Founded: 1974
Formerly known as: Kansas City Scouts (1974-1976), Colorado Rockies (1976-1982)
Arena: Continental Airlines Arena
Stanley Cups: 3
1995, 2000, 2003
2008-09 Devils Preview:
(See below for the team ranking from last season)
Drafted and developed by New Jersey, Brian Rolston is a walking billboard for Devils hockey: plays an all-around game, thinks defense first, kills penalties, wins faceoffs. He'll score a pile of points too, if asked. Reacquired as a free agent from Minnesota, Rolston takes over as the team’s top centerman and will likely play the point on the power play.
Checking center Bobby Holik is back in the fold as well, at age 37. The two prodigal sons will be expected to stabilize a group of "name" forwards - Elias, Ginota, Zajac, Langenbrunner - that didn't get the job done last year (26th in league scoring). Only Zach Parise, with 65 points, managed a career season.
The defense has only one big name. But Martin Brodeur is one of the biggest names of them all, which helps explain why Jersey finished 4th in the league in goals against last year. But Brodeur is 36 years old, so trotting him out for 70 games a year is getting to be a risky proposition.
As long as Brodeur mans the net and forwards like Holik and John Madden are on the back check, the defense can manage with steady and unspectacular guys like Paul Martin and Colin White Just don’t expect a ton of points.
There’s a fine line between balanced scoring and not enough scoring, and the Devils are walking it again. They'll be very much in the mix in a tight Eastern Conference, but New Jersey looks like a team stuck between generations.
What the New Jersey Devils did in 2007-08
NHL rankings in each category are noted in brackets
2007-08 Regular Season Record:
Team Statistics
Team Leaders
Goaltenders
Martin Brodeur: 77 games, 44-27-6
2.17 GAA (5th in NHL), .920 SV PCT (T-6th), 4 SO (T-9th)*
Kevin Weekes: 9 games, 2-2-1
2.97 GAA, .894 SV PCT, 0 SO
*goaltending rankings among those with at least 25 games played.
