Heart & soul franchise guys

[Terrier]

Rangers have had plenty of those guys they just predated you. Ron Greschner was probably that for a generation of fans. Rod Gilbert, Eddie Giacomin, Harry Howell

Carol Alt was the heart and soul of the Rangers in the 1980's.

 

[Voight]

Stan Smyl Canucks

Ronny Franchise Hartford/Carolina

Iginla - Calgary

 

[solidmotion]

can't help but notice all the names except bieksa and burrows are pre-lockout.

are there any others since 06?

i always thought that the salary cap ruined some chances at this kind of status. like for chicago, if they'd been able to keep the 2010 team together, maybe guys like byfuglien, ladd, bolland, brouwer could have been like that.

i guess boston has bergeron and marchand who sort of fit the bill. tho marchand has inexplicably become a superstar. didn't see that coming.

 

[blood gin]

I don't know if I'm reaching on this guys and gals.....but didn't Patrick Flatley play his entire career with the Islanders and where the Captain's "C" a good chunk? Isles fans chip in/help? Heart and Soul you think? I know it's a bit of a different one,,,,

Flatley finished his career with the Rangers which bothered a lot of Islander fans, but basically he felt he only had about a year left and wanted a shot at the cup and didn't want to leave the area.

 

[double5son10]

Rangers have had plenty of those guys they just predated you. Ron Greschner was probably that for a generation of fans. Rod Gilbert, Eddie Giacomin, Harry Howell

Absolutely! Throw in guys like Poddubny, Hadfield, Maloney

Hence the "in my lifetime" conditional.

No love for Walt Tkaczuk? When I think of heart & soul Rangers in the 70s, it's Tkaczuk.

 

[Jim MacDonald]

Ken Daneyko is the ultimate. Moreso than even Smyth for Edmonton and Clark for Toronto

Been continuously employed by the Devils for 36 years in some capacity. The Devils had not even been named yet when he was drafted.

What's kinda cool too is that the Devils organization didn't "bail" on him when he had his alcohol problems and stuff too right? That's kinda some cool loyalty to me. Plus he was put in the lineup for the Game 7 versus the Ducks in 03 (by Pat Burns I believe?). I want to say he wasn't in the lineup much that postseason etc.

 

[blood gin]

What's kinda cool too is that the Devils organization didn't "bail" on him when he had his alcohol problems and stuff too right? That's kinda some cool loyalty to me. Plus he was put in the lineup for the Game 7 versus the Ducks in 03 (by Pat Burns I believe?). I want to say he wasn't in the lineup much that postseason etc.

iirc it came as a surprise to everyone when he checked into rehab. Including Lou who was all seeing and all knowing at the time.

2003 he was 39 and rapidly nearing the end. You could tell as the season wore on. Still effective as a defensive defenseman and shot blocker as long as you kept his minutes reasonable. But he was so painfully slow that it was a real risk having him out there. I think he played about half our playoff games.

 

[Jim MacDonald]

iirc it came as a surprise to everyone when he checked into rehab. Including Lou who was all seeing and all knowing at the time.

2003 he was 39 and rapidly nearing the end. You could tell as the season wore on. Still effective as a defensive defenseman and shot blocker as long as you kept his minutes reasonable. But he was so painfully slow that it was a real risk having him out there. I think he played about half our playoff games.

Gin if you were to guess the highest-selling jerseys of Devil's players to the Devil's fans all-time do you think it would go 1. Brodeur 2. Stevens 3. Daneyko?

 

[BobbyAwe]

Terry O'Reilly. His number was retired in Boston SOLELY on "Heart and Soul".

 

[GlitchMarner]

Stan smyl

Rick Meagher

Doug Gilmour

Gilmour was one of the best players in the NHL for a couple of seasons while with Toronto.

 

[crobro]

Gilmour was one of the best players in the NHL for a couple of seasons while with Toronto.

He was also the heart and souls of the Montreal Canadians at the tail end of his career

 

[Bondurant]

McCarty was never the best player on the ice in Detroit but he's a boss and legend. Loved and still love the guy.

 

[JMCx4]

I know I'm posting about guys from way back, but another is Keith Magnuson (RIP) for the Blackhawks. #3 really set the tone for that team back then

Closest I ever came to being a Blackhawks fan. LOVED #3. I hope he's in heaven & that there's a hockey league up there.

 

[JMCx4]

From the list of @Claude The Fraud: Brian Sutter, St. Louis Blues, 1977 to 1988. No other player wearing the Blue Note has ever come close, IMO.

 

[crobro]

I Agree but Rick Meagher was damn close

 

[The Pale King]

For the Kings: Butch Goring, Dave Taylor, Mattias Norstrom, and Dustin Brown.

I'll add Willie Mitchell and Justin Williams, who seem to fit the description for every team they played for (though I saw very little of Williams in Carolina this past season).

 

[Summer Rose]

Shane Doan of the Coyotes.

 

[Lights911]

John Tonelli for NYI

 

[JMCx4]

I Agree but Rick Meagher was damn close

Another worthy candidate, indeed. Unfortunately, neither he nor Sudsy had enough heart & soul to pull long-suffering Blues fans out of their collective misery.

 

[FerrisRox]

Both these guys were never the most talented on the team.

There were definitely seasons where Wendel Clark was the most talented player on the Maple Leafs.

 

[blood gin]

Carol Alt was the heart and soul of the Rangers in the 1980's.

ah what a veteran puck bunny she was. Grandmother of all puckbunnies

 

[FerrisRox]

Saku Koivu for the Montreal Canadiens. Was a class act, without question, throughout his entire career, never complained when he was playing with horrible players on awful teams, matured into a leader, battled injuries, battled serious health issues and always came out on top. Natural leader, classic set by example kind of guy and really understood what it meant to be a Montreal Canadien and to represent the franchise. Virtually all of his peers in the long history of the Canadiens - and they have a lot of guys that fit the bill of this question - are Hall of Famers and Stanley Cup Champions. He spent a large chunk his career with poor rosters, but he never sulked, he never asked for trades and he never complained. Even when the ravenous Montreal media behaved in deplorable ways (once, while hospitalized after getting a Justin Williams stick in the eye, a Montreal press member snuck a flash photo through the window of Koivu's hospital room, at a time when the flash could have caused serious damage to his injured retina. Still Koivu didn't lash out.)

It was a shame he was allowed to leave. He should have spent his entire career with the club.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Ryan Callahan the Rangers. Defined the John Tortorella philosophy of hockey.

Milan Lucic always defined the Boston Bruins for me.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Carol Alt was the heart and soul of the Rangers in the 1980's.

intergenerational

 

[member 83027]

From the list of @Claude The Fraud: Brian Sutter, St. Louis Blues, 1977 to 1988. No other player wearing the Blue Note has ever come close, IMO.

Barclay Plager; the man who helped show Sutter the way.