Who are the top 25 NHL players for the past 25 years?
Experts around the league selected them, but fans have had the final say in the second phase of voting for the Quarter-Century team over the past couple of weeks — and we now have the final results.
Two local legends were selected to between the pipes — first ball Hall of Famers Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur.
Lundqvist was a seventh-round pick of the Rangers back in the 2000 Draft — he took over between the pipes five years later and never looked back, serving as the backbone of numerous deep playoff runs during his 15-year career.
He was named to the NHL’s First All-Rookie Team after recording 30 wins and a .922 save percentage during his first year in the league. He went on to top that win total in 10 of his 15 seasons with the Blueshirts.
Nicknamed ‘The King,’ he currently ranks sixth in NHL history in wins and is the all-time leader in that category among Swedish-born goaltenders. He’s a five-time Vezina Trophy finalist and took home the award once (2011-12).
“I am humbled to be a member a this team alongside so many great players,” Lundqvist said in a statement. “Throughout my career I was fortunate enough to have the support of so many people — family, friends, teammates, coaches, and of course Rangers fans.
“Their love and support helped me play my best and allowed our teams to have the success that we did. I cannot thank them enough for the impact they had, and I share this amazing honor with all of them.”
Brodeur spent all but one of his 22 seasons with the Devils. He helped lead them to the Stanley Cup three times, is a seven-time All-Star, five-time Jennings Trophy award winner, and four-time Vezina award winner.
The former first-round pick is the NHL’s all-time leader in games (1,266), wins (691) and shutouts (125). He also still owns the second-most playoff wins (113) and most playoff shutouts (24) since the turn of the century.
Islanders coach Patrick Roy also landed a spot for his domination in net with Colorado.
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