NJ Devils Fans Have Spoken! Responding To Comments On-Air & Just HOW GOOD Were The Dynasty Years?

NJ Devils Fans Have Spoken! Responding To Comments On-Air & Just HOW GOOD Were The Dynasty Years?

welcome back Devils fans it is your host Ace here on running with the Devils where we are talking New Jersey Devils hockey all year long please hit that subscribe button smash the like share with a friend thank you very much and today I Turn to You the fans the fans have spoken yesterday I put out a video about how I believe our fan base is currently divided into two main groups the old school versus the new school the win Now versus the build for the future and I thought I’d jump on here and respond to some of the comments on the program just to you know go a little bit deeper than what I could type um and I love talking to you all I will continue to respond to all the comments for as long as I possibly can admittedly it is getting much more difficult and timec consuming but I love it all so thank you all very much and I’m just going to jump into a few of your comments and kind of expand upon them here on the show and here we get into it AI Legacy my man he writes the amount of pessimism toward fits in this franchise gets really annoying at times I have a guy at work who will literally never be happy about anything the Devils do he calls me over and talks me about how Keef is going to bury Teemo on the third line then starts talking about how the Devils have zero goalie depth when markstrom and Allen get injured like man how do you live your life like this and that is a fair point and again I’ve mentioned in the past there is a certain portion of this fan base that no matter what they will not be happy and and God bless those people and hopefully they find some happiness in their lives the Devils clearly aren’t going to give it to them and they will find something to complain about all the time I know a lot of people like that there’s some of us here it is unfortunate it’s an unfortunate way to go about you know following the team but there’s absolutely no chance Keef is going to bury Teemo on the third line I think we’ll see him in those top two lines for sure on the right wing where he belongs he’ll get ample power play time and the guy’s a bull and he’s going to be really good for us for years to come so I no worries about Teemo being buried and then to address the goalie thing yeah zero goalie depth when marrom and Allen get injured like come on how how are they both going to get injured I’m not gonna lie if marks gets injured that would suck but hopefully we could rely on Allen and if Allen gets injured I’m hoping he doesn’t play a ton of games so hopefully Daws would come up but I’m not remotely you know going into the season thinking about that and that’s for for most teams right it’s like you know what would happen to the Rangers if shesterkin and quick got hurt like that’s totally crazy so I agree with you there some of the people can never be pleased we get into the next comment from Corey and he has he has some defensive pairings here Hughes Nemitz Casey salv that could be the best future top four in the NHL added in two out of the following and the D will be lights out for years to come and then he lists a bunch of our defensive prospects and I think this is kind of where the organization is looking here and that arguably could be one of the the best top four defenses in the NHL I mean Hugh Nemitz Casey salv definitely promising I don’t know if Casey makes it to the Finish Line I do think if we were to make any sort of substantial trade he would be one of the most sought-after pieces after Nemitz and again I would like to keep nemt at all costs I think he’s going to be an absolute stud and yeah n Casey we’ll see if that materializes I do wholeheartedly agree in years from now that could be an absolutely lethal four for sure for sure love to see the blue line getting getting stockpiled because you really need that in the league I’ve always said I’m a l Lamar guy build a team from the net out pride yourself on defense and that group of defenseman is very promising very very promising but they have to fulfill that promise that’s the big thing have to fulfill that promise the next one Dre white just remember that everything isn’t as bad as it seems we could be rooting for the Buffalo Sabers and that kind of puts it into perspective guys the Sabers fan base has been absolutely tortured they’ve won absolutely nothing and that’s a rough go my heart goes out to Sabers fans you know hopefully Lindy makes them competitive this year I mean I’m not rooting for Lindy to fail I don’t want them to beat the Devils ever but hopefully the Sabers fans have something to cheer for this year under Lindy Ruff but that puts it into perspective a little bit but doesn’t totally alleviate my pain knowing that there’s people that have it worse you know that’s like telling someone with a broken leg oh don’t worry about it you only have a broken leg that guy has two broken legs and two broken arms like you know great there’s always someone worse but fair point Sabers fans definitely have it really rough we get to the next one from grg the devils are the reason I fell in love with hockey I’m from east Tennessee and still live here and Marty Scott Stevens and elos were absolute Heroes to 8-year-old me when your original perspective of something involves Legends of that caliber it stays a bit skewed for the rest of of your life sports fans in particular will always demand performance from their team it’s part of the passion the fact is the future is bright and the present is brighter than it seems there will never be something as awful as the Koval suck deal again and there’s quite a bit of talent in our Prospect pool if someone can convince Jack to keep his head on a swivel like he did the previous two seasons before last and our new additions pan out like they seem we have a hell of a hockey club to cheer for I have my doubts about Tatar but the line with him Nico and Dawson was spectacular during the record season teo’s issues seem to have been injury related and if he steps up and bradder continues to somehow improve like he has literally every season we will be a force in the league for years to come I feel like our time at the top of the mountain has come October can’t get here soon enough let’s go devils and it is crazy again I grew up in the same era when you have those Legends it will skew your perspective and it did birth many long time fans you know that era is what h me on hockey made me a huge Devils fan and made me you know kind of uh you know really made me a hardcore fan fell in love with the sport so that it did it for people in other states and I had a front row seat to it I was going to practices I was you know crossing paths with these guys in the area where we lived and it was an ERA it was an absolute era I do believe that the future is very bright and I believe the present is brighter than it seems so shout out to you for that I I told you guys I think we’re going to compete from the division and there’s no reason why we couldn’t win a cup that Koval