New Jersey Devils

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The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in the Continental Airlines Arena of the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL). Originally founded as the Kansas City Scouts in 1974, the team moved to Denver, Colorado two years later and became the Colorado Rockies before moving to its current location in 1982.

After failing to make the playoffs their first six seasons in New Jersey, the Devils made their first playoff appearance in 1987-88. After several early playoff eliminations, as well as losing a seven-game Eastern Conference Final to their archrival New York Rangers in 1993-94, the Devils won their first Stanley Cup in 1994-95, defeating the Detroit Red Wings in four games straight. They have since won two more Stanley Cups, in 1999-00 and 2002-03, as well as making another Finals appearance in 2000-01.

Facts

Founded: 1974-1975 (franchise awarded June 8, 1972)

Logo design: A red NJ monogram styled like a devil's horns and tail outlined in black and sitting on an open black circle

Mascot: NJ Devil

Division Championships: 6 (1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2005-06)

Conference Championships: 4 (1994-95, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03)

Stanley Cup Championships: 3 (1994-95, 1999-00, 2002-03)

Main Rivals: Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators

Franchise history

Logo of the Kansas City Scouts (1974-1976)

The early years: Kansas City and Colorado

In 1974, the National Hockey League finished an eight-year expansion with the addition of teams in the Kansas City and Washington, D.C. areas. The Kansas City team was originally named the Mohawks, which would signify a combination of the Missouri and Kansas areas. However, the Chicago Blackhawks objected, and so the team was instead named the Scouts, after a statue in the city. On October 9, 1974, the Kansas City Scouts took to the ice for the first time in Toronto, Canada, and lost 6-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Due to a rodeo being held in Kemper Arena, the team's normal home ice, the Scouts were forced to wait 9 games before making their home debut. Although they lost that game to the Blackhawks 4-3, they won the next night by beating fellow expansion team Washington Capitals 5-4. Unfortunately, the Scouts failed to make the playoffs in either of their two seasons, and managed to win just 27 games out of a possible 160. For the second season, the team managed to sell only 2,000 of 8,000 season tickets. The Scouts' lack of success on the ice, coupled with financial problems (the team was almost $1 million in debt by the 1975-1976 season) forced them to move to Denver as the Colorado Rockies after only two years. [History of the Kansas City Scouts] on [Sports E-Cyclopedia]. Accessed March 25, 2006.

Logo of the Colorado Rockies (1976-1982)

The Rockies started off better than the Scouts had, winning their first game 4-2 over the Maple Leafs (ironically the team that had beaten the Scouts in their debut). The team picked up momentum, and looked to possibly make the playoffs. However, things collapsed in February, and they finished the 1976-77 season with a record of 20-46-14. The next season marked a high point of sorts for the team; despite finishing with a worse record than the year before, they managed to make the playoffs. Unfortunately, they were summarily finished by the Philadelphia Flyers, losing the series two games to none.

Prior to the 1978-79 NHL season, hints of a Rockies move began to arise. Owner Jack Vickers sold the team to Arthur Imperatore. Imperatore announced that he wished to move the team to the New Jersey Meadowlands. However, the NHL vetoed the move, saying the team would have to remain in Denver until the Meadowlands Arena was finished with construction. In 1979 the team hired Don Cherry as coach, and traded for Maple Leafs forward Lanny McDonald. Neither move was enough to prevent the Rockies from posting the worst record in the NHL. The Rockies continued to play with the possibility of moving for the next two seasons, until they were finally purchased by New Jersey shipping tycoon Dr. John McMullen on May 27, 1982. McMullen announced that the long-rumored move to New Jersey would finally take place. [History of the Colorado Rockies] on [Sports E-Cyclopedia]. Accessed March 25, 2006.

The move appeared to make little sense. The team would be playing right in the middle of the Tri-State Area, home to the three-time defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders and another NHL power, the New York Rangers. McMullen had to compensate the Islanders, Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers for invading their territory as a condition of the move.

New Jersey

1982-1993: Early struggles

1982-1983 New Jersey Devils Official Team Photo

The team was officially renamed the New Jersey Devils on June 30, 1982. Over 10,000 people voted in a contest held by local newspapers, and selected the Devils, a name influenced by the legend of the Jersey Devil, an ominous cryptozoological creature supposed to inhabit the Pine Barrens, although that region is in South Jersey, which was Philadelphia Flyers territory, rather than that of the New York Rangers or Islanders before the Devils arrived, and remains so today.[Kat's Devils Den]. Accessed March 25, 2006.

The team's first game ended in a 3-3 tie to the Pittsburgh Penguins; team captain Don Lever scored the first goal for the "new" team. Its first win came at the expense of its new Hudson River rivals, the New York Rangers, as the Devils won at home 3-2. [Dates in Devils History]. Accessed March 25, 2006. Despite high points during their first season, the team finished with a 17-49-14 record.

The following season marked one of the lowest points in the team's history. On November 13, 1983, the Devils were destroyed by the Edmonton Oilers, 13-4. Wayne Gretzky was upset that former teammate Ron Low played for what he considered an inferior team, and made this comment in a post-game interview:

"Well, it's time they got their act together. They're ruining the whole league. They had better stop running a Mickey Mouse organization and put somebody on ice." [Kat's Devils Den]. Accessed March 25, 2006.

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Meanwhile, the Devils had begun building a nucleus of young players. John MacLean, Kirk Muller, and Pat Verbeek all complemented the veteran leadership of Resch. The Devils’ record improved each season between 1984 and 1988. Part of the reason for the improvement was yet another front-office shakeup, when Providence College coach and athletic director Lou Lamoriello was hired as team president in April of 1987. Lamoriello named himself general manager shortly before the 1987-88 season. This decision appeared to make no sense at the time. Although Lamoriello had been a college coach for 19 years, he had never played, coached or managed in the NHL and was not well-known outside the American college hockey community.

