Legace a part of legacy

Though Manny Legace never played an NHL game for the Carolina Hurricanes or Hartford Whalers - not yet, anyway - he was the Whalers' eighth-round draft pick in 1993, a draft that also brought Chris Pronger, Marek Malik and Nolan Pratt to the organization.

Legace found success elsewhere but is still near the top of the list of Whalers/Hurricanes-drafted goalies who have experienced the most NHL success - Tuesday's Top Five. (Putting the list together wasn't too tough; only six goalies drafted by the organization have played in an NHL game.)

5. Mike Lenarduzzi, third round (57th overall), 1990: Lenarduzzi played in four NHL games, 16 fewer than Darrin Jensen (fifth round, 1980), the other candidate, but at least his were for the franchise. Jensen's came with the Philadelphia Flyers.

4 . Kay Whitmore, second round (26th overall), 1985: Whitmore played in 155 NHL games and is now a hockey operations executive for the league. He served as the supervisor for two of Carolina's playoff series this past spring.

3. Manny Legace, eighth round (188th overall), 1993: Legace spent six seasons mostly in the minors before catching on as the Detroit Red Wings' backup in 2000-01. He was Dominik Hasek's backup when the Red Wings beat the Hurricanes in the 2002 finals.

2. Cam Ward, first round (25th overall), 2002: Only days after those finals ended, the Hurricanes drafted the cornerstone of their next trip to the finals. Ward's surprising star turn during the playoffs carried the Hurricanes all the way to the Stanley Cup.

1. Jean-Sebastien Giguere, first round (13th overall), 1995: Tied with Ward for Stanley Cups (1) and Conn Smythe trophies (1) but gets the edge having made two trips to the finals (2003 and 2007) compared with Ward's one (2006). Ward, of course, has had seven fewer years to build his résumé.

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