New Jersey Devils

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The New Jersey Devils (NJD) are a National Hockey League team based in the Continental Airlines Arena of the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Founded: 1974-1975 (franchise awarded June 8, 1972)

Formerly Known As: Kansas City Scouts (1974–1976), Colorado Rockies (1976–1982)

Arena: Continental Airlines Arena (capacity 19,040), known as the Brendan Byrne Arena until 1996.

Uniform colors: Red, White, and Black

Logo design: A red NJ monogram styled like a devil's horns and tail outlined in black and sitting on an open black circle

Mascot: NJ Devil

Stanley Cup Finals Appearances: [3 won, 1 lost] - 1995 (won), 2000 (won), 2001 (lost), 2003 (won)

Main Rivals: New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers

Franchise history

Kansas City and Colorado

On October 9, 1974, the Kansas City Scouts took to the ice for the first time in Kansas City, Missouri, losing 6-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team played its home games in Kemper Arena. The Scouts failed to make the playoffs in either of their two seasons, and managed to win just 27 games total. The team sold only 2,000 season tickets (out of 8,000) for its second season. The Scouts' lack of success on the ice, coupled with financial problems (the team was almost $1 million in debt by the 1975-1976 season) forced them to move to Denver, Colorado after only two years.

Playing in Denver as the Colorado Rockies they still failed to attract fans, and in their six-year stay they only made the playoffs once. Not even the hiring of popular, flamboyant coach Don Cherry could save the Rockies. Cherry was one of seven coaches the team employed over six seasons. The team changed ownership twice, finally being purchased by Dr. John McMullen on May 27, 1982. McMullen made the long-rumored move from Denver to New Jersey a reality, relocating the franchise for a second time to the new Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey in 1982.

New Jersey

The team was officially renamed the New Jersey Devils on June 29, 1982, a name influenced by the legend of the Jersey Devil, an ominous cryptozoological creature supposed to inhabit the Pine Barrens. Even though the team moved to New Jersey, the Devils didn't fare much better than their predecessors, finishing with a losing record in their first five seasons. The Devils changed this trend during the 1987-88 NHL season, where the team finished with a winning record and a Cinderella run to the Wales Conference Final, where they lost to the Boston Bruins. 1987 was also significant because the Devils hired Lou Lamoriello as team President in April, then named him President/General Manager before the start of the 1987-88 NHL season. With his astute business sense and keen ability to spot hockey talent, Lamoriello would become the architect of the Devils championship teams. Lamoriello also changed the face of the NHL when he helped Viacheslav Fetisov (who is considered one of the best defensemen to ever play the game) and Segei Starikov leave the U.S.S.R. to become two of the first Soviet-born players to play in the NHL.

Between 1990 and 1993, the Devils made the playoffs each year, only to bow out in the first round each time. In 1994, the Devils started gaining respectability in NHL circles. A team headlined by defensemen Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer; Claude Lemieux, Bobby Holik, Valeri Zelepukin, Stephane Richer and John MacLean on offense; and goaltenders Martin Brodeur and Chris Terreri steamrolled through the regular season, finishing with the league's second-best record and the franchise's first 100-point season. The Devils took the New York Rangers, the only team with a better record during the regular season, to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals before losing the seventh game in double overtime. The Rangers went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Despite the setback, the team returned to the Eastern Conference Final during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 NHL season and defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, four games to two. The team went on to win its first-ever Stanley Cup, sweeping the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in four games.

The Devils missed the playoffs following the 1996 season and failed to live up to expectations throughout the remainder of the 1990s. In 1999-00, however, they reached the top again. Stevens, Holik, Lemieux, Niedermayer, and Brodeur, all integral parts of the 1995 team, won their second Cup rings, but they were backed up by new blood that the Devils had acquired in the intervening five years: Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora, Jason Arnott, Brian Rafalski, Alexander Mogilny, and rookies Scott Gomez and John Madden to name a few.

In 2000 Dr. John McMullen, long-time owner of the Devils, sold the team to YankeeNets for $175 million. YankeeNets then owned the New York Yankees and New Jersey Nets.

The team fell short of winning their third Stanley Cup in 2001, losing to the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. In 2002, they were thought to be contenders once again, but lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. In 2003, they returned to the top, beating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for the Stanley Cup, four games to three. Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko, and Sergei Brylin each won their third cup and Jeff Friesen, Jamie Langenbrunner, John Madden, and Brian Rafalski were all important contributors.

In February 2005, the New Jersey Devils signed an agreement with the city of Newark, New Jersey to build a new hockey arena, at a cost of $310 million. The new arena, to replace the Continental Airlines Arena, is expected to open for the 2007-2008 hockey season.

Recently New Jersey State Assemblyman Craig Stanley, who is a Baptist deacon, announced that he planned on introducing a resolution to have the Devils change their name because of its religious undertone. However, Devils officials including CEO Lou Lamoriello said that there would be no name change. Despite the logo and mascot implying that the Devils are modeled after the Christian representation of the Devil, the team's name comes from the legendary Jersey Devil.

In July 2005 it was announced that head coach Pat Burns would not return for the 2005-2006 season after being diagnosed with cancer for the second time in little more than a year. Larry Robinson, the Devils' coach from March 23, 2000, to January 28, 2002, will return as head coach in the 2005-2006 season.

The Devils will also start 2005-2006 without two defensive stalwarts: Scott Niedermayer signed with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and longtime captain Scott Stevens announced his retirement on September 6, 2005. John Madden, Scott Gomez and Brian Rafalski were all named alternate captains, but no official captain was named. Patrik Elias, formerly an alternate captain, suffered from hepatitis at the start of the season, and upon his return the team may need to rearrange their captain situation.

Season-by-season record

¹ Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.

² Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

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