Should NJ retire brylin's number when he retires? I say yes!
No. He has a special place in a lot of Devils fans hearts and always will. He is also an underrated forward and has filled a lot of roles. But statistically he is not good enough. His accomplishments as a teammate on 3 Cup Winners up to this point should be acknowledged with a tribute.
Of course if he finishes his entire career with NJ and wins a few more Cups my opinion can change.
No. He has a special place in a lot of Devils fans hearts and always will. He is also an underrated forward and has filled a lot of roles. But statistically he is not good enough. His accomplishments as a teammate on 3 Cup Winners up to this point should be acknowledged with a tribute.
Of course if he finishes his entire career with NJ and wins a few more Cups my opinion can change.
OK no argument here but I failed to mention that I was asking the question with the assumption in mind that he will finish with the Devs hopefully with a couple more cups.
I would say no. However, there has been talk of a Devils Hall of Fame of some sort at the Newark Arena. Should they have one, I think Sergei Brylin is the perfect candidate for that. The Devils could have a "Brylin Night" were they present him with the plaque that will placed on the wall.
This would be a great way for the Devils to pay honor to players like Brylin, Claude Lemieux, Randy McKay, Aaron Broten and so forth.
I'd say no retired number for Brylin. He would deserve a tribute night though.
The only people I would even consider deserving at this point are:
sure things - Brodeur, MacLean (that's right, he's deserving)
strong maybes - Elias, Niedermayer (despite the quacky situation he put us in prior to the season)
wait n' see - Gionta, Gomez, Rafalski, Madden
definitely NO! - Danton
I'd say no retired number for Brylin. He would deserve a tribute night though.
The only people I would even consider deserving at this point are:
sure things - Brodeur, MacLean (that's right, he's deserving)
strong maybes - Elias, Niedermayer (despite the quacky situation he put us in prior to the season)
wait n' see - Gionta, Gomez, Rafalski, Madden
definitely NO! - Danton
This question needs to be asked in 5 years, I say retire his number as stats and his value to the Devils will never show up at the HHOF. His contribution and loyalty should be rewarded.
As for Nieds, time heals all wounds and I believe when its all said and done, his number 27 will hang high above the Newark Arena.
I kind of like what the Leafs do - this way the number isn't retired but the player still gets an honor spot for his contribution to the organization. I think its a good idea. The New Jersey hall of fame idea is good too as long as they do a ceremony for it at a game so the fans can come down and say thanks to him.
Yeah, The Chocolate Rocket played for us for a solid year. There is an argument and debate to retiring Brylin's Jersey. You're just being a cutesy tootsy. If you claim to be a Devils fan, you would have strongly consider retiring his number. His has been a Devil for life and helped us win three cups.
Yeah, The Chocolate Rocket played for us for a solid year. There is an argument and debate to retiring Brylin's Jersey. You're just being a cutesy tootsy. If you claim to be a Devils fan, you would have strongly consider retiring his number. His has been a Devil for life and helped us win three cups.
I'd also open the books for JohnnyMac.
I would too. They had a poll about it a couple of months back and I get yelled at by mostly everyone that he didn't deserve it. Sorry Johnny, I tried.
I would too. They had a poll about it a couple of months back and I get yelled at by mostly everyone that he didn't deserve it. Sorry Johnny, I tried.
For alot of the younger guys, they wouldn't know his impact in terms of offensive output on a young Devils team. Prior to winning cups, he was our 1st. bonafide homegrown star. Also, I don't care if the players didn't have HHOF creditials, I look at their contributions as Devils. I much as I hate the fact that Nieds is no longer with us, his number should hang once its all said and done.
If Elias, Gomez, White and Gio stick around, their respective numbers hang to.
If Brylin finishes his career a devil, regardless of if they win any cups, yes he should.
I'm a huge Dano fan, but his contribution could be viewed as comparable to Brylin's if they both play out long careers as devils.
