New Jersey Devils / Colorado Rockies / Kansas City Scouts Top Five Lists
With the announcement of Captain Scott Stevens' retirement after 22 NHL seasons, I figured I might as well make my second favourite NHL team the focus of my second NHL teams to get the royal Top Five treatment. I've been a fan of the Devs since around the 1993-94 season, when they were enjoying one of their best seasons ever, but were still viewed as underdogs to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers in the Conference Finals.
The History
The team was not originally based in New Jersey, no sir. The Devils' roots lie somewhere in Missouri, when the Kansas City Scouts were named as one of two teams to end the first 8-year NHL expansion cycle (the other was the Washington Capitals), with their first season to take place in the 1974 - 75 campaign. Hockey was not warmly accepted in KC, though if they'd have had a successful franchise to get behind, who knows what would've happened. The combined record of the first two dismal seasons in Kansas City was 27-110-23, which is pretty goddamned abyssmal. When the Scouts only reached a quarter of their season ticket sales goal, the investors behind the team moved it to Colorado.
With the start of the 1976 - 77 season, the former Scouts were now known as the Colorado Rockies, though things didn't get much better. For six seasons & seven coaches, the Rockies were pretty much terrible. Much of the blame lies with the team management & ownership, but the only reason they made the playoffs once was because most of the teams in the NHL made the playoffs back in those days. The Rockies made the playoffs with a record of 19-40-21, 21 games under .500. The only highlights of those six seasons was the play of Lanny McDonald & the one season that Don Cherry coached there. Eventually the Rockies were sold to John McMullen in 1982 & he moved the team to New Jersey for the following season.
From SportsEcyclopedia, I learned that the Devils name, selected in a newspaper poll, was based on a legend that dates back to 1735, about "a creature, which roams the woods of New Jersey known as the Jersey Devil." Here I thought it was because most people thought of Jersey as Hell. Anyways, with the start of the 1982 -83 season, the New Jersey Devils were born. The first five seasons were pretty much the usual for the twice-relocated franchise, with very few notes to make about them:
- Wayne Gretzky called them a "Mickey Mouse organization" at one point
- they didn't suck enough to win the Mario Lemieux draft pick in the 1983 - 84 season
- drafted Kirk Muller 2nd overall in the Lemieux draft
Finally, at the end of the 1986 - 87 season, Lou Lamoriello was hired to be the Devils' President & General Manager, bringing with him his years of success in the college coaching ranks. Since that hiring, the Devils fortunes have grown higher & higher. In fact, in the first season under Lamoriello's regime, the Devils made the playoffs for only the second time in team history, & very nearly made it to the Stanley Cup Finals as well. But those heights would still be nearly a decade away.
From that dream 1987 - 88 season to the 1992 - 93 season, the Devils continued to improve as a team, only missing the playoffs once, acquiring franchise players (Scott Stevens in particular), but still missing that elusive final piece in the puzzle. That piece was found with the hiring of Jacques Lemaire as Head Coach, which sadly also lead to the creation of the Neutral Zone Trap. The 1993 - 94 Devils were the best yet, setting new team records for points (106) & wins (47), making it to the Conference Finals against the hated New York Rangers. The Devs pushed the Rangers to the limit, losing in the seventh game to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. 1993 - 94 was also the first full regular season that goaltender Martin Brodeur would see playing time, leading to many team goaltending & NHL goaltending records falling.
The 1994 - 95 season very nearly didn't even happen, due to the labour dispute between the NHL Owners & the NHLPA. A new CBA was finally ratified & an abbreviated 48-game schedule was played, with the Devils squeezing into the playoffs with an average record. They'd ride the stellar goaltending of Brodeur & the masterful coaching of Lemaire all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, sweeping the favoured Detroit Red Wings in four games to win the franchise's first ever Stanley Cup. Gretzky's infamous "Mickey Mouse" quote was everywhere in newspaper sports headlines the next day.
The following season was a disaster, however, with the Devils losing their last game of the season & being eliminated from even making the playoffs to defend the Stanley Cup. Three more regular seasons of division title championships would end up meaning nothing, as the Devils faltered every year in the playoffs, leading to Lemaire eventually stepping down as Head Coach at the end of the 1997 - 98 season, to be replaced by Robbie Ftorek.
