Larry Brooks

Larry Brooks

NHL

Ranking the local hockey teams’ greatest players by nationality

GLENDALE, Ariz. — So, OK, an exercise in which Henrik Lundqvist, Ed Giacomin and Mike Richter can each be designated as the greatest goaltender in franchise history … by nationality.

As the World Juniors crown a champion Sunday in Vancouver, Slap Shots is issuing our six-nations ranking of our three local club’s all-time greatest by birthplace. Ranking is determined by contributions with team — which is why, say, Wayne Gretzky is not ranked as the Rangers’ greatest Canadian-born player and Jaromir Jagr is not atop the Devils’ Czech Republic list.

Greatest US-born players

Rangers: 1. Brian Leetch; 2. Mike Richter; 3. Ryan McDonagh; 4. Ryan Callahan; 5. Derek Stepan; 6. John Vanbiesbrouck; 7. Cecil Dillon; 8. Mark Pavelich; 9. Tony Amonte; 10. Tony Granato; 11. Chris Kreider; 12. Mike York; 13. Brian Boyle; 14. Chris Drury; 15. Brandon Dubinsky.

Islanders: 1. Pat LaFontaine; 2. Ken Morrow; 3. Kyle Okposo; 4. Mark Parrish; 5. Bryan Berard; 6. Randy Wood; 7. Jason Blake; 8. Bill Guerin; 9. Anders Lee; 10. Dave Langevin; 11. Tom Kurvers; 12. Scott Lachance; 13. Mathieu Schneider; 14. Brock Nelson; 15. Mike York.

Devils: 1. Neal Broten; 2. Brian Rafalski; 3. Zach Parise; 4. Paul Martin; 5. Billy Guerin; 6. Scott Gomez; 7. Jamie Langenbrunner; 8. Brian Gionta; 9. Jay Pandolfo; 10. Bobby Carpenter; 11. Kyle Palmieri; 12. Tom Chorske; 13. Chris Terreri; 14. Cory Schneider; 15. Andy Greene; 16. Doug Brown; 17. Mark Johnson.

Greatest Canadian-born players

Rangers: 1. Mark Messier; 2. Rod Gilbert; 3. Frank Boucher; 4. Andy Bathgate; 5; Bill Cook; 6. Jean Ratelle; 7. Brad Park; 8. Ed Giacomin; 9. Bryan Hextall Sr.; 10. Harry Howell; 11. Adam Graves; 12. Vic Hadfield; 13. Dean Prentice; 14. Camille Henry; 15. Bill Gadsby.

Mark Messier
Mark MessierGetty Images

Islanders: 1. Denis Potvin; 2. Mike Bossy; 3. Bryan Trottier; 4. Clark Gillies; 5. Billy Smith; 6. John Tavares; 7. Brent Sutter; 8. John Tonelli; 9. Bob Bourne; 10. Pierre Turgeon; 11. Derek King; 12. Kelly Hrudey; 13. Pat Flatley; 14. Mike Peca; 15. Billy Harris; 16. Dave Lewis.

Devils: 1. Martin Brodeur; 2. Scott Stevens; 3. Scott Niedermayer; 4. John MacLean; 5. Claude Lemieux; 6. Brendan Shanahan; 7. Taylor Hall; 8. Stephane Richer; 9. Ken Daneyko; 10. Kirk Muller; 11. Travis Zajac; 12. Bruce Driver; 13. Pat Verbeek.

Greatest Swedish-born players

Rangers: 1. Henrik Lundqvist; 2. Anders Hedberg; 3. Michael Nylander; 4. Tomas Sandstrom; 5. Anton Stralman; 6. Ulf Samuelsson; 7. Jan Erixon; 8. Ulf Nilsson; 9. Ulf Dahlen; 10. Mika Zibanejad; 11. Carl Hagelin; 12. Jesper Fast; 13. Kjell Samuelsson; 14. Niklas Sundstrom; 15. Kim Johnsson.

Islanders: 1. Bob Nystrom; 2. Stefan Persson; 3. Tomas Jonsson; 4. Kenny Jonsson; 5. Anders Kallur; 6. Tommy Salo; 7. Tommy Soderstrom; 8. Robin Lehner; 9. Mats Lindgren; 10. Goran Hogosta.

