5 Hall of Famers With Surprising New Jersey Devils Ties
The New Jersey Devils have quite a few Hall of Famers enshrined in Toronto. Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, and Lou Lamoriello are the first names that come to mind when we talk about former Devils who have Hall of Fame plaques. We expect a few others to make the Hall of Fame one day, including Patrik Elias, Alexander Mogliny and Zach Parise. There are plenty of players who surprisingly have Devils ties despite being Hall of Famers.
Here, we’ll go beyond that. Yes, there will be some players on the list, but the Hall of Fame is so much more than that. There are (at our count) 131 builders and referees in the Hall. Many of them have ties to the New Jersey Devils, despite the team joining the NHL just 40 years ago (after moving from Colorado). The first is a referee who started his illustrious career with a game back in the former red and green days.
5. Bill McCreary – 2014 Induction
Bill McCreary was the referee for 1,737 NHL regular-season games, 297 playoff games, and one NHL All-Star Game. However, it all started in 1984, when he wore the stripes for his first NHL game. It was in Landover, Maryland, then the home of the Washington Capitals. They were taking on Chico Resch and the New Jersey Devils.
McCreary would have many moments, including being the ref for the night Martin Brodeur passed Terry Sawchuk for the most shutouts in NHL history. In 1995, he was one of the referees for the Devils win over the Detroit Red Wings, the Devils first in franchise history. He would be a ref for their wins in 2000 and 2003, as McCreary was the referee for 13-straight Final.
This isn’t a Devils tie, but it’s definitely ironic. McCreary finished his career where it began. His last game was in Washington, D.C., as the Capitals took on the Buffalo Sabres.
4. Herb Brooks – 2006 Induction
Of course, Herb Brooks made the Hockey Hall of Fame for his work with Team USA. He was the coach for the most famous hockey game of all time and possibly the greatest underdog story ever told. Herb Brooks was the man who took a bunch of kids and beat the powerful U.S.S.R. in 1980. The famous “Do you believe in miracles?” that made Al Michaels the announcer he is today came off the win in that semi-final game in the Olympics. It was the tournament that made Herb Brooks famous, and it launched a career in coaching.
That coaching career had a very tumultuous stint with the New Jersey Devils. Before Lou Lamoriello was known as a genius, he was still known as a man who couldn’t keep a head coach for longer than a few seasons (and even that felt like a “miracle” at the time). The same goes for Brooks, whose time in NJ almost had fans losing faith in Lou.
Brooks was brought to New Jersey to take them to the next level. He lasted one year, as he called for the team to get younger after a five game ousting at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs in 1993. Since he had a huge philosophical difference, he resigned with two years left on his deal.
This was a Hall of Fame coach a decade before he joined the Devils. Remember, it’s the “Hockey” Hall of Fame, not the NHL Hall of Fame. It would have been nice if Brooks worked out. Who knows how different history would be if he stuck around.
3. Doug Gilmour – 2011 Induction
There are so many Hall of Fame players with fleeting time with the New Jersey Devils. Dave Andreychuk, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Viacheslav Fetisov were fleeting and unfortunate, but the one that still makes little sense to this day is Doug Gilmour. Lou Lamoriello is known for trying to make a Hall of Famer work.
One of the few players who was allowed to wear a number higher than Martin Brodeur’s 30, Gilmour’s time in New Jersey was beyond forgettable. His number (93) is the only thing that stands out in red and black. His Wikipedia is more than 6,000 words long. It spends 43 words on his time with the Devils.
At the time of the trade, the Devils were desperate for scoring. Bobby Holik was their top scorer. Gilmour, even on a terrible Maple Leafs team, had 13 more points than Holik. He was good for the rest of that season, putting up 22 points in 20 games. However, he went goalless in 10 playoff games. The next season, he was average during the regular season but insane in the Devils playoff series against the Ottawa Senators. He tried to drag them to the second round by himself, scoring five goals in six games.
Unfortunately, a first-round exit is never going to stick out, no matter how heroic the performance. He signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in the offseason, trying to provide a star presence on a rebuilding team.
2. Mike Emrick – 2008 Award Winner
Mike Emrick is not in the Hall of Fame (and it’s a crime), but he did win a prestigious award given by the HHOF. Mike “Doc” Emrick is in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and he won the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. The latter of which is why he ends up on this list.
“Doc” became famous during his broadcasting career calling the Devils. He started with New Jersey as the team’s first broadcasting voice, but he actually moved to the Flyers for a few years in the 80s. Eventually, he returned to the Devils broadcast, calling most of the team’s most seminal moments.
He returned in 1993 and called games for the Devils until 2011. He was regularly known as either the best or one of the best voices in hockey and sports. Eventually, he was given a role that the Devils couldn’t match and Emrick couldn’t refuse. He was given the national play-by-play role for NBC Sports, who had exclusive U.S. NHL rights.
Of course, just calling Devils games wouldn’t be enough to salvage a Hall of Fame career. It’s what Emrick did on a national level that made him truly famous. He was the best play-by-play voice in sports for a few years. Emrick won the National Sportscaster of the Year (in all sports) four times while working for NBC.
1. John Ziegler – 1987 Induction
This one might be obvious to some, but many Devils fans might not recognize the name John Ziegler. He was the NHL President for 15 years until 1992. Only six people ever have held the title since 1917. However, Ziegler’s tenure has one strange incident that will hang over his career for a long time. It’s not the increased labor unrest, adding four teams from the WHL (including Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers), and the first American to serve as NHL President, it’s how he reacted to the “have another donut” incident.
During the 1988 Eastern Conference Finals between the Devils and Boston Bruins, Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld had an altercation with referee Don Koharski after the game, in which he told him to “have another donut.” While, it’s the first pivitol moment in Devils history, what happened after is just wild.
Ziegler suspended Schoenfeld for Game 4 of the series, but Lamoriello would not take that lying down. He did everything to track down the NHL President. He called him anywhere he could think of, tried contacting people in his office (who refused to release his whereabouts), and eventually, he went to court who ruled that Schoenfeld was fine to coach that night.
Next. What If Devils Kept Scott Niedermayer?. dark
The disappearing act ended after courts got involved. Ziegler returned to his post and held a hotel meeting with all the parties involved. After the referees claimed they were pushed, New York Post’s Larry Brooks (who worked for Lou Lamoriello at the time), wrote that Lamoriello played them a copy of the incident and asked (told) them to amend their statements. Schoefeld was still suspended for verbally abusing an official, and the Devils lost the series. Lamoriello attempted to coach for Schoefeld, and the Devils lost 7-1. Who knows what happens if Schoefeld is never suspended.