Tonight is Scott Niedermayer night when the New Jersey Devils host the Dallas Stars as the future Hall of Famer will be the latest number to be retired as his 27 will be raised to the rafters to join Scott Stevens and Ken Danyeko.Unlike many Devils fans,I was not mad when Niedermayer left the team via free agency to join his brother Rob in Anaheim with the Ducks.
The guy wanted to play on the same team with his brother and the Devils were actively attempting to keep him with a strong offer,so I did not blame any of the parties as these thing just happen sometimes.
Lou Lamiorello knew that was a major factor in keeping Scott Niedermayer in New Jersey as I recall many occasions that the Devils attempted to acquire Rob-knowing that would be a key factor in free agent negotiations.
Niedermayer was another shrewd player personnel decision,although it was not directly on him.
The Devils knew that Eric Lindros and Niedermayer were the class of the 1991 draft,but that was two years away.
Toronto was the middle of one of their many gotta win now modes in 1989 and the Devils swapped defenseman Tom Kurvers for the Leafs 1991 first round pick,which proved to the third overall and landed the Devils what was the best two way defenseman in the teams history.
Niedermayer would also win the Norris Trophy for the leagues best defenseman in 2003-94 and would spend much of his Devils tenure paired with Scott Stevens,which for my money ranks right up with the best defensive pairings that the game has ever seen.
The speed and skating ability of Niedermayer combined with the strength and fearing hitting ability of Stevens was arguably the key ingredient into three Stanley Cups in New Jersey.
Thanks for the memories 27 and tonight's honor is a richly deserved one!
Photo Credit:
No comments:
Post a Comment