Happy Trails Patrik!

They say you don't know what you have until you lose it. Long story short we as people can often be guilty of taking things you have for granted and I certainly have been a repeat offender in that department. However, this post isn't really about me, it's about Patrik Elias. It's hard to find a player who has silently put together such an amazing career playing for a defense first team but still putting up All-World Numbers. Many might be skeptical but don't worry, I will share some supporting figures.

First off, his raw numbers are pretty decent:
1240 Games 408 Goals 617 Assists 1025 Points and another 125 Playoff Points all are franchise highs for the Devils with the exception of games played. Patrik played in 4 All-Star games, made the All-Rookie Team and one First All-Star Team and he won 2 Stanley Cups.

If you look at all those raw numbers I think ANYONE would induct him into the Hall of Pretty Good. However, there are many players out of the Hall of Fame with better numbers and stats. So here is where we consider the fact that Patrik Elias did play a majority of his career in the dead puck era and those numbers are much more amazing than they appear. If you take a visit to Hockey Reference you will find many of the facts I am about to point out.

408 Goals actually adjusts to 464 Goals when you consider overall scoring. That total puts him in the same group as Bure (463) Bossy (461) and Hawerchuk (435) and to be honest, Patrik wasn't known as a goal scorer.

617 Assists adjusts to 680 Assists. That change has him in line with stars like Guy Lafleur (681) and Peter Stastny (637).

1025 Points adjusts to 1144 Points. This is the most telling stat in my opinion when you combine his goals and assists you get a true sense of his place and standing. This total is 57th best All-Time and has him around players like Crosby, Gartner, Perreault and Henri Richard.

In addition to putting up offensive numbers he was really valuable to the club in all situations and would kill penalties and back check with the best of them. When you consider the player as a whole I believe he will make it to the Hall of Fame. Probably not on the first ballot but I do honestly believe he has a shot. Now time for the cards!

97-98 Upper Deck Ice Patrik Elias Rookie

97-98 Donruss Priority Patrik Elias Rookie

97-98 Upper Deck Star Rookie Patrik Elias Rookie

97-98 SP Authentic Future Watch Patrik Elias Rookie

97-98 Pinnacle Be A Player Patrik Elias Rookie

97-98 Pinnacle Be A Player Patrik Elias Auto Rookie

00-01 Be A Player Signature Series Gold Patrik Elias Auto

12-13 Fleer Skybox Autographics Patrik Elias

06-07 Be A Player Signature Duals Elias and Rafalski

These are a few Elias cards from my collection including some of my favourite rookies and all my autographs of Elias. I do have a few game used cards as well but nothing that I felt would have added to this post so I decided to leave them out. While Elias was never a PC of mine per-say, I have collect a few cards of him over the years and I will continue to enjoy what I have and maybe add a few more in the future as I continue to appreciate all he has done for the franchise. Happy Trails Patrik and thank you very much for all you've done and I wish you health and happiness in your retirement.