Undersized and overlooked, it never stopped American born de-man Brian Rafalski. Undrafted, he to this day was one of the greatest finds; one of the main reasons a team employs pro scouts are in hopes of turning it into a goldmine.
Always played second fiddle
Rafalski was originally signed by the New Jersey Devils after he dominated the Finnish Elite League. Throughout his entire career, Rafalski never was the number one defenseman per say but only because of who he was playing in front of. In his first five years in New Jersey with the Devils, his defensive partner was the great Scott Stevens. His last four years with the Red Wings, he played with arguably the best defenseman of all time Nicklas Lindstorm. The 5’10, 197 pound re-guard was a shifty puck mover, quarterbacking the number one power play. His defensive game was under appreciated, but people started to take notice of that when he got to Detroit.
Hall of Fame career?
During his 11 year career, no one can argue that he was the best American born defenseman. He represented the US in the last three Olympics (2002, 2006, 2010), in 02 & 10, he led them a silver medal. In the Vancouver Olympic games, Rafalski was 3rd in tournament scoring with 4 goals and 4 assists. He also participated in the 2004 World Cup.
His offensive numbers are impressive, in 833 NHL regular season games he accumulated 515 points, including 436 assists. During the playoffs he played in 165 playoff games getting 100 points in the post season. Only twice in his time in the NHL did he get less than 40 points, four times he had over 53 points, on top of that he was never a minus player his 11 years. But the most convincing statistic is that he played in five Stanley Cup finals, winning three Stanley Cups.
You put all of the points, Olympic games, Stanley Cup rings and final appearances, how is Dearborn Michigan’s Brian Rafalski not a Hall of Famer?
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