Great article on The Captain, Scotty Stevens, over at CBS.sportsline.com
Stevens was designated as the primary shutdown guy and assigned to go up against other teams’ top forwards. He became the primary building block for a stifling defensive system that would bring three Stanley Cups to the Devils over the next decade.
“He never won a Norris Trophy, which I always thought he deserved, so I’d say he didn’t really get the recognition he should have,” said former teammate Bobby Holik, who is now with Atlanta. “But our team was always about playing defense, and he was so critical to our success because he was a really excellent defenseman.”
Stevens was acknowledged once when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2000, but his biggest claim to fame remained being one of the most punishing forces to ever put on skates.
“You always had to be alert when you played and have a sense of where he was on the ice against him because he could definitely hurt you,” said retired center Joe Nieuwendyk, who spent a couple of his 20 NHL seasons as a teammate in New Jersey. “He was a heavy hitter, and he could hurt you.”
The ice around the league is littered with the involuntarily expelled breath of many an NHL player who forgot to keep his head on a swivel, particulary when coming across the blue line. And Stevens wasn’t even trying to hurt anyone, just playing hardnosed, old school hockey.
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