Goal Line Report
Entries with the tag: Brian+Leetch
Brian Leetch: Poetry On Ice
by Patrick Hoffman on 08/28/10 at 08:02 AM ET
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As most New York Ranger fans know, there was no better defenseman in the team’s history than No. 2, Brian Leetch.
Bob Birge, a long-time sports writer in Connecticut and currently the Fairfield County Sports Editor for Patch.com (A site I contribute sports articles to), wrote a poem about Leetch the night he retired.
With hockey season right around the corner and Rangers’ pucks dancing in our heads, I figured now was as good a time as ever to feature Birge’s outstanding poem on No. 2, Brian Leetch.
Enjoy by going below for the poem:
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Tags: Brian+Leetch, New+York+Rangers,
Way to Go Leetchy
by Patrick Hoffman on 06/23/09 at 02:45 PM ET
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From NewYorkRangers.com:
It’s official. Rangers great Brian Leetch is in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In a conference call on Tuesday afternoon, the Hall of Fame Selection Committee announced that Leetch would be part of the 2009 Hall induction class, along with Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Steve Yzerman, who were all inducted in the player category.
Also entering the Hall is New Jersey Devils President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello, who was added in the Builder’s Category.
Leetch, who grew up in Cheshire, Conn., becomes the only Rangers draft pick other than Brad Park to earn hockey’s highest honor. He is also the first U.S.-born defenseman in the Hall and only the second with American citizenship, following Rod Langway.
Leetch, whose No. 2 was retired by the Rangers organization on Jan. 24, 2008, is now a member of both the Hockey Hall of Fame and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, which he entered last year. He is the 45th former Ranger to be selected to the Hall, while Robitaille, who spent two years as Leetch’s teammate in the mid-1990s, is the 46th.
Click here for more. Well deserved!!
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Tags: Brian+Leetch, New+York+Rangers,
Where’s the Spark?
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/04/09 at 09:14 AM ET
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Things certainly started right last night at Madison Square Garden when the New York Rangers raised Adam Graves’s No.9 to the rafters. It was a night filled with Ranger stars such as Mark Messier, Mike Richter, Brian Leetch, Rod Gilbert, Eddie Giacomin, Mike Gartner, as well as guys like Glenn Healy, Sergei Nemchinov, Tie Domi, Darren Langdon and Jeff Beukeboom, all there to give praise to one of their greatest mates, Adam Graves.
It was unfortunate that the current Ranger squad had to play afterwards because they put on a dismal performance against the lowly Atlanta Thrashers and lost 2-1 in a shootout. Yes, the team peppered Thrashers’ netminder Kari Lehtonen. Yes, Nikolai Zherdev played a tremendous game by generating many scoring chances. The team also got a good look at Artem Anisimov, who played well but needs more playing time to be effective. And yes, the team got a solid performance, with the exception of the shootout, from their goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
However, it still wasn’t enough to be the second worst team in the NHL while also being a game in which they could have gained some ground on the New Jersey Devils as they lost to the Washington Capitals 5-2 last night.
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Tags: Adam+Graves, Artem+Anisimov, Atlanta+Thrashers, Brian+Leetch, Chris+Drury, Darren+Langdon, Eddie+Giacomin, Glenn+Healy, Henrik+Lundqvist, Ilya+Kovalchuk, Jeff+Beukeboom, Mark+Messier, Markus+Naslund, Mike+Gartner, Mike+Richter, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Patrick+Roy, Rod+Gilbert, Scott+Gomez, Sergei+Nemchinov, Tie+Domi, Tom+Renney, Washington+Capitals,
Honoring a Man More than a Player
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/03/09 at 10:45 AM ET
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As I am sure most of you are aware of by now, the New York Rangers will honor Adam Graves by retiring his No. 9 to the Garden rafters. Compared to the other Blueshirt retirees (Rod Gilbert, Eddie Giacomin, Mike Richter, Mark Messier and Brian Leetch), Graves did not produce as much statistically (280 goals, 227 assists, and 507 points in 772 games) but he certainly bled red, white and blue like no other Blueshirt for 10 seasons.
On the ice, Graves was a hard-nosed player who drove to the net to put in rebounds, deflect shots, create havoc for opposing netminders and generate many scoring opportunities. In 1993-94, Graves became one the league’s premier left wingers when he notched 52 goals, braking previous record-holder Vic Hadfield’s 50 goals. Five seasons later, he actually fired in 38 goals, proving that even though he was getting older, he could still play hard, do all the little things right and produce. He may not have been a Gilbert, Messier or Leetch but nevertheless, he did what he had to do to be an impact player.
“Gravey” was also a tough player. He stood up for his teammates, protected his linemates and when something needed to get done, he led by example. In a piece on the team’s web site, Messier called Graves the ultimate lieutenant. He also persevered through many obstacles and was able to capture the league’s King Clancy Trophy (1994) and Bill Masterton Trophy (2001).
With all that said, this still doesn’t show who Graves really is.
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Tags: Adam+Graves, Brian+Leetch, Eddie+Giacomin, Mark+Messier, Mike+Richter, New+York+Rangers, Rod+Gilbert,
