THREE THINGS: Get to Know Recchi

It's not every day an NHL team gets lucky enough to add a Hockey Hall of Fame member to their coaching staff. There are just 289 players who have ever received the high honor and one of those players will be behind the Devils bench for the start of the 2020-21 season. Mark Recchi, who was inducted in 2017 was named an assistant coach on Lindy Ruff's Devils coaching staff on Tuesday. He is the first assistant to join the staff as Ruff begins to round out his assistants.
Recchi has ties to Ruff, working in 2013 as a consultant to the Dallas Stars, the same year Ruff took over behind the Stars bench. He also has ties to Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald, both were part of the Penguins front office and coaching staff for several years. Now, all three a reunited in New Jersey.
Here are Three Things about Mark Recchi, presented by Wawa.

1. BETWEEN TWO CUPS

When Mark Recchi retired after a 22-year career as an NHL player, he went out on top. His final NHL game was with the Boston Bruins, the Stanley Cup raised above his head in 2011.
It was the third and final Stanley Cup of his playing career, and five years removed from his second Cup with Carolina in 2006.But what makes Recchi's long NHL history the one that makes it a particular journey is the amount of time between his first and second Stanley Cup.
15 years.
Some players don't even play in the league for that many years. But for Recchi, it was the allotted time between his first and second Stanley Cup.
He won early in his career, an integral part of the Penguins roster that won the Cup. It was just the second full season of Recchi's career and his first time in the playoffs. He had 34 points in 24 games, two of his 10 goals were game-winners. He was just 23 years old.
That was 1991.
Recchi had to wait until 2006 before he would lift the Stanley Cup once again. That season, he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes from his second stint with the Penguins. He skated in 20 regular-season games with Carolina before the playoffs.
Then, at 38 years old, he scored four goals and three assists, including one game-winning goal in the post-season. A run that would lead him to his second Cup and the first in Carolina's history.
Recchi would later add two championships as part of the Penguins front office.

2. AGE DIDN'T MATTER (FOR MARK, ANYWAYS)

It was a long and storied NHL playing career for Recchi, who retired four months after his 43rd birthday. He currently holds the eighth spot for oldest player to play in an NHL game at 43 and 134 days at the time of his retirement. Only one active player, Zdeno Chara (43 years and 159 days) sits above Recchi.
On March 1, 2009, he was 41 years and 28 days old. That night he had a record five-assist night. He became the oldest player in NHL history to have register a five-assist game.
In his final NHL season, during Game 2 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals between the Bruins and Canucks, Recchi became the oldest player ever to score a goal in a Stanley Cup Final.
With his retirement after the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, Recchi was the final active player who had played an NHL game in the '80s. finishing his career fourth all-time in games played and 12th all-time in points.

3. ALL THE ACCOLADES

Recchi's accolades and wealth of experience are going to be an asset to Lindy Ruff's coaching staff and the up-and-coming Devils roster. He brings to the staff a long list of accolades that lead him to his 2017 Hockey Hall of Fame induction.
He retired the leagues 12th best scorer of all time with 1533 points, a record he continues to hold. His career ended after 1652 regular-season games, fourth-most in league history at the time of his retirement in 2011, sixth in 2020.
All of these experiences will be a major asset in the Devils locker room, imparting wisdom on young hockey minds.
It's a part of hockey he thoroughly enjoys, and something he articulated in his 2017 Players Tribune article.
"More than anything, I hope people remember Mark Recchi as a "team guy," through and through," he wrote. "Because it was such a pleasure for me to spend time with guys like Jordan Staal and Steven Stamkos - still kids when they came into the league. Seeing them come into their own when I was playing alongside them are memories I'll enjoy as much as any of the championships."
With players like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and more young up-and-coming talent, Recchi will be able to once again relish in that joy as a "team guy", just from a different angle. From behind the bench, not on it.

AND ONE MORE THING...

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