The architect of 13 championship teams, seven of them Stanley Cup winners, Jimmy D. has left his indelible mark on the game of hockey everywhere he has gone.  Born in the working-class Cabbagetown neighborhood of 1940s Toronto, Devellano left school after ninth grade to start working.  Working days and involved with hockey at night, Jimmy got his foot in the door with the NHL by offering to scout for the St. Louis Blues for free.

He never did play hockey, but has always had an excellent eye for talent. As a scout and assistant general manager with the New York Islanders, he helped build the team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1980s and choreographed the steady rise of the Detroit Red Wings from one of the NHL’s weakest teams into four time Stanley Cup champions.