Devellano To Be Enshrined In Hall Of Fame

Added on Oct 28, 2010 by J Merrill in

NHL

Nearly a half of a century into his NHL career Jimmy Devellano will be enshrined into the NHL Hall Of Fame this coming November. When you here phrases like “7 Stanley Cups” or “four consecutive cups” you automatically start going through lists of players in your mind. However, Devellano will be enshrined in the builder category of the NHL Hall Of Fame.

Devellano gained the attention of the Red Wings in the early 80′s after he built the Islanders squad that took four straight Stanley Cups.

Devellano told NHL.com “The Islander days were very important to me…First of all, I don’t get to Detroit as a general manager if I don’t do a job for the Islanders. I know that. Bill Torrey was a great boss; he was a great mentor for me. He really gave me a lot of authority. Basically, he entrusted the draft to me. We had a lot of success. It led to four consecutive Stanley Cups. You really put that into perspective, that no other U.S.-based team has ever won more than two consecutively. Here are the Islanders in their eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th years of existence getting four in a row. It was a team that almost was 90-percent built through the amateur draft. I’m very proud of that. That was my role there. I would still tell you the highlight of my life was the first Stanley Cup with the Islanders.”

In 1984 he was brought on The Red Wings, and has since been a part of four cups with them. They have also reached the finals 7 times all together. He has done a lot with the Red wings, but many felt he may never be offered the spot in the Hall Of Fame. Devellano said “It’s been talked about by some media people over the last five years. It’s no secret it’s been brought up. Certainly, it’s nice that it’s happened. I think when you get into this game in a management position, for me, it’s (been) 44 years, it’s kind of like the pinnacle. There’s a couple of things you’d like to accomplish if you’re in my position long enough, one is to win a Stanley Cup, and the other probably would be to cap your time in the game as a builder in the Hockey Hall of Fame. But you have to be voted in. It’s not the easiest thing to accomplish. You’re thankful when it happens, for sure.”

The first thing he did with Red wings was draft Yzerman, and thats when things started to turn around for the Wings. Devellano agreed, and added “In Detroit, I think of some of the later guys — (Vladimir) Konstantinov in the 11th round (in 1989),” Devellano said. “Obviously, (Nicklas) Lidstrom (third round, 1989) turned out to be a superstar. Our (European) scout, Christer Rockstrom, was really on the ball. I don’t know if there’s ever been a better third-(round) pick than Lidstrom. Probably not. Between the Islanders and the Red Wings, we’ve drafted a lot of Hall of Famers.” Now Jimmy Devellano will rightfully be added to the Hall Of Fame with all of those guys.