Local community and real estate information for Cheshire CT by your Cheshire Real Estate Experts, Sally Bowman Real Estate

Cheshire Spotlight: Brian Leetch

Monday, December 21, 2009

by Sally Bowman Real Estate

Here in Cheshire, we love our sports. We're a town of hard workers and passionate people and it's not entirely uncommon for Cheshire athletes to leave our town and make a name for themselves. Lets take a look back at one of our greatest, Brian Leetch.

Leetch picked up his first pair of skates at Cheshire Sport. In the beginning, it was just a friendly pick up game with the neighborhood kids at the local skating rink that his dad managed. For them, it wasn't about specific drills or skills, it was just about learning to stay up on the ice.

It soon became pretty evident that Leetch was more than just learning to skate. By his sophomore year at Cheshire High, he was scoring 53 goals and 50 assists in one season.

Incidentally, Leetch was also an amazing baseball player. He had a 90 mph fastball and pitched Cheshire to a state championship by his sophomore year. But Leetch made a choice to stick to hockey.

Fast forward to his senior year when Leetch was quickly snapped up by the New York Rangers in their first-round draft pick. Leetch decided to make his first stop Boston College, his second stop the US Olympic team and finally, his NHL debut with the Rangers in 1988.

After 18 NHL seasons with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafts and Boston Bruins, he is considered one of the top defensemen in NHL history. He was officially inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008 and later the Canada Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. Along the way he collected countless awards including the coveted Norris Trophy - twice.

Leetch once said of his hockey beginnings in Cheshire that he never looked at himself as having a unique talent - only a strong responsibility to his teammates to play well so that his team could be successful.

That's the kind of attitude that we are proud to represent in Cheshire. Leetch wasn't just notorious for being the greatest defenseman of all time, he was known for being a fan favorite and a team leader. Which makes him the perfect inspiration for all of the future superstars to come out of Cheshire...