Over at THN.com, John Grigg this week ranked the top 10 American-born players in NHL history. Future Hall-of-Fame defenseman Chris Chelios is ranked No. 1, while newly elected HOF-bound blueliner Brian Leetch — a former Boston Bruin — came in at No. 2.
Obviously, the best American-born player on the current Bruins roster is goaltender Tim Thomas, who should be the Team USA starting netminder for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver this February. But who’s the best U.S.-born player in Bruins history? Write your picks on the comments section of this post and I’ll try to write a little more on this at another time.
Published By mattk Thu. July 30, 2009 8:18 pm EDT
Mark Mowers….
I agree, I vote for Craig Janney. A solid point getter and set up man for Cam Neely. Also was a big part of leading the Bruins to 2 Stanley Cup finals.
There is no doubt Thomas gets the nod in goal. As for greatest American born Bruin, how about Craig Janney? It was only five seasons but he put up pretty decent numbers. How about Mike O’Connell? Pretty good points for a defenseman, although most people just remember him for trading Joe. I’m a big fan of Olympic hockey so heres my team USA lineup:
Forwards
Parise-Statsny-Kessel
Booth-Drury-Kane
Ryan-Gomez-Gionta
Brown-Kesler-Langebrunner
Extras – Pominville and Modano
Defensemen
Suter-Rakalski
Whitney-Johnson
Martin-Ballard
Extras – Carle
Goaltenders
Thomas
Miller
Craig Janney Games 262 Goals 85 Assists 198 Pts 283
or
Brian Rolston Games 338 Goals 101 Assists 135 Points 236
That’s tough when 90% of the Bruins historically are Canadians.
If it’s for all americans who ever wore the spoked B, it’s either Brian Rolston, Bill Guerin, Mike Knuble, or Brian Leetch.
If it’s for guys who were Bruins for a long period of time, I’d go with Frank Brimsek.