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April 2008 - VOLUME 5 - EMAIL ISSUE 4

Last month, Martin Brodeur became the first goalie in history to reach 40 wins for a seventh time.

Brodeur made 24 saves for a 4-2 victory at Colorado on 3/15 for his record third-straight 40-win campaign.

2008 New Jersey Devils

Alicia Keys coming to The Rock

Alicia Keys is coming to Prudential Center!The R&B songstress will perform in Newark on Tuesday with special guests Ne-Yo and Jordin Sparks. Tickets are on sale now at the arena box office and on Ticketmaster.com! Read more

The feat further secured Brodeur’s legacy.No one else has won 40 games more than three times.

A new home calls for a new playoff tradition.This season, as the Devils embark on their first Stanley Cup playoff run at Prudential

Center, the message to their fans is... ROCK YOUR RED.It can be your favorite Martin Brodeur jersey or Zach Parise t-shirt; a Devils wind-

breaker or that perfectly broken-in 1995 Stanley Cup Champions jacket. If it’s red, wear it to Prudential Center when the puck finally drops on the new postseason.

We want you to bring the same passion that has been the hallmark of the Devils’ last 10 consecutive playoff appearances.

Now that the team has clinched its 11th berth in a row, do it in red!

Devils Legion fan page makes April debut

New home, new tradition

There are plenty of you out there.

You paint your face and never miss a game.

Dinnertime at your house means watching “Chico Eats,” and your friends know better than to call during a Devils power play.

You love a 2-1 game as much as a 6-0 blowout, and maybe even more. If a one-goal win is what it takes, you’ll take it. You’ve always said that what matters is who finishes with the ‘W’.

A slick breakaway move or a gutsy blocked shot, you come out of your seat for any play that’s about blood, sweat and tears. Doesn’t matter if that seat’s three rows off the glass in Section 13 or in your own living room.

Ever wonder why any hockey player that’s ever been honored at center ice has thanked the fans?

Scott Stevens did it when they raised No. 4 to the rafters. So did Ken Daneyko. That's not just force of

habit, or some empty token of appreciation.

It’s because none of this happens without the fans’ involvement. Not the cheers, the noise, or the memories. Not the stairwell chants, not the whistles, not the message board rants. Not even the waving behind Steve Can-gialosi during the postgame show at the Bud Light Goal Bar.

Yeah, there are plenty of you out there. Now you have a place on the web to post your Devils best –  stories, photos or videos.

The Devils Legion fan page is for the guy that hasn’t shaved in the spring for the past 10 postseasons; that mom with the blinking Devils horns; or that kid coming to every game in his brother’s hand-me-down Johnny Mac jersey.

Get ready to join the Devils Legion. There’s no purchase necessary… you paid your

membership dues the first time you called yourself a Devils fan.

Reaches 40-win mark for record 7th timeforty wins for martyforty wins for marty

New Jersey Devils • 165 Mulberry Street • Newark, N.J. 07102 • P: (973) 757-6100 • F: (973) 757-6399www.newjerseydevils.com • ©New Jersey Devils 2008 • All Rights Reserved.

2008 New Jersey Devils

The Delbarton Green Wave poses with their second state title in three seasons.

The Green Wave built a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Mike Smigelski and pulled away to a 5-1 victory over the St. Augustine Prep Hermits in the 2008 Devils/NJSIAA Non-Public High School Ice Hockey Champion-ship on March 22.

It was the fourth state title for Delbarton, which avenged last year’s semifinal loss to St. Augustine to take back the non-public cham-pionship title that it last won in 2006.

Smigelski later added an assist to round out a three-point afternoon, and Delbarton goal-tender Michael Infante made 21 saves to backstop the Green Wave to a win in the first-ever NJSIAA championship game at Prudential Center.

Andy Bell, Mike Pirovano and Charles Nerbak also scored for Delbarton, while Zach Stern had the lone marker for St. Augustine.

2008 NJSIAA hockey champs crowned at ‘The Rock’Delbarton, Kinnelon, and Ridge claim titles

Delbarton 5, St. Augustine 1

Their biggest game of the season turned into a family affair for the Kin-nelon Colts.

Mike and Pete Cramp-ton each scored twice for the Colts, who topped the Jefferson Township Falcons, 5-1, to take the

Kinnelon 5, Jefferson Twp. 1

This time, the Ridge Red Devils reigned.One season after stumbling in the semifinals

of the NJSIAA tournament, the Red Devils got 22 saves from Bill Higley for a 5-0 shutout win over the Watchung Hills Warriors in their 2008 Public A High School Ice Hockey Champion-ship on March 22.

Greg Zambon had a goal and three assists for the first-time state champs, who received tallies goals from five different players.

Ridge dethroned the two-time defending champion Randolph Rams in this season's semifinals and proved that triumph was no fluke.

Tucker Brinkman and Keith Macey gave the Red Devils a 2-0 lead in the opening frame, and the team from Basking Ridge never looked back.

Warriors’ goaltender Dan Schroeder made 23 saves in the loss, and was named to the All-Tournament team after limiting opponents to one goal in back-to-back games en route to the Finals.

Brandon Lipke and Alex Kong were also named to the all-tourney squad from Watchung Hills, while Bill Foard was selected from Ridge.

Ridge 5, Watchung Hills 0

2008 Devils/NJSIAA Public B High School Ice Hockey Championship on March 22.

It’s the first state title for Kinnelon, which out-scored opponents 21-5 in the three games leading up to the Finals and kept roll-ing in the title match. The Colts built up a 2-0 lead in the first period and took a

3-0 edge after 40 minutes. Head coach Jeffrey Myhren’s squad netted two more in the third to secure the trophy.

