I started this blog in October, 2009. That NHL season, the Devils were at the very tail end of a golden era, somehow got the #2 seed in the East, but lost meekly in five games to the Flyers. They did resurrect themselves, largely due to the growth of Zach Parise and the trade for Ilya Kovalchuk, and make a suprise Stanley Cup Finals run in 2012, losing to the Kings in 6 games. Parise left that summer in Free Agency, and Marty Brodeur followed him into retirement soon after, and the team was aimless.
It's weird how little a factor the Devils have been in this blog and on my life the past 11 years. I got all into the 2012 run but even I knew that was largely the end of an era. The weirdness comes from the fact that the pre-blog portion of my life as a sports fan, they were arguably the greatest source of joy. They were my team that had a mini-dynasty, winning titles in 1995, 2000 and 2003 (the last two I remember, with me remembering 2003 in excruciating detail). They always made the playoffs. They had a true all-timer in net, and a few more HOFers sprinkled around. They were consistent contenders. And then it all went to nothing.
I remained a hockey fan - it being my 3rd favorite sport behind football and baseball, this despite the Devils really bringing me nothing. Much like my Astros from 2006-2010, the Devils went through years of being unintentionally bad from 2013-2017. They had a weird oasis in a desert year in 2018, led by Taylor Hall getting the MVP for dragging a wandering slob of a team to the last playoff spot. But then they started intentionally being bad - after being purchased by the same ownership group of the #Process 76ers. It worked. They drafted Nico Heischer #1 overall in 2017 and then Jack Hughes #1 in 2019. They drafted a bunch of other good players, and away we are.
When the Devils played last season, they were the best type of bad team. They lost a shit ton but largely because of unnaturally bad goaltending letting down what was good on-ice play. Injuries hurt as well, mainly to Jack Hughes who quietly had a breakout season when he was on the ice. They did little to really develop in the offseason other than hope & pray the goalies would regress upwards. After an 0-2 start, it didn't look good. The resulting 21-2 stretch thereafter was a sign the Devils are ready to be back in my life.
Watching Jack Hughes become the megastar that his draft hype portended has been great. Seeing Nice Hiescher finally have the team success to warrant love he sohuld've received years ago has been great. Seeing the weird Dougie Hamilton splurge two offseasons ago work has been amazing. Watching them load up to get Timo Meier, a potential rental, was even better - made even better-er by the fact they didn't give up all that much. The fact that last year's top-5 pick Luke Hughes is sitting there dominating at Michigan, ready to be slotted into the blueline is the even best part. The Devils are loaded.
You can call me a bandwagon fan, but I've been a Devils fan for my whole life. I went to games at the old Continental Airlines Arena, experiencing that long trudging walk from the parking lot to the stadium. I've been to the Rock a dozen or so times, loving that the Devils success finally paid off with a beautiful stadium (neighboring location very much excluded), but then lamenting that the team's fall from grace made the building far emptier and hollower than it sohuld be. I'm New Jersey through and through, and after the Nets left us, this is the one true team that New Jersey had. The one that paid the state back with three titles, and is on the run to doing so again.
It's odd that I've very much been through this experience before. A lot of my feelings for this Devils team are a cominbation of the 2015 and 2017 Astros - the final breakthrough after years in the wilderness. The parade of nobodies being slowly replaced by a wave of stars. The lingering doubts of if this is real (more a thing with the 2015 Astros). the worry that they would go all-in too quickly, but instead see them be reasonable with risks and extensions (that Jack Hughes contract is the successor to the old Nathan MacKinnon contract as the "best contract in the league"). The Devils have fulfilled everything.
They may not win the Cup this year, frankly that's very likely. But just like I was with the 2015 Astros, and then the 2017 team (cheating aside), what I really want is back in that race. To feel that moment when Tyrion tells Dany that "you're in the big game now!". The Devils are in that.
Playoff hockey is the greatest, most haunting, dizzying experience in sports, sharing a lot of the exact drama and tension of October baseball. For years I watched playoff hockey like I did October baseball from 2006-2014, loving it but hating that I wasn't invested. Certainly, the first time I felt that pit in my stomach, mostly in the 2017 playoffs when the Astros were stranding runners left and right in the ALCS, I wondered if it was worth it. But the second they pulled it off - and even the years they didn't - I too often remind myself that it certainly is.
I want back in that game. New Jersey wants back in it. They've patiently built a great team, and it has exploded in full force. They've rekindled my own joy for the team which will finally match my joy for the game. If anything, I want the Rangers in the first round, jsut to get all the emotions, all the angst, all the intrigue out of the way immediately. This is what being a hockey fan is all about, wading through the mess and bullshit, until you can finally be wowed by Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton and the rest.
It may never pay back with a Cup, but that's fine. In this one case I've seen my team win Cups. I remember them well. They can keep me happy long into the night. I just want newer memories, newer iterations, of playoff hockey, of loud moments in The Rock, of that whole experience to start adding to my resume.
