Shanny retires, more comings and goings

November 19, 2009   ·   Hasan   ·   Jump to comments

Just in case you’ve been secluded for the last few days, Brendan Shanahan made his retirement official Tuesday.  I admit even though Shanny started and ended his career in New Jersey, I don’t really think of him as a Devil first.  Perhaps because I wasn’t a hockey fan during his first tenure when he was drafted and grew up with the team before his departure through free agency begat Scott Stevens in a still-memorable compensation ruling.  Truth be told I’ve seen Shanny play more for the Rangers than in New Jersey (and he had a hand in torpedoing us big-time two years ago), though really you have to think of him as a Red Wing first considering he spent his prime years there, winning three Stanley Cups in Detroit.  Not to mention Shanny was considered the missing link for talented Wing teams that frequently underachieved in the playoffs.

Given that I’ve only seen Shanny play either from afar or not at all it’s hard for me to give this man’s career the proper eulogy it deserves.  For that I suggest going to NHL.com, which not only has a nice overall article but also team-specific pieces on his time in New Jersey, St. Louis (where he had some terrific years as well) and of course, Detroit.  I will say that it’s not hard to sum up just how far-reaching the future first-ballot HOF’er’s impact on the game was during his 21-year career. 

In addition to his on-ice accomplishments – which included 656 goals and 1,354 points and 2,489 penalty minutes in 1,524 games with five teams including one season with the Hartford Whalers – his leadership on and off the ice not only made a profound impact wherever he played (including being probably the only person on this earth to be able to find the right buttons to push with Sean Avery when they were both teammates on the Red Wings and Rangers), but on the league itself.

By now his role in ending the 2004-05 lockout and the changes in the game his so-called Shanahan summit (a gathering of players, coaches and broadcasters to discuss how to make the game better) led to is well-documented.  Do I like every single rule change in the ’new NHL’?  Of course not, it would be nice to get rid of the stupid delay of game penalty for throwing the puck into the stand, the unneccesary trapezoid and give defensemen a little more freedom in front of their net.  Is the game better on the whole now than it was before the lockout?  I believe it is, when you can have the skill of players like Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby shine through and still have goaltenders like Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo be able to dominate I think it’s a fair balance of letting the stars shine at both ends of the rink.

With his on and off-ice impact, Shanny will be a first-ballot HOF’er when his time comes and fortunately for the league he’ll probably be still involved in the game in some capacity by then, whether it’s as the NHLPA’s new director, working for the league or a management position with almost certainly whatever team he wants.

As far as the current Devils, there have been quite a few changes since their last game.  Out – for the second time – is Cory Murphy, sent back to Lowell before he became waiver-eligible again.  Also Pierre Luc-Letourneau Leblond got moved to IR with the dreaded ‘upper-body injury’.  In their place are rookie defensemen Tyler Eckford and vet signing Dean McAmmond.  Eckford is another interesting defensive prospect the Devils are giving a look-see to, for he’s put up 15 points in 18 games down at Lowell, including an AHL player of the week award after piling up seven points in just three of those contests. 

Eckford’s arrival means the Devils have seven rookies on the roster – including Matthew Corrente who has yet to play a game since being called up from Lowell.  Pretty much all of the other rookies have had a positive impact, particularly Nicklas Bergfors but also fellow forwards Tim Sestito, Matt Halischuk and Leblond and defenseman Mark Fraser have shown potential.  It’s nice to see the new additions playing in Nashville, where the Devils are currently tied 1-1 after some lazy backchecking by Brian Rolston (who else?) led to Nashville’s goal by ex-Dev Jason Arnott, while Colin White continued an unlikely goal-scoring binge by putting up his second in three games.  I’ll post more on this game either tonight or tomorrow after it finishes.