A week or so ago was hockey Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer’s birthday. Greg Wyshynski, the hockey writer formerly known as “Puck Daddy” grew up a New Jersey Devils fan. Considering the occasion, the Puck Daddy took to twitter to rank the top New Jersey Devils goals in New Jersey Devils franchise history.
Obviously a Niedermayer goal is on the list. Let’s take a trip down memory lane to relive the goals and their significance to the team. Twitter’s character limit can’t fully capture all the meaning behind each of these goals.
#5 Mike Rupp in the 2003 Stanley Cup finals
Before he was a Danbury Trashers legend, Rupp was a Stanley Cup champion in New Jersey. Rupp scored the cup winning goal that year, as a rookie, and to this day remains the only NHL player to have his first playoff goal be the Stanley Cup winner. As nice as the Calder Trophy is, that’s a much more exciting way to end your rookie season.
Rupp’s time with the Devils was short as he was traded the next season, but re-signed with the team for a three year stint from 2006-2009. His famous pit stop in Danbury was during the 2004-2005 NHL Lockout. Towards the end of his NHL career he signed with the cross-river rival New York Ranges and actually instigated a fight against his old team but pushing Martin Brodeur. It’s just like Harvey Dent said in “The Dark Knight”, you either die a hero or see yourself live long enough to become a villain.
#4 Adam Henrique in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals
We all love the goal, we all remember the goal, and we all wish we could relive the goal. Henrique was rookie, just like Rupp, and sent his team to the Stanley Cup finals. Unfortunately, the success ends there as a little team called the Los Angeles kings had the last laugh next round.
Unpopular, but also popular, opinion: the only reason this goal ranks as high as it did was because it was against the New York Rangers. Had the same goal happened in the same exact circumstances playoff overtime winner to send the team to the cup finals against another random team like the Ottawa Senators or Columbus Blue Jackets, this goal wouldn’t rank anywhere near as high. Any goal that sends the team to the Stanley Cup finals is always fun to watch, but remember Henrique just had to easily poke it in.
Maybe there’s a bit of recency bias in here as well. Seriously, what other goal in the post 2003 cup championship era even compares? Still it doesn’t matter. Doc Emrick’s call of the goal will never fail to give us chills.
#3 Scott Niedermayer in the 1995 Stanley Cup final
Every time Cale Makar did something amazing for the Colorado Avalanche last season (which seemed like every night), part of us remembered how amazing this Scott Niedermayer classic was. Neidermayer went end-to-end, beat defenders, and picked up his own rebound to get one past Detroit Red Wings goalie Mike Vernon. The goal tied the game at two goals apiece, and the Devils would score the game winner later on in a 4-2 victory on way to a four game sweep.
Everything about this goal is beautiful. Knowing it was a key piece to the team’s first championship makes watching the replays even more sweet.
#2 John MacLean’s Goal To Send The Team To The 1988 Playoffs
This is the only non-playoff goal on Wyshynski’s list. It also might seem out of place since it’s the only goal not from the cup winning, or Martin Brodeur era (how else would you lump 1995, 2000, and 2003 together with 2012). This goal might be younger than most of our readers, but its importance can’t be understated.
This was the goal that ignited the playoff run that turned the team from a “Mickey Mouse organization” into one of NHL respectability. That’s not to say the goal was without its bit of drama. It came in overtime of the last day of the season all the while knocking the New York Rangers out of the playoff hunt the goal was against the Chicago Blackhawks. Wouldn’t it be nice to have another one of those runs again to get rid of the poor performances of the past decade or so?
#1 Jason Arnott In The 2000 Stanley Cup Final
Before you even saw the list you probably, and correctly, figured this would be number one. Just like two other goals on this list, it was an overtime goal with playoff implications (MacLean’s goal clinched spot, but was during a regular season game). Do you really need us to set the stage?
Okay, we will, just because we love reliving the glory days. It was double overtime of a potential Stanley Cup clincher on enemy ice against the Dallas Stars. This was right after the Stars won a triple overtime 1-0 thriller in game five in New Jersey to keep the series alive.
Patrick Elias makes a no-look pass. Rupp gets it and shoots it past Ed Belfour. Just like that stars had fallen and the new champion for a new millennium, as announcer Gary Thorne put it, were the New Jersey Devils. On an unrelated not, if anyone from TV is reading this, maybe you should hire Gary Thorne to call hockey again.
Elias would later joke at his jersey retirement ceremony that he saw Arnott out of the corner of his eye. Please don’t tell us Patty. Don’t ruin the magic for us!
Our Devils’ Army Network Honorable Mentions
That same game two that Niedermayer went coast to coast in had Jim Dowd score the game winner for New Jersey. There’s just something poetic about a Jersey kid getting the win for Jersey’s team. Then there’s Brodeur’s playoff goal against the Montreal Canadiens in 1997. It won’t compare to all his Stanley Cups, Vezinas, or Jennings trophies, but that had to be a sweet moment for the greatest goaltender of all time.
Speaking of the 1988 Stanley Cup playoffs, anyone remember Patrik Sundstrom? In that year’s playoffs he set the NHL record for most points in a single playoff game with eight points (since tied by Mario Lemieux). Maybe that record setting goal, the 10th in a 10-4 Devils’ win over the Washington Capitals, deserves a little consideration.