After last season, it was clear that the New Jersey Devils needed to get bigger and tougher. General manager Tom Fitzgerald later added Paul Cotter, Brenden Dillon, Stefan Noesen and Johnston. Johnathan Kovacevic and others, they have a total of 443 hits this season.
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With the added velocity, the Devils went from No. 25 (20.21 hits/60) last season to No. 8 (23.54 hits/60) — a 16.4% increase. Cotter, Dillon and Noesen are one through three respectively on the Devils' leaderboard. Starting in 2023-24, teams will also play majors 29% more often.
Prior to Jacques Lemaire's Ring of Honor induction ceremony, hockey writer Scott Stevens' take on this newfound body, with emphasis on defender Brenden Dillon:
“You need guys like that, guys like Ken Daneykos who show up and are there for your teammates… (Dillon) can make plays. He moves the puck well and he's going to get his guys back. He makes the game happen. Everybody on the ice is bigger. You know, you watch the (Florida) Panthers, they all get in your face and try to intimidate you. So that's still an important part of the game and it becomes more and more important in the playoffs.”
He then touched on a previous quote from Paul Cotter, with Cotter saying, “It's not hard to get your check done.” For reference, Cotter's 164 hits currently have him in the National Hockey League Ranked eighth.
“I think when I watch hockey, I look at how many free passes there are,” Stevens said. “I'm like 'Oh, that's not going to happen. Not with me. You're not going to be there. The net comes, right? So I love that hockey in a way, yeah, we have to make the game safer, but we still have to have that physical part because the fans love it, I think. It’s more fun when you have a body in the game.”
Stevens is a three-time Stanley Cup champion who logged 2,785 penalty minutes during his illustrious 22-year career. He celebrated his 60th birthday last April.
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