Paul's Picks:

(left to right-Mark Messier, Mike Richter, Brian Leetch and John Vanbiesbrouck)

Zas' Picks:

(left to right-Mark Messier, Mike Richter, Brian Leetch and Ron Gilbert)

Paul and Zas pulled double duty on Friday’s show…picking both a NEW YORK RANGERS and BOSTON BRUINS Mount Rushmore!

First up…the NEW YORK RANGERS!

Paul and Zas agreed on THREE of the four Ranger faces they put on their mountains:

Mark Messier:

One of the league’s all-time greatest captains, Messier scored 183 goals and 335 assists (479 points) in 421 games in his first stint with the Rangers.  Messier won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in his first year with the club in the 1991-92 season while scoring 107 points and is NHL’s second all-time leading scorer with 1,884, but his Rangers’ legacy lies with the 1993-94 team that won the Stanley Cup and his Babe Ruth-esque called shot before Game 6 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Devils.  Messier guaranteed a win, then went out and scored a natural hat trick on his way to leading the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Mike Richter:

Another player from that era of Messier teams, Richter was the rock of that 1993-94 Stanley Cup team, going 16-7 in those playoffs with a .921 save %, 2.07 goals against average and 4 shutouts.  He played 13 years with on Broadway and registered 301 wins with a 2.89 goals against average and .904 save % - he was also selected to three All Star Games.

Brian Leetch:

The Connecticut native is the Rangers 2^nd all-time leading scorer with 981 points and all-time leader in assists with 741 assists.  He was, also, a huge part of that 1993-94 Stanley Cup team…so much so, actually, that he won the Conn Smythe Award as the playoffs’ MVP (he had 11 goals and 23 assists).  He was also a 9-time All Star and won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman two times (1991-92 and 1996-97) and was selected as the Calder Memorial Trophy winner in his first season.

Paul’s fourth face was a favorite of his…

John Vanbiesbrouck:

Before there was Mike Richter, there was John Vanbiesbrouck.  “Beezer” won 200 games as a Ranger between the 1981-82 and 1992-93 seasons posting a .889 save % and 16 shutouts.  He won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie in the league in 1985-86, leading the league in wins (31) while posting an .887 save % and 3.22 goals against average.

Zas’ fourth face was:

Rod Gilbert:

Gilbert is the Rangers all-time leader in both goals (406) and points (1,026) and is 2^nd to Brian Leetch in assists.  In his five full seasons between 1973 and 1977, Gilbert scored 84, 77, 97, 86 and 75 points with 36 goals in three consecutive years from 1973-74 to 75-76.  The 97 points he scored in 1974-75 tied his career high.