Joe Nieuwendyk

Before his NHL career:

A summary of Joe's RS scoring throughout his NHL career:

2006: Skate Away

Persistent painful injuries finally forced Joe to hang em up for good early in the 2006-07 season. He retired at 584-582-1166 -- 19th in NHL history in goal scoring. Joe's scoring record, combined with his three Stanley Cups, Conn Smyth, and Calder Trophy, make him a first-tier candidate for the NHL Hall of Fame. This despite losing large portions of 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006 to injury and all of 2005 to the lock-out.

2004: Home Sweet Home

Joe returns to his hometown (and the traditional Cornell recruiting base) of Toronto to join President Ken Dryden in leading the Leafs.

2003: 1000 Points, 500 Goals, and a Third Lord Stanley

Joe achieved all of these landmarks in the 2002-03 season with the Devils.

From Kevin Shea's article for the Hockey Hall of Fame, Stanley Cup Journal:

  The Stanley Cup spent the night in the Nieuwendyk's boathouse on Cayuga Lake, then was prepared for an itinerary jammed with activities. First, to the Falls Restaurant and Tavern, where all the locals go for breakfast, then back to the house where Joe, his wife Tina and their kids Tyra and Jackson had their portraits taken with the Stanley Cup. A few friends joined the festivities, including Mike Schafer, Cornell's hockey coach.

... Nieuwendyk brought the Stanley Cup to Ithaca, not merely for Alumni Weekend, but predominantly to help raise funds for the Tallman Family Fund. Money raised provides Mike Tallman, his wife Kristen and their daughter Brodie with the resources to purchase a wheelchair and to make the necessary renovations to their home for Mike's rehabilitation. But even Joe was shocked to step out of the car at the Lynah Arena at 7PM to see 3,500 people in line to see him and the Stanley Cup. Admission was $5 for the game and to meet Joe Nieuwendyk with the Stanley Cup. The bad news is, Joe didn't see any of the game. The amazing news is that the lineup lasted for three and a half hours, and every penny of the admission went to the Tallman Family Fund. By the way, the alumni game featured Cornell players from several decades, including each of the school's ten ECAC championships and both of The Big Red's national championships — 1967 and 1970.

On the ice during intermission, Cornell head coach Mike Schafer introduced Joe Nieuwendyk and the Stanley Cup to a thunderous ovation. After all, Nieuwendyk is a Cornell Hall of Famer as well as a three-time Stanley Cup winner and an Olympic gold medal winner from the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. He actually had his gold medal hanging around the Stanley Cup.

Once the game was over and each of the fans had visited with Joe and the Cup, Nieuwendyk decided to visit Dunbar's, the bar at which he hung out during his days at Cornell. Not much had changed — the beer was still cold and the graffiti was still on the walls. Except, on Friday night, 500 people were jammed shoulder to shoulder to be in the same proximity as the Devils' star and the Stanley Cup.

 2002: Olympic Gold

Canada's Eric Lindros, Rob Blake, Chris Pronger and Joe holding his daughter Tyra, stand for the national anthem following their 5-2 Olympic gold medal win over USA in men's hockey at the Olympic Winter Games in West Valley City, Utah, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2002

2001: Joe's Second Cup and First Conn Smythe

Arguably the most impressive work of Nieuwendyk’s career to date was his other-worldly MVP performance in the 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs. After having reconstructive knee surgery on both knees in the off-season, Joe had a credible, slightly abbreviated, regular season. Then, for two months, when it counted most, Joe was the best hockey player in the world.

1989: Igniting the Flames

Joe had won the Calder for Rookie of the Year in 1988.  He followed it up with the Stanley Cup.  He was just the second player in NHL history to score 50 goals in his first two seasons, after Mike Bossy.