Scott Stevens a Hall of Famer solely on his Devils career?

[Big Phil]

You make the call. Ignore his NHL career as a Capital from '82-90 and as a Blue in '91. Just look at him as a Devil from '91-04, 13 years. Would he have had enough to make the Hall?

Second team all-star in '92, '97 and '01
First team all-star in '94
Conn Smythe Trophy in '00
Cup wins in '95, '00, '03

Personally I say a resounding yes to this. In fact I would go on to say he still would likely be a first ballot HHOFer. That is still some pretty insane credentials.

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[Jaysfanatic*]

You make the call. Ignore his NHL career as a Capital from '82-90 and as a Blue in '91. Just look at him as a Devil from '91-04, 13 years. Would he have had enough to make the Hall?

Second team all-star in '92, '97 and '01
First team all-star in '94
Conn Smythe Trophy in '00
Cup wins in '95, '00, '03

Personally I say a resounding yes to this. In fact I would go on to say he still would likely be a first ballot HHOFer. That is still some pretty insane credentials.

Yeah he would have. He may not have made it if he didn't play in New Jersey. He was a damn good defenseman even before he came to the swamp. But, when he came here, he just stepped it up and became the Scott Stevens everyone remembers today. Before he was just an angry young man, with a lot of skill as an offensive defenseman. I'd say it's the biggest swing in NHL history. It's like, say, Steve Yzerman going from one of the greatest offensive players to play the game, and becoming a 3rd line PK, shutdown C and becoming one of the greatest at that side of the game. That in itself is pretty damn special.

 

[Easton]

Who on earth would disagree that Stevens is anything but HOF material? The wide majority agree that he is. And even so, the guy's already been voted in.

 

[Dark Shadows]

You make the call. Ignore his NHL career as a Capital from '82-90 and as a Blue in '91. Just look at him as a Devil from '91-04, 13 years. Would he have had enough to make the Hall?

Second team all-star in '92, '97 and '01
First team all-star in '94
Conn Smythe Trophy in '00
Cup wins in '95, '00, '03

Personally I say a resounding yes to this. In fact I would go on to say he still would likely be a first ballot HHOFer. That is still some pretty insane credentials.

I say yes, but just barely. If only because I have strict personal opinion on criteria regarding the Hall of fame, and I think you need to have been among the best more than a few times being 3rd/4th best and once being 2nd best.

In regular season performance, he is sitting in the Doug Wilson/Rob Blake area, and I am not too keen on either of them for the Hall. Both would be backhanded bottom end selections.

Stevens playoff performances are what jumps him above the just barely line.

When you throw his other years in, it becomes a no Brainer.

 

[Dark Shadows]

Yeah he would have. He may not have made it if he didn't play in New Jersey. He was a damn good defenseman even before he came to the swamp. But, when he came here, he just stepped it up and became the Scott Stevens everyone remembers today. Before he was just an angry young man, with a lot of skill as an offensive defenseman. I'd say it's the biggest swing in NHL history. It's like, say, Steve Yzerman going from one of the greatest offensive players to play the game, and becoming a 3rd line PK, shutdown C and becoming one of the greatest at that side of the game. That in itself is pretty damn special.

Errr, Stevens was still pretty good defensively and physically before he made the transition to defense only. He just was not in the top tier with the Bourque's, Langway's, Chelios', Howe's defensively until he went power defense. But he was still above the Murphy's, Leetch's, etc defensively

Yzerman did not become a 3rd line PKer. He was still a top line center and Pker, and a damn good offensive presence regardless, but yes, he lost his higher end offense when he bought into the left wing lock.

 

[Jaysfanatic*]

Errr, Stevens was still pretty good defensively and physically before he made the transition to defense only. He just was not in the top tier with the Bourque's, Langway's, Chelios', Howe's defensively until he went power defense. But he was still above the Murphy's, Leetch's, etc defensively

Yzerman did not become a 3rd line PKer. He was still a top line center and Pker, and a damn good offensive presence regardless, but yes, he lost his higher end offense when he bought into the left wing lock.

I'm not saying he was terrible defensively, just that it wasn't really his strong point, and when he went to the defensive dynamo most remember today, he still had offensive talent, it didn't just disappear, he just didn't use it the way he used to.

Think about what a radical change it is for a player to go from being great at one aspect of the game, and while good at another, not great. Then going to being great in the aspect that you used to be good, not great in, and good to the aspect you used to be great, not good in.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

Absolutely. Stevens won some major wars in the playoffs and he dictated the opposing offense. I swear on my life, I have never seen players look scared in the playoffs the way they did when Stevens was on the ice.


All you have to do is look at the Devils and Brodeur in the playoffs since he left. The guy was the best defensive defenseman in the game for almost an entire decade, and got better in the playoffs. I think he makes Pronger look like a big wuss, if you ask me.

I saw him (and about 6 or 7 teammates like Daneyko and McKay and Andreychuk) outside of the Capital Grille in Boston in January or February 1998 and I asked him (after a brief chat) why he couldnt beat the Rangers in the playoffs, just to be a wise guy

He said, "They got lucky...all those goals...total luck"

True Story.


I wanted to ask him about the infamous Messier opening shift in Game 2 of the 1994 CF but I didnt want to stir the pot, considering he'd probably mash me like clay.

 

[Big Phil]

Who on earth would disagree that Stevens is anything but HOF material? The wide majority agree that he is. And even so, the guy's already been voted in.

No one disagrees he's a legit HHOFer. Yes we all know he's in as well. But you should read my OP. We are ignoring his time in Washington and St. Louis and treating him as if he solely had his whole career in New Jersey from '91-04. Judge those years and then come back and give your opinion if he is a HHOFer based on that.

 

[seventieslord]

I say yes - his career with the Devils resembles a Serge Savard-type career, with a little more personal success (3 more all-star teams) and a little less team success (5 fewer cups) - They were a similar style during much of this time, with the obvious exception being Stevens was more physical. Both were elite defensively (Savard was, and Stevens was when he was with NJ) Both had offensive capabilities that they didn't always use to their full potential when they were concentrating on being an elite defender.

Serge Savard isn't in my top-100, but he's a definite hall of famer, and so would Scott Stevens be if his career was just 1991-2004 with the Devils.

 

[Ward Cornell]

Yeah he would have. He may not have made it if he didn't play in New Jersey. He was a damn good defenseman even before he came to the swamp. But, when he came here, he just stepped it up and became the Scott Stevens everyone remembers today. Before he was just an angry young man, with a lot of skill as an offensive defenseman. I'd say it's the biggest swing in NHL history. It's like, say, Steve Yzerman going from one of the greatest offensive players to play the game, and becoming a 3rd line PK, shutdown C and becoming one of the greatest at that side of the game. That in itself is pretty damn special.

I would never classify Stevens as an offensive d-man.
Sure he scored 20 goals one season but if I recall correctly a lot of those goals were scored when he planted himself in front of the net on the powerplay. Scott Stevens even in junior in Kitchener was a defensive defenceman first! (of course Al McInnis was his team mate In Kitchener and most defencemen would take a back seat to McInnis offensively)

 

[vikash1987]

Not to sound biased, but I firmly believe that the statistics and accomplishments speak for themselves during the 1991-2004 period. I think that even if you sampled 10,000 random fans on this forum, an overwhelming 85-95% would say that he would have been a clear-cut, first-ballot Hall-of-Famer strictly on his merits in New Jersey.

 

[sidewayzLEAFS]

i miss that stevens-niederamyer duo

 

[EpochLink]

His Washington career is sorta left on the shelf in favor of his New Jersey career. He was a fine good defensemen in Washington though with Langway and Murphy.