So Brian Leetch night came and went, and what do we have to say about it?
Number one, is there anyone who deserves the admiration of the Garden Faithful more than the Now-Forever #2? As his jersey looks down upon the rest of Rangers eternity, one can only hope that his legacy is not lost on the eyes that scan the Garden rafters. He may not hold the panache that captain Mark Messier holds, or the open-ended love that the life-long Ranger Mike Richter holds â because Leetch holds something completely different. He holds the backbone to what is our modern Ranger existence. He was the nexus of the 1993-94 team; the team that brought triumph back to this franchise. He is everything we love about this team. And as many before me said tonight, Brian Leetch is the New York Rangers.
32 points in 23 playoff games in â93-94. Need I say more? I think I do.
Bobby Orr set the mold for what it is to be a defenseman. He revolutionized the position by putting up dominant offensive numbers and made it possible for all those who came after him not to feel bad about scoring 10 goals in a season. Orr revolutionized hockey, and Brian Leetch picked up where Mr. Orr left off.
But there was something about tonight that just seemed awkward. The fact that it started out with Leetch walking into the locker room, cameras on hand and all the players unsuspecting was just an unnatural occurrence. Whoâs to blame there: the PR people or the players? But to see Leetch walk in, and have Blair Betts standing right next to him, clad only in hockey shorts and an Under Armor T-shirt, clapping, standing and not knowing what to do?!? At least Drury came up and gave him a handshake, which was followed by a nice veteran move by Shanahan, moving his locker so Leetchâs jersey could be in his old, recognizable place. Shanny knows his hockey, and as he said earlier in the week, âI donât have many fond memories of playing against [Leetch]; he was a great player and playing against him wasnât very much fun.â
It was then followed by a sequence of awkward events at center ice; the first being the transfer of the microphone from Messier back to Sam Rosen. Messier tried to introduce his life-long friend, only for Rosen to come back to the mic and then reintroduce Leetch. It wasn’t Rosen’s fault, but you know what this did? Remember both the Messier night and the Richter night? Yeah, they both had long â actually, absurdly long â standing ovations. You could tell Leetch was looking for something similar, as he stood away from the mic and clapped to himself, trying to inspire the Garden to give him his rightful overture. The man most deserving â and probably first in line for a post-retirement standing O â didnât get one. It didnât happen because the thunder was stolen from an unorganized ceremony.
And the next unredeemable action? The game. Maybe it was Atlanta playing smart on a night when they knew the Rangers would come out with such emotion. The Thrashers got on the board first and then played a defensive hockey game, stopping the Rangers from getting anything going. Of course, thatâs until the line of Doc Holliday and his Mighty Youngsters (Shanahan-Dubinsky-Dawes) took over. Dawes made a great play in the corner, working off a give-and-go with Dubinsky, who then got the puck to Rozsival who scored a Leetch-like, top-corner goal.
So Shanny won it in overtime and the Rangers chalked up their â gasp! â second in a row. With Number 2 now permanently staring down, I know itâs hard to keep the emotions subsided. Letâs hope the team on Broadway has their own inspiration that lasts through the All-Star break.
bcyrgalis@nypost.com