Influx of Youth Has Devils Once Again Atop the Atlantic
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

With GM Lou Lamoriello at the helm, the Devils’ world is quite predictable. Once again relying on the All-World goaltending of Martin Brodeur and scoring from a diverse array of forwards, the Devils today find themselves atop the Atlantic Division, tied with the rival Rangers but with two games in hand. There is little doubt that when the playoffs begin in April, New Jersey will be a serious threat to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.
One of the key reasons behind the Devils’ continued excellence is their successful integration of young players into the lineup. First-year head coach Claude Julien (who previously ran the Montreal Canadiens’ bench) has continued that tradition this season, counting heavily upon young forwards Zach Parise and Travis Zajac.
Julien “coaches the ‘Devils’ Way,’ defense first,” Parise said in a recent interview.”But he doesn’t take away from the offensive creativity, he lets you play, and he holds everyone accountable. He’s able to get a lot out of every player.”
The Devils have a reputation as a boring team, with their “stifling defense” the primary complaint presented by fans of less successful competitors. But it’s an unfair assessment, both with regard to the current lineup and in fact most of the rosters they’ve iced dating back to 1993–94. In fact, no NHL team scored more goals in a single season from 1995–96 to 2003–04 than the 2000–01 Devils. This season, the Devils’ offense is quite talent-laden, if also devoid of household names.
“You look at our forwards, we’ve got pretty quick, speedy forwards,” Parise said. “When we don’t have the puck, we play pretty conservatively, but when we do have the puck, we can make plays and generate offense. We’ve been finding ways to win games whether it’s 2–1 or 7–6.”
Of course, having Brodeur as a safety helps a great deal. “There’s no question he’s the best goalie in the game,” Parise said. “Every night, he gives us a chance to win. That’s what you need from a goalie. He’s stolen some games for us already, and looking back at last year, there were a lot of games where he kept us in the whole time and then won the game for us.”
In fact, though the Devils’ accomplishments last season went largely overlooked by the national sports press, it was nothing short of sensational. On New Year’s Day 2006, the Devils had a 16–18–5 record and were 17 points behind the first-place Philadelphia Flyers. But they surged to the finish line, winning their final 11 regular season games and passed the Flyers on the final day to take the Atlantic Division crown.
“It was unbelievable what we did last year,” Parise realized. “We got to a point where we knew we were going to win. This season, we have that same group of guys. We’ve had some tough stretches, but we’re finding ways to win games and we still find ourselves atop the division.”
In looking at the Devils’ roster, one detail stands out beyond all others: The team is comprised predominantly of American-born players. Fourteen of the Devils’ regulars (including the injured Cam Janssen) hail from America, a rarity in a league dominated by Canadians and Europeans. And it’s largely due to the fact that the NCAA — where both Parise and Zajac cut their teeth before coming to the Devils — has evolved into an important source for top hockey talent.
“We’re one of the few teams — probably the only team — with more Americans than Canadians and more collegiate players than Canadian junior players,” Parise agreed. “There’s more than one way to get to the NHL now. College hockey has developed, and is playing more of an NHL-style game. Players are able to make the transition easier today.”
In the weeks leading up to the draft, Parise’s character was unquestioned, but many teams worried about his lack of size. For one prime example, Rangers GM Glen Sather and head coach Tom Renney were enthusiastic about Parise’s potential, but they chose instead to select Hugh Jessiman, a dubious prospect whose NHL future is doubtful at best. To be fair to the Blueshirts, at just 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, Parise might have been pushed around in the pre-lockout NHL. But today, the league is tailor-made for his playmaking ability.
“I came in at the right time,” he agreed. “I heard rumblings where I might go, but I kept slipping and slipping. I think it worked out for the best, coming to an organization that had just won the Cup, getting to play for a team that’s always there in the playoffs with a chance to win.”
In his rookie season last year, Parise played well for stretches, but he was no Calder Trophy candidate, not with the likes of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin scoring at a prolific pace. He finished with 32 points in 81 games, but came back this season determined to shatter that total. Through the Devils’ first 28 games, Parise has scored 20 points, and has emerged as a bona fide top-line forward.
Meanwhile, the Devils have another under-the-radar rookie in Zajac. With 15 points in 26 games, he’s unlikely to beat out Evgeni Malkin or Anze Kopitar for the Calder, but he has been very effective in his own right, taking a regular shift on the second line alongside first-year captain Patrik Elias.
“He looks like he’s been in the league for awhile,” Parise assessed. “He’s definitely transitioned more smoothly than I did. We needed a second line scoring center-man, and he’s jumped in and played really well with Elias. He’s playing with a lot more maturity than people were expecting. There’s no question he’s going to put up points. He’s a big kid, he’s really responsible. He’s a great player.”
But just as on-ice excellence has come to characterize the Lamorielloled Devils, so too have the scores of empty seats at the Continental Airlines Arena.
“It definitely does bother us,” Parise said of the sparse crowds. “The Devils have been one of the most successful organizations over the past 10–12 years. It’s frustrating to come out for a big game and have only 10,000 fans there. But then you go to Montreal, and the rink is packed for warm-ups. Hopefully when we move down to Newark, we’ll have more fans there.”
Sometime next season, the Devils are expecting to move into a new arena in Newark, filled with luxury boxes and all the other amenities present in modern hockey facilities. But only when the excitement surrounding the new building wears off will it be truly possible to determine whether the team has succeeded in expanding its disappointingly small fan base.
“I think some players have said that the fans don’t really come out until the Conference Finals,” Parise noted. “And they expect you to be there, too. Maybe it’s tough to come on a Tuesday night in the middle of the week in November, but at the same time, maybe the fans have been a little spoiled by the successful teams they’ve had here.”
As the Atlanta Braves have experienced, consistent success is not enough to sell tickets to regular season games, or even, early-round playoff games. If the Devils intend to refute the notion that the brand of hockey they play is “boring,”they need to redirect the Metropolitan Area sports fans’ collective attentions to the creative offensive talents of Parise, Elias, and the rest of the their top-notch forwards.
Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.