Washington Capital Hockey Jersey
Washington Capital Hockey Jersey
Ronald Scott Stevens (born April 1, 1964) is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman. Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues, and the New Jersey Devils. Although offensively capable, Stevens was largely known for his defensive play and his heavy body checking on opponents.
Stevens started his career with the Capitals, where he helped the team make the playoffs for the first time. After spending a season with the Blues, he was acquired by the Devils through arbitration. Personifying the team's defense-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 Stanley Cup playoffs. Despite his team success with the Devils, he never won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenceman. His career came to an end after a slapshot hit his head and caused post-concussion syndrome. He 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 (1635 games), later to be passed by Chris Chelios (1645 games). He is currently an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils.
Early life
Stevens was born in Kitchener, Ontario; his father owned a paper products company, and was also a semi-professional Canadian football player. He was the middle child of three brothers. All three 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. Growing up near Toronto, Scott was a fan of the Maple Leafs, and idolized Leafs defenceman Börje Salming. Scott attended Eastwood Collegiate Institute, where he played middle linebacker. One of his teammates was Markus Koch, who would go on to win a Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins. Hockey was Stevens' true passion, however. He and his brothers often played hockey in the house, ruining the furniture repeatedly. He eventually earned a spot on the Kitchener Junior B team, and passed on the opportunity to tour Czechoslovakia with the Kitchener midget team in order to play there. His play impressed scouts, and he was taken ninth overall by his hometown Kitchener Rangers in the 1981 Ontario Hockey League draft.
The 1981–82 Kitchener Rangers were a team loaded with several future NHL players. The defensive corps included Dave Shaw and Al MacInnis, Wendell Young was the team's starting goaltender, and the top scoring line on the team featured Jeff Larmer, Brian Bellows, and Grant Martin. Stevens and Shaw were an integral part of the Rangers' defense, playing in every game of the season en route to the team's Memorial Cup victory. In addition, both played in the OHL All-Star Game. Rangers coach Joe Crozier commented on Scott, saying "He's come a long way this year ... He's strong, tough, handles the puck well and has tremendous hockey sense." Stevens would go on to lead all rookie defencemen in scoring, and he was named the second best defensive defenceman and second best body-checker in a poll of OHL coaches.
Early years in Washington
Stevens was taken fifth overall in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals. Due to injuries to other players during training camp, Stevens made the team at 18 years old, and never played a game in the minor leagues. He made an immediate impact, scoring on his first shot in his first NHL game. Due to his commitment to the Capitals, he was unable to join Team Canada for the World Junior Championships, even though he had attended their training camp. Although he only scored 25 points in his debut season, he made the All-Rookie Team. In addition, he led all rookie defensemen in penalty minutes. He finished third in the voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the league's Rookie of the Year. Stevens' early career was also marked by high penalty minutes. He led the Capitals in the category five times during his tenure with the team, and eventually set the team record for most career penalty minutes by a defenceman.
Stevens' debut with the Capitals coincided with the team's first franchise playoff appearance. During his first few seasons, the team emphasized a defense-first mindset for all of its players. Nowhere was this more obvious than the 1983–84 season, when Rod Langway won his second James Norris Memorial Trophy as best defenceman, Al Jensen and Pat Riggin combined to win the William Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed, and Doug Jarvis won the Frank J. Selke Trophy for best defensive forward. Bryan Murray won the Jack Adams Award for best coach as well. Stevens learned from Langway and defensive linemate Brian Engblom on the finer points of playing defense. Murray also helped calm the fiery young Stevens, who would learn to fight less and play harder. Stevens spoke fondly of his time with the Capitals years later, saying:
We had a great bunch of guys and we worked hard. We were great defensively. We might have been at times a little challenged scoring and we might have been a bit challenged in the goal at times... But there are no regrets.— Scott Stevens
Stevens also displayed his offensive abilities with the team. In the 1984–85 season, he set a team record for defencemen by scoring 16 power play goals, and tied a team record for goals by a defenceman with 21. Stevens led all Washington defencemen in scoring three times, and for a brief period Murray actually considered switching him to a winger. During the 1987–88 season, Stevens finished second on the team in scoring with 12 goals and 60 assists for 72 points. He ended up finishing second behind Ray Bourque in the voting for the Norris Trophy. Over eight seasons with the Capitals, Stevens finished with 98 goals and 429 points in 601 games. He also played in two All-Star Games in 1985 and 1989.
