The goalie and the three defensemen will be joined by the franchise forward Saturday night in New Jersey when Patrik Elias’ No. 26 is raised to the rafters at The Rock to be memorialized with Martin Brodeur’s No. 30, Scott Stevens’ No. 4, Scott Niedermayer’s No. 27 and Ken Daneyko’s No. 3.
But Elias, whose career will be recognized before the Devils match against the Islanders, did more than establish every meaningful franchise record for offensive production that includes 408 goals, 617 assists and 1,025 points in 1,240 games.
For Elias, who played for the 2000 and 2003 Cup champions, emerged as the quintessential Devils forward during the era in which the team won three times in nine years. He morphed from the dazzling, playmaking sniper on the “A Line” with Petr Sykora and Jason Arnott to the two-way checking specialist who sacrificed greater individual glory and statistics for team success.
That, as much as the blind backhand pass out of the right corner to Arnott in front for the 2000 Game 6 double-overtime Cup clincher in Dallas or the spectacular late third-period Game 7 conference finals winner in Philadelphia a couple of weeks earlier, is why Elias officially gets hockey immortality on Saturday.