POLL: Greatest American-Born NHL Player

Even without a big marketing slash, it just may have been Legends Night at Staples Center on Monday.

Two of the greatest players to grace the NHL in the last 30 years played what could be their final games in Los Angeles, center Mike Modano and defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom.

Which leads to the today's question, is Modano the greatest American-born hockey player of all-time?

Below would be the guys generally considered the seven leading candidates. Ranger fans would probably say Mike Richter should be included, but he's just a notch below this group. And some will argue for Mike Eruzione (part of the US team that defeated the Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympics). However, he too is more realistically not part of this elite bunch.

What do you think?

The seven leading candidates in alphabetical order:

The other Winter Classic

Fenway Park isn't done hosting hockey just yet.

Friday evening the famed ballpark will host a match-up between two of the most storied institutions in college hockey, Boston College and Boston University.

Current LA Kings players Peter Harrold and Rob Scuderi, both Boston College alum, will surely be rooting for their former schools. In fact, both programs usually rank in the top 5 for having sent the most players to the NHL.

As a quick sneak preview to the article we'll be posting on Friday prior to the game, take a look at just some of the current and former NHL players that will have a vested interest in the outcome of this one:

Partial list of Boston College Alums
Brian Leetch
Bill Guerin
Joey Mullen
Brian Gionta
Brooks Orpik

Partial list of Boston University Alums
Tony Amonte
Keith Tkachuk
Chris Drury
Mike Eruzione
Ryan Whitney

The game will be carried live on the NHL Network. More to come as the game draws closer.

One19
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WJC: Jeremy Roenick previews Canada-USA

Make no mistake about it. This is a big game. It's one you circle on the calendar as soon as the schedule is released.

When it comes to hockey, Canada thinks they are the center of the universe. And when it comes to the World Junior Championships, they are. We can at least give them that one. They've won five straight gold medals and many believe they're the odds on favorite for a sixth.

However, they still need to play their arch nemesis - Team USA.

It will be a team filled with bright eyed youngsters hoping to become part of the next group of American superstars.

They're trying to take the reigns from a generation that was without a doubt the most successful group of all time. Sure, there was the gold medal team at the 1960 Winter Olympics. A one off. And there was the 1980 gold medal team. A miracle indeed.

Then came the explosion of elite U.S. players onto the world stage. Beginning in the late 80's at the World Junior Championships and continuing on to the Olympics and World Cups of the next two decades you had guys named Chelios, Guerin, Hull, Leetch, Modano, Tkachuk, Richter and Weight, just to name a few.

One more name from that list was Jeremy Roenick, who just so happens to be the all-time leader for points by an American player at the World Juniors. A record that may fall to this week to one of this year's assistant captains, Jordan Schroeder.

I spoke with JR last night to get his thoughts on the possibility of a new record holder and he shared some memories of his time at the World Juniors too...

MM:  Jordan Schroeder is three points away from tying your record of 25 points...

JR:  Well, at least my record held for twenty years (he laughs). That's good for American hockey though if he does. We need good kids coming up in the game, you know, the next generation of U.S. players.

Well, this is his third tournament...

That makes it OK then. It's going to take him three times and I did it in two, so that makes it OK (he laughs again, a constant whenever you talk to JR). Seriously though, it will be a great accomplishment for him.

Let's talk about some of your experiences at the World Juniors. Your first trip in 1988 was a tough one for the U.S., you guys only won one game...

Yeah, it was a tough one. That was right when the transition was beginning. The U.S. was just starting to get some good talent coming up. You had Modano, Amonte, Leetch and all those guys. We were all coming into our own. Before that, with the exception of maybe the '80 Olympic team, the U.S. was always one of those teams that was never competitive enough to grab a medal. I think that was right at the cusp of us starting to get really good, around '87-88 was when that change started to happen.

How about the experience of traveling to Russia for the tournament that year? It had to be a little overwhelming considering how young you were at the time.

Well, I was a sophomore in High School and it was really my first experience going overseas to play hockey. There was a lot of stuff going on with Russia and Canada at the time, there was a heated rivalry between those two. It was still a communist country back then and I remember everybody was under their rule. When you were standing outside the Lenin Square, everybody was waiting to go in to Lenin's tomb and they wouldn't let you walk in certain places. It was a total control thing. I also remember people were trading all sorts of things. Back then the black market was crazy. Some of us were trading food and clothing for things the Russians had, like those big wool hats - those were really cool. Other guys were trading their sneakers or gum and candy. They just ate it up because they didn't have stuff like that at the time.

You and Modano both had solid numbers that first year, even though the team wasn't doing so well. You finished with 5 goals and 4 assists. He had 4 goals too. Was the friendly rivalry already underway at that point?

We were brewing up a competitive edge before that. Like at the 17 Selects people were talking - I was the guy from Boston and Mo was the guy from Detroit. We were two of the guys everybody talked about and it just kept brewing from there. As we got older I always respected Mike and loved the way he played. Even today, he is probably one of my favorite players that I played with or against. I just don't think we see guys more talented than Mike Modano come along very often.

The following year Team USA was more competitive, going 3-3-1 up in Alaska. You led the tournament with 16 points and Modano was right behind you with 15. Anything stand out from your second trip to the World Juniors?

