Joe Nieuwendyk: 3 Cups Full

1257 NHL games. 564 goals 562 assists 1126 points.

Joe Nieuwendyk was a classy centreman for the Flames, Stars, Devils, Maple Leafs and finally the Panthers. His years as a Flame, though, were his most productive, here's his Flame line: 577GP 314G 302A 616Pts. Playoffs: 66 GP 32G 28A 60pts. Joe hit the NHL and the Flames with a bang. His official rookie year he scored 51 goals (he had played 9 games at the tail of the 86/87 season) in 87/88 . That puts him in a group with Mike Bossy, Wayne Gretzky, Teemu Selanne and Alex Ovechkin as rookies in the 50 goal club. In his first full 4 seasons Joe scored 51,51,45, and 45 goals: 197 goals in his first 319 games. After this period Joe settled more into a comfortable 75 pt/season guy who supplied leadership and timely scoring. Noticeably for a centreman, his goal/assist ratio is very high. Most centre's have considerably more assists than goals, but Joe consistently scored more. I think this is partly explained by his size, (6'2", 195) which was a large centre for the time, his slashing style which got him a little deeper in the offensive zone than most centre's, his background in lacrosse, I think, gave him a great eye/hand coordination and allowed him to get a lot of tips, and deflections. He was also a PP monster and was frequently in the top ten of the league in the stat.

Some of his career highlights:

• 3 Stanley Cups with 3 different teams, Calgary '89, Dallas '99 and New Jersey '03
• 564 goals, 19th all time.
• 1126 points, 50th all time.
• 215 power play goals, 10th all time.
• 93 game winning goals, 8th all time.
• played in 4 all star games, all as a Flame
• won the Calder trophy in 87/88
• won the King Clancy trophy in 95
• won the Conn Smythe in 99

Represented Canada in international play:

• 1986 World Junior Tournament (Silver Medal)
• 1990 World Championships
• 1998 Olympics
• 2002 Olympics (Gold Medal)

Joe, along with Brett Hull and Adam Oates were the most successful pros to emerge from collegiate hockey. Joe will probably always be remembered for three things: 3 cups with 3 different teams, got traded for Jarome Iginla, and his friendship with Gary Roberts. Joe, IMO will sail into the HHOF, probably a first ballot selection in 2010.