Confirmed with Link: Patrik Elias Night, Saturday 2/24/18 vs. NYI

[Bleedred]

I can only afford one trip to Jersey per year, which I'm taking on this Friday night for a week, and then straight to Denver for a week after that! That's my annual 2 week/16 day vacation every August. I came for Marty night and literally was there for 24 hours and went right back. That's the only game I've seen at The Rock since 2012.

I'll scrape by to attend this one.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I didn't get to see Stevens or Dano's in person, Nieds' was a cool experience as it was the first time I saw a retirement ceremony.

I really lucked out for Marty night in my buddy's dad got 4 tickets from work maybe 2 days before the game. That one was emotional because Marty was a staple of my childhood and is, in my opinion, the greatest player to don the red and black.

But this one is going to be special for a number of reasons. There's such an attachment to Patty because of the manner in which he carried himself. Completely humble off the ice, and yet, a silent assassin on the ice. His compete level is rather unheralded in my opinion. I think a lot of it is because it largely came from his hockey sense being second to none. It wasn't overly aggressive or necessarily flashy, but he was by far the smartest hockey player that I think I've witnessed on my team in my lifetime.

Despite that calmness on the ice, he's always shown his emotions beyond the game. Breaking out Sykora's jersey after winning the cup in 2000, bawling his eyes out during Stevens' retirement, his last game in 2016 and last lap this year. It's a major reason that he's a fan favorite here and a major reason I'll be bawling myself. An incredible human being in every sense.

 

[Patrik26]

I didn't get to see Stevens or Dano's in person, Nieds' was a cool experience as it was the first time I saw a retirement ceremony.

I really lucked out for Marty night in my buddy's dad got 4 tickets from work maybe 2 days before the game. That one was emotional because Marty was a staple of my childhood and is, in my opinion, the greatest player to don the red and black.

But this one is going to be special for a number of reasons. There's such an attachment to Patty because of the manner in which he carried himself. Completely humble off the ice, and yet, a silent assassin on the ice. His compete level is rather unheralded in my opinion. I think a lot of it is because it largely came from his hockey sense being second to none. It wasn't overly aggressive or necessarily flashy, but he was by far the smartest hockey player that I think I've witnessed on my team in my lifetime.

Despite that calmness on the ice, he's always shown his emotions beyond the game. Breaking out Sykora's jersey after winning the cup in 2000, bawling his eyes out during Stevens' retirement, his last game in 2016 and last lap this year. It's a major reason that he's a fan favorite here and a major reason I'll be bawling myself. An incredible human being in every sense.

Thought given your avatar and the above you might like this.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

I didn't get to see Stevens or Dano's in person, Nieds' was a cool experience as it was the first time I saw a retirement ceremony.

I really lucked out for Marty night in my buddy's dad got 4 tickets from work maybe 2 days before the game. That one was emotional because Marty was a staple of my childhood and is, in my opinion, the greatest player to don the red and black.

But this one is going to be special for a number of reasons. There's such an attachment to Patty because of the manner in which he carried himself. Completely humble off the ice, and yet, a silent assassin on the ice. His compete level is rather unheralded in my opinion. I think a lot of it is because it largely came from his hockey sense being second to none. It wasn't overly aggressive or necessarily flashy, but he was by far the smartest hockey player that I think I've witnessed on my team in my lifetime.

Despite that calmness on the ice, he's always shown his emotions beyond the game. Breaking out Sykora's jersey after winning the cup in 2000, bawling his eyes out during Stevens' retirement, his last game in 2016 and last lap this year. It's a major reason that he's a fan favorite here and a major reason I'll be bawling myself. An incredible human being in every sense.

Is there a video of this happening ?

 

[Better Call Sal]

Is there a video of this happening ?

Around the 5:30 mark.

The whole ceremony is uploaded in 4 parts for those who would like to relive it. Only one I cannot find on YT is Dano's.

 

[Patrik26]

Around the 5:30 mark.

The whole ceremony is uploaded in 4 parts for those who would like to relive it. Only one I cannot find on YT is Dano's.