truck deal was painful uh I did freak out when we got kovi that was quite an exciting era it’s unfortunate how that all played out and um you know hopefully we do never see something like that again hopefully Jack does keep his head on a swivel hopefully he comes in a little bit beefier heavier bulked up and is a little more durable I have my doubts about Tatar as well hopefully they could recapture some of that magic and Be an Effective line if that’s the path ke goes and I 100% believe teemo’s you know kind of slow starter very slow start was injury related and people killed me for that you know he was out with injury for a while when he came back he was much more healed than he was he was absolutely lighting it up for us I think he led the league in goals in March and he was still playing hurt he got shut down after the season he couldn’t go play for team Switzerland in the world championships and he obviously was hurt and so a fully healthy Teemo I think could be even deadlier I absolutely love that man one of my favorite players on the team and hopefully we’re close and October cannot get here soon enough I super jacked for the season we go to the next comment James Israel save the hate for the Rangers absolutely right stop killing each other in the comments no more Civil War save it for the foreign Invaders we get invaded by Rangers fans and randomly other fans save all the hate animosity and bloodshed for those people when they come from other fan bases and start attacking people have ad them guys carve them up sometimes you guys do my light work a lot of times someone will come and say something stupid and I see a bunch of you jump on them I love it I absolutely love to see it so save that hate for the Rangers thank you James for that then we get to the next one from John M vrono on the Ducks would have been a good top six Winger finisher for one year 3.5 million get him at the trade deadline not mad at it I always liked vetrano doesn’t make a ton of money could he be a guy that’s on our radar if and when the Ducks Suck again could we possibly bring him on in at the deadline I would love to see it there’s going to be tons of other guys that kind of come to the Forefront as those potential guys to bring in at the deadline but he would definitely be on my short list for sure I think he might be able to work really well with Jack time will tell how these lines all balance out but vetrano like that name and hopefully he’s one of the guys we’re looking at at the deadline we go to the next one Mary you are deaf not negative just expressing yourself like everyone else I am old school but a newer fan and with this Talent we shouldn’t be waiting for a cup very long and hopefully you are correct cor Mary hopefully we are not waiting for a cup too long again I do think the future is bright and I think the present is fairly bright as well with marstrom on top of his game with some other things going our way assuming we’re not injured I think I’m really excited about this team I really am and hopefully we are not waiting for a cup for very long because it’s it’s been a long time it’s been a very long time and I get to the next one mayor basic a player who I think could be a big X Factor Nolan foot last year was supposed to be his big breakout year then a freaking season ending injury during exhibition games he’s looked good in small samples I think he will surprise us very interesting you know there’s a lot of guys people are looking to to step up poot Mercer you know a healthy year with everybody you know Doug’s back yada yada but I do think there are some depth guys that might surprise us and I like this I like this call Nolan foot if he fulfills his potential stays healthy he could really bring something to that bottom six and not a lot of people are talking about foot he’s kind of been off the radar because of his injuries and things and I like this call I’m hoping for the the best and the most from Nolan foot and maybe he surprises us and he really brings something to that bottom six would love to see it the depth guys are going to have to produce first all season long and Nolan foot could be a part of that so thank you to mayor for that I’m hoping for a big season from foot we get to the next one Mike D Ace what would you think about signing jvr James Van rdik a Jersey Boy and from years ago I always thought at some point he would end up as a devil I don’t know why I thought that I just always said you know one day that guy’s G to eventually be on the roster and again he’s another guy along with vetrano and some of these other guys that people have floated names out there it is possible that he’s brought in at some point the the thing is he hasn’t been signed yet so I don’t know where he’s going to end up and if he ends up in like division rival or something like that then it’s unlikely but if he somehow ends up in the West Coast or something and they suck I could see him being sold off at the deadline as well and that’s another guy I’d have my eye on could he be a productive member of the top six I think he could always thought he’d end up here Jersey boy I like the move if it makes sense keep an eye on jvr that’s another interesting one that I thought you know could be a nice possibility for us at the deadline to kind of bolster that Playoff lineup so thank you Mike for that and then we get to Noah I literally watch for the different opinions we are a lot alike though I love the hits and Neanderthal hockey thank you Noah for that yeah I like differing opinions too as long as you do it in a respectful tasteful way no problem debate have a conversation that’s what we’re all here for I love talking to everyone love hearing the different points of view and if everyone agreed what a boring life that would be and um you know your boy Ace loves the hits in Neanderthal hockey love the hits and Neanderthal hockey heavier Edge year more violent Fitz went out this summer he did just that I’m actually going to have a whole show kind of circling back on that so look for that in the next couple days but love the Neanderthal hockey love the hits thank you Noah for that and then we get to the next one here not a Billy Joel fan very interesting username this offseason has been a reversal of the sherro Fitzgerald philosophy they’ve spent the last eight years trying to build the best skating team and have bypassed size and physicality it’s almost an admission that what they were building failed and I thought that was very interesting because again you know your boy old school I like the grit I like the physicality I like the Sandpaper I like the fist of cuffs I love it all and I’ve complained for years amongst my devil’s fan friends well before I had this Channel and I’ve been talking about it on the channel for quite a while I firmly believe that you need grit and physicality sandpaper you need all of that in your lineup to be competitive in this league and especially to win a cup and go deep in the playoffs you must have these men on your roster and it does seem like for the past while we were building this what I would call the I call it the water bug speed skating