Ftorek would bring regular season success again, but was eventually fired a season & a half into his Devils coaching career, being replaced by former Devils Assistant Coach, Larry Robinson, about 10 days before the playoffs of the 1999 - 2000 season began. Playing in front of Robinson, & with the heart & soul of the team in Captain Scott Stevens playing his trademark crushing game, the Devils would go on to win their second Stanley Cup, defeating the defending Champion Dallas Stars in overtime of the sixth game.
The following season would see the Devils make the Stanley Cup Finals again, losing to the "Ray Bourque Farewell Tour" Colorado Avalanche in seven games. Robinson was fired as Head Coach, leading to the hiring of Kevin Constantine, who had above average success with the San Jose Sharks. Constantine wouldn't last much longer than a season however, as the Devils did nothing in the playoffs of 2001 - 02, losing to the eventual Stanley Cup Finalist Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. Constantine was replaced at the start of the 2002 - 03 season by Pat Burns, who would eventually lead the Devils to their third Stanley Cup in nine seasons, over the Cinderella Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
The Devils would once again fail to defend their Stanley Cup Championship, however, losing in the first round of the 2003 - 04 Playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers. With Stevens' retirement, the loss of free agent superstar defenceman Scott Niedermayer to the Mighty Ducks, & the loss of Burns as coach due to cancer treatments, the Devils future doesn't look as great as it used to. But they still have the world's best goaltender, Martin Brodeur, under contract, ready to make another run at NHL records. & Head Coach Larry Robinson is back again too!
Top Five All Time Penalty Minute Leaders - prior to 2005-06 season
5. Pat Verbeek (1984 - 89) - 463 GP - 943 PIM
4. Scott Stevens (1991 - 2004) - 956 GP - 1007 PIM
3. John MacLean (1983 - 98) - 934 GP - 1168 PIM
2. Randy McKay (1991 - 2002) - 760 GP - 1418 PIM
1. Ken Daneyko (1984 - 2003) - 1283 GP - 2519 PIM
Top Five All Time Team Captains
5. Bruce Driver (1991 - 92)
4. Don Lever (1982 - 84)
3. Mel Bridgman (1983 - 87)
2. Kirk Muller (1987 - 91)
1. Scott Stevens (1992 - 2004) - led team to three Stanley Cup victories in nine years, the rest were never close.
Top Five All Time Head Coaches
5. Robbie Ftorek (1998 - 2000) - had great regular season success, but no big playoff runs
4. Jim Schoenfeld (1987 - 90) - calling referee Don Koharski a "fat pig" in the 1988 Eastern Finals of the playoffs lands a spot on the Top Five, not to mention bringing the Devils to the playoffs for the first time, period
3. Pat Burns (2002 - 04) - inherited supremely talented & well coached team, led it to it's third Stanley Cup Championship in nine years
2. Larry Robinson (1999 - 2002, present) - was an Assistant Coach under Lemaire for years, learned well, & eventually led the Devils to their second Stanley Cup Championship
1. Jacques Lemaire (1993 - 98) - installed a strict defensive system that would lead to the franchise's first Stanley Cup Championship
Top Five All Time Seasons
5. 1993-94 - (47-25-12) 106 PTS, the first full regular season with Brodeur in net & Jacques Lemaire coaching, signalled to the rest of the NHL that the Devils were not pretenders anymore
4. 2000-01 - (48-19-12-3) 111 PTS, highest regular season point total in team history, almost defended their Stanley Cup Championship, losing in the seventh game of the Finals to the inspiration-riding Colorado Avalanche & their Mission 16W for Ray Bourque
3. 1994-95 - (22-18-8) 52 PTS, lockout shortened season, made the playoffs & rode the play of Claude Lemieux & Martin Brodeur & a total team experience all the way to a four-game sweep over the Detroit Red Wings to win their first Stanley Cup Championship
2. 1999-2000 - (45-24-8-5) 103 PTS, went to second Stanley Cup Finals, defeating the Dallas Stars in six games to win their second Championship
1. 2002-03 - (46-20-10-6) 108 PTS, won division title, went to Stanley Cup Finals for fourth time in nine seasons, winning for the third time, defeating the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in seven games