Yeah. I'm going to be a mess for Patty's night.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Thought given your avatar and the above you might like this.

Love it!

 

[JrFischer54]

this is a pretty interesting date the devils picked but i didn't see anyone concerned about it.


what happens if it snows? guess they could reschedule the game if its that bad?

what if its just bad enough to travel but not bad enough to cancel? yeah i know its a long shot but still anything can happen.


what would they end up doing?

 

[MartyOwns]

this is a pretty interesting date the devils picked but i didn't see anyone concerned about it.


what happens if it snows? guess they could reschedule the game if its that bad?

what if its just bad enough to travel but not bad enough to cancel? yeah i know its a long shot but still anything can happen.


what would they end up doing?

probably just cross that bridge when we come to it

 

[Satans Hockey]

this is a pretty interesting date the devils picked but i didn't see anyone concerned about it.


what happens if it snows? guess they could reschedule the game if its that bad?

what if its just bad enough to travel but not bad enough to cancel? yeah i know its a long shot but still anything can happen.


what would they end up doing?

It's so rare that games get postponed due to snow, not worth even worrying about.

 

[New Jersey]

It's so rare that games get postponed due to snow, not worth even worrying about.

it's happened, what, like twice since the rock opened? if not only once? it'll probably be fine. we've already had games that we're announced at like 5,500 in newark because of snow.

watch it be like the metlife super bowl and a surprise 55 degree day and not a cloud in the sky because the hockey gods love patty.

 

[Bleedred]

Quite a few of these jersey retirements that we've done have been in February. I'm pretty sure the Scott Stevens one was in February back in 06, Marty's was in February of 2016, Niedermayer's was right before Christmas time. I think Dano's might have been in March. It was like a month after the Scott Stevens one.

 

[NJDevs26]

It's so rare that games get postponed due to snow, not worth even worrying about.

It probably won't be postponed, but it could conceviably be another mess like the post-Christmas Toronto fiasco in 2010 where nobody's there and it's a hazard for people to travel but they have the game cause everyone's in town.

But like others have said, let's worry about that the week before the game. Useless speculating on a doomsday hypothetical.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

Hockey is a winter sport, and it snows during winter, so inclement weather is a risk for most of the season. The only way to truly avoid any potential for snow incidents in NJ would be to limit ceremonies to October, November, and April, but that seems like an unfair restriction on the team and players getting numbers retired. This is something that will probably only be re-scheduled in the event of an apocalyptic type blizzard, which is something we worry about a few days before the event, not months before in the dog days of summer. Smile, folks, Patty's number is being retired.

 

[None Shall Pass]

It probably won't be postponed, but it could conceviably be another mess like the post-Christmas Toronto fiasco in 2010 where nobody's there and it's a hazard for people to travel but they have the game cause everyone's in town.

But like others have said, let's worry about that the week before the game. Useless speculating on a doomsday hypothetical.

I love those games; buy the cheap seats, get moved down to the lower bowl in the 2nd period

 

[johnny pierogi]

I've always wanted to have a photo of Patty wearing Sykora's jersey backwards framed up for my wall. I loved that moment. Probably one of the best in Devils history (aside from winning the cup the same night of course).

Does anyone have any high quality photos of that they'd like to send me? I've searched Google for something in real good quality but my efforts have been generally fruitless.

 

[BenedictGomez]

it's happened, what, like twice since the rock opened? if not only once?

I don't believe it's happened. I was at a game maybe 7 years ago when there was almost nobody there. I think it was 90% people accessible to subway & train who were able to make it, as it was pounding snow and windy outside. Forget what the announced attendance was, but it was lower than that, doubt there was more than 2,500 actual people in the building at most. Probably fewer.

I sat immediately in the first section next to clubs, and at the end of the 1st (I think?) they announced everyone in the mezz and upper level could move down to the lower bowl since the entire Rock was a ghost town. Funniest thing was the look of sheer DISGUST on the face of this mid-50s'ish looking woman in the Club seats that the "rif-raf" were so close they were almost TOUCHING her! Then there was the RUN (and I do mean run) on the free food & bevy in the Fire/Ice lounges. It was hysterical. Reminded me of the pool party scene in Caddyshack when the caddies invade the private pool.