team a team comprised of Highly offensively skilled guys speed skaters not very physical and I think over the past few years it’s shown that you can be beaten down and when teams come in with those guys that could grind you down we don’t match up well against them and if they make an effort to really punish us physically we were getting punished and I think this year you’re not going to see that anymore we got CER we got n we got Brendan Dylan we got kovich we have some some men some grizzled men in the lineup with size with a Mean Streak love to see and again I have something a special show planned about this very topic so look for that in the next couple days but thank you not a Billy Joel fan for that I do think they were wrong and they are kind of diverging to a new course and that heavier edgier more violent mentality has been embraced and Fitz did it shout out to Fitz for doing it again more to come on that we get to the next comment Riot and respect winning in having a successful season is the one and true thing that can fix this division to its core solves everyone’s issues haha absolutely there is no medicine for curing anything anything like winning win a damn Stanley Cup and everything is Kumbaya everybody’s best friends there is no more division there is more no infighting winning that cup would just do wonders that is the magical medicine and wow I would love to see it I don’t even know my brain hasn’t even got there yet if we ever won a cup I don’t even know what I would do in terms of the channel there would just be Non-Stop videos there’d be all kinds of crazy stuff but you know I want to win a cup more than anything and it would somewhat heal this really beaten down and frustrated fan base there is nothing like winning so thank you for that Riot I completely agree with you and we get to the next one here sneakers hi Ace I don’t always agree with you but I do enjoy your show and I appreciate the time and effort that you put into bringing us your show as far as Fitzy goes I don’t love him and I don’t hate him I do think he has done a fantastic job this off season getting a top six player is not easy there needs to be two parties to make a fair deal happen finally I think Mercer needs to step up and pilot needs to step up if we are paying a player 6 million a year he has to be a top six player finally finally thank you for the prospects video you did more to show them to us than the Devils did a lot to get to hear from sneakers very interesting comment I thought and again I don’t want everyone to always agree with me cool that would be boring right bring your opinions in a respectful manner love talking to you in the comments love debating love the discourse love the back and forth it’s part of why I’m here thank you for watching the show I appreciate that you enjoy it and in terms of Fitzy I’m kind of with you I don’t love him and I don’t hate him like some of these people do I do think he did a fantastic job this off season but I do think there’s been a lot of things that give us cause for concern and and we’ve honestly have been justified in our skepticism unfortunately so I’m right there with you in terms of Fitzgerald don’t love him don’t hate him he did a good job this off season hopefully he makes the Right Moves going forward to really make us competitive and I agree that getting a top six player is not easy but a lot of us really wanted it and again I’m not going to kill him for it I just have have to talk about it as you know it is a disappointing element of the off season and it is what it is I don’t think Tatar is a legitimate top six it would have been nice to get someone a little bit better than him but here we are and hopefully all the other improvements far outweigh not getting this top six guy we all wanted and life goes on and hopefully we are a much much better team next year and I think we will be and I agree on Mercer this is a big year for Mercer he needs to have a bounceback year we need him to be as you know productive as possible we need it we don’t have many options Mercer needs to perform this year big year for him and obviously for plot as well it’d be great to see plot pick it back up um in reference to the six million a year and that he has to be a top six player I mean respectfully I disagree with that I mean You’ like to see a guy getting paid six million be a top six player I don’t know that he will warrant it there will be some competition obviously with Tatar and maybe some other guys come out of nowhere to kind of push for a spot in the top six I’m just just hoping that plot plays a lot better than he did last year and that the $6 million doesn’t sting as much at this point I’m not going to be delusional and think that he’s going to give us $6 Million worth of production at this juncture I think that would be silly and kind of delusional for us to believe that but hopefully he just plays a lot better where it’s not as much of a sting that’s all I’m hoping for play a little bit better play a you know even halfway to your contract and that could help the team but I don’t think he’s ever going to justify the contract going forward and that’s fine not every contract be could be a good one but this one’s going to really stick out like a sore thumb for a while as a as an anchor kind of weighing the team down and kind of handcuffing us and we already saw it this offseason I mean if that six million bucks wasn’t on the books there was a there was plenty of options you know Tarasenko this guy that guy so it is unfortunate bad contracts are part of it that’s one Fitz I’m sure wishes he never gave out but life goes on there’s no point in continually beating down plot hopefully he steps it up I’m rooting for him and hopefully he has a big back year that’s all we could hope for and in terms of the prospect video that I did more to show them to than the team did it’s unfortunate that sometimes I don’t know if it’s I don’t know what it is exactly I don’t know if the team has poor foresight into what fans want or they just don’t have the Personnel to do it I mean I saw a guy there videoing I don’t know and I’ve seen a couple little Clips they put out so I assume they have the bodies to do it I just don’t know if it’s a thing where they don’t care or they don’t think it’s worth the effort I’m not sure I think that’s been a complaint of mine personally um you know in regards to the team for a while I feel like there’s so much cool stuff they could be putting out that they don’t I will give them credit for the douge schedule Reveal video was absolutely phenomenal Whoever thought of that phenomenal I didn’t think the Devils had it in them internally for someone to come up with that and for that to you know be made that was an absolutely great idea whoever had it douge killed it and I I laughed my ass off absolutely great video If you haven’t seen it check out the devil’s schedule Reveal video starring our own douge Hamilton and with a little with a little uh co-starring by Curtis laar but amazing video but in terms of the prospects yeah it is disappointing I wish they did show more go way more in depth do more kind of I