In light of Scott Stevens getting his position as the Assistant Coach of the Devils I decided to take a look at the top 10 greatest Scott Stevens moments. So let's get started!
10. Getting sent to NJ
It's tough for any Devil fan to believe it but there was a time when Scott Stevens didn't want to be a Devil. And for those of you who don't know the whole story it is more dramatic than you think. After a huge court battle the Devils were able to secure him. The Blues originally signed Brendan Shanahan who was an restricted free agent. This required St Louis to compensate NJ. The Blues were offering 2 draft picks, Curtis Joseph, and Rod Brind'amour. But Lou demanded Scotty. And he got him!
9 Off the floor, on the board Paul Kariya
Now this one I put low not because of the hit. If it was just the hit it probably would've been #3. It's because of what happened AFTER the hit. Now looking back on it it's over, the Devils won in game 7 at home so everything turned out ok in the end. But at the time, it was one of the most surreal moments I've ever experienced as a hockey fan. Don't know what I'm talking about? Take a look.
8 Being named Captain of the Devils
Scott Stevens has become synonymous with leadership. In just his second season with the team he was named captain after serving the previous season as alternate captain. This I feel was the moment where we knew as Devil fans that he was a main stay for our organization. He was and will always be the greatest captain in New Jersey Devil history.
7 The 3rd Cup
I put this sort of low on the list. But it was one of the greatest moments of my entire life for obvious reasons. I was 14 years old at the time, and I just remember seeing Stevens raise his arms up as the clock was about to wind down. He and Daneyko were the two defensemen on the ice for that final buzzer and that really meant a lot to both of them.
6 The hit on Ron Francis
Ron Francis is a legend. But I'm not sure if he even remembers half of his career all because of one hit by Stevens that sent him to the bench but not before falling to the ice a total of three times. Just a good, clean, hard check.
5 "You're Next!"
This is where we get to the nitty gritty in that I could not think of what to put in what order. The hit on Kozlov during game 2 of the 1995 Finals fills the 5 spot. Or the "5 hole" if you will. What made this awesome was that it sparked a fear into the Wings that carried over at home in games 3 and 4. It not only sent Kozlov to the ice, but Niedermayer as well. This in many Devil fans minds, coupled with the Niedermayer coast-to-coast goal, was the moment that we knew that Cup was ours. Dino Ciccarelli started chirping at Scotty on the bench. To which Scott Stevens replied: "You're next!"
4 ever
It just so happens that this one comes in at #4 on my list. Nooooo not intentional at all. Scott Stevens received a huge honor and got his number retired by the Devils becoming the first ever player to do so. He was followed by Daneyko a month later and Niedermayer last season. I still get teary eyed whenever I hear that chant: "Thank you Scotty!" coming from the packed Continental Airlines Arena. I think Scotty said it best: "I think this is the first time I've ever felt intimidated on this ice."
3 The hit on Eric Lindros
This one goes without saying. It is regarded by many to be the greatest body check in NHL history. Rightfully so. Lindros was never the same after this hit. He suffered from concussion after concussion and never ever got back his scoring touch. After going down 3-1 to Philly in the 2000 ECF, the Devils rallied back to tie the series at 7. During that game 7 Stevens stunned the First Union Center by leveling their captain. Bobby Holik immediately turned to his teammates sitting next to him and said "Boys, we're gonna win this one!" That's exactly what they did.
2 1st Cup
The upset that no one saw coming. The red hot Red Wings against the kids from the Garden State. This was the moment that started a chain of events that led us to becoming the best team in the East over the past two decades.
1 The 2000 Stanley Cup/Conne Smythe
No doubt the best moment for Scott Stevens was the 2000 Stanley Cup. Just the effort he put out during the whole playoffs was unbelievable. I already talked about the Lindros hit, but it goes way beyond that. He shut down Pavel Bure and Mark Recchi as well. He got an assist on the Cup winning OT goal. Stevens was rewarded for his efforts with the Conne Smythe Trophy, awarded to the playoff MVP.
I've been searching high and low for something I can finally post about news worthy. I spent three days staring at NHL.com praying something other than "Rick Nash's trade coming some time this century" on the main page. I didn't find it. But what I did find, intrigued me. Cam Janssen had been interviewed by "The Thom and Jeff Show". Never heard of it? Yea, me neither. Now you have. I have never heard anything about them and I for one am a huge fan of edgy, uncensored radio. A couple of years ago Scott Ferrall of Howard Stern fame interviewed Brian Rolston. The talk was mostly about Kovalchuk's new mega contract but also some slight adult themes. Rollie, being the mature hockey player he is, kept it a little more PG-13 as much as he could. Whereas our friend Cam Janssen, uhhh... took it to the next level.
