Scott Stevens

For other uses, see Scott Stevens (disambiguation).

Stevens played for Canada in the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Ronald Scott Stevens (born 1 April 1964, in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) is a former professional ice hockey defenseman in the National Hockey League. He was the captain of the New Jersey Devils and is among the NHL's all-time leaders in games played (both in the regular season and in the Stanley Cup playoffs). He is generally regarded as one of the best stay-at-home defencemen to ever play in the NHL.

Playing Career

The 6 ft 2 in, 215 lb. Stevens was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the First Round of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft as the fifth overall pick, selected for his offensive abilities and his physical presence on the ice. In his final year of junior hockey in Kitchener, Stevens was voted by the league's coaches as best bodychecker, a harbinger of things to come. He played for nine seasons in D.C. and enjoyed both individual and team success. The Capitals housed one of the strongest defensive corps of the 1980s, and so Stevens was immersed in the defense-first ideology early on in his career.

On 16 July 1990, Scott Stevens was signed as a restricted free-agent by the St. Louis Blues. However, his tenure there would be short. On 25 July 1991, former New Jersey Devil forward Brendan Shanahan was signed as a restricted free-agent by the Blues. Consequently, the Blues owed the Devils compensation for signing Shanahan. Ordinarily this compensation would come in the form of draft picks, however the Blues already owed the Washington Capitals four first-round draft picks for having signed Stevens the previous year. The Blues made an offer of compensation [to the Devils] consisting of goaltender Curtis Joseph, forward Rod Brind'Amour and two future draft picks, but the Devils wanted Stevens. In a decision that would eventually be a catalyst for the first work stoppage involving NHL players by the owners in the 1994-1995 season, an arbitrator ruled in favor of the Devils, thereby sending Shanahan to the Blues in exchange for Stevens.

Scott Stevens became a New Jersey Devil on 3 September 1991. As captain and spiritual leader of the Devils, he won 3 Stanley Cup championships (in 1995, 2000, and 2003). It was also in New Jersey that Stevens gained notoriety for his clean but punishing open-ice hits, some of which have rendered opponents unconscious. Notable victims of Scott Stevens hits over the years include Slava Kozlov (1995 Stanley Cup Finals), Tomas Kaberle, Kevyn Adams (2000 playoffs), Daymond Langkow (2000 Eastern Conference Finals), Eric Lindros (2000 Eastern Conference Finals), Ron Francis (2001 playoffs), Shane Willis (2001 playoffs), Sami Kapanen (2001 playoffs), Joe Thornton (2003 playoffs), and Paul Kariya (2003 Stanley Cup Finals). The hit on Lindros, who had just intercepted a Scott Niedermayer pass and had his head down, in Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals in Philadelphia on 26 May 2000 almost ended his career.

Winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the 2000 playoffs, Stevens is widely considered to be a shoo-in in the Hockey Hall of Fame after the mandatory three year waiting period. He announced his retirement on 6 September 2005.

The Devils retired his uniform number (#4) on 3 February 2006.[1]He was the first player to have his number retired by the Devils organization.

Achievements

*1983- NHL All-Rookie Team
*1985- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*1988- NHL First All-Star Team
*1989- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*1991- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*1992- NHL Second All-Star Team
*1992- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*1993- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*1994- NHL First All-Star Team
*1994- Alka-Seltzer Plus/Minus Award
*1994- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*1995- Stanley Cup (New Jersey)
*1996- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*1997- NHL Second All-Star Team
*1997- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*1998- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*1999- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*2000- Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoff MVP)
*2000- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*2000- Stanley Cup (New Jersey)
*2001- NHL Second All-Star Team
*2001- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*2003- Played in NHL All-Star Game
*2003- Stanley Cup (New Jersey)

NHL Career Stats

				Regular season							Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	+/-! PIM
1982-1983	Washington Capitals	NHL		77	9	16	25	+14	195		4	1	0	1	0	26
1983-1984	Washington Capitals	NHL		78	13	32	45	+26	201		8	1	8	9	0	21
1984-1985	Washington Capitals	NHL		80	21	44	65	+19	221		5	0	1	1	-4	11
1985-1986	Washington Capitals	NHL		73	15	38	53	0	165		9	3	8	11	0	12
1986-1987	Washington Capitals	NHL		77	10	51	61	+13	283		7	0	5	5	0	19
1987-1988	Washington Capitals	NHL		80	12	60	72	+14	184		13	1	11	12	0	46
1988-1989	Washington Capitals	NHL		80	7	61	68	+1	225		6	1	4	5	-2	11
1989-1990	Washington Capitals	NHL		56	11	29	40	+1	154		15	2	7	9	-1	25
1990-1991	St. Louis Blues	NHL		78	5	44	49	+23	150		13	0	0	3	+8	36
1991-1992	New Jersey Devils	NHL		68	17	42	59	+24	124		7	2	1	3	-5	29
1992-1993	New Jersey Devils	NHL		81	12	45	57	+14	120		5	2	2	4	-2	10
1993-1994	New Jersey Devils	NHL		83	18	60	78	+53	112		20	2	9	11	-1	42
1994-1995	New Jersey Devils	NHL		48	2	20	22	+4	56		20	1	7	8	+10	24
1995-1996	New Jersey Devils	NHL		82	5	23	28	+7	100		-	-	-	-	-	-
1996-1997	New Jersey Devils	NHL		79	5	19	24	+26	70		10	0	4	4	-2	2
1997-1998	New Jersey Devils	NHL		80	4	22	26	+19	80		6	1	0	1	+4	8
1998-1999	New Jersey Devils	NHL		75	5	22	27	+29	64		7	2	1	3	-2	10
1999-2000	New Jersey Devils	NHL		78	8	21	29	+30	103		23	3	8	11	+9	6
2000-2001	New Jersey Devils	NHL		81	9	22	31	+40	71		25	1	7	8	+3	37
2001-2002	New Jersey Devils	NHL		82	1	16	17	+15	44		6	0	0	0	+5	4
2002-2003	New Jersey Devils	NHL		81	4	16	20	+18	41		24	3	6	9	+14	14
2003-2004	New Jersey Devils	NHL		38	3	9	12	+3	22		-	-	-	-	-	-
2004-2005	Did not Play 1	NHL		-	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
NHL Totals				1635	196	712	908	+393	2785		233	26	92	118	+34	378

¹ Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

See also

*List of NHL players
*Notable families in the NHL

Note: Scott Niedermayer served as Devils captain, (later half of the 2003-04 season), while Stevens was injured & out of the line-up.

References

*Scott Stevens' stats at hockeydb.com
*Story about Stevens' hit on Eric Lindros