don’t know what you want to call like cheesy character interviews with the guys I just feel like there is so much more that could be done than not doing it and it’s unfortunate and I will always try my personal best again as trying to bring value and entertainment to you guys on the channel I will always try to do my best and do whatever I can to bring you those sorts of things so whenever I have access to those those kinds of events I will always be filming and get what I can and you know share it with you guys because I know a lot of you like to see that stuff and I love to see it too so that’s that’ll always be a part of it so thank you for that comment sneakers and then we get to our old friend SST 6601 probably the biggest Fitzgerald haer on the planet I would assume and we get to his comment here and he said says there are three groups the third one consists of me and Joe stalgia only and that there’s probably a few more of you I think a couple of you maybe have emerged in the comments in the last couple days but SST 6601 absolutely hates Fitzgerald pretty much kills him constantly as does my buddy Joe stalgia I do think actually SST gave Fitz a little credit for this off season but overall he’s very negative uh hates Fitzgerald and listen um I’m not bashing SST he’s a super super old school knowledgeable fan he knows a lot about the game he loves the Devils he’s here for the same reason as all of us big Devils fan and he’s just super super frustrated you know I’m very frustrated as well his frustration is next level and I understand you know what it’s rooted in we’ve been terrible for a long time and it’s painful especially for those of us that live through the glory years we I understand they can’t all be that but it’s just been such a far cry from those days that people like SST just take it and run but shout out to SST longtime commenter on the channel longtime Devil’s fan and his heart’s in the right place just sometimes his aggression gets the best of a SST maybe a little anger management could do a little bit a little bit of Anger Management might do you do you well a little bit next comment my man Rusty stick figs he says no Ace this is the Internet it’s either my opinion or the wrong opinion and that’s the thing people have to remember right it’s like the internet is a wild place human beings are wild animals we are just literal animals and people don’t respect each other’s opinions and they talk as if they’re right and everyone else is wrong and it’s unfortunate you know a lot of this is opinion based and there is no actual fact or right or wrong but just keep that in mind everyone has their own opinion Everyone’s entitled to it just do it in a respectful a respectful fashion but shout out to Rusty for that and then we go to the next comment from Tim frii you might know Tim from his wacky trade promote that he frequently posts that sometimes involve multiple teams and usually involve at least 10 to 12 players changing jerseys I always find that entertaining but we get into Tim’s post here New Jersey Devils 2024-25 projected record 53 29 Metropolitan Division Champions Eastern Conference champions Stanley Cup champions and my God Tim comes out with a 53 win a 115 Point prediction which would be the new franchise record eclipsing the 112 points the devil set as the record in that magical 2223 season winning the division winning the conference and the cup Tim I hope it happens baby I really do 115 points winning the cup would be absolutely phenomenal I love your prediction there and now we get to my man Ed I love this comment from Ed I think this is a great synopsis of the whole the whole premise of the previous video and we’ll get into Ed’s comment here I actually rarely comment on anything because it’s a waste of time to get an arguments with strangers isn’t that the damn truth isn’t that the truth Ed being from Jersey we take a lot of crap from other places in my opinion debatable in most cases but the Devils were always something we used to be able to point to and have pride in 100% agree with you there jerseys team our only team now we used to have the Nets we lost them the devils are the only team repping New Jersey yes the Giants and Jets play in New Jersey at MetLife Stadium but they are the New York teams and so New Jersey Devils baby New Jersey Devils our only team I still take pride in that team as I’m guessing everyone else here does as well which is where the passion comes from on all sides couldn’t agree more I believe you are correct about the division between younger and older fans I frequently see people saying let Fitz cook Fitz is cooking and view them as being way too lenient on him and let me get to this cuz this was this this one really hit a chord with me some of the younger fans and I’m not trying to bash them but they are like delusionally optimistic and everything they do everything that the team does is celebrated and they think it’s you know the greatest thing ever and it’s like you know I like your enthusiasm but like have have some foot grounded in reality and every time I see the let Fitz cook Fitzy is cooking I think of this and that’s literally what I picture and I’ve seen it a million times this is what I picture every time I see the comments Fitz is cooking let Fitz cook I picture this right here and I I can’t help but laugh but good for their youthful enthusiasm I suppose and they are part of the fan base continue on with the comment but for my part I can also be too harsh on him as well he’s definitely not the worst GM and like you said we should all be rooting for him and this team to succeed that’s a great sentence right there listen he is the GM he’s not going anywhere anytime soon and so rooting for him to fail is very counterproductive you all should be rooting for this man to do his job well because it means as fans we are going to see a better team we get back to the comment the dynasty years were wonderful but there was a time we didn’t have that and celebrated those minor moments like Johnny Mack clinching playoffs or proving we weren’t a Mickey Mouse franchise if you don’t know about that Wayne Gretzky in the 80s as a member of the Oilers that were just winning cups every year he referred to the Devils as a Mickey Mouse franchise you could it up I’m sure there’s Clips or stories about it it was a pretty big moment in the history of the devils and it was referred to for a while afterwards and has kind of become part of Devil’s Lord but the point I want to make in reference to that is that I that is before my time guys so I became a fan of 94 right before the going got good and I know Devil’s fans for years were starved we were that Mickey Mouse franchise we weren’t making the playoffs and and it was terrible the only thing I want to say is that that once we made the playoffs and then and then down the line had consistent success we were out of the dark times the Mickey Mouse franchise stuff was behind us and so while I do appreciate that fans had to go through that once you get well out of that phase or time in franchise history you could never go back and so with the success the team did have