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Brad Park was voted by you fans as a better all around player than Brian Leetch by a wide margin of 28%, the final tally being Park 64% and Leetch 36%. The poll ran for one week and drew 98 votes. An additional poll to determine if Park also warranted having his number 2 jersey raised to the rafters was much closer but also resulted in a win for Park by a 54% to 46 %, and 8 percent margin of victory. This poll drew 97 voters.Park's popularity over Leetch is somewhat surprising in lieu of the fact that Park spent only seven plus years with the Rangers to Leetch's seventeen years as a Ranger. Both were exciting impact players, crowd pleasers, fan favorites and Hall of Famers. Park is already there and Leetch will be also.
The raising of jersey's to the rafters is always a great event but when Leetch's number 2 goes up we like to see a Park number 2 go up and when an Adam Graves number 9 goes up I would like to see an Andy Bathgate number 9 go up. I guess the case could be made for all the Rangers who made the Hall Of Fame. There are 42 Hall Of Famers who played for the Rangers, however, a lot of them made their greatest contributions elsewhere. Guys like Wayne Gretzky, Phil Esposito, Max Bentley, Doug Harvey and Marcel Dionne just to name a few who were Hall Of Famers before coming to New York. But what about guys like Bill and Bun Cook, Frankie Boucher, Chuck Rayner, Lynn Patrick, Harry Howell and Ching Johnson. Maybe a night of recognition for past greats, mostly deceased. Rangers talk about tradition and that night would be a night of tradition to end all traditions. What do you think?
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I'm surprised. Park is getting cheated in a way. Because he split time between both NY (8 years) and Boston (8 years) he probably won't get a jersey number retired in either building. Maybe they should hang his number in Hartford - halfway between, so both teams can share him.
jb-Great idea. The way the players move around today we could have jersey's hanging all over the place, even Holmdel, New Jersey.
Speaking of New Jersey, any chance you would ever cross the Hudson River to to watch the Rangers play the Devils at the new Prudential Center in Newark?
jb-I worked in Newark for eight years and I know the drill there. However, I never enjoyed going to other teams sites to watch the Rangers. I've been to the Island, Minneapolis and Chicago and trust me there is no place like home, auntie em, no place like home.
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Upon hearing about the #2 being retired, my 1st thought was, that IS Brad Park. Having grown up w. the early '70's Rangers, nobody captured a young fan's heart more than my all-time favorite player, Brad Park. Having him traded to the hated Boston Bruins for the symbol of the enemy, Phil Esposito, still leaves a scar in my childhood, and concept of sincerity in sports. It rivals the Mets trading Seaver to the Reds after all we went through. Rangers #2 will ALWAYS be Brad Park!