Why Patrik Elias Is And Always Will Be My Favorite New Jersey Devil

Today’s piece is going to be a very simple story. I am going to take it to a personal level and talk about why the franchise’s greatest forward in history, Patrik Elias, is my favorite player to ever play hockey and why that will likely never change.

I was born in April of 1995, so I have (technically) seen this team win all three Stanley Cups. Elias was drafted by this team in 1994 and made it here the season after Cup number one, 1995-96. Now, if we are being honest, I probably started going to New Jersey Devils games around the time of the second championship in 2000. So I never saw him play a game as number 24 or number 22. He is forever number 26 in my heart as I am sure he is to all of you.

Being a young lad not familiar with the game of hockey, my dad started taking me to games. I would have to ask him what brought him to do this as he was never really a massive hockey fan before my existence. But, I could never be more thankful for him taking me to that very first game because that became our “thing” to do regularly for the last two decades.

So, I cannot remember my first game all that well (I was like four or five sue me). But what I do remember, after being in person for cup win number three, is going to a sports attire store with my dad and him buying me my first Devils Jersey. At this point I know I am a very big fan of the Devils and I know I want this jersey to last as long as possible. When I was asked who I wanted there were many options but “Elias” was the first thing out of my mouth and a couple of days later I walked out with my iron pressed number 26 red jersey.

I wore that jersey to every game for over a decade until I reluctantly stopped wearing it due to outgrowing, as well as getting an authentic Reebok red. I have been wearing that jersey for the last couple of years and I will wear it since I am done growing. I do not like the Adidas ones all that much so I see zero reason to buy another one, even though I love a lot of players on this current team.

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Aside from being the best forward in team history and coming up in a lot of clutch situations, meeting Patrik Elias back at the 2009-10 fan festival is probably what sealed the deal. I was still wearing the iron press at the time, I was 15 and my dad had told me he found Elias on a different side of the arena, I sprinted. Meeting him is without question in my top 5 Devils memories.

I was there for “Patty’s Last Lap”, I was there for his retirement ceremony in February 2018. Pretty much any game that ceremonially involved Patrik Elias I made sure I got a ticket. Here is why. If there was one game I wish I could have attended but did not, that’s easy.

I was away at college at the time of April 9, 2016. Elias had been out a good chunk of the season with an injury. The team was wrapping up yet another mediocre season. I knew Elias was playing that day. There were a lot of rumors about him going one more year since he missed most of this one. I had considered getting on the train and traveling from Poughkeepsie to Newark, but sadly could not be done. Oh, how I wish I said screw it and gone. There were about 30 seconds left in the game and it is 4-1 Devils. They were going to win it was great to see the team not completely pack it in even though they had nothing to play for. That is when it happened. Elias took that last shift, played it hard, and buried one home before the buzzer. I nearly shed tears when this happened. The amount of joy and happiness I felt for that man right then and there, it truly summed up how much of a legend he is.

I wanted to believe he was going to be able to return next season. It did not happen but in reality, it just made more sense for him to go out the way he did the previous season. Look, I am not going to share a bunch of stats and YouTube videos about why Elias is the best player we have ever had, I attached his stats above and you can find the videos in a couple of seconds. We know he is the best, we know he is going to be a Hall of Famer it is just a matter of when.

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A lot of things change in life, that is part of the way it goes. But one thing never changed in the first 21 years of mine, that is the fact that Patrik Elias was, is, and always will be a New Jersey Devil. Everything I mentioned above, I do not think I would ever go to such extreme lengths for another player ever again. Thank you for everything number 26, we will see you in the hall, very soon.

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