 

[Patrik26]

I don't believe it's happened. I was at a game maybe 7 years ago when there was almost nobody there. I think it was 90% people accessible to subway & train who were able to make it, as it was pounding snow and windy outside. Forget what the announced attendance was, but it was lower than that, doubt there was more than 2,500 actual people in the building at most. Probably fewer.

I sat immediately in the first section next to clubs, and at the end of the 1st (I think?) they announced everyone in the mezz and upper level could move down to the lower bowl since the entire Rock was a ghost town. Funniest thing was the look of sheer DISGUST on the face of this mid-50s'ish looking woman in the Club seats that the "rif-raf" were so close they were almost TOUCHING her! Then there was the RUN (and I do mean run) on the free food & bevy in the Fire/Ice lounges. It was hysterical. Reminded me of the pool party scene in Caddyshack when the caddies invade the private pool.

Actually, it happened this past season vs Winnipeg. March 14th game was postponed and played March 28.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/03/14/new-jersey-devils-nhl-jets-devils-postponed/

 

[BenedictGomez]

Actually, it happened this past season vs Winnipeg. March 14th game was postponed and played March 28.

OH yeah, I forgot about that. Probably because if it's the one I'm thinking about, that storm turned out to be a nothingburger. The forecast where I was was for 24" - 28", and I wound up with about 2" or 3".

 

[Brick City]

OH yeah, I forgot about that. Probably because if it's the one I'm thinking about, that storm turned out to be a nothingburger. The forecast where I was was for 24" - 28", and I wound up with about 2" or 3".

Ugh I was PO'd when they blew that forecast.

 

[None Shall Pass]

Ugh I was PO'd when they blew that forecast.

Haha, I think everyone was. The TaN was ripe with speculation and updates. I was the only one fine with it because I had a flight to Ireland and didn't want to risk it:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=2165833&page=26

 

[Its a Trap]

Honestly, there's no need to cancel the game. If you don't want to risk a drive into Newark in the snow, take the train. It snowed hard all day that game we lost in OT to Edmonton but the trains were packed and the arena was quite full.

 

[NJDevs26]

Well mass transit or not the game against Toronto in 2010 SHOULD have been canceled for one, Elias and Zajac were sleeping in Zajac's car all night cause they were stuck on the road. Mass transit isn't a salve when you still have to drive to get to the train station and there's no guarantee the trains won't get screwed up in case of a bad storm.

 

[Its a Trap]

Well mass transit or not the game against Toronto in 2010 SHOULD have been canceled for one, Elias and Zajac were sleeping in Zajac's car all night cause they were stuck on the road. Mass transit isn't a salve when you still have to drive to get to the train station and there's no guarantee the trains won't get screwed up in case of a bad storm.

It's a considerably shorter drive, though. And I do recall that Toronto game, they announced in the arena that NJT was shutting down service in an hour which resulted in most of the crowd that was there leaving.

 

[Blackjack]

well understandably so, it was his team for how long? and then all of a sudden they go and bring in your replacement which you recognize and they don't even tell you that they are doing it.. I think anyone would be a little sour over that.

Remember how salty Elias got when guys like Parise, Gionta, and Kovalchuk were getting all the attention?

Neither do I. To me, Marty always had an ego. It's why he played so many regular season games, so he could set the win records. Its why he lost weight and injured himself when Sean Avery called him fat.

I mean, he was 41 friggen years old when they traded for Schneider, what the christ were the Devils supposed to do?

Meanwhile, Elias never complained about his linemates, ice time, or power play opportunities. He didn't complain when the Devils failed to get him help up front, and he didn't complain when other forwards were given bigger roles. All he did was go out there and score his ppg with absolutely absurd consistency while playing Selke level defense. He had a Sergei Fedorov career but never played with HOF linemates like Fedorov did.