during the glory years I can’t find solace and talking about when the times are really really bad because that’s just regression and to me you know I can’t I I can’t go there we cannot we are not that Mickey Mouse franchise and we can’t be anything that resembles it and unfortunately I would say for the past decade plus we kind of have resembled it and it’s painful we get back to Ed’s comments here there was a time where we almost moved to Nashville how awesome is it that we have these let Fitz cook younger fans that will encourage the team to stay where it belongs in New Jersey couldn’t agree more the younger fans the youth that will be the people buying season tickets and supporting a team and buying jerseys and keeping this franchise healthy in the state long term so I I agree there they’re bringing in their passion in addition to our passion absolutely true again old school new school kind of colliding and making up this new look fan base I follow the younger kids on IG as well as you because I’m glad that they stay positive as long as they can and get excited about little things I talked about this earlier you know they get overly excited stupid little things are like yeah you know and and it’s all good and fine I I guess that’s part of you know the youth generation and what I call the the social media generation obviously growing up when I did we didn’t have any of this crap uh the closest thing we had was a instant messenger shout out to all the old heads that used AOL Instant Messenger back in the day that was like the fir and that wasn’t social media but it was like internet communication it’s kind of the the early you know kind of start of it all I suppose we’re going to need the kids for sure and then he continues in general I default to agree with a lot of your views on the team though as we seem to have a similar history watching the team so I’m grateful for a different perspective and ask that you continue wearing your heart on your sleeve and doing exactly what you’re doing I’m always going to wear my heart on my sleeve I I don’t think I could not do that even if I tried you know um I actually didn’t make a video when the tar signing come came out because when I first heard it my initial impression I’m not going to lie was very negative very very negative and I was like you know what don’t record the video you’ve been kind of negative overall or at least perceived to be negative multiple times in a short time span and I was like I’m not going to go make a video and and kill this signing it could have been worse but it could have been way better and so I just was like I’m going to sit this one out I’m not going to do it because I I’m not going to I’m not going to I’m not never going to fake it I’m never going to fake it and I was kind of pissed when that came out I was like you know it was kind of a gut punch and so I I laid low but I always wear my heart on my sleeve I’ll always continue to do what I’m doing hopefully we evolve and I get into some cooler things and a bunch of different things I have planned back to the comment here also I’ll put the 2,000 team up against any team and oh my God oh my God Ed that 2000 team top to bottom was Marty and net rolski Stevens Neer white um the aine with arnard Alias Sakura Moy Gomer Pando Madden um who am I forgetting Claude Lemieux Bobby hoi I mean oh my God that team was a juggernaut it it has to be the best Devil’s team on paper for sure that 2000 and the 2001 team that went to the finals the next year and lost to the Avalanche those teams were just lethal absolutely lethal and I agree with you wholeheartedly that 2000 team while it might not get the respect in the mainstream hockey media whatever you want to call it that 2000 team could have played with anyone and I’m G to watch some 2000 highlights tonight you’ve you’ve really uh inspired me to go back watch some 2000 Clips because that season was obviously for all Devils fans one of the one of the best ones and more memorable ones in franchise history anytime you can win a cup abs absolutely unbelievable stuff I have that Arnot photo over my shoulder you see in every video back to the comment here I think if we can all listen to each other we see the truth falls in the middle and it’s not that Fitz is King Midas in Reverse to quote Tony Soprano and he’s also not infallible he’s a human being probably trying to do his best and sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t and I think again that’s another very good sentence there the truth a lot of times does fall in the middle there’s extremists everywhere you know the fits haters the fits lovers um and I try to be in the middle as much as I can I just try to give my point of view and a lot of times again it does come off as negative but I am demand Excellence I came up during the glory years and I demand Excellence I want excellence and when Excellence is not being pursued it bothers me to my core and I’ll be honest with you guys a lot of the videos that come out as negative I would say I’m like subduing it a little bit because my my natural reaction is a lot of times more animated and more aggressive and I do tone it down but we all should root for this man because he is at the helm and he’s trying to win us a cup I believe that I don’t know in what year but hopefully we see it sooner than later and I do think there’s a point here that the truth probably does fall in the middle a lot of the times and then in reference to his King Midas in Reverse Tony Soprano quote wow you know some stereotypes I 100% fall in line with and a lot of you know New Jersey people talk about The Sopranos this that and the other thing aside from obviously being a massive Devils fan growing up in New Jersey and and for people outside New Jersey as well but growing up in New Jersey during The Sopranos my God Sopranos has to be it’s probably a top three on any respectable list of TV shows of all time I think Rolling Stone may have even called it number one but it’s on in the top three on every list The Sopranos was everything I’ve been meaning for years to go back and rewatch it I’ve rewatched some here and there I watched it all while it was happening and it’s so long ago that it will will be you know a lot of it will be fresh when watching it now and I’m going to definitely get around to doing that one day but there’s a scene where he’s in his psychiatrist’s office Dr melie and King Midas for those of you don’t that don’t know King Midas had the Golden Touch and everything that he did you know went to Gold so Tony Soprano was going through a little bit of a hard time and he said he felt that he was King Midas in reverse and everything that he touched went to hilarious episode that’s a really funny um reference there Ed and I thought I’d just share this with you guys along with being a devil super collector in memorabilia hoarder I also collect a bunch of other stuff as well and one of them is I have this framed up on the wall it’s not visible in the studio but it is in my little basement theater setup here Love The Sopranos I actually had the pleasure of meeting James gandini years ago I got this poster