Top Five All Time Points Leaders - prior to 2005-06 season
5. Bobby Holik (1992 - 2002) 724 GP - 198 G - 265 A - 463 PTS Centre, won two Stanley Cups with the team
4. Aaron Broten (1980 - 90) 641 GP - 162 G - 307 A - 469 PTS Forward, a holdover from the Colorado Rockies relocation
3. Scott Niedermayer (1991 - 2004) 892 GP - 112 G - 364 A - 476 PTS Defenceman, won three Stanley Cups putting up strong offensive numbers while still playing the defensive Devils system
2. Kirk Muller (1984 - 91) 556 GP - 185 G - 335 A - 520 PTS Left Wing, second overall draft pick behind Mario Lemieux, had many above average season
1. John MacLean (1983 - 98) 934 GP - 347 G - 354 A - 701 PTS Right Wing, top three in franchise GP, won a Stanley Cup with the team he helped build into a contender
Top Five Current Team Points Leaders - prior to 2005-06 season
5. John Madden (1998 - present) - 400 GP - 85 G - 78 A - 163 PTS Centre, 32nd All Time in franchise Points Scoring
4. Brian Rafalski (1999 - present) - 377 GP - 30 G - 177 A - 207 PTS Defenceman, 25th All Time in franchise Points Scoring
3. Sergei Brylin (1994 - present) - 519 GP - 92 G - 123 A - 215 PTS Centre, 21st All Time in franchise Points Scoring
2. Scott Gomez (1999 - present) - 394 GP - 70 G - 236 A - 306 PTS Centre, 13th All Time in franchise Points Scoring
1. Patrik Elias (1995 - present) - 558 GP - 207 G - 252 A - 459 PTS Centre, sixth All Time in franchise Points Scoring
Top Five All Time Goaltenders
5. Mike Dunham (1996 - 98) - 41 GP - 13 Wins, none of the other goaltenders really did much to distinguish themselves from the rest, Dunham was a respectable backup to Brodeur for a couple seasons
4. Sean Burke (1987 - 91) - 162 GP - 62 Wins, one of the catalysts behind the Devils rise from league-wide joke to respectable team
3. Glenn "Chico" Resch (1980 - 86) - 267 GP - 67 Wins, a holdover from the Colorado Rockies, did his job as best he could on a team without direction
2. Chris Terreri (1986 - 96, 1998 - 2001) - 302 GP - 118 Wins, the definition of backup goaltender, knew his role & won two Stanley Cups because of it
1. Martin Brodeur (1991 - present) - 740 GP - 403 Wins, led Devils to Stanley Cup Finals four times, winning three Championships, as well as the Calder Trophy (rookie), the Jennings Trophy (lowest GAA during regular season) three times, & the Vezina (best regular season goaltender as voted by NHL GMs) once
The Skooch's Top Five All Time Devils
5. Ken Daneyko (1982 - 2003) - 1283 GP - 36 G - 142 A - 178 PTS Defenceman, had the distinction of playing in every Devils playoff game from their inception to the very last season he played, in which he won his third Stanley Cup Championship with the team that drafted him, 1st All Time in Franchise Games Played
4. Scott Niedermayer (1991 - 2004) - 892 GP - 112 G - 364 A - 476 PTS Defenceman, the offensive ying to Scott Stevens defensive yang, for 13 seasons was an offensive force, winning three Stanley Cup Championships, 3rd All Time in Franchise Points Scoring, 4th All Time in Franchise Games Played, & 1st All Time in Franchise Assists
3. Claude Lemieux (1990 - 95, 1999 - 2000) - 423 GP - 142 G - 159 A - 301 PTS Right Wing, clutch playoff performer, winning two Stanley Cups & a Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoff MVP), 1st All Time in Playoff Goals Scored, 3rd All Time in Playoff Points Scored
2. Scott Stevens (1991 - 2004) - 956 GP - 93 G - 337 A - 430 PTS Defenceman, won three Stanley Cup Championships, 7th All Time in Franchise Points Scoring, 2nd All Time in Franchise Games Played, Team Captain for 12 seasons, & Conn Smythe Trophy Winner, probable future Hall of Famer
1. Martin Brodeur (1991 - present) - 740 GP - 403 Wins, Goaltender, won three Stanley Cup Championships, 4th All Time in Franchise Playoff Games Played, 6th All Time in Franchise Games Played, scored a goal in the regular season AND playoffs, future Hall of Famer that may very well beat some of Patrick Roy's NHL records one day
Previous NHL Team Top Fives by theskooch
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