A Hall of a Class

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Written on 11/11/2009 by Jim Cerny


The Hockey Hall of Fame welcomed, perhaps, its greatest class ever this past Monday night in Toronto. Between Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille, and Steve Yzerman, you are talking about three of the Top Ten all-time leaders in goals, three of the 21 most prolific point-producers, and the 7th-highest scoring defenseman in NHL history.

Put them together and this fantastic foursome scored 2,348 goals, notched 3,220 assists, and recorded 5,568 points over their NHL careers that collectively spanned 5,419 games in 79 seasons in total.

Add Devils executive Lou Lamoriello---who was also inducted into the HHOF on Monday---to the mix and this group has totaled 10 Stanley Cup championships, as well.

Eye-popping numbers, for sure.

But it's not just the numbers that makes this group so special. Yzerman is regarded as one of the game's greatest captains ever. Hull was one of the sport's most colorful and outspoken ambassadors. Leetch and Lamoriello helped cement USA Hockey as a true force on the international scene. Robitaille---and Hull, too, for that matter---proved that through tremendous dedication and hard work, a player does not have to be a highly-regarded prospect or first-round pick to become a star, setting an outstanding example for youth players everywhere.

Their individual speeches all found a way to touch me during Monday's ceremony. Hull describing not what he brought to the game, but what the game of hockey gave to him, and explaining that he represented all of the beer-league players out there. Yzerman humbly explaining how he became the sport's pre-eminent leader by the good fortune of those great players and coaches he worked alongside for 22 years in Detroit. Lamoriello remembering to mention that we all should keep cancer-stricken former Devils coach Pat Burns in our prayers. Robitaille providing inspiration to those players who are not considered fast enough, strong enough, or talented enough to play the game of hockey. And Leetch pointing out that he played hockey because he loved the sport, not because he planned to be an NHLer one day, and then encouraging today's youth coaches to always remember to keep the game fun for the kids.

I have had the good fortune to work in the National Hockey League as a broadcaster and reporter while these five greats were in the primes of their careers. I remember Robitaille as one who was always quick with a genuine smile and a twinkle in his eye, just a really good guy. Hull's hearty laugh and sarcasm in locker-room conversations we had over the years stands out to me, too. Yzerman's grace, on and off the ice. That's what always struck me about him. Grace and class all the way. Lamoriello? Loyalty and intensity. Those are the two words that come to mind when I think of him.

As for Leetch, well, he is the one of this group I know the best. I was fortunate enough to cover his career, pretty much right from the start. It's funny, I remember a fellow reporter and good friend Bob Grochowski---Bobby G to you that remember SportsPhone---sitting next to me in the press box at Madison Square Garden during Leetch's early days, saying, "They have never drafted a player like this before. He is going to be the greatest Ranger ever."

You could argue that Bobby G was right on the mark, once Leetch's career was done.

There are so many memories I have of Leetch---end-to-end rushes, his amazing stamina and recuperative powers where he could play in every key situation, 35 minutes or so a night during the playoffs, his ability to play through brutal injuries, his elite-level skating and on-ice vision that were second to none---and I feel extremely fortunate to have covered his career so closely.

Of course, the spring of 1994 was his crowning achievement. Mark Messier was the Rangers captain. Adam Graves was the team's heartbeat. Mike Richter the impenatrable force in goal.

Brian Leetch was the soul of that Stanley Cup championship team that ended 54 years of misery on Broadway.

One other thing I'll always remember about Leetch. Though very soft-spoken, Leetch was a very intelligent and articulate athlete, and very respectful of me, the media, the fans, and the organization, no matter the circumstances---good or bad.

I thought Leetch really summed it up best on Monday night.

"If you look at the Hockey Hall of Fame as one big team, and everybody in one big locker room, even if I never get on the ice for one shift it's still the best team in the world to be on."

