New Jersey Devils honor Patrik Elias with jersey retirement

The No. 26 now forever hangs in the rafters of the Prudential Center. Patrik Elias is an iconic New Jersey Devil and it was a great, emotional ceremony.

The New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders played a very even 60 minutes of hockey on Saturday night. However, aside from the great hockey game, was an even better ceremony.

It was definitely dusty in the Prudential Center as Patty Elias‘ ceremony was emotional and well done. Not only was a Devil who endured the ultimate high of winning the Stanley Cup and the ultimate low of playing for a rebuild honored, but there were a plethora of other Devil legends there as well.

Elias finished his career as the team’s leading scorer. His clutchness and scoring ability will never be forgotten. But since Elias cares less about personal anecdotes, I will finish by noting his two Stanley Cup titles and another two Conference titles.

Marty Brodeur, Scott Niedermayer, Scott Stevens, and Ken Daneyko were all in attendance. Arguably his all-time favorite line-mate Jason Arnott was also there.

The entire Devils team wore a special patch honoring the night along with the iconic 26 behind the goals.

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Elias, being the humble, team-first guy he always is, thanked the fans for letting him be a New Jersey Devil.

The Czech born player is the first forward in team history to have his number in the rafters. He spent his entire career in New Jersey with the Devils. That is rare and beautiful.

“Patty” has seen a lot of wins during his, and the team’s glory days.

Elias’ career is over. His No. 26 is now immortal, but he still follows the current Devils closely.

A great hockey player and Devils ambassador, Patty is now officially an all-timer as well.

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The 2018 New Jersey Devils seem poised to make a run in the playoffs. It’ll be one of their first championship quests without Patty.

For that, respect.

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