"One of the rarest accomplishments in sports was having your number retired by a team. Nowadays there are some questionable choices when it comes to finding players whose jersey will hang in the rafters. Some more than deserve the honor, others get it because their respective teams see it as a marketing ploy for an otherwise "very good" level player. A few seasons back we openly discussed if Marian Hossa deserved the honor from the Chicago Blackhawks."
"MacLean was with the team through those lean year of the 1980's. Before finally breaking through and winning a cup with the Devils in the 1995 season his greatest accomplishment was scoring the overtime goal that sent them to the playoffs for the first time in 1988. He was the franchise's leading scorer before Patrik Elias, who has his number retired by the team, over took that honor."
Some teams have adopted team-specific honors like the New Jersey Devils' Ring of Honor as an alternative to retiring numbers. Previous Devils inductees include owner John J. McMullen, player-coach Sergei Brylin, and coach Jacques Lemaire. John MacLean became the fourth inductee after long service with the franchise, scoring the 1988 overtime goal that sent the team to its first playoffs and later helping as an assistant on the 2003 championship staff. MacLean was the franchise's leading scorer until Patrik Elias. MacLean's mixed later playing years and a brief, unsuccessful 2010–2011 head-coaching stint have prompted questions about the induction.
Read at Puck Prose
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