NJD fans who remember- the early 90s Devils between their 1988 and 1994 playoff runs

Devils Dominion

Now we Plummet
Feb 16, 2007
48,509
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NJ
I still think they probably win if they can just get to the 3rd 2-0. The Rags had taken back momentum but if the Devils could regroup up 2 at intermission it would've been different. That Kovalev goal really planted some seeds of doubt

Also on a positive note if you look at the arena that was really one of the last times it was about 50/50 in fans. Rags fans like to crow about taking over the Rock today, more Rangers than Devils fans BRAH. That is all BS and has been for decades. Other than maybe Game 5 2008 the Rags have never for any single game outnumbered Devils fans at a Devils home games. The Messier game may have been the last time it was even 50/50

May 11 1997
Rags had at least 60% of the crowd.

Graves wraparound OT series clinching goal vs Marty was truly an awful experience for Devils fans there.

Rags fans were jumping all over the place inside and out getting in Devils fans faces.

It was a disgrace.
 

Sir Fenwick Corsi

NJ Lottery PICK-3
Dec 29, 2010
8,424
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New York
May 11 1997
Rags had at least 60% of the crowd.

Graves wraparound OT series clinching goal vs Marty was truly an awful experience for Devils fans there.

Rags fans were jumping all over the place inside and out getting in Devils fans faces.

It was a disgrace.

That was one of the most awful playoff series I've ever witnessed. Right up there with 08, but that 97 team should have been a legitimate contender that year which made it way more disappointing. How many goals did they lose to that stupid crease rule? And who could forget Messier delivering a two handed crosscheck to Gilmour's face while he was down on the ice. Neither the referee or the team did anything about it. Only bright spot to that series was Andreychuk coming back for the last game on one leg in an effort to spark the team. Was a huge loss for the team when he got hurt at the end of the season that year.
 

blood gin

Registered User
Jan 17, 2017
4,174
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Someone get in touch with Kevin Smith and his cronies. They probably have some fun NJ hockey stories to tell.

Don't really feel like making the trip to LA Cedars-Sinai Cardiac wing just for a few Devils stories
 

BenedictGomez

Corsi is GROSSLY overrated
Oct 11, 2007
40,436
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PRNJ
Watching Patrik Sundstrom set a playoff record with 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists, 10-4 over the Caps) was ****ing insane, first time I threw my hat on the ice for a hat trick.

I was at a friends' house who didn't have SportsChannel & had to listen to that on the radio!*



*For young'uns - back in the day you had to pay for a premium channel to watch Devils games on TV.
 

JimEIV

Registered User
Feb 19, 2003
65,688
27,889
I still miss the old barn. I loved the parking lot. I loved going to the diner after the game. I love catching the last race or two after the game. I loved the sight lines, I loved the tiny concourses. I miss score-o. I miss turning to a certain page in the program to find an autograph. I miss the parking lot parades. I miss all the winning mostly.
 
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Devils Dominion

Now we Plummet
Feb 16, 2007
48,509
3,716
NJ
I was at a friends' house who didn't have SportsChannel & had to listen to that on the radio!*



*For young'uns - back in the day you had to pay for a premium channel to watch Devils games on TV.

Meanwhile Rags games were free on basic cable while Devils and NYi fans had to pay $19.99 a month.
 
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Nubmer6

Sleep is a poor substitute for caffeine
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Jul 14, 2013
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I was at a friends' house who didn't have SportsChannel & had to listen to that on the radio!*

*For young'uns - back in the day you had to pay for a premium channel to watch Devils games on TV.
Oh... I can one-up you...
Do you remember the EARLY days of the Devils? They were playing on Channel 13 PBS. It would be on tape delay, and you'd be watching a game and it would suddenly jump a few minutes ahead because they edited out the fights
 

MartyOwns

thank you shero
Apr 1, 2007
24,127
17,827
I was at a friends' house who didn't have SportsChannel & had to listen to that on the radio!*



*For young'uns - back in the day you had to pay for a premium channel to watch Devils games on TV.

or you could do what i did, which was watch the game scrambled until your parents caved and ordered it
 
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Devils Dominion

Now we Plummet
Feb 16, 2007
48,509
3,716
NJ
Oh... I can one-up you...
Do you remember the EARLY days of the Devils? They were playing on Channel 13 PBS. It would be on tape delay, and you'd be watching a game and it would suddenly jump a few minutes ahead because they edited out the fights

Yep, some Devils away games were on NJN and Channel 9
 
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BenedictGomez

Corsi is GROSSLY overrated
Oct 11, 2007
40,436
7,745
PRNJ
I miss score-o.

