None Shall Pass
Dano moisturizes
The fact that there are teams listed here without Kovalchuk on them is absurd to me. Where to put him is debatable, but not putting him in the top-12 Devils forwards of all-time is just sour grapes.
Tribute What would your all time Devils team look like?
- Thread starter Notabaguette
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The fact that there are teams listed here without Kovalchuk on them is absurd to me. Where to put him is debatable, but not putting him in the top-12 Devils forwards of all-time is just sour grapes.
JimEIV
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I don't remember either Yserbaert or Ojanen "OJ" as centers...I remember both Paul and Janne as being wingers for the Devils? Although Paul hardly played before he was trade for Lee Norwood. But I'm pretty sure Paul played wing his entire time here
Billdo
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JimEIV
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Parise was a much more significant player in Devil's history. He was a draft choice, a leading scorer for a number of years and put up 5 30+ goal seasons as well as that monster 94 point season where he finished 5th in Hart votes and 8th in Selke votes....not on my list. Neither is Hall. Neither is Kovalchuk....
All time to me can't just be stat line...there has to be a component of winning.
Kovalchuk only played in New Jersey for 2 full seasons and one was complete horse shit where he went 25 games to December 4th before getting his 5th goal. So he played 222 total games here and aside from the 77 games + playoffs in 2012 most of his time here was complete garbage.
Parise and Hall would easily be ahead of Kovalchuk as LW's All-time in NJ history from my perspective and neither make my list... Not sour grapes, it's just no winning, no longevity, no hardware...not much of anything really.
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The 29th Pick
Still Alive !
this started as a goof, just trying to remember players back in the day that had a "one hit wonder" with the Devils, but as I scrolled through the years I noticed many of the players I was thinking of were centers (at one time/early) I was surprised myself (and the reference I used could be wrong)
Paul Ysebaert Stats | Hockey-Reference.com
Janne Ojanen Stats | Hockey-Reference.com
even Pat Verbeek started as a Center in 1982/3
1982-83 New Jersey Devils Roster and Statistics | Hockey-Reference.com
NJ DevLolz
The Many Saints of Newark
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Man, re-watching some classics on MSG, was Lou ever active in the mid-late 90s. How do we assess the following trades? Mind you I was like 10 at the time of most of these trades.
Steve Sullivan, Alyn McCauley, and Jason Smith for Doug Gilmore: The Devils gave up three long-time NHLers, including a long-time first liner for 80 games of Gilmour. Was he still considered a superstar at this point?
Bill Guerin and Valeri Zelepukin for Jason Arnott and Bryan Muir. Obviously Arnott was a key cog in the '00 win and a member of arguably the best line in franchise history, but Guerin went on to have his best seasons post-trade.
John MacLean and Ken Sutton for Doug Bodger and Darcy Wood: Why did Johnny Mac want a trade and holy hell was the return brutal.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Steve Sullivan, Alyn McCauley, and Jason Smith for Doug Gilmore: The Devils gave up three long-time NHLers, including a long-time first liner for 80 games of Gilmour. Was he still considered a superstar at this point?
Bill Guerin and Valeri Zelepukin for Jason Arnott and Bryan Muir. Obviously Arnott was a key cog in the '00 win and a member of arguably the best line in franchise history, but Guerin went on to have his best seasons post-trade.
John MacLean and Ken Sutton for Doug Bodger and Darcy Wood: Why did Johnny Mac want a trade and holy hell was the return brutal.
Any insight would be appreciated.
NJ DevLolz
The Many Saints of Newark
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He played here for like 3 years and he was pretty overrated in his time in NJ
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The 29th Pick
Still Alive !
Johnny Mac didnt like "LeMaire" hockey and he was past his prime, probably didn't like Jacque too much and saw the writing on the wall, I remember him "demanding" a trade, 2 seasons later when he was a Ranger, Glenn Sather came out and said "his giddyup aint got no gettyup" !
also Billy Guerin wanted out, he and Jacque didnt see eye to eye (Jacque once said "I dont see Billy as a 40 goal scorer, I just dont")
Lou was after Gilmour for a while, he still had something to give but he was on the other side too. They called him the playoff monster back in the day, and Lou was always building for playoff success in those days.
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JimEIV
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John MacLean wanted out. He didn't want to be a 3rd checking player that Lemaire wanted him to be... Maclean thought he could still be a top 6 scoring forward...had he listened to Lemaire I think he could've extended his career.
Sullivan, Smith and McCauley was one of the worst deals Lou ever made in my opinion. Gilmour was a punk and never wanted to be in New Jersey. I hated that deal the moment it was made.
Billdo
Registered User
Well, that ends any chance of an actual discussion if you think this is accurate.
NJ DevLolz
The Many Saints of Newark
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He was the third most important forward on the 2012 team and put up the counting stats he did because he played so much and the full 2 minutes on the PP. He was not a very efficient scorer here. My semi hot take is that Jagr was a better Devil
JimEIV
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Jagr was a more important Devil...if I had a like option I would've given you props...
People either forget or don't want to remember that an old broken down Elias out scored Kovalchuk in two of the 3 seasons he played here...the season everyone celebrates, 2012, Kovalchuk had 5 more points than Elias.... Kovalchuk was 28 years old playing with Parise and had 83 points, Elias was 35 years old and had 78 points from the second line with half the PP time.