signed myself really cool piece one of my favorite non- Devils items for sure and uh wow The Sopranos would an era highly recommend it if everyone anyone hasn’t gotten around to watching it The Sopranos is a must watch great comment by Ed Ed I’m giving you the award a comment comment of the video I think this kind of hits on everything and when I saw this I was like I’m not even going to respond to Ed and text because it just takes a while and it’s not as good you know to I was like Ed needs a a video response and that kind of prompted this whole video but shout out to you Ed thanks for watching I think your comment was awesome I think it touched on a lot of things I think it brought a very Fair View and kind of laid out exactly what’s going on on here and I appreciate that Ed so thank you very much Ed gets the comment of the thread and then shortly after Ed another great comment came in from Ryan Ryan says I agree The Divide seems to be between older and younger fans the older fans who followed the team in the 90s grew up watching a perennial playoff team and not just a perennial playoff team but a perennial playoff team that went deep many times 94 Conference Finals 95 Stanley Cup champions 2000 Stanley Cup champs 2001 Stanley Cup finals 2003 Stanley Cup champs what a time it was to be a fan and I think this gets lost on people and when you tell people you know about the dynasty years and the three cups I do think it gets lost a little bit when you didn’t live through you just hear oh yeah they won three cups but you can’t ignore the fact that like Ryan points out here it wasn’t just they won these cups it was like we were in the mix every year and we went deep often and that’s what many of us are yearning for these competitive teams that in any given year you’re like we have a chance to win the cup and that was the collective mindsets of the fans at the time the organization from top to bottom whether it was Lou the owners and the players and it showed we were truly in the mix every single season and it was a beautiful time to be a fan I mean I knew I was spoiled at the time I really did as I got a little bit older in high school I realized what I was witnessing and you know on the ride for was truly special and that it may never be replicated Again by The Devils and it’d be hard for any franchise to replicate that type of long-term success and playoff track record it really is the team was Dynamite so while I still you know understood that as a child when you get older and you go through these horrible dry spells and just periods of being completely not relevant it really hurts it hurts a lot and it makes those old times that much more special because this team was a team to be reckoned with every single year and so I don’t want that to be lost on people it wasn’t just the Cup championships it was like the the years we didn’t win we were heading into the playoffs thinking we still had as good of a shot as anybody every single year and again a lot of that is due to the personnel and it was kind of the the overall Swagger what I would say of the organization when you had Marty brod Durette with Stevens Nar danako all these role players aine Legends grizzled veterans we were never out of it no one would ever say if you pick the Devils to win the cup no one would have ever responded like that’s crazy and a lot of people say that now because the team is nowhere near perceived as the same as this team and that’s what we’re all yearning for get back to that point where we are a consistent playoff threat I can’t state it enough they were a threat every single year we get back to Ryan’s comment here but as contracts expire and players age rebuild is inevitable and since that last cup in 03 there really hasn’t been a lot to write home about other than to run to the run to the finals in 2012 and again what a run that was what an absolute run that was in 2012 that was our most recent you know real success of any kind love that team really would have liked to see us get that cup for Marty at 40 years of age that would have been a beautiful feather in his cap at the end of his career and unfortunately it couldn’t happen it was a magical run you know starting with beating the Panthers in game seven in that double overtime with Henrik and then going on to beat our division Rivals and the Flyers and then going on to beat the Rangers in a beautiful Eastern Conference Finals with one of my favorite plays you all know Henrik it’s over one of the greatest moments in Devil’s history exercising the Demons of Stefan matau and that 1994 series absolute Crusher so the Devils beat the Panthers beat the Flyers beat the Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals go to the finals and we just couldn’t get it done against the Kings had we only gotten that split at home we had home ice too which is crazy it was a run out of nowhere no one really expected that team to go that far made it to the finals had home ice and we lost the first two games in overtime couldn’t get a split and I think the whole series would have went differently if we did lost both games in overtime Absolut abut back breaker go on to lose game three and then now we’re tested with what the Oilers tried to do this year is to come back from a three-oh hole and they made it interesting they won that game four in La came back to New Jersey won a beautiful game five behind a great martan Broder vintage throwback performance and then we went on the road in game six in LA with the cup in the building Bernier takes that penalty and it’s a wrap and it’s a complete wrap we couldn’t rebound series over absolutely stunner back breaker and it’s painful to think about that was the cup that that could have been back to Ryan here after that the highlights were a five-game first round elimination in 2018 and winning around against the rags in 23 so the older fans who have stuck with the team through the dark years are hungry to see the team return to their old form of a cup Contender while newer fans who are maybe more patient question the long-term value when they see deals like NJ signing a tender towards the end of his career we’re all here for the devils and I truly believe we are going to have a season to remember in 2425 let’s go devils and another great comment from Ryan this came in shortly after the other one I’m like let me just throw a couple comments up here and talk about them because these are great comments but to Ryan’s point this kind of Dives in a little bit deeper on what I’ve been trying to talk about over the last few weeks of what I believe kind of led to the Divide of the new school and old school fans kind of colliding and it’s not and it’s not absolute categories right there are people that kind of fall in the middle but I was just saying in general I believe everyone falls into one of these two groups there are little subgroups and and different you know nuances of that but it is just all predicated on us seeing and living through wild wild success wild wild success the devil’s had during these times and I’m just going to dig a little bit you know into now comparing what I’ll call these