Stevens to sit out

[Chadd 916]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=135528

[Adam91 0]

That would seem the only possibility. Pull a Barry Bonds but for a playoff team.

[$-Money9 0]

If health is not the reason why would he do something like that.

[Jason Harris 31]

If health is not the reason why would he do something like that.

To spend more time with his family.

Some guys might like the travel; others don't like missing the school plays. If you don't have children yet, you might not understand the pull of this, but it's really a guilty feeling when your child let's you know they're disappointed you can't see their presentation.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Steven Officially Announces Retirement

[EDIT] Oops...same link as Chadd's...updated story.

[Eazy_b97 1]

I thought he should've retired a few years ago. He was still a great leader in the room, but his on ice performance was below average. Is Mess that far behind now?

[supahdon 0]

Not to be too much of a homer, but Stevens was only assessed something like three elbowing penalties in his entire career. His hits were brutal, and sometimes untimely (the Willis hit notably).

Probably the type of player anybody would love if he were wearing your team's jersey, but the type of player you'd hate if he wasn't.

His legacy will probably be first and foremost his hits, but aside from that, you have one of the top 5 defenders of the last 20 years.

My personal favorite Stevens' game was game 4 vs. Tampa in the 2003 playoffs. In game 3, Stevens got hit in the head with a Pavel Kubina dump in, and in all likelihood sustained the concussion which lingered into 2003-04. He came back in game 4, scored a goal and assisted on two others, was a +3 in a 3-0 win.

[lawrence11 0]

i feel lucky, scott stevens will be my hockey coach at Lawrenceville this year, he was also the coach last year

[Chadd 916]

Not to be too much of a homer, but Stevens was only assessed something like three elbowing penalties in his entire career. His hits were brutal, and sometimes untimely (the Willis hit notably).

Probably the type of player anybody would love if he were wearing your team's jersey, but the type of player you'd hate if he wasn't.

His legacy will probably be first and foremost his hits, but aside from that, you have one of the top 5 defenders of the last 20 years.

My personal favorite Stevens' game was game 4 vs. Tampa in the 2003 playoffs. In game 3, Stevens got hit in the head with a Pavel Kubina dump in, and in all likelihood sustained the concussion which lingered into 2003-04. He came back in game 4, scored a goal and assisted on two others, was a +3 in a 3-0 win.

He was a headhunter, that got away with it. Nearly any other player that did what he did , would have gone to the box a lot more often.

[Miike 1]

Man this is like not fair :P Me and AS12 (A_Steeves12) have a fantasy hockey team, and first Malakin bailed on us, now Scott Stevens. Dont ya love fantasy hockey.

[Adam91 0]

Little early to pick a fantasy team isn't it?

[Chadd 916]

Little early to pick a fantasy team isn't it?

That's why I hold off on drafts until close to the start of the year.

[Steveo 0]

I was watching some highlights of his hits and I must say it kind of made me sick. Don't get me wrong, I like a good clean hit as much as the next guy, but some of those hits were just brutal. Trying to kill people isn't hockey. When you're a guy like Stevens, you don't put all your weight into a guy like Kariya with his headdown.

[Dave 1]

I was watching some highlights of his hits and I must say it kind of made me sick. Don't get me wrong, I like a good clean hit as much as the next guy, but some of those hits were just brutal. Trying to kill people isn't hockey. When you're a guy like Stevens, you don't put all your weight into a guy like Kariya with his headdown.

Word, I'm glad he's gone. Playing hockey the hard way is one thing. Intentional attempt to severly injure an opponen WITHIN HOCKEY'S RULES is another thing. His hitting shoudn't have had a place in hockey.

[Adam91 0]

I thought most of hits were borderline and you could argue either way except for Kariya's which I thought was a total cheap shot.

[supahdon 0]

I thought most of hits were borderline and you could argue either way except for Kariya's which I thought was a total cheap shot.

I wouldn't say a cheap shot per se, I usually think a cheap shot is running somebody from behind like Claude Lemieux's hit on Kris Draper. While it was a clean hit (the NHL even went out of its way and issued a press release after the game to declare it a legal hit), it was admittedly unnecessary. I was at game 6, and it was totally surreal to watch that hit live.

I think the problem is that whenever Stevens is mentioned, they usually only show the Lindros/Kariya/Willis/Kozlov hits, as opposed to similar checks where the player on the receiving end simply got up.

[sherwood21 0]

He's coaching at Lawrenceville (prep) in NJ this year from what I heard.

[A_Steeves12 0]

He's coaching at Lawrenceville (prep) in NJ this year from what I heard.

Is that the school his kids go to? i heard him say he was very involved with her school last year and will be this year aswell, did he mean coaching?

[Eazy_b97 1]

I just love watching the highlights of his boarderline cheap shots on all these highlight films where they say he was fearless and then I think back to the Leaf series where he was running from half the team. I know Corson, Tucker, and Domi all tried to fight him (in games that I believe he should have) and he ran, then Markov tatoo'ed him a few times, possibly tried to fight'em a few times too.