In the interview Cam called the LA Kings "The fat broads you bang, then regret you banged them. I've been there and done that before!" Holy hell! Now our friend #25 is just getting started. He then went into saying something that completely destroys his reputation as a player and human being. He said he intentionally sets out to hurt other players. Acording to "SBNation.com" this is what Cam said:
"I love it. And you know what, I respect a lot of the guys and you wanna have people respect you. If you're a f****** dips*** out there, you're not going to get any respect and other teams aren't gonna respect you. And if other teams don't respect you, then they're not gonna sign you and it's just kind of a trickle effect.
"But you wanna be scary. You wanna put the fear of f******* God in people's eyes, and not just, 'Oh, I'm gonna beat you up' -- no, 'I'm gonna catch you with your f******* head down and hurt you because you're not gonna know I'm comin', because I know how to hit.' Fighting guys is one thing because I know, 'Oh, I won't fight you. I'll just turtle.' Whatever. But if you have the puck and you know how to hit and you can hurt guys with hits like I know how to do, that's what puts the fear of God into people."
Christ! But THEN... Oh yes my little pitchforks, our friend Cam isn't done yet. He then makes a comment about gays. Yes, you heard it here. He was asked about trash talking on the ice. He said that guys use "personal s***" to get their point across. The host then asked him: (This is very graphic folks) "So if a guy was s****** c*** a few weeks ago, you'd let him know about it?"
To which Cam replied: "Oh if he is s****** c***, he's getting his a** kicked!"
He offered an apology the following day:
"Earlier this week, I participated in an internet-based radio show in which I used some poor judgment which I now regret. The New Jersey Devils were unaware of this interview, which I arranged myself.
"I would like to apologize for my poor choice of language. The tone of the interview was very casual and off-color, and I lost focus on what is and is not acceptable and professional. I am deeply sorry to anyone who was offended by my language. Moving forward, I hope to eliminate that type of language from my vocabulary. I would also like to take this chance to express my support for the work the You Can Play project is doing, and for the gay community in general.
"I apologize for the embarrassment my comments have caused to the New Jersey Devils management, as well as my teammates."
Good job Cammy! We are sure glad you're back! Hey NHL LOOK!!! OUR VERY OWN SEAN AVERY!!!!! God help us all!
A few days ago #DevilsUltimateLineup was trending on Twitter. people were all posting about what lineup would they start a game with if they could put together any Devil from history. Obviously Marty was the starting goalie on every tweet but I noticed the forwards and defenseman kind of spread out. Even I had trouble putting together my line. So I figured it might be fun to give you guys my ultimate Devils TEAM as opposed to just ultimate "line". Keep in mind some of these guys only had short stints with NJ, but felt they needed to be included.
1st line- LW Ilya Kovalchuk C Patrik Elias RW John MacLean
2nd line- LW Claude Lemieux C Mark Johnson RW Alexander Mogilny
3rd line- LW Patrick Sundstrom C Doug Gilmour RW Brendan Shanahan
4th line- LW Stephane Richer C Bobby Holik RW Brian Gionta
Defense-
1st line- Scott Niedermayer Scott Stevens
2nd line- Bruce Driver Viacheslav Fetisov
3rd line- Jack O'Callahan Phil Housley
Goalies-
Starter- Martin Brodeur
Backup- Sean Burke
Well that was fun. Leave a comment, hit me on Twitter, or email me if you think I missed anyone or picked someone on here poorly.
Last year around this time I posted who I thought would wear the C that upcoming season. I said it would be Parise and I was correct. Now that Zach has gone home to eat his Mommy's chicken nuggets and play with his Shrek coloring book (if you don't get the reference go back to my earlier posts) it is time to "part the Red C" once again.
Let's take a look at the candidates.
#17 Ilya Valerevich Kovalchuk- The probable winner of the sweepstakes. He is the most willing to lead the team into battle. He is also not afraid to throw his weight around. Schenn learned that the hard way last season when he got Tyson-style KOed by Kovy. It will be also kind of nice to have a captain who will be sticking around for a while. 13 more years to be exact. He won't be as impactful a captain as Scotty was, but most likely will still lead the team to at least one Stanley Cup in our future.
