Maple Leafs icon Borje Salming, who died on Thursday at age 71 after a battle with ALS, played the final season of his career as a 38-year-old with the Red Wings in 1989-90, where he was a teammate of current Rangers coach Gerard Gallant, then 26 years old.
“I had played against him in Toronto obviously, but when he came into our locker room the first time it was just like, ‘This is Borje Salming, this is the guy I watched on “Hockey Night in Canada,” the Toronto Maple Leafs,’” said Gallant, the one-time power wing who then was in his fourth full season and sixth overall in the NHL.
“He was really good for a bunch of our young players, and me being one of them. He was just like everybody says, a terrific man and a great family man. You just looked up to the guy. You knew he came from Sweden, as one of those first guys who set the groundwork for everybody else.
“Just a great, great person. It’s very sad to see what happened.”
Adam Fox told The Post that the team was able to bid farewell to Ryan Reaves during their stretch in Anaheim on Wednesday before the wing made his way to Minnesota after having been traded to the Wild.
“You don’t always get the chance to do that, so it was good we could see Reavo off,” Fox said, “He’s such a big personality and energy guy who would bring life to the room if it seemed like we needed that.
“He was always a breath of fresh air and fun to be around. Just a great personality. We’ll miss him.”
It appears as if Vitali Kravtsov will sit Saturday against the Oilers for a seventh straight contest, his fifth consecutive scratch after he missed the first two of this string with health issues. Kravtsov, who last played at Detroit on Nov. 10, has played six games while recording one assist on the season.
