Patrik Elias
Patrik Elias deservedly had his number 26 retired in 2018, but he should be expecting one more important phone call, from Toronto, in the future. It’s a shame he hasn’t gotten it yet, but the time will come.
Patrik Elias spent his entire 20-year NHL career with the New Jersey Devils and wound up becoming the team’s all-time leader in virtually every major statistical category. Elias owns the New Jersey Devils records for points (1,025), goals (408), assists (617), as well as playoff points (125), playoff goals (45), and playoff assists (80).
In the 2011-12 season, Patrik Elias finished second on the team in scoring with 78 points, trailing only Ilya Kovalchuk’s 83. Elias’ 78 points were the third-most in a season in his career, and he did so whilst playing exclusively as a center for the first time in his career. Elias took over 1,000 faceoffs that year.
Patrik Elias’ 2012 postseason performance left a lot to be desired, at the end of the day. Despite playing in all 24 of the team’s playoff games, he scored only five goals and eight points. His scoring totals fell behind Bryce Salvador, Dainius Zubrus, David Clarkson, Alexei Ponikarovsky, and Marek Zidlicky. Elias also did not score a single game-winning goal, which he did the previous three times his Devils teams made it all the way to the finals.
During his tenure as a New Jersey Devil, Patrik Elias did more than his fair share of work and deserved to ride shotgun for once. Unfortunately, the 2012 Stanley Cup team couldn’t help him do that. They were capable of giving him one last shot at a Cup, and that’s exactly what happened. It’s a shame things didn’t turn out differently.
New Jersey sports memorabilia store @Sports_Minded1 helps connect @NJDevils fans with team.https://t.co/S3YKZOnEKx
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) July 26, 2023
Patrik Elias sat out the 2016-17 season and officially announced his retirement from hockey on March 31, 2017. Elias’ number 26 was retired on February 24, 2018. Patty now spends some time helping coach New Jersey Devils prospects during the summer and has done some work recruiting Czech players, like Ondrej Palat and Tomas Nosek, to New Jersey.
Elias recently made an appearance at Sports Minded Unlimited in Warren, New Jersey, for a public autograph session. He’s been there multiple times in the past, and we’d expect him to return in the near future.