Ryan Callahan

Ryan G. Callahan (born March 21, 1985) is an American professional ice hockey right winger and an alternate captain for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the New York Rangers, serving as their captain. He is of Italian and Irish heritage.

Playing career

Amateur

Callahan played one year of high school ice hockey for Hilton High School. He then began his junior career with the Rochester Junior Americans of the Empire Junior B Hockey League, where he played for two seasons, 1999 to 2001. He then played with the Syracuse Jr. Crunch and Buffalo Lightning of the OPJHL before moving on to a four-year Ontario Hockey League (OHL) stint with the Guelph Storm, where he played alongside future Ranger teammate Daniel Girardi. Callahan turned professional with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), where he played most of the 2006–07 season.

New York Rangers (2006–2014)

Callahan received his first NHL call-up to the Rangers on November 28, 2006, making his NHL debut on December 1, but he would only play in that one game before being sent back down to the Wolf Pack. He was called up for a second time on December 19, but would again only play in one NHL game in that stint. Toward the end of the season, Callahan was called up for the third and final time on March 15, 2007, after scoring 35 goals in 60 AHL games, and he would stay with the Rangers through the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs. Two days later, on March 17, he scored his first two NHL goals against Joey MacDonald of the Boston Bruins. He scored his first career assist on March 21 and first career game-winning goal on April 1. He scored his first two NHL playoff goals in a 7–0 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal against the Atlanta Thrashers on April 17, 2007.

Alexander Ovechkin

Alexander Mikhailovich "Alex" Ovechkin (Russian: Александр Михайлович Овечкин; IPA: [ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐˈvʲetɕkʲɪn]; born September 17, 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey winger and captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Prior to playing in the NHL, Ovechkin played for HC Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Superleague for four seasons from 2001 until 2005, and he played for Dynamo again (this time in the Kontinental Hockey League) during the 2012–13 NHL lockout. Ovechkin was the first overall selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, drafted from Dynamo after three seasons with the club. Since the 2004–05 NHL season was lost because of a lockout, Ovechkin remained with Dynamo for one more season before transferring to the NHL for the 2005–06 season, in which he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, scoring 52 goals and 54 assists to lead all rookies with 106 points.

Patrick Kane

Patrick Timothy Kane II (born November 19, 1988), is an American professional ice hockey right winger for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blackhawks selected him with the first overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Kane won his first Stanley Cup in 2010. He won his second Stanley Cup in 2013 and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs. Kane won his third Stanley cup in 2015 as the Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kane also represented the United States at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.

Playing career

Minor and junior

When Kane was fourteen, he played junior hockey for the USA Bobcats, scoring many goals and earning the title of MVP. Kane relocated to Michigan where he lived with former NHL player Pat Verbeek, having been convinced to play for the Honeybaked AAA hockey club in Detroit. The club is a part of the Midwest Elite Hockey League. Kane's career with Honeybaked lasted for 3 years.

The London Knights drafted Kane in the 5th round (88 overall) in the 2004 Ontario Hockey League Midget Draft, but he chose not to play for the Knights until the 2006–07 season. Instead, Kane played for the United States U-18 National Team Development Program (NTDP), where he led the team in scoring with 102 points during the 2005–06 season. Playing on a line with Sergei Kostitsyn and Sam Gagner the following season with London, he amassed 145 points for the OHL scoring title and combined with Gagner and Kostitsyn for 394 points.

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League (NHL; French: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH) is a professional ice hockey league composed of 30 member clubs: 23 in the United States and 7 in Canada. Headquartered in New York City, the NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

The National Hockey League was organized on November 26, 1917, in Montreal, Quebec, after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909 in Renfrew, Ontario. The NHL immediately took the NHA's place as one of the leagues that contested for the Stanley Cup in an annual interleague competition before a series of league mergers and folds left the NHL as the only league left competing for the Stanley Cup in 1926. The NHL started with four teams (all based in Canada) and, through a series of expansions, contractions and relocations, is now composed of 30 active franchises. The "nation" referred to by the league's name was Canada, although the league has now been binational since 1924 when its first team in the United States, the Boston Bruins, began play. After a labour-management dispute that led to the cancellation of the entire 2004–05 season, the league resumed play under a new collective agreement that included a salary cap. In 2009, the NHL enjoyed record highs in terms of sponsorships, attendance, and television audiences.

Scott Stevens

Ronald Scott Stevens (born April 1, 1964) is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman. Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues, and the New Jersey Devils. Although offensively capable, Stevens was largely known for his defensive play and his heavy body checking on opponents.

Stevens started his career with the Capitals, where he helped the team make the playoffs for the first time. After spending a season with the Blues, he was acquired by the Devils through arbitration. Personifying the team's defence-first mentality, he captained the Devils to four Stanley Cup Finals appearances in nine years, winning three of them. In 2000, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Despite his team success with the Devils, he never won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenceman. His career came to an end after a slapshot hit his head and caused post-concussion syndrome. He was later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007, his first year of eligibility. Stevens retired with the most games played by an NHL defenceman (1635 games), later to be passed by Chris Chelios. Stevens was also the youngest player in league history to reach 1,500 games played, playing in his 1,500th game at age 37 years, 346 days. He did not have a negative plus/minus in any of his 22 NHL seasons, and had the most penalty minutes of any player enshrined in the Hall of Fame until Chris Chelios was inducted in 2013.