New Jersey Devils fans could not have been too pleased by the results of Wednesday’s Hall of Fame inductees. It left some fans angry that Patrik Elias, and to a lesser degree Alexander Mogilny, did not get inducted into hockey’s Graceland.
Patrik Elias’s case of making the Hall of Fame is an interesting one. There is nothing eye-popping about his numbers, yet when did numbers never tell the entire story?
There is a stigma associated with the New Jersey Devils. During their most successful run in franchise history from 1995 to 2003, their style of play was often alluded to as ‘boring,’ or they were only successful because they ‘played the trap.’
There is a reason why the three main Devils Hall of Famers are a goalie (Martin Brodeur) and two defensemen (Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer). The Devils are viewed as a defense-first team. That is always how former team architect Lou Lamoriello built his teams, from the goaltender on in. That is one of the main reasons why the franchise was so successful.
What people often forget about those ‘boring’ trap days is that during the 1999-00 Devils were the SECOND highest-scoring team in the NHL and in 2000-01 they were the HIGHEST scoring team in the league. Pretty good for a ‘boring’ team, isn’t it? Elias was an anchor for those aforementioned teams.
What was the team’s biggest strength will be Elias’s biggest detriment in getting inducted into the Hall of Fame? Playing for the horned NJ logo was always bigger than the name of the back of the jersey. It was the Lou way. If a player did not buy into the team-first approach, they would be sent packing. To Elias’s credit, he bought into the system. He would have been a superstar and padded his statistics if he played anywhere else.
For all the credit that Brodeur and the defense received, Elias excelled in two-way hockey. He was reliable in the defensive zone, back-checked and was a big reason why the Devils kept the puck out of the net. Devils fans could appreciate Elias’s style of play. He is one of the most talented offensive players who has ever put on a Devils jersey. He didn’t need to score 500 goals or 1,200 points to prove that. Unfortunately, the greatness in what we saw in Elias every night is not what other people saw. Ahem, looking at you Hall of Fame voters.
408 goals. 1025 points. Two Stanley Cups. Number retired. Winner. No one could ever take away those accomplishments from Patrik Elias. He had qualities that make him a Hall of Famer, yet will never show in his statistics. No matter if or when he is ever enshrined in the Hall of Fame, Devils fans will always have cherished memories of him. Elias is a Hall of Famer in the eyes of Devils fans, no matter what a voter says.