Salming

Before the game, the Maple Leafs honored former greats Borje Salming, Red Kelly and Hap Day by raising their numbers to the rafters.

USATODAY.com - Hockey - Ottawa vs. Toronto 2006

` ` When you have guys like Borje Salming on the ice before the game, if that doesn't get you going I don't know what does, '' Sundin said.

USATODAY.com - Hockey - Ottawa vs. Toronto 2006

Sergei Zubov had two assists and became the third European-born defenseman with 700 career points, joining Sweden's Borje Salming and Nicklas Lidstrom.

USATODAY.com - Hockey - Dallas vs. Los Angeles 2006

Before Salming, you'd have to dust off the cobwebs to go to the Tim Horton era in the early '60s.

USATODAY.com - Veteran Leetch injects new life in Leafs 2004

The last Leafs defenseman who matches his aura is Hall of Famer Borje Salming at his height during the 1970s and early '80s.

USATODAY.com - Veteran Leetch injects new life in Leafs 2004

Salming, Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg when they were among the first European NHLers in the 1970s.

All-Star weekend line 1999

The reality: Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Borje Salming showed amazing toughness in the face of physical abuse in the 1970s.

Myth-conceptions have been squelched 1999

Less than 30 years later, the European impact on the NHL has been far greater than many imagined even when players such as Tommie Bergmann, Borje Salming, Anders Hedberg, Ulf

It's a smaller world 1999

His 520 points 83 goals and 437 assists trail only the 762 registered by Borje Salming.

CNN.com 2011

His 520 points 83 goals and 437 assists trail only the 762 registered by Borje Salming.

SI.com 2011