Sports | Lightning

Web exclusive: A look at the Devils

By AARON GREENFIELD
Published April 12, 2007

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Introducing: The New Jersey Devils

Web site: newjerseydevils.com.

Previous incarnations: Kansas City Scouts (1974-75 to 1975-76); Colorado Rockies (1976-77 to 1981-82).

First season: 1974. The Scouts joined the league with the Capitals, giving the NHL 18 teams. Debt and small attendance spurred a move to Denver. Before the 1978-79 season, the team was sold to a buyer intent of moving it to New Jersey. After wrangling between the team and league, it finally happened after the 1981-82 season.

Home: This marks the final season at Continental Airlines Arena (called Brendan Byrne Arena until 1996). An arena in Newark is scheduled to open in the fall.

All-time leaders: Goals - John MacLean, 347. Assists - Scott Niedemayer, 364. Points - MacLean, 701. Games - Ken Daneyko, 1,283. Wins - Martin Brodeur, 494. Shutouts - Brodeur, 92.

Retired numbers: 3 (Daneyko), 4 (Scott Stevens).

Best legend: The New Jersey Devil traces back about 250 years, and the story goes something like this: Mrs. Leeds, a farm woman from the Pine Barrens region of South Jersey, had 12 children. When she found out a 13th was on the way, she is said to have exclaimed: "Let it be a devil." Many considered Mrs. Leeds a witch and when the child was born in 1735, fierce thunderstorms hit the area. The offspring is said to have been a demonic creature that was reported to have the features of a bat, snake and kangaroo as well as man. Legend has it that it quickly flew out an open window and has created havoc and destruction throughout the state since.

Best arbitrator's decision: In 1991, Brendan Shanahan was emerging as a star. He also was a free agent. The Blues signed him, but the collective bargaining agreement required the Devils be compensated. The teams could not agree on a deal, so it went before an arbitrator, Edward Houston. Houston shocked the Blues, and most of the league, by awarding the Devils defenseman Scott Stevens, for whom the Blues had given up five first-round draft picks to sign as a free agent. "It is just not fair, and they can't possibly say it is fair," Wayne Gretzky said. Stevens first said he would refuse to report. But his holdout ended after a week. And Stevens lifted the Stanley Cup three times for the Devils.

Best unintended consequence of an arbitrator's decision: During negotiations, the Blues offered the Devils center Rod Brind'Amour and a 24-year-old goalie named Curtis Joseph. Joseph, now with the Red Wings, went on to become a star. Had he gone to New Jersey, the world might not have known the 20th overall pick in the 1990 draft. Some guy named Brodeur.

Best reason to hate the team: This is besides the fact many believe the Devils ruined hockey by introducing the neutral zone trap. The franchise, while in Denver, was the first to play Gary Glitter's Rock and Roll Part 2 after a goal. Unfamiliar with the song by the 1970s pop idol? You probably know it better as the song in which the crowd shouts "Hey!" every five seconds.

Best playoff quote: "Have another doughnut, you fat pig." On May 6, 1988, the Bruins defeated the Devils 6-1 to take a 2-1 series lead in the conference final. Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld, to put it mildly, was not happy with referee Don Koharski. After the game, Schoenfeld waited for Koharski to leave the ice and got into a shouting match with him, culminating with the famous quote. But wait. It gets better. The NHL suspended Schoenfeld for Game 4. The Devils responded by obtaining a restraining order allowing Schoenfeld to coach. When the officials for Game 4 saw him behind the bench, they returned to their locker room, refusing to work. After a 67-minute delay, the game finally started with amateur officials in yellow jackets. Thankfully for the amateurs, the players helped, breaking up fights themselves and rarely playing the chippy hockey that had marked the series. Oh yeah, the Devils won the game 3-1 but lost Game 7, 6-2.

Most awkward playoff run: Throughout the spring of 1995, rumors had the Devils moving to Nashville. Even as they held the Bruins to five goals in five games in the first round and the Penguins to eight in five games in the conference semifinals, a dispute over their arena lease loomed. Would the Devils win the Stanley Cup then leave town? New Jersey beat the Flyers in six games then stunned the hockey world by sweeping the Red Wings for their first Stanley Cup. Finally, a few days after winning the Cup, the team reached a new lease agreement. As backup goalie Chris Terreri's sign said, "Nashville No Way!" Two years later, Nashville was awarded an expansion team.

Previous most awkward coaching change: The Devils fired Claude Julien with three games left in the season. But it's not their first late firing. On March 23, 2000, the Devils had lost 10 of 16 but still held the top spot in the East. Everything seemed fine, right? Wrong! General manager Lou Lamoriello fired coach Robbie Ftorek with eight games left in the regular season and replaced him with assistant Larry Robinson. "I did not see light at the end of the tunnel," Lamoriello said. Robinson went 4-4 down the stretch. But he must have done something right because the Devils went on a roll in the playoffs, defeating the Panthers, Maple Leafs and Flyers (coming back from down three games to one) to reach the final. There, Jason Arnott's goal in the second overtime of Game 6 against Dallas gave New Jersey its second Stanley Cup.

Most embarrassing moment: The Devils entered play April 13, 1996, the season after winning the Cup, ninth in the East. They lost 5-2 to Ottawa on the last day of the regular season, giving the Lightning the final playoff spot and becoming the second Stanley Cup champion to miss the playoffs the next season.

Most embarassing moment II: The Devils weren't always perennial Stanley Cup contenders. In fact, they really stunk during the early years in New Jersey. Rock bottom might have been reached on Nov. 19, 1984, when they lost 13-4 at Edmonton to fall to 2-18. Gretzky and Willy Lindstrom scored three goals, and Jari Kurri scored five. After the game, Gretzky ripped into the franchise. "They're putting a Mickey Mouse operation on the ice," he said. "It's ruining hockey." Not sure who was insulted more, the Devils or Mickey.

[Last modified April 14, 2007, 17:17:24]