confirmed: Patrik Elias Officially Retiring

Elias, who spent his entire career with the Devils, announced Friday he will retire after 20 seasons in the NHL. He holds the team record for goals (408), assists (617) and points (1,025), and was a crucial part of the Devils? championship teams in 2000 and 2003. He made four All-Star teams during his tenure.

 

?I think it?s going to sink in a little more with time how special this has been,? Elias said in a video on the Devils website. ?I?m so proud and humbled to play for one team, one organization. It doesn?t happen that often.?

 

Elias is perhaps best known as a key member of the early 2000s Devils teams that turned the franchise into a perennial powerhouse. He tallied a franchise-record 96 points in the 2000-01 season and was a force in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals against the Mighty Ducks, logging three goals and four assists.

 

?The two years we won the Cup, being a part of it, it?s still the best two years of my career,? Elias said. ?Having such talented players those years ? we just meshed together.?

http://nypost.com/2017/03/31/devils-legend-patrik-elias-is-retiring/

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Not quite Hall-of-Fame-worthy, but still, solid NHL career. Any time I hear his name, I'm always reminded of the fact he nearly signed with the Rangers in '06 to join J?gr and what was left of the Czech Contingent II. It fell through because Slats, despite offering him more money than any other team (and term, I believe ? $7Mx6), wouldn't budge on a NTC/NMC.

I'd probably have a very different outlook of him as a player had he not been a career Devil.