They brought Score-O to The Rock for the first 2 seasons. I have no idea why it was axed, it was one of only 2 between period activities I've ever enjoyed (the other been mites hockey).

They had an uncanny ability to repeatedly pick people who'd obviously never even held a hockey stick before, much less play hockey.


Meanwhile Rags games were free on basic cable while Devils and NYi fans had to pay $19.99 a month.

I believe we paid $14.95 for SportsChannel, and I think it lowered eventually to $10.95, but it's been so many years I'm probably mis-remembering.

Oh... I can one-up you...
Do you remember the EARLY days of the Devils? They were playing on Channel 13 PBS. It would be on tape delay, and you'd be watching a game and it would suddenly jump a few minutes ahead because they edited out the fights

I recall some limited Devils games being on regular TV, but I cant recall the channel. Dont recall they editing out fighting either, but it sounds like an incredibly PBS thing to do.
 

JK3

Go Easy-Step Lightly-Stay Free
Nov 15, 2007
19,751
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Ice Station Zebra
Years before the playoffs but the bench clearing brawl against the Minnesota North Stars was fun to see as a kid in person lol. Ron Low just attacked someone at the end of the period, crazy shit you don't see anymore.

 

Wingman77

Registered User
Mar 16, 2010
20,251
765
Watched this a few years ago but a cool video of the first 10 years of the history of the team



Here are highlights from the 87-88 season

 

blood gin

Registered User
Jan 17, 2017
4,174
2,203
I still miss the old barn. I loved the parking lot. I loved going to the diner after the game. I love catching the last race or two after the game. I loved the sight lines, I loved the tiny concourses. I miss score-o. I miss turning to a certain page in the program to find an autograph. I miss the parking lot parades. I miss all the winning mostly.

To watch a hockey game it was a fine building. Great sightlines, not cramped. Plenty of parking. No issues with lighting. Ice was pretty good for a multi use building

It was way too big though. 19,040 is crazy. That place should've held 17,000 for hockey, no more.
 

c9777666

Registered User
Aug 31, 2016
19,892
5,875
Semak and Kevin Todd .Two of my favorite flashes in the pan.

But at least Semak (and Ben Hankinson ) brought us Shawn Chambers who was huge in the 95 playoffs

Those two looked like they were going to be the answer to our center problems... We seemed to have center depth problems from the beginning all the way to 1999 in NJ.

Just curious, but what did Todd bring them in exchange when they traded him?
 

JimEIV

Registered User
Feb 19, 2003
65,688
27,889
Just curious, but what did Todd bring them in exchange when they traded him?
It was a huge trade. Zedano Cigar and Todd for Bernie Nicholls from Edmonton. We been fleecing them for ages :)
 

billingtons ghost

Registered User
Nov 29, 2010
10,507
6,747
I'm going to have to come back and read this thread end to end - but I'm the same age as Jim, so my recollections are about the same being an 18 year old in '88.

The thing that stood out to me is that you really never got much of a feeling of progress early on - certainly '88 was a quantum leap forward and we became a middling team instead of a doormat, but the coach juggling, the contract issues and uncertainty around Burke and Muller and Shanny, and also the general feeling that we had lots of odd bits and pieces that didn't necessarily fit nor wanted to be there in particular made it tough as a fan.

It wasn't clear that Lou was a genius, because he was an unknown quantity to the general populace, and it just seemed he was excessively tight-fisted and/or unreasonable.

We added good players - Fetisov/Kasatanov - but those guys were trying to play the 5-man game that you see from today's defensemen, and the fact that they did things differently certainly didn't mesh with the rest of the team. There seemed to be multiple 'teams' and lots of mismatched pieces.
You had guys like Bernie Nichols, Phil Housley - who were supposed to be 'great' players but were never really adopted by the fans because they didn't seem to want to be there, and their performance didn't measure up to who they thought they were.

