Scott Stevens

Scott Stevens
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2007
Stevens (right) with George W. Bush in 2003
Born	(1964-04-01) April 1, 1964 (age 60) Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Played for	Washington Capitals St. Louis Blues New Jersey Devils
National team	Canada
NHL draft	5th overall, 1982 Washington Capitals
Playing career	1982–2004
Medal record Representing  Canada World Championships 1985 Prague 1989 Sweden 1983 West Germany Canada Cup 1991 Canada Cup World Cup 1996 World Cup of Hockey

Ronald Scott Stevens (born April 1, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. As a defenseman, Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils, serving as captain of the Devils from 1992 to 2004. Although offensively capable, his defensive play and his heavy body checking on opponents were crucial to his success.

Stevens started his career with the Capitals, where he helped the team make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time. After spending a season with the Blues, he was acquired by the Devils through arbitration. Personifying the team's defence-first mentality, he captained the Devils to four Stanley Cup Finals 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. Despite his team success with the Devils, he never won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's best defenceman. His career came to an end after a slapshot hit his head and caused post-concussion syndrome.

Stevens was later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007, his first year of eligibility. Stevens retired with the most games played by an NHL defenceman (1,635 games), later passed by Chris Chelios and Zdeno Chara. Stevens was also the youngest player in league history to reach 1,500 games played, playing in his 1,500th game 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, Stevens was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.^[1]