eras in franchise history right so I’m just going to go back now this is this is the last 12 Seasons from our run to the finals so the the run to the finals was an 1112 2012 Stanley Cup finals we lose and now this is the following 12 years from that point till right now you see 12113 playoff Miss brutal brutal playoff Miss in the strike shortened season then we go to 1314 again bad team playoff Miss 1415 the same 156 the same 1617 28 win my God even more brutal and 1718 was was a glimmer of hope 1718 after five consecutive misses the New Jersey Devils get back to the playoffs and this is another controversial topic I’m going to touch on for a second here that team wasn’t that good the 2017 18 team was not that good at all Taylor Hall with a phenomenal Herculean effort during the regular season draft dragged this team absolutely dragged this team to the playoffs and I know Taylor Hall is a very divisive player in franchise history but I will not discredit the monster season he had it was it was insane and he went on to win a heart trophy our only heart Trophy winner in Devil’s history mind you won the heart trophy as the most valuable player in the league because he dragged this Devil’s team to that playoffs dragged us to that playoffs and then we got dusted by Tampa Bay in five games we won one game and I was like wow you know it was something to get a little excited about but after going to The Cup finals we missed the playoffs for five consecutive years it takes Taylor Hall putting us on his back and dragging us to the playoffs we get there Tampa Bay makes quick work of us five games and then next year we get back to sucking 1819 we we missed the playoffs 1920 missed the playoffs again 2021 missed the playoffs 2122 missed the playoffs so you’re now talking about you missed for 5 years you make it there finally get dusted in five games and then miss for Four Seasons in a row again like this is painful and then finally finally what should have been the turnaround point the 2223 season the boys absolutely on fire they had that crazy long winning streak played pretty well all season long there was some Peaks and valleys but overall these boys did the damn thing 52 wins 112 points for a new franchise record Jack breaks the single season scoring record that Patty held with 96 points Jack got 99 would have been nice to see him get that 100 but Jack finishes with 99 points new single season scoring champ for the Devils we go to the playoffs beat the Rangers in that beautiful seven game series before we ultimately fell to the canes they were the canes were a much better team we had no answer and we got bounced but after a record setting season2 points winning a Playoff round it seemed like okay the nucleus is here we have the guys we now just need to keep tinkering and tweaking going forward and we’re going to we’re going to be here now this this is the new standard and then last year happened 2324 painful injury riddled goal tending fell off a cliff young kids on the blue line and it all just fell apart McLoud gets banished I’m not going to keep talking about this we’ve talked about this for a while but everything went to hell everything went to hell and we missed the playoffs and we missed the playoffs and my issue is that somehow everyone forgot about that 2223 season I’ll come back to that in a minute but there should have been a new standard set with that 2223 season and that’s where I get lost for even the newer fans that didn’t live through the glory years you lived through the best season in quite some time in that 22 23 season and it seems like everyone forgot about it you know everyone’s back to acting like the peasant fans we were from 13 up until 19 or 18 rather you know missing the playoffs all these years and we’re just happy to be here I don’t understand how last season could put you guys back in that peasant mind frame demand Excellence demand Excellence we set the franchise record in 2223 more points than any of the the legendary Dynasty Devils teams had and we have that one bad year last year and every and because of injuries honestly again not to make excuses but that’s the reality we sucked because we were injured all season long our star players weren’t playing and it is what it is but everyone forgot that 22 23 season and now everyone’s back to being peasant we’re not peasants our core is sick our core is sick demand excellence and then I just wanted to show the star contrast so now this is actually coincidentally when I became a fan in that 9394 season heading up into the playoffs and so I’m going to compare the 12 Seasons we just went through with the 13th season after the cup run up until present day and this is the 12 years from that conference final year on right right 9394 the Devils make it to the Eastern Conference Finals lose in a brutal game seven to the Rangers okay very painful and this is probably one of the biggest turning points in franchise history because that was the first time this team went on a really Deep Run they were so close to going to the finals they got that taste and they they took that devastating loss but they built on it just like the Panthers lost in the finals two seasons ago to the knights they made it all the way back back this year and finally got the cup beating the Oilers the Devils did something similar they built on that experience and what did they do in 9495 we went out and won the first cup in franchise history they get to the Conference Finals their hearts are broken completely broken make it back next year win the cup and and here’s one of the darker seasons for me in franchise history just because the expectations and the players we had the year after we win the cup 9596 it comes down to the last game of the season against the Ottawa Senators at Brendan burn Arena and the Devils choke it it was a win and in the Devils choke it Tom torski a member of that 95 Cup champions team he left in the offse season he comes back to put a dagger in us he scores two goals in the game Devils lose to the Senators and they’re bounced from the playoffs but this is where I want to bring it back full circle right we win the cup in 95 we missed the playoffs in 96 what do you think as Devil’s fans we were expecting in 97 right so cup win 95 miss the playoffs in 96 what are we expecting for 97 we were expecting another cup we wanted to win the cup in 97 we didn’t just go back to Peasant mindset and go oh we missed the playoffs and now you know we’re this bad team we just we’re just hoping to make the playoffs and we’ll be happy with making the playoffs no no we missed the playoffs after winning the Stanley Cup the expect ations never changed cup or bust if you do not win the Stanley Cup it is a failed season the Devils fans after that Miss playoff in 96 we weren’t just like oh hopefully we’re competitive next year and hopefully we can make the playoffs CU that’s great absolutely not in 1997 everyone was like we need to win the cup again cup or Bust the core of the players were still the same a couple minor changes but just like our nucleus after 2223 is still intact so that’s where I’m wondering why are people