On Sunday, Jimmy Vesey scored his 100th NHL goal.
For a player who has had to scratch and claw to stay in the NHL, this is an incredible accomplishment.
Vesey’s career started on a high note with the Rangers, but he went a couple of years bouncing from multiple teams as he tried to keep his NHL career alive.
“Just resilience,” Vesey said of what he’s most proud of about himself. “Probably four to five years ago, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen in my career. I went on to PTO (Professional Tryout) and now I’m here four years later. Just hard work and staying with it and resilience.”
Vesey has also played with the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils. His most success has come with the Rangers though.
The 31-year-old was always a part of the Blueshirts family at heart. Vesey spent his first three seasons in New York and eventually returned to The Big Apple in 2022.
As he reflects on his 100th NHL goal, Vesey can’t help but think about all his memories with the Rangers.
“The Rangers posted a video with a montage of all my goals from my first one to the last one and it just brings back a lot of memories,” Vesey said. “Watching the video, seeing the goals just brings back memories of different guys I played with on different teams. It’s my ninth year, so a little bit nostalgic looking back. It feels good to get 100 goals in the NHL.”
Vesey’s accomplishments as a player are very well documented. However, few people are aware of the presence he brings to any given locker room and the hard work he puts in on a daily basis.
“You’re talking about arguably one of the most liked guys in the room,” Peter Laviolette said. “Just a pro, plays hard everyday. He’s been through some ups and downs outside of his career, not even just this year. He just comes into work everyday.
“He’s a great kid, plays the game hard. I think he’s built into a pretty good defensive player, penalty killer when needed. This a guy his whole life who’s put up a lot of points offensively and scoring 100 goals in the NHL isn’t easy. You gotta give credit to him. It’s a tremendous accomplishment and our guys were really pumped for him to do that.”