#26 Patrik Elias- He won't get it for one reason. He doesn't want it. He had it for a while during that awkward Niedermayer/Stevens concussion/lockout time period. He says he doesn't like to be the star attraction. Very humble if ya ask me, but he would make a great fit. He is one of our franchise players and holds just about every Devils record that does not involve a goaltender.
#24 Bryce Salvador- I'm going to get one thing abundantly clear. I HATED this man. Note the past tense. I am now eating my words as he is one of my favorite players on our roster. A player who seemed like a stay-at-home defenseman, he all of a sudden drank the Niedermayer kool-aid in the playoffs. He scored key goals and help lead the team right into the Stanley Cup Finals. He will most likely get an A on his chest but no C.
#30 Martin Brodeur- I know it's considered taboo to make a goalie captain. But Vancouver did it. Why not us? But will it? No. But it is kinda nice to think about. He is the backbone of the franchise and if you say the words "New Jersey Devils" he is the face you picture in your mind whether you know about hockey or not. He has become synonymous with winning and is our team leader, however he won't be wearing a C anytime soon.
Honestly, that's about it. I can't really picture any other Devil being the captain other than Kovalchuk or Elias. It was a shame to lose Zach but we can now have a captain who will actually do something with the captaincy rather than just get it for a year then turn your back on it.
I know the humor was lacking in this post, but we gotta be serious sometimes right?... right? Oh, that's boring? Oh ok! Won't happen again!
Yes, it's a bad joke I know. But let's be honest, out of all the remaining FA's who would you rather have out there with Kovalchuk? Shane Doan is never going to don the red and black. But still, some fans actually believe he might be jumping the coast from the desert to the swamp. We've picked up a new guy along the way and resigned a bunch others. That new guy I have to ask why? But we'll get to him. Here's a look at the top 3 remaining free agents and how they would fit into our lineup.
Teemu Selanne- Pro- The ageless Finn. He keeps signing one year deals because he nor the Ducks know when that season will be his final. 76 Goals in his rookie year? Holy hell! He would bring a sense of leadership to our lineup the same way Shanahan did when he came back a couple of years ago. Con- He's old as hell! Not taking anything away from him. I mean he still can score, but he's just too old. The Devils need youth. The other con, he is not going to sign with us. He's got his sights set on Anaheim or Winnipeg. I'm sure Jersey hasn't even crossed his mind. Final verdict- Teemu will go to Manitoba or stay in Disneyland.
Alexander Semin- Pro- He seems to be the most likely to head to NJ. But once again the Penguins are trying to get him and even the KHL. I don't understand how Pittsburgh has so much cap space. You have 2 of the best players in the NHL in your lineup. How do they have the money? It blows my mind! If he does sign with us, it'll give Kovy a possible winger who can talk to him on the ice in Russian. Sorry Trav, but you're going to have to brush up on your Bolshevik speak because the two guys next to you at the faceoff circle will be speaking it to one another. Con- He's a pussy. I hate to be blunt here but I can't stress this enough. He holds a hockey record. First slap fight in NHL history. If you want to have a hockey record come up with something original. Like... taking off your skate and try stabbing someone. That's original right? No one's EVER done that! But I feel that playing with Kovy would help his toughness out a bit. Kovalchuk is no pushover. Just ask Brayden Schenn. I think he was most excited about his brother Luke coming to Philly because of the fact that his brother can protect him from Ilya. Final Verdict- Pens will push for him but he will either come to Jersey or go play for the Lokomotiv. He seems like a guy who wants money. He's going to be a fish in a big pond. He's going to see a ton of bait coming from different fishing lines. And whichever one is shiniest and biggest, he's going to bite it. Phew, I filled my riddle metaphor quota for this post!
Shane Doan- Pro- Skilled yet old, Shane Doan has spent his entire career with one franchise. He is in the same boat as Selanne. He will either stay with the Jets errr I mean Coyotes, or sign with the Jets. But rumors have circulated that as many as 20 teams have sent him offer sheets, including the Devils. He can score, but somehow he has only gotten one hat trick in his entire career. He scored that 3rd goal with less than a second left in the game. Con- Also like Teemu, he's older. The Devils need a youthful winger that can help the team. He isn't a demon scorer. His career high is 31 goals, but has stayed consistent throughout his career. Final Verdict- He isn't coming to NJ, he will most likely sign with the Rangers or Penguins. He is nearing the end of his career. The guy wants a Cup. And let's face it, even though we made it to the Finals, we are never a front-runner for the Cup.
