Jason Due
@Duey

Another player from the early seasons of the SHL, Jason Due was one of the first true superstar defensemen of the league. Going way back in history we see that in the S5 Entry Draft he was selected 15th Overall by the Vancouver Ice Wolves. By S6, when Due made his rookie debut, the team was known as the Vancouver Nightmare. Due was a decent prospect for the team, consistent at least, scoring 18 points in each of his first 3 seasons. By now the team had rebranded again, and was known as the Las Vegas Kings. And it was here in S9 that Jason Due really elevated his game and became one of the best to ever play.

S9 was what was considered to be the first season of the Inflation Era, and we saw Due’s production jump to 18 goals and 31 assists for 49 points, and he also added 172 hits. Going from prospect to superstar in one season. His season was so good that he won the Scott Stevens award for best defenseman, and he was just getting started!

S10 and Due elevates his game again, this time he scored 25 goals and added 36 assists for 61 points, breaking the point per game mark for the first time. Add in 171 hits and Due is a great two-way defender, and this earns him another Stevens nomination but he lost to Jed Mosley of WKP.

S11 was a ridiculous season for scoring and marked the end of the Inflation Era. Jason Due was one of the players who took advantage of the situation as he had a career year, scoring 37 goals and 40 assists for an unbelievable total of 77 points, good enough to lead his team and also was 5th in the entire league. You didn’t often see defenders put up those types of totals. For this he received his first nomination for the Ron Mexico award, one of the first defenseman to get this recognition. He was nominated for another Stevens award but despite his gaudy points totals he did not win - it was Aidan Richan who had 71 points but also added an insane 301 hits so I guess it’s understandable. So no trophies but still goes down in the record books for the best scoring season ever by a defender.

In S12 league scoring went back to ‘normal’ so while it looks like a drop off with Due scoring ‘only’ 42 points, that was good enough to lead the team again and was 12th league wide, so he was still producing at an elite level. This earned him his 2nd Stevens Award, and the 4th consecutive year being nominated. But he wasn’t just a fancy pants scorer. He had a nasty edge too, and he also won the Turd Ferguson Award with an impressive 100 pims. In Season 13 Due had another good season putting up 43 points. But it was S14 in which Due had one of the greatest seasons ever for a defenseman.

Jason Due’s stat line was an insane 12 goals and 47 assists in S14, for a total of 59 points. For the first time, the leading scorer in the league was a Dman! Due would win all the awards, earning the Karpotsov, the Stevens, the Khan for player-voted MVP, and also the Mexico for league MVP. 47 assists was a record at the time, and in the STHS realism era it stood as the 3rd most ever, only Partlow and Tuck surpassed him in all those years.

Apparently Due used up all his magic that season, in S15 he saw his totals plummet, only getting 25 points. And with that, he peaced out, retiring after just 10 seasons.

Due’s legacy is one of pure dominance in his era, the Bobby Orr of the SHL. He was the first player to win the Stevens Award 3 times. He showed that an offensive defender could be an elite player in the league, in fact could be the BEST player. 10 seasons, 6 all stars, 3 x Stevens Awards + 2 more nominations, a Ron Mexico win + another nomination, a Khan, a Turd Ferguson, and one of the only defenders to ever get a Karpotsov. His career totals were 410 points in 510 games, setting the standard for all future defenseman.


Written by @Muerto