Adam Oates Coaching Tenure

Lore & Background

Stevens started his career with the Capitals, helping the team make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time. After a season with the Blues, he was acquired by the Devils through arbitration. He captained the Devils to four Stanley Cup Final appearances in nine years, winning three of them. In 2000, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs.

He never won the James Norris Memorial Trophy. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007, his first year of eligibility. He retired with the most games played by an NHL defenceman (1,635 games), later passed by Chris Chelios and Zdeno Chara. He was the youngest player in league history to reach 1,500 games played, at age 37 years, 346 days.

He did not have a negative plus/minus in any of his 22 NHL seasons and had the most penalty minutes of any player enshrined in the Hall of Fame until Chris Chelios was inducted in 2013. In 2017, he was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

Reader's Guide

Stevens was born in Kitchener, Ontario, to Larry and Mary Stevens, the middle child of three brothers. He played in the 1976 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Kitchener. He attended Eastwood Collegiate Institute, where he played middle linebacker on the school's Canadian football team. He was taken ninth overall by the Kitchener Rangers in the 1981 OHL draft.

He played for the Rangers in the 1981–82 season, helping the team win the Memorial Cup. He was taken fifth overall in the 1982 NHL entry draft by the Washington Capitals. He made the team at age 18 and never played a game in the minor leagues. He scored on his first shot in his first NHL game.

He made the All-Rookie Team and finished third in Calder Memorial Trophy voting. He led all rookie defencemen in penalty minutes. His debut with the Capitals coincided with the team's first playoff appearance. In the 1984–85 season, he set a team record for defencemen by scoring 16 power play goals and tied a team record for goals by a defenceman with 21.

He was named to the All-Star Game. In the 1987–88 season, he set Capitals records for most assists and most points by a defenceman in a game, with five assists against the Los Angeles Kings on December 6, 1987. He finished second in Norris Trophy voting that year and was named an NHL first team All-Star. He was suspended for three games for gouging Chicago Blackhawks player Dave Manson during the 1989–90 season.