Top 100 Irish America's Finest In Sport "What we talk about is great effort outstanding preparat

After two years at St. Cloud State University, Cullen was drafted in 1996 to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. After five and a half years with the Ducks, it was on to Florida and then to the Carolina Hurricanes, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2005. He was then traded to the New York Rangers but returned to Carolina after one season. As we go to press on Feb. 23, Cullen scored twice to help the Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals, helping Carolina maintain its hold on the Southeast Division lead.

Outside the rink, Cullen is very active in the community. He and his wife set up the Cullen's Children Foundation in 2004, to help fund children's healthcare, especially those affected by cancer. The couple have a son, Brooks.

Tom Glavine

There's no avoiding the obvious. Baseball pitching great Tom Glavine did not leave the New York Mets on the best of terms. He pitched poorly in the last game of the 2007 season, a game which happened to decide whether or not the Mets were going to make the playoffs.

But another fact is just as obvious. There was plenty of blame to go around when it came to the Mets' 2007 collapse. And in terms of Glavine's entire stellar career, the final Mets game, while unfortunate, does not change the fact that he will one day be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.

Glavine, an Irish-American who was born in Massachusetts, won his 300th baseball game last August. When he reached this milestone, he joined an exclusive club whose first three members were Irish-Americans: Pud Galvin, Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch were the first three major league pitchers to win 300 games.

Glavine attributes his success to the work ethic instilled by his family. "My parents were all about hard work and doing things right," Glavine was quoted as saying after winning his 300th game. "If you are going to do something, do it right. Put all of your effort into it, not to where you are just satisfied to get it done. Never do something half-ass."

​
Nster.com