Tank's Take June 13, 2003

Give the Devils Their Due.

Winning 1 Championship in sports is good, winning 2 is great, but when you win 3 Championships in 9 years it means you move to the level of one of top team's of all-time. True the New Jersey Devils could not match up with dynasties like the Montreal Canadiens of the 50's and 60's or the Islanders and Oilers of the 80's. In this era of expansion it is unfair to compare to teams of the past.

The Los Angeles Lakers who won 3 straight NBA titles coming into this year probably would have a tough time just making it to the NBA Finals if they played in the 80's. Era's change, and in this era the Devils have been one of the most dominate teams in the past decade. In fact their 3 Championships is only matched, by the New York Yankees who have 4, Lakers and Chicago Bulls who each won 3 straight in the NBA, and the Detroit Red Wings who matched the Devils accomplishment with Lord Stanley.

This current team of Devils first became a legitimate contender in 1994 as they faced the New York Rangers in a perhaps the greatest postseason series in NHL history for a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. In the 7-game series 3 games went to double overtime with the Rangers emerging victorious and going in to win their Stanley Cup.

The Rangers would beat the Devils again in the 1997 playoffs, but other then that the Devils have consistently gotten the best of the neighbors who play just 8 miles away. As they have dominated them head to head an in the standings. Since 1997 the Devils have lost to the Rangers just twice, as they have watched their big city neighbors choke on a big payroll while missing the playoffs 6 straight seasons.

However, despite the Rangers utter and complete and total failure of the last 6 years the Rangers are still the media's darling they get way more coverage both nationally and locally, as the Devils only regular season games on national TV during the regular season have come against the Rangers.

True the Rangers may have the more glamorous roster, but the Devils prove a system and a team is more important then big named stars. Perhaps the greatest example of this is Bobby Holik who left the Devils for a big money deal with Rangers. The Devils hardly missed Holik, while Holik struggled miserably with Rangers. Adding insult to injury was The Star Ledger constantly taking digs at Bobby Holik's off season plans during the playoffs while rookie Mike Rupp scored the Cup clinching goal wearing Holik's old number 16.

Losing players is nothing new to the Devils as they have been a team of interchangeable parts of their incredible run. Due to the lack of exposure and attendance trouble which plague the Devils in the regular season the team operates at a loss, meaning they are forced to stay with in a tight budget often making tough decisions. The Devils would have loved to re-sign Holik, but they could not afford him. Similar decisions have been made involving Alexander Mogilny and Claude Lemeiux.

Despite the constant loss of key players Devils General Manager Lou Lamorello continues to find replacements, as the Devils don't miss a beat. In fact the Devils have had 3 different coaches during their Stanley Cup Playoff runs, which is not including Robbie Ftorek who was fired with 8 games to go in the 1999/00 Cup season.

Before winning the Cup this year the Devils made several big trades including the blockbuster that sent Jason Arnott to the Dallas Stars for Jamie Langenbrunner, and Joe Nieuwendyk who each were key offensive players in the Devils season with Langenbrunner leading them in scoring during the playoffs, and the trade deadline in 2002. Jeff Friesen who scored 5 goals in the finals was also acquired before this season along with Oleg Tverdosky in a trade with Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Petr Sykora. Sykora helped get the Ducks to the Finals, but Friesen haunted his old team making Goalie J.S. Giguere look human.

The deals along with the deadline deal for Grant Marshall formerly of the Columbus Blue Jackets make it plain to see that Lou Lamorello is the best General Manager in hockey if not all of professional sports. When he took over the Devils in 1987 they were indeed a "Mickey Mouse franchise" like Wayne Gretzky proclaimed. In their 13-year existence dating back through Kansas City and Colorado the franchise made the playoffs just once while being one of the worst teams in the league every year.

In Lamorello's first year the Devils made an improbable run to the Conference Finals, however, over the next 6 years they failed to win another series. However, over that time Lamorello built the foundation for the future drafting Goalie Martin Brodeur and defenseman Scott Neidemayer. In 1991 he accepted Scott Stevens as compensation for restricted free agent Brendan Shannahan. Just a year later Stevens would establish himself as the teams captain as the pieces began to fall in place.

True there may have been slip up here and there since but the Devils dominance in the East can not be denied. While the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings have dominated their divisions in the West, the Devils have won the Atlantic Division 6 of out of the last 8 years, posting 100 or more points 7 times in the process. Over the last 10 years they have made it to the Eastern Conference Finals 5 times losing just once, and the Stanley Cup Finals 4 times, also losing just once in 7 games.

While their 3 Stanley Cups can not be denied, the Devils have gotten little notice individually Lou Lamorello keeps getting passed up by the hockey hall of fame, while Martin Brodeur has been passed up for the Vezina several times before finally winning it this year. Other then Brodeur's Vezina Trophy this year and Calder Trophy in 1994 the only other Devils to receive an individual award is John Madden who took home the Selke in 2001. However, Defenseman Scott Stevens has yet to receive serious Norris trophy consideration despite being the defensive backbone to the best defensive team year in and year out.

Perhaps the lack of recognition is a motivating factor, but it is wrong. The last dis comes from Sports Illustrated who elected to put deep sea diving on this weeks cover instead of the Devils 3rd Stanley Cup Victory.

Some say the Devils are boring, but the truth is they are from New Jersey had the Rangers won 3 cups with the same neutral zone trap every player would be a household name and a statue would be erected of Lou Lamorello. Instead moans come from fans of other teams and the media that the neutral zone trap is hurting hockey. However, perhaps the greatest nod of comes from other teams like the Minnesota Wild and Mighty Ducks who now use a trap similar to the Devils. It still is true that the imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

The fact is since the Devils first employed the trap there have been fewer 50-goal scorers, as the NHL questions what they can do to increase offense. Now if that dose not tell you what the Devils have met to hockey I don't know what does. Once a league tries to figure out how to beat a team, it means you have truly impacted the sport.

However, it does not show on Madison Avenue, the Devils continue to be anonymous. Well its time for that to change instead of groaning the Devils are winning again ESPN and ABC should embrace them as the premier team of this era. After all when they faced the Red Wings face to face with Cup on the line the Devils won in 4 straight. If you promote the team fans will understand their style and realize what they are seeing is not boring but smart hockey.

As where the Devils fit with teams of the past that can be debated, but what can't be denied is their 3 Stanley Cups, which is more then Bobby Orr won with Bruins, Mario Lemeiux won with the Penguins, and the Broad Street Bullies Flyers team that fought their way to the Stanley Cup. If that does not tell you how impressive this run has been I don't what would, but either way its time to gives the New Jersey Devils their due.