Devils: 1. Patrik Sundstrom; 2. Tommy Albelin; 3. Johnny Oduya; 4. Johan Hedberg; 5. Adam Larsson; 6. Jesper Bratt; 7. Marcus Johansson; 8. Anders Carlsson; 9. Henrik Tallinder; 10. Mattias Tedenby.

Greatest Russian-born players

Rangers: 1. Sergei Zubov; 2. Alex Kovalev; 3. Sergei Nemchinov; 4. Alexander Karpovtsev; 5. Pavel Bure; 6. Fedor Tyutin; 7. Ruslan Fedotenko (Ukraine); 8. Vladimir Malakhov; 9. Nikolay Zherdev (Ukraine); 10. Pavel Buchnevich.

Islanders: 1. Vladimir Malakhov; 2. Alexei Yashin; 3. Viktor Kozlov.

Devils: 1. Slava Fetisov; 2. Alexei Kasatonov; 3. Ilya Kovalchuk; 4. Alex Mogilny; 5. Sergei Brylin; 6. Vladimir Malakhov; 7. Valeri Zelepukin; 8. Igor Larionov; 9. Viktor Kozlov; 10. Alexander Semak.

Greatest Czech-born players

Patrik Elias
Patrik EliasGetty Images

Rangers: 1. Jaromir Jagr; 2. Martin Straka; 3. Petr Nedved; 4. Radek Dvorak; 5. Michal Rozsival; 6. Marek Malik; 7. Vinny Prospal; 8. Jan Hlavac; 9. Martin Rucinsky; 10. Petr Prucha (was a healthy scratch).

Islanders: 1. David Volek; 2. Roman Hamrlik; 3. Robert Reichel; 4. Radek Martinek; 5. Josef Vasicek.

Devils:
1. Patrik Elias; 2. Bobby Holik; 3. Petr Sykora; 4. Jaromir Jagr; 5. Marek Zidlicky; 6. Richard Smehlik; 7. Jan Ludvig; 8. Martin Havlat; 9. Jaroslav Modry; 10. Pavel Zacha.

Greatest Finnish-born players

Rangers: 1. Reijo Ruotsalainen; 2. Esa Tikkanen; 3. Pentti Lund; 4. Jari Kurri; 5. Jari Gronstrand; 6. Olli Jokinen; 7. Lauri Korpikoski.

Islanders: 1. Olli Jokinen; 2. Sean Bergenheim; 3. Mikko Makela; 4. Jari Gronstrand; 5. Janne Niinimaa.

Devils: 1. Janne Ojanen; 2. Tapio Levo; 3. Tuomo Ruutu; 4. Timo Blomqvist; 5. Reijo Ruotsalainen.


Hockey people take care to be considerate of one another. Teams and fan bases recognize people and players who merit appreciation. Video tributes to returning players are generally handled with utmost class by franchises throughout the NHL.

This is what makes the Blues organization’s studious snub of Kevin Shattenirk’s return to St. Louis on New Year’s Eve stand out as especially inconsiderate and perhaps even cruel to both the New Rochelle native and a fan base who grew to appreciate him through seven seasons representing the Blue Note with nothing but class.

It is not as if the Blues forgot. We’re told on good authority the suggestion was nixed by upper management. When Ryan Reaves, who played 419 games with the Blues, returned to St. Louis, he received a video tribute. When captain David Backes, in for 727 games, returned, he received a tribute. When T.J. Oshie, who played 443 games, returned, he received a tribute.

When Shattenkirk, who played 425 games primarily as a top-four defenseman for a strong St. Louis team, returned, he did not receive a tribute.
How unfortunate.

So one of Lou Lamoriello’s well-known foibles, er, rules, is not to allow television and radio personnel to travel on the club charter. He did make an exception for the Dec. 23 game in Dallas, but not so for the New Year’s Eve game in Buffalo.

But ownership made its own exception, providing a pair of private jets, one to Long Island and one to New Jersey, for the TV and radio crews, so they could get home to celebrate the New Year.

That’s class.