Now really quick I want to talk about Krys Barch and some recent re-signings by Lou Lamoriello. Namely one. Cam Janssen. A simple question I need to ask is... Why!? He's the most unproductive forward in the NHL if you don't count Eric Boulton who, thank God, got scrapped and is playing in Nassau County next year. I have two theories as to why he got resigned. 1. He likes it here, and the fans seems to like whenever he's in the lineup because you know some s*** is about to go down! Especially against the Rangers. He hates the Rangers. Don't believe me? Check out the video on the bottom of the post and skip to about 2 minutes. The 2nd reason? Uhhh... I'll get back to you on that one. Now if resigning Janssen was bad, then how about signing Krys Barch? My first reaction to this was... "Who the hell is Kyrs Barch?" I looked him up on Wikipedia (the most reliable source ever. Well, second best. The best has to be the HockeyyInsiderr.) and I first saw his stats. Oh wow, 12 goals in 302 games. He has got to be a D man. Right? No. He's a forward. With a ton of penalty minutes. So we got rid of Boulton, just to sign another Boulton. Your brain can fight that alllll you want. Kinda makes ya dizzy, eh? So you mgiht be thinking, well he's still young, he will develop a bit. It took Clarkson a few years before he came through. But no, this guys is 32. There was NO REASON TO SIGN THIS MAN! You have probably the BEST 4th line in the whole damn league! You don't NEED this a**hole! You can see how angry I am about this.
Ok, so I need to calm down a bit, but when I do I will be back to give you guys the rundown on the captaincy as we reopen one of my first posts from last year. Who should be the captain?
I don't have to tell you how upset I was when I read the words "Parise signs with Minnesota". We felt a deep sense of abandonment. It was without a doubt the worst moment to be a Devils fan since Niedermayer left us. But was it really SO bad to lose him? 7.5 million dollars is as LoneStar put it: "A S***LOAD of money!" Let's take a look at the facts. Zach Parise was sort of a playoff bust. He rarely showed up to games and didn't seem like a great threat to score when he was on the ice. That's where the Devils needed leadership. The playoffs. Now I have been trying to figure out why Zach went to the Wild. So I set up an interview with Zach Parise one-on-one to get to the bottom of this.
PF&HS: How you doin' today Zach?
Zach Parise: Doin' great. I just got back golfing with my Daddy.
PF&HS: Well, that's nice. So Zach let's cut right to the chase. Can you elaborate on your decision of abandon er I mean... leave New Jersey to go to Minnesota.
ZP: I decided that my parents needed me at home. Can't ever beat my Mommy's cooking. She makes the best chicken nuggets ever! They're Purdue!!!
PF&HS: OK, so you're saying the only reason you signed with the Wild is because you... Like your Mother's-
ZP: (interupts) Mommy's!
PF&HS: sorry, "Mommy's" chicken nuggets?
ZP: Oh no Mr. Pitchfork, I also love the color green!! It's my favorite crayon in the Crayola box! This one time I got a Shrek coloring book, and he's green so you can imagine my excitement! So I signed with a team with a green jersey!
PF&HS: You do realize that the home jersey for the Wild is maroon right?
ZP: (puzzled) Next question!
PF&HS: Ok, Zachary, so far you have told me you went to the Wild because you like green and your Mommy's chicken nuggets. Is there any REAL reason you left?
ZP: Well, I love going on vacation during the Spring. And going to Minnesota guarantees it! It'll be nice to just relax during April, May, and June instead of working to get that dinky trophy!
PF&HS: Dinky trophy?
ZP: Yea, it's too heavy. Weighs like 40 pounds. I don't really want it anyway. It's overrated. I'll get it eventually. Maybe my son will win it and bring it home or something.
PF&HS: OK, well on that note I think we're just about wrapped up here. Thanks for joining me Mr. Parise. We'll miss you in NJ. Thanks for coming.
ZP: My pleasure! Hey you need a ride home? Heatley is picking me up and he can drive you home!
PF&HS: Uhh no thanks!
NO KIDDING IT'S FAKE! AT LEAST I ADMIT IT! WHO DO YOU THINK I AM? THE HOCKEY INSIDER?