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2009 Lester Patrick Awards Coverage

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Written on 10/21/2009 by Jim Cerny




I am here at the 2009 Lester Patrick Awards here at the phenomanally beautiful Gotham Hall in Manhattan as I write this.

Tonight, Mark Messier, Mike Richter, and Jim Devellano are being honored for their "outstanding service to hockey in the United States." It's a real hockey who's who here this evening, with NHL commisioner Gary Bettman on hand, along with his right-hand man Bill Daly and other assorted hockey notables like Glen Sather, Brian Burke, Brian Leetch, and Chris Drury.

Not shocking to see Leetch (as seen in above photograph with his good friends Messier and Richter) here. He is a 2007 recipient of the Lester Patrick Award, and will soon be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in early November. His career---and life---has dovetailed with that of Richter, and Messier guided him into becoming an NHL superstar upon his arrival on Broadway in October of 1991.

But it is the relationship between Leetch and Richter that is most interesting. Long-time teammates with the Rangers, Stanley Cup champions together in 1994, and powerful forces in the resurgance of US hockey beginning in the 1990's, Leetch and Richter are forever linked to one another.

"We've been together since we were 15 or 16 years old," Leetch told me tonight. "To be in the same area and last that long with the same NHL team, and have so many shared experiences, is fantastic."

They shared three Olympics together, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey tournament title, and too many to count memories in New York as Rangers teammates.

They also helped influence a whole new crop of U.S.-born NHLers, though Richter will have none of hearing that.

"I felt a sense of responsibility, and maybe had sense of awareness, that we had an impact (on US kids), and the more succes you had, the more impact you had," explained Richter, who was quick to add that whatever influence he has had pales in comparison to that of the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey Team.

"That's a whole different story," Richter told me. "We could never match what the '80 team accomplished and how they captured the imagination of a whole country. It's what inspired so many of us to strap on skates and try to play for our country one day, and believe that maybe we could play in the NHL."

Richter is spot-on with his observations about that 1980 squad, but he is far too modest about what he, Leetch, Mike Modano, Keith Tkachuk, et al did for hockey in the United States.

As for Messier, he spent much of his time this evening talking about how to grow the game of hockey in the United States and how kids are being pushed at too young of an age into tournaments and travel programs, instead of simply playing for the enjoyment of the game and the life lessons that go along with participating in sports.

A father of both a 22 year-old hockey-playing son, and a 6 year-old that is just beginning to take up the sport, the legendary Captain does not like what he sees from youth coaches, officials, and parents.

"In my humble opinion, I think we are weeding out the kids who can't just play for the love of the game," Messier told me. "For the most part, from the youth standpoint, we need to be teaching them the life lessons that hockey teaches us, about being good civilians, about being good teammates, the code of conduct, how to interact and treat others with respect. Those are the lessons we are supposed to be teaching our youth, not the yelling and screaming and punishment for winning and losing."

Interesting stuff from the man known to be as fierce as a competitor ever seen in the National Hockey League.

"Sports is about physical and emotional well being for our children, not about professionalizing them at a younger age," stated Messier. "And I think we've really gotten off the track here. And as a result we are losing younger players from the sport."

Speaking of teaching, that is one of Devellano's great gifts to this sport. He has taken many a keen and eager young executive under his wing over the years while working in various front offices with the Blues, Islanders, and Red Wings, and has helped turn them into successful executives on their own.

Respected in near-unanimous fashion aroud the NHL for the quality person he is, Devellano has helped Neil Smith, Ken Holland, Darcy Regier, Don Waddell, and Scott Howson among others become general managers in the National Hockey League.

"I've always liked to help young people who have a real passion for the game," Devellano stated tonight. "I like to be a guardian."

For more on tonight's festivities, check out my story over at NewYorkRangers.com.

And speaking of the Rangers, and walking down memory lane, Adam Graves will be our guest on Rangers Radio this week. The show will first air Friday at noon, and then will be available to download at NewYorkRangers.com.

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