On a related note, are there any russian players retired by an NHL team? I'm thinking Detroit might have with the tradgedy from the late 90's but im not sure.
gotta wait until he's retired and its been a few years. We won't know til then. I love Sergei Brylin though, and as cool as it would be, I don't see them retiring his number. He would probably get a night to honor him like Statsny, but not his jersey retired.
I love Sarge and his contribution to the team. I wouldn't put him in Dano's class as far as team leader and motivator though. I don't see him having the vocal or physical presence Dano had. Although Sarge epitomizes what team-first versatile New Jersey Devils hockey is al about, Sergei Brylin's name does not jump into anyone's minds when you say Stevens, Daneyko, Brodeur, just because he was on all 3 Cup winning teams. Retiring a Devil and at least 1 more Cup would be minimum requirements for retiring #18. I hope all and more transpire.
As far as Johnny Mac goes, he last wore a Devils uniform as a player in '97, mid-season (not trade deadline), before being traded to SJ with Ken Sutton for Doug Bodger and Dody Wood. The following summer he signed with NYR to be traded to Dallas for future considerations after a stint in the IHL with Manitoba. His last NHL game was during the regular season in '02 in a Stars sweater.
It is understandable to postpone #3's retirement ceremony to a month after the Captain's. Dano played his last game in the only NHL sweater he ever wore in the franchise's 3rd Championship winning Game 7. To retire Maclean's #, 10 years and 3 teams after his last game played as a Devil is a little late, despite his honorable well-deserved place in Devil's history and Lou's longstanding no-retirement policy.
Other than the fact that #15 and #18 started their careers in the Devils' system, Tommy Albelin would meet the same criteria for # retirement set by MacLean and Brylin if he were a forward instead of a defenseman.
Albelin, along with Cale Hulse, and Jocelyn Lemieux at least fetched Phil Housley and Dan Keczmer.
I honestly think its bad enough we retired Dano's jersey. I'm totally opposed to the entire idea of "retiring" a number, I always felt putting the players name on a banner and hanging it was honorable enough. To say no player can ever wear that number ever again as long as that franchise is in existence is rediculous to me. Brylin is not deserving...no way. Stevens and Brodeur are the only deserving players IMO, with Daneyko and MacLean close but on the outside looking in, under this mindset that only certain players deserve to have their "numbers retired." No to Elias, No to Stanstny, Lemieux, Gomez, Gionta...ect (Unless Gionta continues this trend for a long time.)
Yes, I would retire his number as long as he finishes with the Devs. He epitomizes what Devil hockey is all about. THAT in iself to me should make him go up. He's bene on every cup winner and has always been an "unsung player" who deserves credit.
Hey, if Montreal can retire all of those numbers then it should be good enough for the Devils. Marty, Stevens, Dano, and Brylin. Elias, Gomez, Madden and Gionta will go up one day as well. That being they finish their career as Devils. We should have Claude Lemieux night as well, along with Chico night. That's cool to me.
As for Nieder..that is Lou's call but especially since he left us. If Nieder does not go up, then neither should Johnny Mac. Beleive me, I don't want to just give the "honor" to anybody but these players.
Last edited by VIVASAINTMARTIN30: 04-24-2006 at 10:25 PM.
strong maybes - ...Niedermayer (despite the quacky situation he put us in prior to the season)
Are you crazy? Why don't we just hang #16 up while we're at it? If I could I'd erase that guy's name from the cup. He had no loyalty to the team, he played when he felt like it, and bolted the first chance he got. I'd rather retire #25 for Guerin/Arnott, and I can't stand either one of them.
He's one of my favorite players in the league, but are you kidding me? Why don't you just retire every player who showed loyalty for your team? If you retire Brylin's #, you risk having your team look like a joke for all of the numbers of role players being retired.
Stevens was a shoe-in.
I thought that Daneyko was boderline but deserving since the guy was a Devil for life and was the teams first draft pick, etc etc.
But Brylin?
C'mon, guys. Brodeur is a definate for you guys.
Brylin would never have his number retired anywhere.
