History of New Jersey Devils

Information about the NHL team New Jersey Devils.

The New Jersey Devils started out as the Kansas City Scouts in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1974, representing the “Show me state”, Missouri. The team was supposed to be called the Mohawks, but the Chicago Black Hawks objected to the relative similarity, so the team was instead called Kansas City Scouts, in reference to a statue that can be found in the city.

In its debut game, the Scouts lost to the Maple Leafs at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The team was so weak and poor that they had a record of winning only 12 games in an entire season. Because of this, their being Kansas City’s Scouts lasted only until 1978, and the team was moved to Denver and became the Colorado Rockies.

Don Cherry became the coach for the 1979-80 season, not staying any further as the team continued to struggle in the league. In 1982, John McMullen, John Whitehead, and Brendan Byrne bought the Rockies and moved them to New Jersey, where the team adapted fans’ voted name, the New Jersey Devils. Hockey fans voted for the team’s new name through local newspapers.

Playing as the New Jersey Devils

In that same year, the Devils bested the Washington Capitals with 3-1, and immediately started an intense rivalry with the New York Rangers. The team, however, failed to make it to the postseason games, landing in 5th place out of 6 teams.

The team suffered yet more losses after that, going back to its struggles in the past cities. The Edmonton Oilers beat the Devils in a match by 13-4, after which, its Oilers star forward Wayne Gretzky referred to the Devils as a "Mickey Mouse operation." A storm of counter-attacks followed between Gretzky and the Devils.

The Devils still showed promise with its newly drafted players, John McLean and Kirk Muller, whose hockey careers were on the way up. In 1987, Lou Lamoriello was hired by the team as general manager, and he led the team to its first ever playoff experience. Lamoriello headed and designed the hockey program of Providence College for about 20 years.

The Devils faced the defending champions, New York Islanders, in their first round, losing to them 4-3 in overtime. But the Devils came back and won over the Islanders in six games. The Devils then defeated the Washington Capitals on the second round, and beat the Boston Bruins in a chaotic third round, with all the commotion, including verbal bouts between game referee Don Koharski and Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld, referee replacements, restraining orders, appeals to the Superior Court, and suspensions from the league. Despite the unexpected success in the playoffs, the Devils again failed to enter the playoffs in the succeeding season.

Building a powerful core

The team began to build a powerful core to its success in the first part of the 1990s. With Jacques Lemaire’s coaching, the Devils landed second in their division and faced off with the Boston Bruins in the first match. With Devils captain Scott Stevens, leader Ken Daneko, Martin Brodeur, and Scott Neidermayer drafted into the team, the Devils defeated the Bruins in five games. The team then proceeded to match up with the Pittsburg Penguins, which had won Stanley Cups back-to-back, but were down in five games to the Devils.

The Devils faced the Philadelphia Flyers next, won in six, and went off for the Stanley Cup final for the first time. Much to the hockey fans’ surprise, the Devils also bested the Detroit Red Wings, bagging their first ever Stanley Cup.

Investing much on their defensive system, the team’s stream of success continued to flow. In 2000, the Devils sacked Robby Ftorek and replaced him with Larry Robinson in the middle of the season. Robinson led the team to defeating the Dallas Stars in six games, thus, bringing home their second Stanley Cup victory.

The team lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup finals the following year, so the team replaced Robinson with Kevin Constantine. But he was also replaced by veteran coach Pat Burns for the 2002-03 season when the Devils got eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes. With Burns’ coaching, the Devils bested the Bruins, the Lightning, and the Senators, off to the Stanley Cup finals to face the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. The Mighty Ducks were defeated and the Devils won their 3rd Stanley Cup championship with a 4-2 win.

However, the team’s success was marred when coach Burns was diagnosed with colon cancer before the start of the playoffs. The disoriented team lost to the Philadelphia Flyers by 4-1. Larry Robinson stepped right in, but the Devils lost two stalwarts: Scott Stevens retired and Scott Niedermayer moved to the Anaheim Ducks. After a couple of months, Robinson stepped down and was replaced by another returnee, Lou Lamoriello. He led the team to the 2nd round in the playoffs, but the Devils still lost to the Carolina Hurricanes. Under Lamoriello’s coaching, the Devils made it to the playoffs in 18 out of the last 20 hockey sesons.

Playing at a new home court

The New Jersey Devils moved to play their home games at the Prudential Center after having been playing at the Continental Airlines Arena for years. It is part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Devils have standing keen rivalries with the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers.

The Devils got their name from the legend of the Jersey Devil, a menacing cryptozoological creature believed to inhabit the Pine Barrens of South Jersey. It was voted for by more than 10,000 people. This same creature also serves as the inspiration for the team’s mascot, "NJ Devil," a seven-foot devil that doesn’t fail in exciting the audience. Before 1993, the mascot was Slapshot, an oversized Devils hockey puck, which the team retired to remove the stigma due to accusations that the mascot allegedly touched three women improperly while wearing the costume. All charges were eventually dropped due to lack of evidence, but it was replaced and no longer used to remove the stigma on the team’s mascot.

Top players

As of the 2007-08 season, the following emerged as the top team scorers: John MacLean, Scott Stevens, Petr Sykora, Kirk Muller, Patrik Elias, Aaron Broten, Scott Gomez, Bobby Holik, Bruce Driver, and Scott Niedermayer.

Brian Gionta has the record of the most goals in one season (2005–06), while Patrik Elias has the most number of points in a season (2000–01).

The new Jersey Devils has had six members of the Hockey Hall of Fame: Viacheslav Fetisov, Peter Stastny, Scott Stevens, Igor Larionov, Herb Brooks, and Mike Emrick. Plus, the team’s game announcer won the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award.

The Devils have retired two jersey numbers: defenseman and captain Scott Stevens’ number 4 and Ken Daneyko's number 3. Stevens spent 13 seasons in a New Jersey Devils uniform, while Daneyko spent 22 seasons.

From its beginnings as one of the worst hockey teams in all of professional hockey and NHL’s history, the Devils pose as an image arising from the quicksand of failure. From having dull reputation among hockey fans, the Devils eventually garnered its own huge fan base, with its attacks and wins and by taking opponents by surprise.