Derrick Fu had the Colts’ other goal, while Kevin Kelly registered the lone score for the Falcons.

Colts goaltender George Huber stopped 31 of 32 shots and was named to the All-Tournament squad along with the Crampton brothers. Kelly and Dean Combos were all-tourney for Jefferson Township.

Pete Crampton opened the scoring for Kinnelon, and moments later, the younger Crampton con-nected for a 2-0 Colts lead. Mike, a sophomore, went forward with a draw at the left faceoff dot in Falcons territory before roofing one shortside over Chris Coffey’s blocker at 6:34.

Kelly brought the Jeffer-son fans to their feet early in the third, dangling down the left wing and slicing through defender Trevor Horton before burying one past Huber from the slot at 2:54.

The Ridge Red Devils display their first Public A title.

The Kinnelon Colts with their first-ever state championship.

dolfo tallied 12 goals and 12 assists.

He notched his first career hat trick in the Devils’ first-ever win at Prudential Center, a 6-1 decision over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 31.

Brodeur received his award from Devils’ assistant coach Larry

Robinson. Pandolfo accepted his Unsung Hero honor from assis-tant coach Tommy Albelin and was given his Players’ Player award by Devils’ assistant coach John MacLean.

The winners of the annual awards are determined by players’ secret ballot voting.

Mike G. Morreale of Cran-ford, N.J. has been named the recipient of the 2008 Service to New Jersey Hockey Award.

The award is named for the late Dr. John J. McMullen, who brought professional hockey to the Garden State in 1982. It has been presented annually since 1984 by the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils to an individual or individuals who have supported ama-teur hockey throughout the state.

Morreale, 39, served as The Star-Ledger’s scholastic ice hockey writer for 17 seasons from 1990-91 through 2006-07. From 1998-2006, he was the

Newark, New Jersey-based newspaper’s lead writer for the Devils/New Jersey State Inter-scholastic Athletic Association’s Ice Hockey Championships, while employed at Dorf Feature Service (Mountainside, N.J.).

Through Morreale’s efforts, high school varsity ice hockey in the state has increased from 56 schools in 1990 to more than 150

today. He covered the sport when there was no sepa-ration of tournaments (public/non-public) as there is today.

Morreale currently serves as a staff writer for the National Hockey League and its website, NHL.com.

Pandolfo received his Players’ Player award from assistant coach John MacLean.

It was an encore performance, but it sure hasn’t gotten old.

Martin Brodeur and Jay Pan-dolfo were the big winners at the player award ceremony held last month at Prudential Center. Brodeur received the Most Valu-able Devil while Pandolfo took both the Devils’ Players’ Player and the Hugh Delano Unsung Hero award.

It was Brodeur’s second straight MVD, and the 10th of his career. The three-time Stanley Cup champion and defending Vezina Trophy winner received eight consecutive MVD awards from 1996 to 2003, sharing the 2001 award with Patrik Elias.

Brodeur has put together another outstanding campaign in ‘07-08, having notched an NHL-record third straight 40-win season. He has compiled seven seasons with 40 or more wins while no other goaltender in league history has had more than three.

Pandolfo, meanwhile, is no stranger to the Devils’ award podium either.

He has won both the Players’ Player and Unsung Hero three straight times, and has garnered Unsung Hero honors five times in his career.

In 54 games this season Pan-

Brodeur, Pandolfo take player awards

Morreale (l.) with Devils Exec. V.P. Peter McMullen.

Morreale wins ‘08 McMullen Service honor

Repeat as MVD, Unsung Hero and Players’ Player

Brodeur accepted his Most Valuable Devil award from assistant coach Larry Robinson.

Newark welcomes Willie O’Ree

Devils sign d-man Tyler Eckford

This season marks the 50th anni-versary of Willie O’Ree’s trailblaz-ing debut with the Boston Bruins, when he became the first black player in the NHL.

O’Ree visited Newark on March 19, joining Devils Chairman and Managing Partner Jeff Vanderbeek and team Co-Owner Michael Gilfillan to meet with the Newark Americans NHL Diversity team at the Ironbound Rink.

That was followed by a trip to City Hall to meet Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker and receive a

Medallion of Excellence from the City of Newark.

Afterward, the NHL legend attended the con-test between the Devils and New York Rangers, at Prudential Center and dropped the ceremonial opening faceoff between Devils captain Jamie Lan-genbrunner and Rangers

captain Jaromir Jagr.O’Ree’s debut and his position

as the NHL’s ambassador for NHL Diversity have paved the way for future players of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds. O‘Ree drops the ceremonial draw between Jamie Langenbrunner (l.) and Jaromir Jagr on March 19.

2008 New Jersey Devils

The Devils signed defenseman Tyler Eckford to his first professional contract last month. The announcement was made by Devils’ President/CEO/General Man-ager Lou Lamoriello.

Eckford, 22, was New Jersey’s fifth choice, and the 217th overall selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. The 6-3, 220-lb. defenseman spent the past three seasons at Alaska-Fairbanks (CCHA) where he compiled 16 goals and 55 assists for 71 points and 152 penalty minutes in 112 career appearances.

During his just-completed junior season, Eckford became the first player in Nanook history named to the CCHA All-Conference First Team. In recording 31 points this past season, he finished first among the school’s defensemen in scoring for the second time in three seasons.

Eckford finished first among Alaska-Fairbanks’ defensemen/rookies with 18 points in 2005-06 when he was named to the CCHA All-Rookie Team. Born Sep-tember 8, 1985 in Vancouver, B.C., he played two seasons with South Surrey (BCHL) prior to his collegiate career.