Leetch's No. 2 to Assume a Lofty Perch at the Garden

Brian Leetch's teammates from his days with the Rangers love to tell the story of a game at Tampa Bay in 1999, watching Leetch block a shot by the hardest shooter in the league, Fredrik Modin. The shot broke Leetch's right wrist, but he stayed on the ice to block another and to play several more shifts before leaving the game.

Brian Leetch, left, and the captain Mark Messier led the Rangers to the 1994 Stanley Cup in a seven-game series against Vancouver, ending a 54-year drought.

Afterward, Leetch apologized for letting his team down.

That was Leetch — one of the toughest players they knew, one of the best defenseman in N.H.L. history, yet someone who rarely took credit for anything.