NEW YORK – In the end, no longer able to bring himself to play in another uniform and unable to live up to his own lofty standard for wearing a Rangers sweater, Brian Leetch couldn’t find a way back.

So Thursday morning, he officially acknowledged the decision that virtually every one of his friends, relatives, former teammates and dozens of NHL executives implored him not to make. Leetch announced his retirement after arguably the finest career an American-born hockey player has ever had.

By doing so, Leetch found a different way back to the Madison Square Garden ice he commanded for 17 incomparable years, as the Rangers began discussions on Thursday to determine when and how they will retire Leetch’s No. 2 to the Garden rafters next season.

When they do so, they will honor a man for whom wearing a Blueshirt was more important than any of his countless awards and statistical achievements.

Leetch, 39, won the 1988-89 Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 1991-92 and 1996-97. He was a 10-time NHL All-Star. He ranks a narrow second on the Rangers’ all-time scoring and games played lists and is the franchise’s all-time leading playoff scorer.

He captained Team USA to the 1996 World Cup title and played in three Olympics. And in 1994, he became the only American ever to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP as the Rangers won their only Stanley Cup in the last 67 years. Still, asked on Thursday about his legacy, Leetch said: “If they remember me as a Ranger, that’s good enough. If my name pops up in a conversation and somebody says: “Oh yeah, he was a Ranger,’ that’s good enough for me.”

Fact is, Leetch never wanted to be anything other than a Ranger. And though he was crushed by the March 3, 2004, trade that sent him to Toronto and drained after a disappointing 2005-06 season with Boston, Leetch was contemplating a career-completing return to the Rangers last season.

“I didn’t want to run and chase teams, try to predict who would be good and move the family around,” Leetch said, referring to wife Marybeth and their three small children. “It wasn’t until (Rangers coach) Tom Renney called me personally about a week into free agency that I got that little shot of adrenaline again and started getting myself back into it.

“But then I had a tough time the next six weeks getting myself physically to where I wanted to be. I didn’t want to go back to New York – especially New York – and not be 100 percent or at a level I was comfortable with. I didn’t want to not be good right from the start there – though I’m sure people there would have given me time and the benefit of the doubt.”

Envisioning Leetch quarterbacking his sputtering power play and bringing order to a chaotic defense, Renney continued to press the issue through Christmas. But by then, Leetch was finding life as a stay-at-home dad too rewarding and the prospect of making a comeback too daunting.

“When training camp was about to start, I didn’t feel ready to make a commitment,” Leetch said. “Still, I felt I could get settled and keep in shape and be ready to go. But more and more, I found it harder to feel I could come back and help the team and not embarrass myself.

“And it slowly started to sink in that this was the end.”

When the announcement came Thursday, the former teammate who has been like a brother to Leetch for nearly two decades attempted to provide perspective.

“Nobody who saw Brian didn’t appreciate the talent,” Mike Richter said. “But nobody who played with him didn’t appreciate that dedication and effort and preparation and professionalism.

“He was an absolute warrior – just a great commander on the ice. Anybody who has played with him, owes a lot of their success to him. And I can say that with absolute authority, because I know I do.

“It is sad to see that type of talent put on a shelf. I already miss watching him play.”

—

(c) 2007, New York Daily News.

Visit the Daily News online at http://www.nydailynews.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

—–

NEWSCOM PHOTOS can be viewed at http://www.newscom.com/nc/visuals.html (Username: fpnews and Password: viewnc05 allow editors to view photos.) To purchase photos or to get your own Newscom username and password, U.S. and Canadian newspapers, please call Tribune Media (800) 637-4082 or (312) 222-2448 or email to tmssalestribune.com. Others contact Newscom at (202) 383-6070 or email supportnewscom.com. Use search terms: “BRIAN LEETCH”

AP-NY-05-24-07 2107EDT