EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - The vibe in the concourse at the Continental Airlines Arena last Friday night was unmistakable between periods of the New Jersey Devils’ game against visiting Carolina. It was a combination of nostalgia, satisfaction and, above all else, astonishment. As one die-hard NJD fan said while standing near the Devils Fan Club table near Gate A: “Can you believe they did this right?”

For all of its success on the ice in the National Hockey League, the Devils have traditionally been as equally unsuccessful when it comes to observing exceptional occasions. Witness the parking lot Stanley Cup celebrations that at times had the pageantry of an electrical workers’ union meeting. Witness the years of underwhelming marketing, which sacrificed individual stardom for the sake of team unity. The good news is that this “interchangeable flock of forwards” has remained humble, and the chemistry has nearly always been correct. The bad news is that Marty Brodeur could stroll through the Paramus Park Mall and the only people who would recognize him are his own kids.

One of the few times the Devils thrust an individual into his own spotlight was on Ken Daneyko Night, held on Jan. 9, 2004 at the CAA. Daneyko had recently retired, and fans were buzzing that his No. 3 could in fact be the first to ascend to the rafters for the Devils. Instead, fans came home with some nice memories and a bobblehead doll that looked nothing like Daneyko; and, worst of all, had all of its teeth.

So the stakes were low when last Friday’s Scott Stevens Night finally arrived. Devils fans knew his No. 4 would be the first one retired; it was just a question of how the team would honor him.

Strike one came when the date was announced: that Stevens’ number would be retired two days before the Super Bowl. From a sports media perspective, it’s a bit like moving Presidents Day to Christmas Eve.

Strike two came when the New York Rangers unleashed Mark Messier Night on an unsuspecting public, doing everything for No. 11 outside of erecting a permanent statue on top of the Empire State Building for the former captain.

If Devils fans were expecting strike three last week, they’re still waiting. Scott Stevens Night was the most well-executed and classic event the Devils organization has ever put together in honoring one of its teams or players. In fact, comparing it to the Rangers’ elephantine celebration of Messier makes the effort even more impressive: while New York was honoring a hockey savior, New Jersey was honoring the captain of a team.

Sure, there were plenty of moments during Stevens Night that honored the man himself — the 22-year veteran who played in more regular season and playoff games than any other defenseman in NHL history. But in the end, the night was about this franchise, and what Stevens meant to its maturation into a perennial Cup contender.

One of the most striking things about Stevens Night was the way the Meadowlands was plastered with signage for the event. Down near the ticket box office was a 20-foot banner on the floor welcoming fans to Stevens Night, with a picture of the captain holding the Cup. Signs hung near every gate of the building. For a team that haggles over every penny in contract negotiations, it must have been an awfully large bill at Kinkos.

Fans were handed replica banners on the way in, and commemorative placard on the way out. Inside the arena, there were constant video reminders of Stevens and giant flying No. 4’s that zoomed over the ice from the spotlights above.

The theme of the night was “4ever,” and thankfully the ceremony didn’t take that theme to heart. It was a perfect 35 minutes of remembrances, video montages and the obligatory gifts (from a hunting bow to a truck the size of a zamboni). It also featured a sustained three minutes of boisterous cheering and chanting from Devils fans — about as loud and as sincere an ovation as has ever been heard in the Meadowlands.

It was interesting to note what the Devils didn’t show during the two video packages honoring Stevens during the ceremony: namely any of his notorious checks, the ones that sent Lindros, Kozlov, Kariya and Francis to the locker room (and in some cases, the hospital). Those videos were instead shown during the game to loud cheers, as was Stevens’ classic goal against Pittsburgh in the 1995 Cup run, in which he Bobby Orr’d the Penguins for the game-winner. They also didn’t show Stevens dropping the gloves once, which was something that characterized his career before his latter days with the Devils.

It was, however, interesting to see the Devils use footage from Stevens’ days with the Capitals and the Blues. The videos showed the same wild blue-eyed checking machine that came to New Jersey in 1992, except his game was equally wild back then.

Stevens knows the structure and discipline the Devils organization demanded is the reason three of his teams won Stanley Cups. It’s also the reason Scott Stevens morphed from a brash defenseman into the stately captain that stood before the 19,040 in New Jersey last Friday.

They weren’t the only ones to honor him (though when they did, it was thunderous — I haven’t seen the place packed like that outside of the Stanley Cup Finals). Teammates, former teammates, coaches and former coaches honored Stevens with short videos shown on the Jumbotron. For my money, this is what Stevens Night was all about: hearing what the man meant to the franchise, from those who shared the ice with him. As the videos played, the fans responded with each name, honoring the players who were speaking about Stevens. Huge pops for the usual suspects (Marty, Daneyko). A bittersweet cheer for Larry Robinson. No mention of Brendan Shanahan, whose departure to the St. Louis Blues brought Stevens to the Devils as compensation. (Ironically, Rod Brind’Amour, who the Blues offered as part of a package back to the Devils for Shanahan, was on the Carolina bench watching the Stevens celebration.) A loud ovation for Claude Lemieux, in a “hey-maybe-22-belongs-up-there-too” kind of way. And a 50/50 split of boos and cheers for Rob Niedermayer’s brother.

I loved every minute of those moments. Because as Bruce’s “Glory Days” played, all I could think of were those glory days of the last decade. Stevens’ banner hung below the banners from the Stanley Cup teams, engulfed in their considerable shadow. But that’s the Devils — no one’s bigger than the team, not even in immortality.

When the sellout crowd chanted “Scotty Stevens!” in the waning moments of the Devils’ shutout win over Carolina, they were chanting for the man, but they were also chanting for the kind of total team effort New Jersey perfected under his guidance; thankful that once again, the captain had inspired his crew to victory.

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for NY Sports Day and the senior editor for SportsFan Magazine. His book, “Glow Pucks and 10-Cent Beer: The 101 Worst Ideas in Sports History” is available for pre-order on Amazon.com.