NHL ’94 “Game of the Night” Red wings @ Devils “Scott Stevens Documentary”

Ronald Scott Stevens (born April 1, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. As a defenseman, Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils, serving as captain of the Devils from 1992 to 2004. Although offensively capable, his defensive play and his heavy body checking on opponents were crucial to his success.
Stevens started his career with the Capitals, where he helped the team make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time. After spending a season with the Blues, he was acquired by the Devils through arbitration. Personifying the team’s defence-first mentality, he captained the Devils to four Stanley Cup Finals appearances in nine years, winning three of them. In 2000, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs. Despite his team success with the Devils, he never won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league’s best defenceman. His career came to an end after a slapshot hit his head and caused post-concussion syndrome.
Stevens was later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007, his first year of eligibility. Stevens retired with the most games played by an NHL defenceman (1,635 games), later passed by Chris Chelios and Zdeno Chara. Stevens was also the youngest player in league history to reach 1,500 games played, playing in his 1,500th game at age 37 years, 346 days. He did not have a negative plus/minus in any of his 22 NHL seasons and had the most penalty minutes of any player enshrined in the Hall of Fame until Chris Chelios was inducted in 2013. In 2017, Stevens was named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players” in history.
Stevens was born in Kitchener, Ontario, to Larry and Mary Stevens, the middle child of three brothers. Larry owned a paper products company and was also a semi-professional Canadian football player. All three Stevens brothers played hockey as children; older brother Geoff would later go on to be a scout for the New Jersey Devils, while Mike, the youngest, enjoyed a brief NHL career with several teams.
As a youth, Stevens played in the 1976 Quebec International Pee-Wee
Stevens’ time with the Blues would only last one season. In the offseason following the 1990–91 NHL season, the Blues signed Brendan Shanahan from the New Jersey Devils, who, like Stevens the year before, was a restricted free agent, entitling the Devils to compensation. As the Blues still owed first-round picks to the Capitals (now five instead of two, as the 1991 pick given up ended up being the 21st pick), other compensation had to be negotiated, and the Blues and Devils could not agree on what the compensation was; the Blues offered goalie Curtis Joseph, forward Rod Brind’Amour, and two draft picks, but the Devils only wanted Stevens.
Initially, Stevens refused to report to the Devils for training camp, and would not report until September 26, 1991, 22 days after the arbitration ruling. The Devils were already worried after captain Kirk Muller walked out of camp. Stevens and his wife had made plans to settle in St. Louis, and he wanted to end his career with the Blues. In addition, he was concerned about the apparent lack of unity in the organization, citing Muller’s walkout as proof. Several Devils players were upset over the feeling that Stevens was being forced upon the team; some players, including Ken Daneyko, wanted more money, while other players wanted general manager Lou Lamoriello to trade Stevens. He would eventually report to the Devils three weeks later.
Stevens finished his first season in New Jersey fifth on the team in scoring, first among defencemen and good enough for a spot on the second All-Star team. He earned a spot on the All-Star roster for the second consecutive season and would miss only one All-Star game for the remainder of his career as a Devil. The Devils would be taken out of the playoffs by their rival, the Rangers, in seven games. In the off-season, Stevens replaced Bruce Driver as team captain, a title he held until his retirement.
Although he would miss part of the following season with a concussion, his 12 goals and 45 assists still led all Devils defencemen in scoring, The Devils were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs again, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games. Stevens stepped up his offensive game in 1993–94. He posted 18 goals and 60 assists, good enough for the team lead and a career-high in points. He won the NHL Plus-Minus Award, finishing with a +53; only Vladimir Konstantinov has led the league with a higher plus/minus rating since Stevens’ win. The Devils made it to the Conference finals against the Rangers, where they fell in double overtime of Game 7. Stevens finished as a runner-up to Ray Bourque for the Norris Trophy; the four-vote difference was the closest in Norris Trophy voting history.