At 6:55, the Rangers filed onto the bench, wearing commemorative jerseys with a "2" patch on the shoulder, and Messier began his speech...
"There it is," someone from the crowd yelled, as Messier began to tear up...
"Brian is forever going to be the benchmark of what it's like to be a Ranger.." Mess said, and called Leetch, "the greatest Ranger ever..."
"It's great to be back in the Garden...You never know when you're gonna hear those cheers again when you retire," he began.
"I'd like to start by thanking Jim Dolan...(to a tremendous bust of boos). I'd like to thank the Thrashers and Rangers players for putting up with this..."
At 7:05, Leetch thanked Craig Patrick for drafting "a skinny kid" in 1986 and read a passage from his essay in the program...
More soon...