New Jersey Devils: Ken Daneyko Is A Franchise Legend
Ken Daneyko is one of those all-time great New Jersey Devils players.
Everyone loves New Jersey Devils legend Ken Daneyko for a bunch of different reasons. He was a great player for this team for 20 years. He was drafted in the first draft after the team moved from Colorado. He was the 1st-round pick at 18th overall in 1982, and he developed into one of the greatest players to ever lace up his skates for New Jersey.
The cool thing about Daneyko is that he played 1283 games in his NHL career and not a single one was played for another team. He got the nickname of “Mr. Devil” for that reason. This man, to this day, absolutely loves the New Jersey Devils. It showed when he played and it shows now as he does color commentating for the MSG networks covering the team on TV.
He was the definition of a defensive defenseman. He only had 36 goals and 142 assists in his long NHL career. The fact that he continued to stay in the lineup despite contributing almost no offense just shows how good he was in his own end. It was also perfect for the way the Devils played as a team in his career. They were a trap team that won games by being better defensively than any other team was offensive.
Daneyko and the Devils won the Cup three times over the span of his career. They got the first one in 1995 and then followed it with two more in 2000 and 2003. In 2000, he won the Masterton Trophy after his bouts with alcoholism. It was certainly a great career on the ice for Daneyko. As a result, his legendary number 3 hangs in the rafters of the Prudential Center and it will be there forever.
Related Story. The Devils dynasty deserves an ESPN "30 for 30". light
After his playing career, he hit the broadcast booth. He joined play by play man Steve Cangialosi in the role of the color commentator replacing former Devils goalie Chico Resch. He does a phenomenal job there in the booth and his love for the Devils couldn’t be more obvious. As fans of the team, it is a lot of fun to have a former player be so relatable along with the clout of being one of the franchises all-time greatest players. We are totally lucky to have Mr. Devil in our lives and on our TVs.