Heartbreak: New Jersey Devils greatest player of all time has finally announce his leaving due comeback of…
The New Jersey Devils are a team that has won three Stanley Cups. We are all familiar with them. They are 1995, 2000, and 2003 for any of you who may have been born after 2003; otherwise, they might as well be tattooed on our foreheads. The greats who represented such teams are so known to us. They’ve raised the rafters and many of their numbers are retired. Some haven’t received that distinction, but they nevertheless have a significant influence on the company today.
However, the players who wore the red and black, and before that, the red and green, were never given the opportunity to raise the Stanley Cup—neither in New Jersey nor anywhere else. Not even after you moved out of New Jersey to look for it. Not even
Not even after quitting to avoid spending the remainder of his career in New Jersey, returning to the NHL with little success.
For whatever reason, I believe that four men who played for the red and black for many years were never given the chance to raise the venerable trophy.
For the sake of argument, I’ll include more below, but this list must begin (and maybe conclude) with two names. Andrew Greene and Travis Zajac. While Greene only played in 23 games that season and Zajac played in 80, they both began their careers in the same season, 2006–2007. Greene participated in 900 Devils games and 134 New York Islanders prior to retiring.
Zajac participated in 13 games with the Islanders and 1024 with the Devils. Both played a crucial role in the Devils’ 2012 Stanley Cup Final run, which ended in a 6 game loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
The series appeared lost when the Devils dropped their first two games at home in overtime (much like this season versus the Rangers). However, the Devils also lost their third game 4-0 in Los Angeles, which further soured the situation.
With a glimmer of optimism, they went on to win the next two games to tie the series at three. They then returned to Los Angeles for game six. We are all aware of what transpired subsequently. And Steve Bernier does, too.
I apologize for subjecting you to the agony of the series, but I thought it was necessary to bring up their closest point to a Cup while they were still the Devils. Of course, Andy Greene led the team as captain. Not Travis Zajac. When looking at the raw numbers, neither is really impressive. With the Devils, Zajac finished with just 550 points.
Greene has just 239 points in his Devils career. However, any Devils supporter would tell you that both were defensive experts who were typically tasked with stopping the best players on the opposing team. Indeed, they did. Along with Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner, Zajac was a part of the renowned ZZ Pops line.
Just because Zajac reached the 1,000 game, I would probably lean towards him.
boundary while still donning the Devils’ colors. When Greene led the Islanders, it worked. Indeed, that was an essential exchange for all parties, therefore I won’t criticize Greene for it. Simply put, I believe that reaching 1,000 as a team represents something greater. For many years, Greene served as captain and was a greatly underestimated member of the squad. Outstanding performance for a free agent who was not selected. Sincerely, I believe that whichever of these two you choose is a winner.
But who else could be involved in this discussion? Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk are probably the other two big players. And it would be entirely reasonable if you said Parise. The young person was my favorite. In 502 games, he scored 45 goals and amassed 410 points.
