The 2024-25 New Jersey Devils season opens very soon. On October 4, the Devils will fight the Buffalo Sabres in Prague, Czechia. To get ready for the season, we're doing a daily piece countdown of all the numbers of the Devils sweaters and moments in Devils franchise history. As we creep closer and closer, let’s look at some of the best players who wore #8-5, starting with #8 Mike Peluso.
Mike Peluso
We talked a lot about players on the 1995 team who have impacted the team with points. However, Mike Peluso was one of those players on that team who wanted the Stanley Cup badly in his career and worked hard to get it. Peluso spent three seasons with the Devils after three full years of NHL experience at age 28, starting with the 1993-94 season, where he put up 20 points.
The following season, he put up only 11, and while he may not have had a big moment on the ice, Peluso made one memorable moment on the bench in Game 4 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Final. With under three minutes left in the 3rd period, with the Devils leading 5-2, the broadcast returned from the commercial break, which showed Peluso trying as hard as he could to keep himself together but couldn’t handle his emotions, crying on the bench. That image would be one of the many memorable moments from that day. Peluso would be traded to the St. Louis Blues in 1997, but he will always be remembered for his career for the 1995 Cup.
Dougie Hamilton
For the last three seasons, Dougie Hamilton has been an exciting addition to the franchise, as he has made himself noticeable in his time in New Jersey. However, last season was upsetting for Hamilton and the organization when Hamilton, after a torn pec muscle, missed the rest of the 2023-24 season after playing 20 games. He was starting to heat up with 16 points total in those games he played.
An additional problem was added, as Hamilton was out of the lineup. The Devils’ defense regressed very hard, and everyone saw that without Hamilton, nothing the defense did improve, and they also missed that scoring touch that Dougie had last year. Now that Hamilton is back, the main goal for him, as well as many other players, is to stay healthy and try to have him return to his 2022-23 form that scored 74 points.
Andy Greene
When you think of the Devils captains in their history, a few stand out. However, overall, leadership can be told in many different ways. Andy Greene was a good leader in the years when the Devils weren't great. In his 14-year career in New Jersey, Greene may not have been a top scorer most of the time, but his defense made him a great player. Greene had many blocks, along with his 37 points in the 2008-09 season, were his 155 blocks. When he was 33 years old in the 2015-16 season, he was named the Devils captain and held that position for four years until Nico Hischier took it in the 2020-21 season. Greene would be traded to the Islanders in the 2019-20 season and retire in October 2022.
Colin White
Colin White is another Devils player who, in the days of the great Devils defenses, would always contribute on the ice. White was a physical player, and it showed. Like many players in the 2000-01 season, White played his best hockey and had a 20-point season.
However, the physicality began to pile up later in his career, and the 2009-10 season was his best, with 126 blocks and 143 hits. White would win two Stanley Cups with the Devils, including the 2000 Stanley Cup, and had a +/- of 9 during that entire run. After the 2010-11 season, White spent one more year in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks before retiring in 2012.