Defenseman makes impact without scoring

DENVER—Scott Stevens has neither scored a goal nor assisted on one going into Monday's fifth game of the Stanley Cup championship series. Nevertheless, the New Jersey Devils defenseman is probably the most feared player in the series. Literally and figuratively, Stevens is an impact player, a hockey hit man capable of changing a game and a series with a single check. The Hockey News calls him “the most devastating body checker in the history of the game.”

The 6-foot-2-inch, 215-pounder has quite a checklist for a career that began in 1982.

■ When the Devils won their first Stanley Cup in 1995, Stevens ended the season of Detroit sniper Slava Kozlov with a slam in the second game of the finals.
■ Last year, when the Devils won their second Stanley Cup, Stevens nailed Eric Lindros in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, knocking him unconscious.

■ This year, in the first-round series with Carolina, Stevens' resounding check sent rookie right wing Shane Willis to the hospital, and he gave center Ron Francis a concussion.

Although the damage that Stevens has done is frightening, he no longer has the reputation of being a goon or a dirty player. His mighty hits are clean, and he doesn't take cheap shots. The proof is in his penalties: During the current series Stevens has 19 hits, more than any other player, but his only penalty is a hooking infraction in Game 4 Saturday.

In Washington in the 1980s there were four seasons in which Stevens spent 200-plus minutes in the penalty box. This year he was assessed 71 minutes in 81 regular-season games. And in his entire career, he has had only four major penalties for elbowing.

But in hockey, a clean hit can do much more damage than a sucker punch.

“I don't think there's a guy in the NHL who hits as devastatingly as Stevens does,” Los Angeles defenseman Rob Blake said. When the Devils were trounced in the first game of the finals, Stevens was credited with three body checks—a low number by his standards—and was on the ice for three Avalanche goals, on one of them getting faked out by Joe Sakic and leaving goalie Martin Brodeur defenseless.

“Scotty always is going to be a physical presence, but it doesn't just come down to Scotty to set the tone,” New Jersey coach Larry Robinson said.

Stevens also was once a force on offense. During the 1993-94 season, he piled up 78 points on 18 goals and 70 assists.

A combination of the Devils' zone-trap defensive style and the physical curtailments that come with age have caused Stevens, 37, to concentrate on defense. Although famed for his checks, he considers them only one component of his game.

“When the hits are there you take them,” said Stevens, who was voted the Most Valuable Player in last year's playoffs, a rare honor for a defense-oriented defenseman. “Otherwise, you play the puck.

“At times the puck is more important than the body. We're playing against finesse players. You can't be running around [looking for hits].”

By Neil Milbert
Tribune staff reporter