Leetch makes it official

Don't feel bad if you forgot that Brian Leetch was still around. After all, playing in Boston is pretty much the same as not playing at all -- at least, these days it is -- so Leetch's sabbatical went unnoticed. But the greatest American defenseman in NHL history hung up the skates officially today.

I was a big Brian Leetch guy and anyone who was a part of the greatest playoff series I've ever seen (of course, I refer to the Rangers/ Devils 1994 Eastern Conference Finals) automatically gets my respect.

To me, when I was coming up, there were four elite defensemen in the league: Ray Bourque, Al MacInnis, Brian Leetch, and Chris Chelios (Scott Stevens never had the offensive punch that these four did, but I suppose you could make a case for him being #5). Now, only Chelios remains and he's 106 years old. That quartet was succeeded by Pronger, Lidstrom, and Niedermayer. It's the end of an era, in some ways.

At any rate, respect to Brian Leetch.