In the course of the past 82 years, many wonderful hockey players have pulled the storied Rangers jersey over their heads and skated out onto the ice at Madison Square Garden. But while most of the star-studded Rangers of both past and present enjoyed many of their finest moments elsewhere (from Brad Park to Marcel Dionne, from Phil Esposito to Guy Lafleur, and even from Mark Messier to Wayne Gretzky), Brian Leetch stands out as the greatest player whose career was defined almost entirely by his accomplishments on Broadway. And tomorrow night, he will be appropriately feted in a jersey retirement ceremony, with his no. 2 sweater raised to the Garden rafters for perpetuity.

The Rangers’ all-time leader in goals (240), assists (741), and points (981) by a defenseman, Leetch was one of the NHL’s top blueliners for the entirety of his 17-season tenure in New York. He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the spring of 2004, and he played one final season for the Boston Bruins in 2005–06. When all was said and done, he finished with 1,028 points in 1,205 games, and his 102-point season in 1991–92 will go down as one of the finest single-season performances by a defenseman in NHL history. A two-time winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best rearguard (1992 and 1997) and the Calder Trophy winner (rookie of the year) in 1989, Leetch’s most important honor came in 1994, when he received the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Mark Messier received the lion’s share of the credit for the Rangers’ scintillating Stanley Cup victory — but it was Leetch who anchored the defense while also leading the team in scoring (with 34 points in 23 games). It was the first time the Conn Smythe Trophy had been given to a non-Canadian player, and Leetch remains the only American-born recipient to earn that honor.

Of all the images that resonate for Rangers fans, one of the most iconic is Leetch’s game-opening goal in Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup finals. He received a brilliant cross-ice pass from Sergei Zubov and then held the puck for what seemed like an eternity, waiting until Canucks goaltender Kirk McLean committed to a save attempt by diving desperately across the goal crease. Leetch then lifted the puck over McLean and into the back of the net, giving the Blueshirts a lead they wouldn’t surrender in what was inarguably the most important victory in franchise history.

In addition to his tremendous NHL career, Leetch was also a three-time member of the U.S. Olympic hockey team, helping lead Team USA to a silver medal in 2002. In the World Cup tournament in 1996, Leetch captained the American team to a gold-medal victory that announced, in no uncertain terms, America’s ascension to the status of hockey superpower. A brilliant skater with tremendous offensive instincts, Leetch developed into a stellar two-way rearguard over the course of his career; he was capable of neutralizing the opposition’s top forwards as well as turning a game’s momentum with a dazzling end-to-end rush.

The third member of the 1994 Rangers to have his jersey retired (following Messier and Mike Richter), Leetch may well be the finest American-born player ever to skate in the NHL. Dallas Stars forward Mike Modano has a case as the top American forward, and Richter as the top netminder, but neither player was close to as dominant at his position as was Leetch. An 11-time All-Star, Leetch was one of the NHL’s top five offensive defensemen for most of his playing career. Perhaps most importantly, the soft-spoken rearguard always carried himself with class and dignity, through both the Rangers’ meteoric rise in 1994 and their subsequent fall from grace in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

When the Leetch celebration was first announced, it appeared that the festivities would be one more glorious moment in a magnificent season for the Rangers, who were preseason favorites to compete for the Stanley Cup. But with the team’s recent struggles, during which they’ve won only two of their last 10 games, the ceremony now represents a much-needed respite from reality. Looking back at Leetch’s magnificent career — and the magical 1993–94 season in particular — will give the fans a well-deserved opportunity to escape the malaise.

When it comes to remembering emotional images, we tend — as we get older — to do what the Bing Crosby song said, and “accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.” For Rangers fans, no moment was more emotional than the 1994 Cup victory, one fan speaking for all when holding aloft an oft-imitated sign pronouncing, “Now I Can Die in Peace.” That championship victory ended 54 years of heartache and disappointment, and it brought the Rangers to the forefront of the entire sports world, if only for a brief moment. By celebrating Leetch — the player most valuable in the pursuit of that moment — the Rangers and their fans will get one more deserved opportunity to relive that incomparable thrill.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.