There was a distinct buzz about certain players from time to time - fan favorites: Crowder and his fights, Ysebaert, Cigar, Kevin Todd -etc - who would have good seasons and then disappear or get dealt.

You had a group of old-guard guys playing their hearts out - MacLean (although he got big for his britches), Dano, Driver, Brown - that was the core -
and you started phasing out the old guard - Verbeek, Conacher, Stastny, Boschman etc... that you knew weren't 'the future'.

You started adding guys like Weinrich, Semak, Albelin, Terreri, Billington, - role players that you thought would be a nice secondary base on a good team - guys that could hold down a spot and not hurt you.

Then, it all changed with trades. I'd say getting Lemieux and Richer suddenly made us dangerous when we really didn't have the feeling of a very dangerous team. The feeling there was the same as when Kovalchuk (grrr) made us dangerous at any time. But you knew you were getting 'characters' as well.
Then Holik was a big add - suddenly you had a REALLY good 4th liner who would win faceoffs, hit people and score - and character.
Randy McKay was a big add as well - another underrated heart guy.

Lou's draft picks started filtering in - Nieder (who was terribly scary Zidlicky style early on) Guerin, Zelepukin, Dowd... proved we could draft effectively and that there was help coming to fill out the lineup.

It still didn't seem like we were going anywhere in particular - we seemed to be doomed to be a 'bubble' team going forward - good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to make any noise.

Getting awarded Stevens changed everything, as his nickname 'Dad' really said it all. It seemed like the team was forced to become a team under him. Suddenly things got real for everyone up and down the lineup - even Richer would get his lights put out coming over the middle in practice, so his game needed to go up a level.

That said - Stevens still hadn't completely bought in that we could win. I think Marty showing up gave him real hope for the first time.

Everything went up a level with Jacques and his system. We could now play a system and win a game and it was like bringing order to chaos.

Clearly, the 94 playoffs was the spot we turned the corner. Much like earlier in this year, we were a team that really didn't get any respect whatsoever, and it seemed like the refs were against us - particularly when facing the Rangers. EVERY call seemed to go against us and the ice was lopsided. That playoff run taught us

What is more (MOST) important was our reaction to those calls - and how our team matured. Guys like Dano who never held back when getting a whack on the calf was now being strategic about not getting penalties. Stevens who could always be counted on Owen Nolan style to be taken out of his game by reacting to any over-the-line play, was now the initiator and was no longer taking bad penalties. That Rangers series might have gone differently had we had poise - but what was really important is that the entire team learned poise after being goaded by Messier, Graves et al - guys who had won in Edmonton. That 93-94 series broke my heart, and 'til this day I cannot get across the hatred that revolved around every water-cooler that spring. Being outnumbered in our own building - Fights in the cattle chute, fights in the parking lot, fights in stairwells. It was truly unbelievable and I'll never see that level of fan rivalry again because you had a whole young fanbase in their early 20s on the Devils side against a bunch of ***hats that always took over our building.

We were ready that next year to take the next step and always initiate play and control play.
Adding Carpenter stepped us up another level, more character, more potential scoring, more defense...
and then it seemed like Broten (the next year) was the last piece of the puzzle - along with help from Brylin and Rolston.

And I'll end by just saying that the '95 team was a machine. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that if we got up by a goal we were going to win. We were so tough at counter-attacking and so solid from top to bottom. Haven't felt that before nor since - even in 2000 or 2003 or 2004 and certainly not in 2012.
 
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billingtons ghost

Registered User
Nov 29, 2010
10,507
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To watch a hockey game it was a fine building. Great sightlines, not cramped. Plenty of parking. No issues with lighting. Ice was pretty good for a multi use building

It was way too big though. 19,040 is crazy. That place should've held 17,000 for hockey, no more.

It was tomblike atmosphere, though - I think our current sense of fan insecurity stems from having that stupid trumpet player making noise in that quiet quiet building. It just seemed so hokey from a fan experience standpoint for so many years until we really started winning and getting some bandwagon fans.

Building felt REALLY loud and REALLY small in 94, 95 though.
 

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