The Devils played solidly throughout the season, garnering the first winning record in the franchise's 13-year history. On the final day of the regular season, the team found themselves tied with their nemesis, the Rangers, for the final playoff spot. After New York defeated the Quebec Nordiques 3-0, all eyes were on the Devils, who were playing the Blackhawks in Chicago. Despite trailing 3-2 midway through the third period, John MacLean tied the game, and with two minutes left in overtime, scored the go-ahead goal, giving New Jersey a win and their first playoff berth. Although the Devils made it to the conference finals, they lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games. The conference final was notable for a confrontation between Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld and referee Don Koharski that resulted in a suspension for Schoenfeld and an appeal to the New Jersey Superior Court.

The following season, the Devils once again fell below .500, and missed the playoffs. However, after the season, Lamoriello made several player changes, the most notable being the signing of two Soviet players, Viacheslav Fetisov and Sergei Starikov, the first Soviet stars to play in the NHL. The Devils had drafted Fetisov years earlier in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, but the Soviet government would not allow Fetisov to leave to America. The Devils later followed by signing Fetisov’s defensive partner, Alexei Kasatonov. All the while, the team continued to show improvement, but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Coaches came and went each season; former Miracle on Ice coach Herb Brooks was brought in for the 1992-93 season, but he fared no better than his predecessors. After Brooks failed to take the team past the first round of the playoffs, he was fired and replaced with former Montreal Canadiens forward Jacques Lemaire, a move that would prove instrumental in the Devils' future success.

1994-2000: Rise to Glory

Despite the setback, the team returned to the Eastern Conference Final during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 NHL season and defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, four games to two. The team went on to win its first-ever Stanley Cup, sweeping the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in four games. The win was accomplished amid rumors that the team would move for the third time in their history. [New Jersey Daily Briefing; Suing Over Meadlowlands Lease], S. Keller

The Devils missed the playoffs the following season '95-96 and failed to live up to expectations throughout the remainder of the 1990s. In 1999-00, however, they reached the top again. Stevens, Holik, Lemieux (who had returned in 1998 after winning another Cup with the Colorado Avalanche), Niedermayer, and Brodeur, all integral parts of the 1995 team, were backed up by new blood that the Devils had acquired in the intervening five years: Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora, Jason Arnott, Alexander Mogilny, and rookies Scott Gomez, Brian Rafalski, and John Madden to name a few. Gomez was awarded Rookie of the Year after the end of the season.

Shortly before winning his second Cup, McMullen sold the team to YankeeNets for $175 million. YankeeNets then owned the New York Yankees and New Jersey Nets. The new owners largely left the Devils in Lamoriello's hands.

2001-present: Perennial contender

From their first Stanley Cup insurgence in 1995 all the way to the present day, the New Jersey Devils have remained easily amongst the best three teams in the NHL, second perhaps only to the Detroit Red Wings in regular and post season success (each club having won 3 Cups during this time period). This was a team Wayne Gretzky had once dubbed a "Mickey Mouse" organization--by the end of the nineties, the Great One had changed his tune and proclaimed the Devils to be the best defensive team the NHL had ever seen. Through a combination of the famed "neutral zone trap" and a player structure which places no premium on any single player (instead regarding team members as a series of interchangeable parts), the Devils have been the model of cost-effective efficiency for all sports organizations.

Gomez, apparently now the post-Gretzky "Assist King", tied 2003-04 Art Ross Trophy winner Martin St. Louis in assists with 56, somehwat a surprise for both of them.

2005-06 season

The Devils also started 2005-2006 without two defensive stalwarts: Scott Niedermayer signed with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and longtime captain Scott Stevens announced his retirement on September 6, 2005. Stevens' jersey, #4, was retired by the Devils on February 3rd, 2006. John Madden, Alexander Mogilny, Brian Rafalski and Colin White were all named alternate captains, but no official captain was named. Once Patrik Elias returned from his bout with Hepatitis A, he was given his position as alternate captain back, and many suspect he will eventually be named the next captain.

The Devils posted an eleven game winning streak to close out the season, beating the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in comeback fashion (after trailing 3-0 in the second period) on the final day of the season. Combined with the then division-leading Rangers ending the season on a 5 game losing streak, the Devils won the Atlantic Division for the sixth time in franchise history. The win was made all the more amazing considering just three weeks prior they were falling out of playoff contention. The comeback to win the Atlantic Division was the greatest in divisional play, as the Devils had trailed first place in the division by 19 points in early January. Also of note during the last game was Brian Gionta setting a new team record for goals in a season with 48; his two goals in the game broke Pat Verbeek's previous record of 46.

On April 29, 2006, the Devils won their first round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the New York Rangers, four games to none, extending their winning streak to fifteen games. The series was marked with strong play and several outstanding performances from goalie Martin Brodeur. The Devils season ended on May 14, 2006 with an Eastern Conference Semi-Final Game 5 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes (who would go on to win the Stanley Cup) by a score of 4-1. By winning Game 4 against the Hurricanes, Martin Brodeur is now in third place for all-time NHL playoff wins.

2006-07 season

Newark Arena

Computer rendition of planned Newark Arena

The Devils are moving to Newark, New Jersey. Construction on the proposed Newark Arena will be completed for 2007-2008 Devils season. The project is costing $310 million and the location is accessible to public transportation at the nearby Newark Penn Station.

Season-by-season record

¹ Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.

² Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

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