Joe Nieuwendyk Joseph " Joe " Nieuwendyk ( born September 10 , 1966 ) is the general manager of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) and a retired Canadian player . He won the Stanley Cup three times , in three different decades , on three different teams , and is considered to be one of the best face - off men in NHL history . He announced his retirement from professional hockey due to chronic back problems on December 6 , 2006 . He was hired by the Florida Panthers as a special consultant to the general manager and later became special assistant to the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs . Joe Nieuwendyk is a nephew of former NHL player Ed Kea and a cousin of former NHL player Jeff Beukeboom . Playing career . Prior to coming to the NHL in the 1986 – 87 season , Nieuwendyk attended Cornell University and while there , he played for their hockey team for three seasons . In 1986 and 1987 he was named to the ECAC ' s All - Star First Team and was selected as an All - American . In 1987 Joe was also nominated as a Hobey Baker finalist , along with other future NHL stars like Brian Leetch , Craig Janney and Tony Granato . However , the trophy was awarded to Tony Hrkac of the University of North Dakota . As fate would have it the two of them would win a Stanley Cup together while playing on the 1998 – 99 Dallas Stars team . After his third season at Cornell , Nieuwendyk played briefly for the Canadian national team . Joe Nieuwendyk ' s first season in the NHL was a short one , only playing 9 regular - season games . Because he played fewer than 25 games , his second season ( 1987 – 88 ) in the NHL was considered his rookie year . His rookie season saw him set a career high in goals with 51 and become one of only a handful of players to score more than 50 goals in their first NHL season . ( Mike Bossy ( 53 ) , Wayne Gretzky ( 51 ) , Teemu Selänne ( 76 ) Alexander Ovechkin ( 52 ) . ) He won the Calder Trophy as best rookie and was also named to the NHL All - Rookie Team . Nieuwendyk played on five different teams in his career , and won Stanley Cup s with three of them . The Calgary Flames drafted him in the second round ( 27th overall ) in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft and he played for Calgary from 1986 – 87 to 1994 – 95 . While in Calgary , he won a Stanley Cup in 1989 and set career highs with 51 goals ( twice ) , 50 assists , and 95 points . He served as Captain from 1991 to 1994 . In 1995 he was awarded the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for best exemplifing leadership qualities . On December 19 , 1995 , after a protracted holdout , Joe was traded to the Dallas Stars ( in exchange for prospect Jarome Iginla ) where he won another Stanley Cup and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs . During that run he would tie a then record six game - winning goals ( previously set by Joe Sakic ) . He played in Dallas from 1995 – 96 to 2001 – 02 . During the 2001 – 02 season , he was traded to the New Jersey Devils where he won his third Stanley Cup with his third different team . After playing just over a season in New Jersey ( 94 games ) , he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2003 – 04 NHL season . Due to the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , he didn ' t play during the 2004 – 05 NHL season and he became an unrestricted free agent prior to the start of the 2005 – 06 NHL season . Mike Keenan , General manager of the Florida Panthers , signed both Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts to contracts worth $ 4 . 5 million each . The Leafs , under the new cap system , couldn ' t match that offer to keep Nieuwendyk and Roberts as the Leafs had only $ 9 million left to spend under the cap and still needed to sign at least 7 other players . Interestingly enough , this was the third time that these childhood friends , Roberts and Nieuwendyk , played on the same team at the same time . They started their career together in Calgary and played together in Toronto and then in Florida . On December 6 , 2006 , Nieuwendyk decided to retire from the game due to chronic back problems , ending a career that lasted 20 NHL seasons . He finished his career with 564 goals and 562 assists for a total of 1 , 126 points . At the time of his retirement , he was tied for 48th place in NHL history in points with Mike Bossy , who also was forced to retire due to back problems . He was inducted into the Hockey Halll of Fame in 2011 . Career statistics . Played for Canada in : See Also . List of Trades by Joe Nieuwendyk