Goals, Grandeur, and Greatness: The 2009 Hall of Fame Inductees

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The fourth member of the class is Brian Leetch—and Leetch is no former Red Wing, that's for sure.

After spending time with three Original Six teams though (New York, Toronto and Boston), Leetch has made his mark as one of the best offensive defensemen of his time.

The accolades for Leetch were some of the highest a player of his caliber could receive during his time: Leetch was twice a Norris trophy winner, and was a centrepiece in the Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup championship, becoming the first (and only) American-born player to win the Conn Smythe trophy.

Leetch is also one of just a handful of defensemen who have earned themselves a 100-point season and he ended his career with over 1,000 points in 1,200 career games.

As individuals, the four of them have undoubtedly earned their honors. As a team of inductees, they could possibly be one of the greatest classes to ever enter the hall: 5,419 games played, 2,348 goals scored, 3,220 assists, totalling 5,568 points.

To put those totals in perspective, they sit 119 games played, 868 assists and 290 points behind the class of 2007: Ron Francis, Mark Messier, Scott Stevens, and Al MacInnis. They did, however, score 569 goals more than that 2007 class.

People don't like to gauge a lot on paper these days, but on paper? That's one hell of a graduating class: 2009, The Grandeur Class of Goal-Scoring.

Bryan Thiel is a Senior Writer and an NHL Community Leader for Bleacher Report. If you want to get in contact with Bryan you can do so through his profile, and you can also email him at bryanthiel74@hotmail.com. You can also check out all of his previous work in his archives.

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