired and he did not to re-sign with the Senators. He then spent the entire 2000–01 season out of hockey to be with his family, following the cancer diagnosis of his daughter and death of his father from cancer.^[4] Following a favourable prognosis of his daughter's condition and regaining mental clarity following what Barasso described as a difficult year in his personal life, Barasso returned to hockey signing a one-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 17, 2001, for the 2001–02 season.^[4][5] Barasso also enjoyed some international success this season, winning a Silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics playing for Team USA. Barasso expressed interest in playing with the Hurricanes following a June 2001 dinner with former Pittsburgh teammate Ron Francis, who had since joined Carolina.^[4]

Although Barasso had strong play in Carolina splitting the net with Artūrs Irbe,^[4] on March 14, 2002, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Toronto's fourth round pick in the 2003 NHL draft.^[6] He made his Toronto debut on March 21, in a 4–3 loss to the Washington Capitals.^[7] Ultimately, Barrasso would only appear in four games with Toronto, and not make a single post-season appearance, before Toronto was eliminated in the third round of the playoffs to the Hurricanes. Barrasso was not signed to a new contract following the Maple Leafs' elimination, becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Unsigned to a new deal in the NHL offseason, Barrasso began the season a free agent before later signing a contract with the St. Louis Blues on November 4, 2002.^[8] Barrasso would only appear in 6 contests with the Blues between November 12 and 29, recording one win, before mutually agreeing with the team to release him from his contract on December 28.^[9] Unsigned for the rest of the season, Barrasso announced his retirement on June 19, 2003.^[10] He signed a pro forma contract with Pittsburgh on the day he declared retirement so he could leave hockey as a Penguin.^[11]

In 2023, Barrasso was named as an inductee to that year's Hockey Hall of Fame class, to be formally inducted in November, after first being eligible for inclusion to the Hall in 2006.^[1] In the years following Barrasso's retirement, he had frequently been cited as a worthy candidate, given his play and statistical accomplishments; however, Barrasso's confrontational and rude personality (particularity with members of the media) had been noted as explanations for why Barrasso was not named to the Hall of Fame for 17 years.^[12][13][14] Barrasso's public perception of having a difficult personality had existed since his playing days. When traded from Pittsburgh to Ottawa, Senators management received backlash from fans for acquiring Barrasso, with criticism directed to his personality and conflicts with teammates prior to the trade.^[13]

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

• 1984 – Calder Memorial Trophy (Top rookie in NHL)
• 1984 – Vezina Trophy (Top goaltender in NHL)
• 1984 – NHL First All-Star Team
• 1985 – NHL Second All-Star Team
• 1985 – William M. Jennings Trophy (Team with fewest goals allowed – shared with Bob Sauve)
• 1985 – Played in NHL All-Star Game
• 1991 – Stanley Cup champion (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• 1992 – Stanley Cup champion (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• 1993 – NHL Second All-Star Team
• 1994 Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Americans
• 2002 – Olympic ice hockey silver medalist (Team USA)
• 2003 – Member of the Pittsburgh Penguins Ring of Honor that formerly circled the Pittsburgh Civic Arena
• 2007 – Inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame
• 2009 – Inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame
• 2015 – Coppa Italia champion, (Hockey Club Valpellice)
• 2018 – Alps Hockey League champion, (Asiago Hockey AS)
• 2023 - Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame

Career achievements

• #3 in career NHL wins by a left-handed goaltender^[22]
• #4 in career NHL wins by a US-born Goaltender (369)^[23]
• #15 in career playoff wins (61, tied with Henrik Lundqvist).^[24]
• #20 all time in career regular season saves (19695).^[25]
• #21 career regular season wins (369).^[26]
• #1 points scored by an NHL goaltender (48).