Kovalchuk was a talent player but from my perspective it was unrealized talent. It was a failure of a career, a sad story really.
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NJ DevLolz
The Many Saints of Newark
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Right. Elias was playing with an ancient Petr Sykora and a good, Zubrus, who, while a good player, was probably more of a 3rd liner.
Jagr was an exceptional play-driver and a much more efficient scorer at ES than Kovy
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I would say my only real nitpick with your lineup (even though there are a few names I wouldn’t have on mine) is Shanahan. Perhaps Jagr too, based on longevity as a Devil and how old he was, but his 13-14 season was amazing.
Shanahan was a big name and an HOF player, but he was so young here when he was here the first time that he wasn’t really the superstar here that he became. And he was so old the last time he was here and his career was over following that stint and he didn’t even play a half season here by that point.
Shanahan is certainly one of the greatest forwards in hockey to ever play here and especially to have been drafted by us, but his time as a Devil was not really anything he’d really be remembered for.
JimEIV
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And Jagr was far less of a liability. He played smart hockey and rarely made the egregious turnovers in dangerous areas of the ice that Kovalchuk did on a regular basis. Kovalchuk was one of the most undisciplined players to have ever played in NJ....there certainly have been some as bad, but never one that got as much time on ice...so it was a constant double edge sword.
It really was a shame because he had the talent and power to play it any way imaginable but he chose to do it his way and not within the framework of a team.
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Johnny Mac leaked to the press that he wanted a trade. Lou shipped him out days later. That’s why the return was meh. And it wasn’t like he was still in his 20’s like Bill Guerin, who got a better return despite also publicly requesting a trade to the press. Lou let Guerin stick around for quite some time after that. I feel like that was going on for months.
When Johnny Mac was traded, Lou famously said that when the time came, Johnny Mac would certainly be a consideration to have his number retired by the Devils.
And that could have possibly happened, had Langenbrunner not been wearing his old number before he even retired or we didn’t have Langenbrunner as long. But we also won two more cups after that and there was no way his number was going up before Stevens and Daneyko, and definitely not before Brodeur and Niedermayer, who both retired quite a few years after those guys did. And then once Elias broke his all time team points record and stayed a career Devil, there was no way they were gonna retire his number before Patty’s.
And then add in his embarrassing head coaching stint (which might have been the worst in the history of hockey), as well as the turnaround that came after, I’m almost surprised he was even allowed to return to the organization ever again as a TV analyst.
When Johnny Mac was traded, Lou famously said that when the time came, Johnny Mac would certainly be a consideration to have his number retired by the Devils.
And that could have possibly happened, had Langenbrunner not been wearing his old number before he even retired or we didn’t have Langenbrunner as long. But we also won two more cups after that and there was no way his number was going up before Stevens and Daneyko, and definitely not before Brodeur and Niedermayer, who both retired quite a few years after those guys did. And then once Elias broke his all time team points record and stayed a career Devil, there was no way they were gonna retire his number before Patty’s.
And then add in his embarrassing head coaching stint (which might have been the worst in the history of hockey), as well as the turnaround that came after, I’m almost surprised he was even allowed to return to the organization ever again as a TV analyst.
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Mel Bridgman was pretty good, too. A bit forgotten and underrated as a player, I remember him being a key guy for the Devils while he was here.
Billdo
Registered User
Yes, if it needs more Lovejoy I understand.
Add another goaltender if you must.
BurntToast
Registered User
It’s crazy, to see the many great players that play for this organization over the years. Some players started here and others ended their careers here, but it’s all memorable. Which makes it hard to make one roster.
It’s insane how some players performed well for the Devils under a “defensive” system but failed else where and vise versa.
It’s insane how some players performed well for the Devils under a “defensive” system but failed else where and vise versa.
Stealing my offseason thread, huh?
Well, without any of my usual shenanigan rules...
Elias (A) - Arnott - Sykora
Parise - Zajac - MacLean
Shanahan - Holik - Lemieux
Pandolfo - Madden (A) - Langenbrunner
Muller, McKay
Stevens (C) - Rafalski
Niedermayer - Daneyko
Driver - Greene
Albelin
Brodeur
Schneider
Beat that two-way play. Size, strength, speed, checking, grit, finesse.
This. We've had some incredible players, wow.
Better Call Sal
Salnalysis
Patty's 2012 season is really underrated. I know he got 1st PP time, but played 5 on 5 with Zubrus and Sykora for the most part and ended up 10th in scoring.
Realistically, he probably is single handedly responsible for Sykora's renaissance season and Clarkson's overpayment contract in Toronto.
Realistically, he probably is single handedly responsible for Sykora's renaissance season and Clarkson's overpayment contract in Toronto.
- May 1, 2011
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I think he also kept Zubrus alive longer and hid any hint of a decline in him. 2011-2012 was his best season as a Devil.Patty's 2012 season is really underrated. I know he got 1st PP time, but played 5 on 5 with Zubrus and Sykora for the most part and ended up 10th in scoring.
Realistically, he probably is single handedly responsible for Sykora's renaissance season and Clarkson's overpayment contract in Toronto.
Zubrus never looked the same again after that season, although the next year was not only a lockout shortened season, but it was only 22 games for him due to injury.
