Well Deserved

Leetch’s No. 2 to Assume a Lofty Perch at the Garden:

"Leetch, 39, vividly recalled his debut. He had arrived from the Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, knowing no one on the team. Before he took the ice, the Garden crowd was chanting, “U.S.A., U.S.A.” and right after the opening face-off, his teammate Chris Nilan got into a fight with a St. Louis player."

I just finished watching the ceremony at home (my son took the tickets for the evening). Better and shorter than the one for Messier, and a bit too staged - there is a lack of spontaneity in these buildings nowadays; but nobody deserved this more. Only the second player ever to receive the Calder, Norris and Con Smythe trophies during his career (Bobby Orr); and, for me, the only other guy would could wear Brad Park's #2 on his back.

An unbelievable career marred only by the way he was traded from the team in 2004, and a captaincy that he never handled very well after Messier's departure in 1997. Maybe the greatest American born player ever; and maybe more than any other Ranger - the team never recovered from his loss.