Controversy in St. Louis
After eight seasons in Washington, Stevens felt it was time to move on. The St. Louis Blues courted him and offered a four-year deal worth $5.145 million. Since Stevens was a restricted free agent, Washington had the option to match the offer sheet; they declined, however, and received five first-round picks as compensation.
Stevens' signing had far-reaching ramifications on player contracts in the NHL. At the time, the deal made Stevens the highest-paid defenceman in the league. In addition, the deal included a $1.4 million signing bonus. Several defencemen considered superior players to Stevens, including Ray Bourque and Chris Chelios, were earning less money, and Capitals defenceman Kevin Hatcher held out until he received a contract similar to that of Stevens. General managers worried that these players would begin demanding bigger contracts. The players did end up asking for more money, and this escalation was one of the factors in the 1994–95 NHL lockout several seasons later.
After his arrival in St. Louis, Stevens was named captain of the Blues. He scored 5 goals and added 44 assists for 49 points, good enough for fifth on a team led by Brett Hull and Adam Oates. Stevens made the Campbell Conference All-Star Team as well. The Blues were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Minnesota North Stars.
Stevens would not have the opportunity to continue his success in St. Louis. In the offseason following the 1990–91 NHL season, the Blues signed Brendan Shanahan from the New Jersey Devils. Like Stevens the year before, Shanahan was a restricted free agent, and thus the Devils were entitled to compensation. As per the collective bargaining agreement in effect at the time, this ordinarily would have been five first-round draft picks; however, the Blues had already given up these picks to the Washington Capitals for signing Stevens and still owed four to the Capitals. As such, 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 wanted Stevens. The case went to arbitration, and a judge ruled that Stevens was to be awarded to the Devils in September 1991. Stevens ended the year winning the Canada Cup with Team Canada.
New Jersey
1991–1995
Initially, Stevens refused to report to the Devils for training camp. 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, 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 go on to miss only one All-Star game for the remainder of his career as a Devil. In the offseason, Stevens replaced Bruce Driver as team captain, a title he would hold until his retirement (though Scott Niedermayer served as captain for the later half of the 2003–04 season while Stevens was injured).
After another season leading all Devils defencemen in scoring, Stevens stepped up his offensive game in 1993–9
The Official Web Site - Washington Capitals
Capital Citizens Caps Mobile Scarlet Caps ... of pro sports via the official twitter page of the Washington ... NHL Conference logos are trademarks of the National Hockey ...
Washington Capitals on Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors ...
Reebok Washington Capitals #8 Alexander Ovechkin Red Premier Player Hockey Jersey Buy Now
Gameday morning: Washington Capitals at Ottawa Senators - Hockey ...
The Senators are back in Canada’s capital hoping ... had a monopoly on being an awesome hockey player named Alex in Washington. ... New Jersey Devils - NJ.com (Devils Beat) New York ...
Washington Capitals Home & Office Decor - Officially Licensed Fan Gear ...
Washington Capitals Home & Office Decor | Washington Capitals Collectibles | Projoy Washington Capitals Hockey Jersey | Washington Capitals NHL Holiday Gifts and Merchandise | ...
Hockey Capital - Ottawa Citizen
Good evening Hockey Capital readers...apologies for the sudden ... stalled at 11 consecutive victories last night, Washington ... elbow in a QMJHL game earlier this month, the New Jersey ...
RBK FJ100 Womens Hockey Fashion Jersey - Washington Capital
RBK FJ100 Womens Hockey Fashion Jersey - Washington Capitals - RBK FJ100 Womens Hockey Fashion Jersey - Washington Capitals 100% polyester pique mesh body 100% polyester mesh side ...
washington capitals jersey: Information from Answers.com
VARLAMOV #40 Washington Capitals RBK Premier NHL Hockey Jersey by Reebok (N... NEW NHL RBK Premier Hockey Jersey by Reebok, with NHLPA CERTIFIED
Capitals jersey, washington capitals jerseys, capitals jerseys ...
Get your quality capitals jersey, washington capitals jerseys, capitals jerseys, washington capital jerseys, washington capitals hockey jerseys, capitals hockey jerseys, capital ...
hockey jersey For Sale
#19 Nicklas Backstrom Washington Capital Hockey Jersey. Washington Capitals 19 Nicklas Backstrom Jersey Red 4854! NEW WITH TAG ...
YouTube - Washington Capital vs Jersey Devils 12/26/09 (final ...
final minute of the Washington Capital vs Jersey Devils game. Capitals regain first place in eastern ... 12/26/09 hockey caps
