Bobby Holik

[Bleedred]

People saying he wasn't skilled are just wrong. After Sundin he was the second best player in that draft. Incredibly heavy shot with a solid release. He was cast more in a shutdown role. You guys might remember Jagr's puck possession when he was here or prime Zubrus but Holik was better than both and earned his nickname bull. Had an element of sandpaper.. more Bennett than Marchand or Claude Lemieux. Best faceoff guy we had. Better even than Madden.

He could be Lindrosesque without the top shelf skill.
He was what I hoped Arnott would be but never was, bc Arnott didn't have the compete level.

Washed up before he got to the Rags and that contract cast a pall.

Absurdly candid interview. Came from a family of professional sports freaks and pulled no punches when calling out his teammates.

Keystone player for us.

I agree with most of this. Was he the second best player in his draft? I'd have to go through that draft to really say where I'd rank him.

I don't think he was washed up when he got to the Rangers, but he certainly wasn't worth anywhere near that contract. For some reason they LOVED overpaying our guys. John MacLean (who played with San Jose right before that and didn't come straight from us) and Scott Gomez were also overpaid by them. Bruce Driver may have even been too, but I don't even remember what he got. That was back in 1995.

Yes, he was skilled and he was also one of the smartest/higher IQ players we had, but he was also very emotional and would sometimes take bad penalties or lose coverage to go after somebody in the heat of the moment, which probably made some people think he was doing those things due to brain dead moments.

I never blamed him for taking the Rangers stupid contract and the guy never blew smoke up everybody's asses like some players. He was PISSED with the arbitrator's ruling in 2001 and immediately said he was going to free agency the next summer to maximize his value.

I still think he's one of the more underrated players in franchise history. Maybe if he hadn't left for the Rangers, there would be a more favorable opinion, but it worked out for the best. We won the cup anyway his first year gone and if we had signed him to anywhere near that crazy of a deal, I can't imagine what kind of costs we have to cut once the salary cap is established with 2 years left on his deal, though he probably would have just been bought out by us like he was by the Rangers.

He was also an elite shutdown guy for us. He was better than John Madden, though John Madden did an incredible job in pretty much taking the torch from him in 2002 upon his departure to the Rangers.

And yes, he sounded exactly like Kermit the frog, if he had a Czech accent.

I wish we could get a compilation of sound clips from him too. That's just how underrated he was. I feel like you could get a pretty good 20 minute compilation of quotes and interviews from his playing days of him saying some funny and controversial stuff.

 

[Bleedred]

By the way, GREAT trade to get him.

Burke was USELESS as a Devil, outside of that 1988 playoff run. He was bad here for several years before that trade, then held out and didn't play for an entire year because he was butt hurt that he lost his starting job to Chris Terreri, who was outplaying him.

Burke would go on to have a pretty decent career and some elite years in Arizona thanks to Benoit Allaire and he seems to be a fantastic goalie coach, but a change of scenery was badly needed at that point. He was addition by subtraction by 1992.

Weinrich was a pretty good and promising young defenseman at the time though. He was really the most significant piece we sent out, but we got Holik and a 2nd round pick that wound up becoming Jay Pandolfo. I'm not a fan of Pandolfo, but he was a pretty useful player for quite some time and Holik was definitely a better forward than Weinrich was a defenseman, though he did have a solid and long career in the league.

 

[Brodeur]

Learned an interesting tidbit loosely related to Burke. On the 32 thoughts podcast yesterday, one of the hosts mentioned an old draft story from Cliff Fletcher when he was Flames GM in 1985. Calgary had the 27th pick and was planning on drafting Burke, Kay Whitmore, or Troy Gamble. To their shock, those three went 24th, 25th, and 26th.

They had to scramble on who to pick and they ended up taking Joe Nieuwendyk.

 

[MakoSlade]

I remember hearing back in the late 1990s that the Rangers whiteboard had his name written as 'assholik'. I recall hearing that during a Devils broadcast, but not sure how the broadcast team would have snuck that in!

Side note, they also said next to Stevens' name was written "LEAVE HIM ALONE". Those teams were a terror!

 

[Classic Devil]

Arguably the best center in Devils history not named Hischier or Hughes.

 

[Classic Devil]

6'4 230 brute who had some skill. We had a top PP unit with Holik fitting the role of winning of the faceoffs (was close to 60% during his peak) and being a nuisance in front of the net.

He had the reputation of being a shutdown center although I always viewed him more of a guy who'd physically wear you down rather than being a guy who should get Selke consideration. He did get some Selke votes for a stretch but never played the penalty kill with much regularity.

Definitely somebody made for the late 90's style of play. Unfortunately most people remember his big free agent contract first about Holik. In short, solid #2 center for the time.

Holik was absolutely a monster shutdown defenseman. He was a total beast 5v5, you could put him up against anyone and not only would he prevent them from doing much, but he’d put up points. Holik got Hart trophy votes in the late 1990s (I think 1997 or 1998), and they were deserved. There’s a reason the Rangers eventually spent so, so much money for him — at the time, he looked like a #1, not a #2, and a pretty damn good one. Unfortunately for them he’d aged past his prime at that point, though… which was expected, given he was a UFA before The Lockout.

As I said above, I think Holik has a very good argument for best center in Devils history not named Hischier and Hughes.

 

[My3Sons]

Holik was absolutely a monster shutdown defenseman. He was a total beast 5v5, you could put him up against anyone and not only would he prevent them from doing much, but he’d put up points. Holik got Hart trophy votes in the late 1990s (I think 1997 or 1998), and they were deserved. There’s a reason the Rangers eventually spent so, so much money for him — at the time, he looked like a #1, not a #2, and a pretty damn good one. Unfortunately for them he’d aged past his prime at that point, though… which was expected, given he was a UFA before The Lockout.

As I said above, I think Holik has a very good argument for best center in Devils history not named Hischier and Hughes.

Sundstrom and Muller and Gomez are probably part of that discussion also. Holik was a moose who could play in an era where lots of mooses couldn’t and he really stood out. He was a treat to watch.

 

[Classic Devil]

Sundstrom and Muller and Gomez are probably part of that discussion also. Holik was a moose who could play in an era where lots of mooses couldn’t and he really stood out. He was a treat to watch.

Gomez and Muller are definitely in the conversation, but ultimately I would take prime Holik over either.

 

[HolikHoliday16]

The best

 

[Louskoolaid89]

I met Bobby at a Loves Travel stop in Wyoming while standing on line for some fast food lol. Yeah he was recently retired at the time. This was just after we drafted Adam Larson and I was super pumped thinking we had a John Carlson type of D-man for our future. Yeah he was right in front of me and was blown away that I knew who he was. I was like "excuse sir I'm from NJ! Fun talk for about 5 mins or so. Forgave him for signing with the evil Rags!