It was in our home country, but a place I had never been before. We were treated very well up there. The amenities were much better and our team was much better. Like I said earlier, that's really when we started rolling as a national powerhouse. That team was really strong. You can go right down the list from Modano and Amonte to the whole group of amazing players, you can see why we kept building momentum all the way up to the gold medal at the World Cup in '96.

In your first WJC you guys lost to Canada 5-4. At the second one in '89, even though the team was actually playing better in the tournament overall, you guys lost to Canada 5-1.

I remember that game, we were totally outmatched. They came out and played a very, very physical brand of hockey. They really took it to us. That game taught us a lot about what it was going to take internationally to win hockey games. I think that's when we started playing a physical game, more like the Canadians did. That was a big turning point for us, for my generation...and how we needed to play in order to beat them.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

As we were wrapping things up the talk briefly turned to Team USA's announcement of their Olympic roster coming up on Friday. Some of the players expected to make the team played for Team USA when they won the gold medal at the 2004 World Juniors. The Olympics would be the next step up for some of those guys. JR said he was "very curious and very excited" about seeing who makes the team. He wants to know who the new regime is going to be.

For now though, it's all about this tournament. Canada versus the USA, a marquee match-up every year. Both teams come into the game undefeated with the winner getting a bye into the semi-finals on Sunday. The loser gets an extra game on Saturday.

Can Jordan Schroeder pick up three points and tie JR for the all-time American points record? Can the U.S. upset Canada on their home turf?

Tune in at 5pm PST to witness it all live on the NHL Network.

This is one of those games you just don't want to miss.

The Mayor
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RELATED ARTICLES:

Interview with Mike Modano

WJC:  Canada-USA Lived Up to the Hype

USA Defeats Canada - gold medal game notes

WJC Gold Rush, American Style

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Word Association with Robitaille - Luc on His Teammates

Each group of players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame has a uniqueness about it. Occasionally, guys that were rivals during their playing days are enshrined during the same year. However, rarely does a player going in share the stage exclusively with guys he called teammates during his career. Luc Robitaille is once again Lucky, as he has played with all three of the other members that make up the class of 2009.

Before heading to Toronto he shared a few thoughts with us on each of them...

Steve Yzerman - Along with Mark Messier, he was one of the best leaders I ever played with. Stevie is right up there. He had to lead a group of primadonnas when I was in Detroit. We were a bunch of superstars. But somehow, they way Stevie is, how hard he works, how humble he is...made it that we all excepted a role and played for one cause, which was winning. Certainly for me he is one of the players I have the most respect for that I ever played with. I think very, very highly of him.

Brett Hull - For me to play with him was the ultimate. I had always watched him throughout my career and wondered how he got so much of an opening on the ice. To see him day in and day out, to see how much he loved the game...how much he put into it. People don't realize how much he put into it because he always seemed to be that relaxed guy, so loosey goosey - but he worked hard at being really good at his game.

Brian Leetch - Obviously, he was one of the best defensemen to ever play the game. But what impressed me the most was in those days we didn't have time sheets. We didn't know how many minutes a guy was playing. If I were to guess, when I was there (in New York) he was playing 35 minutes a game and he never missed a practice. Never took a day off. One of the hardest workers I ever played with.

The greatness of those three guys is obvious, as all three are headed into the Hall this Monday. Additionally, Luc had the chance to play with other legends, like Wayne Gretzky, Marcel Dionne and Mark Messier during his career. Yet, I wondered if there was one guy that he didn't get to play with that when looking back over his career he really wished he could have...Luc wasted no time in answering:

Mario. When I went to Pittsburgh, Mario didn't play that year. When the lockout happened my first year there it changed my contract situation. They wanted me to come back and they kept trying to entice me with the thought of playing with Mario. Because of the lockout though my option year wasn't going to be a factor. My agent filed for arbitration like he was supposed to. Because of that, at the time I was the only player to have scored 40 goals eight straight seasons, so they knew we had a good case. When they figured out they weren't going to be able to resign me, that's when they traded me to New York. But if I had gotten to play with Mario it certainly would have been special.

Finally, for a little fun, we played word association using current and former Kings. Here were Luc's answers:

Jim Fox - he's quick, like a fox
Marcel Dionne - like a father figure to me
Tiger Williams - I was scared of him
Steve Duchesne - good friend
Kelly Hrudey - great goalie under pressure
Tomas Sandstrom - what a competitor
Tony Granato - great person
Robb Stauber - crazy goalie, couldn't believe the way he would run at guys
Marty McSorley - worked hard, put everything into being a better player
Dustin Brown - a pure power forward
Ian Laperriere - one of the greatest teammates you could have
Matty Norstrom - a really great roommate
Rob Blake - one of the greatest people I know, good leader
Adam Deadmarsh - played the game the right way
Sean Avery - my little puppy (he laughs)
Jeremy Roenick - great player, amazing guy in the locker room
Anze Kopitar - great future with the Kings
Alexander Frolov - underrated, a pure goal scorer

We'll have more on Luc leading up to the Hall of Fame ceremonies on Monday.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/MayorNHL
www.facebook.com/MayorsManor

RELATED ARTICLES

20 Questions with #20 - an interview with Luc Robitaille

Interview with Rob Blake

Interview with Kelly Hrudey

Interview with Marcel Dionne

High / Low with Luc

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