Most Hated New Jersey Devils Opponents Of All Time

8. Brian Leetch

Players Taken Out On The Way: Nikita Kucherov and Rob Scuderi

This was the most surprising player on this list. Brian Leetch is a long-time New York Rangers defenseman that for a long time had his name synonymous with the team we hate for 17 years. He was on the team that beat the Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1994. In that game, Leetch pulled out this spin-o-rama goal that put the Rangers up 1-0.

The reason we were so surprised was because of his opponents. Nikita Kucherov is hated by Devils faithful for giving Sami Vatanen a concussion during the 2018 NHL Playoffs. Rob Scuderi is the one who got hurt during the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, leading to a major penalty that ended in three goals on the power play. Still, Leetch won both matchups, even if he just skated by Kucherov (53.8% to 46.2%).

The Moment He Became The Enemy:

The real moment was when he beat us during that Eastern Conference Finals. He obviously wasn’t our favorite player, and fought Devils stars multiple times, (there’s an especially good fight between Leetch and Pat Verbeek from the late 80s). Still, plenty of players have fights with Devils, and with how often the Rangers and Devils played Leetch was bound to fight the Devils often.

Leetch was actually much better in the Stanley Cup Finals than he was in the Eastern Conference Finals. He only had that one goal and then five assists. He had 11 points in the seven-game series. It was an interesting pick by the fans, but the pick the fans made. Hating the Rangers knows no bounds.