Kevin Dineen

Lore & Background

When the New Jersey Devils took the ice for the first time in 1982, they needed a player who could make a crowd of skeptics believe they had a genuine contender. Kevin Dineen was that player. A young, wiry winger with a top-end speed that seemed to defy the physics of the ice, he became the engine of the original Devils attack. His 50+ goal seasons in the mid-1980s established him as one of the league's most dangerous scorers and gave the franchise its first true identity: fast, aggressive, and unapologetically proud.

Dineen's rivalry with the Philadelphia Flyers became a fixture of the 1980s NHL. The cross-state battles were electric, and Dineen's speed made him a particular nightmare for Flyers defenders who had to track him down the ice. His signature celebration—sliding on his back across the ice with arms flung wide—became an instant ritual that Devils fans still imitate at every home game. It was a gesture of pure, unfiltered joy that connected him to the crowd in a way no stat line could.

By the time the Devils captured the 1995 Stanley Cup, Dineen was no longer the youngest man in the room, but his presence in the locker room, his leadership, and his decades of service made him the emotional anchor of that championship. His 2016 induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame was a coronation that the Devils fanbase had been demanding for years, and the retirement of his number 12 remains a permanent monument to the player who made the franchise feel like a home.

In Their Own Story

The ice at the Brendan Byrne Arena was cold that November night in 1984, but the air in the building was electric. Dineen skated out to a roar that felt like it shook the concrete. He lined up on the left wing, stick low, eyes locked on the puck as it dropped. The first shot was a snap from the circle. The second, a deke through two defenders. The third goal of the period came from a breakaway so fast the Flyers defenseman never even turned his head. Dineen crossed the blue line, tucked the puck behind the goalie's leg, and then—there it was—the slide. Back first, arms wide, skates kicking up a spray of ice that caught the arena lights like a shower of stars. The crowd lost its mind. A kid in the third row, maybe ten years old, grabbed his father's arm and whispered, 'That's our guy. That's *our* guy.' And for the next twelve years, it would be.

Reader's Guide

Kevin Dineen — Left Wing, #12, New Jersey Devils (1982–1996)

Role: Dineen was the franchise's original scoring threat and the player around whom the early Devils built their identity. As a left wing, he operated with a speed that was almost unheard of in the early 1980s, creating separation from defenders and finishing with a deceptively soft touch around the net.

Signature contributions: He anchored the Devils' first competitive seasons, delivered multiple 50+ goal campaigns in the mid-1980s, and served as the emotional and competitive core of the team through its rise to the 1995 Stanley Cup. His rivalry with the Philadelphia Flyers became a defining storyline of the era.

Key stats: 14 seasons with New Jersey; multiple 50+ goal seasons; 1995 Stanley Cup champion; Hockey Hall of Fame inductee (2016); number 12 retired.

Memorable moment: His signature back-slide celebration after a goal—a full-body sprawl across the ice, arms flung wide, skates kicking up a spray of frozen water that caught the arena lights. It became the single most iconic image in Devils history and a ritual fans still replicate in the stands.

Lasting legacy: Dineen is the player who made the Devils feel like a *team* rather than a franchise. He was the first name on the jersey, the first face on the logo, the first reason a kid in New Jersey would put on a Devils sweater. His Hall of Fame induction in 2016 was not a surprise; it was a formality the fanbase had been demanding for a decade. He is, and will remain, the original Devil.

Did You Know?

• Kevin Dineen's back-slide goal celebration became so iconic that Devils fans still perform it in unison at home games decades after his retirement.
• He was part of the very first New Jersey Devils roster when the franchise debuted in 1982, making him the original face of the club.
• His cross-state rivalry with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1980s was one of the most heated and personal matchups in NHL history.
• Dineen was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016, a full two decades after his final season with the Devils.