just one Bad season all of a sudden it’s like a reset and you’re back into the the poverty days that didn’t happened when we missed the 9596 nothing changed it was gut-wrenching it was a kick in the balls everyone was down we came back the next season and everyone wanted to win the cup again it didn’t happen for a few years but we continue on 96 97 they won a round and they lost in the semi-finals 9798 they lost in the first round 98 99 they lost in the first round again and then 99200 one of the greatest Devils teams in history they win a cup they win a cup and what do they follow that up with getting to the finals again damn you Ray Bor damn you Ray Bor 2001 the Devils to me this is the most painful one for a variety of reasons we were looking for to be back-to-back Cup champions doesn’t happen too often looking to repeat as the Cup champs Devils against the Avalanche in the finals we take a 3-2 series lead coming coming to New Jersey for game six cup is in the building win the cup and you skate the cup in your home building I was at the game behind the net up in the sky in the nose bleeds and the Devils couldn’t get it done in game six couldn’t get it done in game six we didn’t get to see the cup and then the Devils go on the road for game seven and they just can’t get it done on the road Patrick gu Ray Bor sakic all these boys they beat us in game seven we choke with 3-2 series leadway and back-to-back Cup champs was not to be it was not in the cards we lose in-game seven and then the following season we lose in the first round okay but then 0203 bang we win the cup again so you’re talking about two cups in four years with three finals appearances what would some of these let Fitzy cook fan young fans be doing if this was going on I mean the amount of praise and adol that they give to a lot of the non and stuff they they’d construct a statue of this man for sure and at this point I might too but three finals appearances in four years I don’t even think they they their young minds are formed enough is the frontal lobe formed enough for them to even comprehend what that is three finals appearances in four years man Lou lambs and the old school Devils I could talk about them for days what a time to be alive and then the fin the year after 0304 we lose in the first round and then 056 win a round lose in the second round but I expanded on all of that to further pound home the point of the difference in expectations between two groups and after going through all that now I’m just going to summarize it in a little chart form here I call it the tale of two errors and the first one is again that 2013 season through 2024 so the year after our last Cup finals appearance right we’ve made the playoffs twice we just went over it got crushed by Tampa in five in 2018 when Taylor Hall dragged us there and then we made it again in 2223 franchise record setting season beautiful season beat the Rangers game seven beautiful stuff Akira Schmid always a legend in my book and that’s it two appearances in 12 Seasons that one Series win against the Rangers a total of six games won in those two appearances we won one game against Tampa in 2018 one game only beat the Rangers four games obviously to win the series and then that one win in the next round against the Hurricanes six total games won in a decade over two playoff appearances six playoff games one my God this is this is Mickey Mouse kind of stuff guys I hate to say it hopefully we’re coming out of it but six playoff games in a decade that is frightening that is Nightmare fuel stuff like this keeps me up at night and I’m sure lots of others that live and die with this team six playoff games won in 12 years is Despicable it makes me sick I might not eat dinner tonight I’ve lost my appetite and obviously zero Stanley Cups to go with that resume so two playoff appearances one Series win six total playoff games won zero Stanley Cups and now on the other side of this chart we go to that 12 years I just reviewed starting with the 9394 run where they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Rangers through the 2006 season uh keep in mind there was a strike canceled season in an 0405 so that’s why it might look like it’s 13 Seasons but it’s really only the 12 the same 12 Seasons it’s just because we had that lockout year during that 12year run the Devils made the playoffs 11 times out of 12 only missed in that 96 season the year after he won the cup and again that was super painful but 11 playoff appearances in 12 Seasons 19 playoff series wins 19 we have one we have won in this current 12E cycle they 19 playoff series one 92 playoff games one oh my God if you just do the math on that right 92 wins over 12 years it’s damn near eight wins a year on average and that’s including in the year we missed almost eight wins a season I mean per playoffs that is wild stuff 92 wins in a 12year span that’s going to be tough for many teams to ever replicate I’d be curious to know I’m too lazy to do the research but there probably not too many teams out there aside from those crazy Oilers dynasties and maybe a stretch for the Islanders I’m trying to think but 92 playoff games one over a 12E span is phenomenal phenomenal stuff phenomenal stuff and obviously to go with those 92 overall playoff games one three beautiful Stanley Cup championships and so this is just I think in a nutshell you know piggybacking off of all the comments of the other old heads like myself this kind of shows it beautifully and you just look and the difference is it’s beyond drastic I mean drastic would be an understatement 11 playoff appearances to two 19 Series wins to one 92 playoff games compared to six and then three cups to zero that’s the tale of the tape tells it all and hopefully some of you younger fans now fully understand the legendary ride we were on as fans it was absolutely legendary and hopefully we get back there hopefully this is the turnaround year where we kind of get back on track to being competitive every year and push for cups but I know this was a long-winded thank you to you all that made it this far throw anything out there in the comments about what I talked about in this video Devil’s hockey anything throw it out there and I’ll be back soon I have some other stuff planned for the next few days but I am super pumped for next season I like the moves from the summer and I think we’re going to be a really really dangerous team next year talk to you all soon like comment subscribe and all that jazz until next time friends let’s go devils [Applause]

Yesterday I put out a video talking about how I felt that the New Jersey Devils fanbase was currently divided.

You can find that video here:

There was an overwhelming amount of comments from NJ Devils fans of all kinds. New school, old school, the win now crowd, the build for the future crowd, etc.

The one commonality among us ALL, is that we are all NEW JERSEY DEVILS fans!

In this video I respond to some of your comments On-Air and reflect on just HOW good the Dynasty years were.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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