yave1964 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Lets dispense with the formality right now, Martin Brodeur is the greatest Devil of all time, this is unarguable to the point of being laughable.He has won more individual awards than every single Devil combined in team history, in fact, in the 42 year history of the team, Brodeur won more games than every single Devil goalie COMBINED. So the case comes down to second place and here are your candidates: SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: Nasty piece of work Niedermayer is 5th all time in scoring for the Devils won three cups with the Devils. He won a norris trophy, was a first team all star once as well. JOHN MACLEAN: His 347 goals and 701 points rank second in team history in both categories, a pure goal scorer on a team that has always had an anemic offense, he had three consecutive seasons of 40 plus goals. PATRIK ELIAS: Elias is first all time in club history in goals (406) and points (1017) and still building his totals. 4 All star appearances, a first team all star appearances and 2 cups fill out his resume. Led the league in plus/minus one year. SCOTT STEVENS: 956 games, 8th all time in points in team history, and 4th all time in penalty minutes in club history. One of the best open ice hitters of his day, he apppeared in 13 All Star games, was a first team All star 3 times, a second team all star twice, won three cups and the Conn smythe in 2000. I left Ken Daneyko, the all time games played and PIMs leader in club history off the list as well as Kirk Muller and Zach Parise who played only a portion of their careers in New Jersey and while they had good years their overall numbers dont add up to much. Happy voting. WHO AM I? The guy on the left was the first player drafted in team history, went on to have a fine career as a rugged hard hitting power forward, once traded for Lanny McDonald. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 It came down to Nieds and Stevens for me. Ultimately, I went with Stevens just because he altered the side the offense went to. The physical play was a difference maker. I wouldn't argue against a vote for Nieds, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDFlyerFan Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Tough choice between Stevens and Niedermayer but I have to vote for Stevens. Like Ruxpin stated, his physcial play was indeed the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 What? No Jaromir Jagr? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 To me, its 1) Stevens 2) Niedermayer 3) Brodeur. Without 1 and 2, 3 isn't as great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Eric Lindros also votes for #4 as their best player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Stevens. Niedermayer got better later on, but Stevens was a force Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Jarrod Skalde. (Shameless EA Sports joke.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 I'm voting Nieds. As much as I acknowledge Stevens greatness....Nieds was MUCH better all around. For my money, Nieds was one of the best skaters in NHL history, and that's a big thing for me. His smarts were more impressive than his vaunted skating skills. The combo of superior skating and smarts allowed him to do something that few can pull off....control the flow of the game. Nieds also MUCH better than Stevens in the transition game. The only thing Stevens had over Nieds was toughness. Stevens was no slouch on the pp, but again, Nieds smarts make him more valuable in that part of the game also....AND Nieds was the superior pk guy between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I'm voting Nieds. As much as I acknowledge Stevens greatness....Nieds was MUCH better all around. For my money, Nieds was one of the best skaters in NHL history, and that's a big thing for me. His smarts were more impressive than his vaunted skating skills. The combo of superior skating and smarts allowed him to do something that few can pull off....control the flow of the game. Nieds also MUCH better than Stevens in the transition game. The only thing Stevens had over Nieds was toughness. Stevens was no slouch on the pp, but again, Nieds smarts make him more valuable in that part of the game also....AND Nieds was the superior pk guy between the two.Just asking. You're talking just his time on the Devils, right? I ask only because I'm in complete agreement totality of career vs. Totality of career. I'm not sure when just comparing Devil's careers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDevil Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I think in terms of talent, Niedermayer was probably better than Stevens. But I think when you throw in the leadership Stevens had, I'd put him above Niedermayer. Stevens and Brodeur were the heart and soul of the Devils for over a decade. Niedermayer was also a big part of their success, but I'm not sure the Devils ever really become the Devils without Stevens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Just asking. You're talking just his time on the Devils, right? I ask only because I'm in complete agreement totality of career vs. Totality of career.I'm not sure when just comparing Devil's careers. This again comes back to "who is the better player" vs. "who is the better player for their team." As MadDevil says, Stevens was the Devils' heart and (eternally pitch black-as-the-darkest-moonless-midnight) soul and gave the space for players like Neidermeyer to shine. I completely agree that Neidermeyer is the "better player" for the whole career, but as a Devil It's Stevens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Just asking. You're talking just his time on the Devils, right? I ask only because I'm in complete agreement totality of career vs. Totality of career.I'm not sure when just comparing Devil's careers. Actually, I was talking about Nieds whole career when I should have been sticking to the Devils exclusively for the purpose of this thread. Nieds was GREAT for the Ducks cup winning run.....don't think they ever win without his stellar play that spring of 07. "He'd go on to win every team trophy he could, including the Stanley Cup four times (1995, 2000, 2003, 2007), two Olympic gold medals (2002, 2010), gold at the 2004 World Championship and gold at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Niedermayer also took home the Norris Trophy in 2004 and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2007 after winning the Cup with the Anaheim Ducks." Quite the resume Scott has built up there. I think he was every bit the leader that Scott was, maybe not as vocal, but he let his play do the talking a lot of the time. One of the great honours of Scott's career was being named captain of Team Canada and winning Gold....he was incredible in that tourny....didn't matter that he was near the end of his career. Many times, with all those GREAT players on Canada, he was the best player hands down. Thing is, even in his prime, you would not see Stevens as captain of Team Canada. Nice read on Scott from NHL.com http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=689468 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Eric Lindros also votes for #4 as their best player.Just please let Big E know that Stevens is in the area when he's walking around so he has his head up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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