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 for velocity during the NHL Skills Competition of 1993, a record which stood for 16 years, at . The record was broken in 2009 by Zdeno Chára of the Boston Bruins with a slapshot at 105.4 mph in Montreal. Iafrate was born in Dearborn, Michigan, and grew up in Livonia, Michigan.
Iafrate was given the nickname "the Planet" by The Boston Globe sportswriter Kevin Paul Dupont for his peculiar personality.
Internationally, Iafrate has represented the United States at the 1984 Winter Olympics and 1998 IIHF World Championship.
Early career
As a youth, Iafrate played in the 1979 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Detroit.
Iafrate was selected fourth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft after a standout career with the Windsor Compuware Spitfires and a short but distinguished stay with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Iafrate played for Team USA in the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. During the summer of 1984 Iafrate was driving a car with teammate Mike Vellucci when it crashed and flipped multiple times. Vellucci was thrown from the car and broke his back, missing the entire 1984–85 season, while Iafrate broke some ribs.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Iafrate began his NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1984 and played 68 games as a rookie blue liner putting up 21 points for the struggling club. His breakthrough came during his fourth season in the league when his heavy slapshot helped him score 22 goals and 52 points and Iafrate skated in his first All-Star Game. Injuries limited him to 65 games and 33 points the following year but he was back on track in 1989–90 putting up 21 goals and 63 points making a return trip to the All-Star Game representing the Maple Leafs. Iafrate failed to build on his career-best campaign and got off to a slow start in 1990–91 and eventually grew tired of the fishbowl pressures of playing in Toronto and personal issues with teammate Gary Leeman so he requested a trade out of town. After 41 games in Toronto, Iafrate was dealt to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Peter Zezel and Bob Rouse. Toronto General Manager Floyd Smith was aware of what he had given up in the deal: "This year he hasn't played like an All-Star, and he'd be the first to admit that, but he certainly has the ability."
Washington Capitals
With the Capitals, Iafrate joined an offensively potent defensive core featuring Kevin Hatcher and Calle Johansson and began to flourish. He posted 17 goals his first full season in Washington then set career-highs the next year with 25 goals and 66 points and garnered league-wide attention at the All-Star game when he unleashed a 105.2-mile-per-hour slapshot in the Skills Competition. At the trade deadline in 1993–94, Iafrate was dealt to the Boston Bruins in a trade that landed Joé Juneau in Washington. The Capitals, who for years were built from the defense out, sacrificed Iafrate in an effort beef up their offense. General Manager David Poile, at the time of the trade told The Washington Post "Al is more a victim of us wanting to go after an offensive player."
Boston Bruins
With the Bruins, Iafrate fit in instantly and put up 13 points in 12 games to finish the season then added four more in the post season. Unfortunately for Iafrate, those would be the last games he played in Boston because back and knee injuries caused him to miss the entire 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons. After two years on the sidelines and a lost court battle over his 1995–96 salary, the Bruins decided to move on and dealt Iafrate to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for the Sharks captain Jeff Odgers and a fifth-round draft pick.
San Jose Sharks
For the Sharks acquiring Iafrate—and his battered knees—represented a roll of the dice with no guarantee he'd be able to return or play at the level he previously had. Sharks General Manager Dean Lombardi acknowledged the risk: "We figured with this kind of player it was worth taking a chance." The gamble, unfortunately, didn't pay off and Iafrate was severely limited by his litany of knee injuries and only managed to suit up for 59 games over the next two seasons for the Sharks.