New Jersey Devils: Five Players With Successful Second Stints
By Mike Luci
Scott Clemmensen
The only New Jersey Devils player on this list to have not two, but three stints with the organization throughout his career, Scott Clemmensen is largely remembered for his instrumental role in saving the team’s 2008-09 season when Martin Brodeur was sidelined for months with a crippling injury. In his first Devils stint, Clemmensen only appeared in 25 NHL contests from 2001-2007, spending most of those years in the AHL.
After spending one year with the Toronto Maple Leafs and their AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies, Clemmensen returned to the Garden State in 2008-09. He initially started the season in Lowell (AHL), but was called up after Brodeur’s lengthy sidelining. The Devils were 6-3-2 when Brodeur was injured, prior to which they lost three games in a row. They would lose five of their first six contests without Brodeur, until Clemmensen snapped the team’s slide. That started a five-game winning streak. Over 39 starts in 2008-2009, Clemmensen went 25-13-1 with a 2.39 GAA and .917 save percentage.
The New Jersey Devils had one of the Eastern Conference’s best records during Clemmensen’s temporary tenure as their starting goaltender, whose outstanding play is primarily credited to saving the team’s season that year. After being returned to Lowell upon Brodeur’s return, Clemmensen signed with the Florida Panthers that summer, where he spent the next five seasons before returning to New Jersey for a third time in 2014 (although he only appeared in three games that season).