Who was the First Devil & Best Devil You Met in Person?

[grcenter47]

Someone asked me this question at work when they came across my autograph collection. I thought it was pretty interesting so I decided to post it here. I am not sure if this has ever been posted this before but who was everyone's first devil they met and everyone's best devil they met. This could be after the game, before the game, or at an autograph session.

First Devil - Alexei Kasatonov 1992 Flemington NJ Card Show

Best Devil - Jim Dowd Car Show

[Zubie#8]

First Brodeur 1999

met daneyko stevens bombadier mckay arnott neidermeyer sykora holik pelley

Best Devil was McKay, great guy to talk to

Still waiting to meet Da Zub

Edited October 21, 2010 by Zubie#8

[Aznjsn]

First and best recently during jersey tour, Dano.

Bought me and my friends drinks and let me wear his 2000 ring for like half an hour lol.

[Quinn01]

First - Langie

Nicest was either Parise or Brodie, both really really cool dudes. Very humble.

First and best recently during jersey tour, Dano.

Bought me and my friends drinks and let me wear his 2000 ring for like half an hour lol.

Ofcourse he did, dano <3's his alcohol.

Edited October 21, 2010 by Quinn01

[Random Poster]

First(s): Dave Cameron, Paul Gagne, Dave Lewis, Jan Ludvig. Youth skate with the Devils at Mennen Arena. Still have the autographs from that night.

Best: Too many to list.

[Dead]

Met: All the Devils that have been at the STH meet and greets the past few years (I did not make it this year, as I gave my passes to two of the biggest fans I know). Also Dano, Resch, Driver, and others I can not remember their names.

All of them are very nice.

Dano and Driver stand out from the "older" players for me. Driver and Dano have been very nice to everyone that I know who has met them. Driver even took the time to talk to my mom who does not really know hockey too well, but LOVES hockey. He signed her Jersey, and gave her a signed picture as well Dano did the same, and even posed for pictures I was taking during a short break in the intermission interview in the goal bar one night.

As much as I did not like Peter's on the ice so much, he is a great guy in person

Edited October 21, 2010 by Dead

[thefiestygoat]

First Devil - Krzysztof Oliwa

Best Devil - I've only gone to get autographs a few times and they've all been pretty nice. John Madden seemed pretty chill.

[mmajeski06]

Ofcourse he did, dano <3's his alcohol.

Not to stray off topic, but does anyone know how he is doing with that?

Edited October 21, 2010 by mmajeski06

[DevilNurn]

First: Patrik Elias

Best: Zach Parise (honorable mention to Andrew Peters)

[MantaRay]

I don't do meet and greet sort of stuff, but I did meet Dano and Paul Martin at Jimmy Dowd charity event in Hoboken.

Ironically, I literally ran into (bumped into) "my good friend" Ilya Kovalchuk while taking a stroll on Saturday afternoon. I think he could tell by my displeased look at him that I was an angry devils fan (I was wearing my devils sweatshirt) that doesn't appreciate what his acquisition has done to a once proud franchise.

But I also get the sense he blames himself for our failures he had an angry disposition getting into his white mercedes en route to getting our butts kicked by Boston later that evening.

[Maddog]

First Devil- Kirk Muller

Best Devil- All of them.

Meet Captain Kirk at the Devils Fan Club Charity Softball game.

I can honestly say any Devil player I have meet couldn't have been any nicer or accommodating.

[DevsMan84]

First was John MacLean at the old Chimney Rock Rink in either 91 or 92. Daneyko was supposed to be there but either he was injured or cancelled.

Favorite not exactly sure. I do not go to many signings at all but Andy Greene last year was a really nice guy.

[Weekes Head]

i went to a martin brodeur autograph session when i was a kid in 1994. still have the 8x10 to this day. prized possession.

the best devil i met was scott clemmensen. most of you know the whole story, but for those who dont, the gist of it is that i had gone to a road game with some buddies in pittsburgh and happened to sit right behind clemmensen for the game (at mellon the backup goalies didnt fit on the bench so they had to sit elsewhere.) we noticed clemmy so we started chanting his name for fun and he turned around and gave a hat tip to us. pretty neat. the devils ended up storming back from being down 2-0 and won 3-2 in overtime -- when elias scored in OT, clemmy turned around and pointed to us and gave a thumbs up with this huge smile on his face. it was awesome.

fast forward a couple weeks and we were at a home devils game. i happened to have the ticket stub on me from that pens game so i thought of staying after to get the ticket signed as a cool souvenir. waited forever and no clemmy. my buddies were at the other side trying to meet parise and all the big boys so i was off by myself. after a half hour or so went by, i decided to go meet back up with my friends. as i was walking back, i noticed a group of suits emerge from the front of the caa. sure enough, it was clemmensen AND his entire family. he noticed that i was wearing a clemmensen jersey and shouted over to me "hey, i'll be right over -- let me just say goodbye to my family!" i waited for a minute or two and a man ended up approaching me. he kind of startled me, actually, because i'm pretty sure i had my back turned...or something. i dont remember. it's been a few years. anyway, he says to me "so, youre a fan of my son?" it was clemmensen's DAD lol. i ended up having a 15 minute conversation with his dad haha. about 10 min into the convo, scott and his mom came over and joined the convo. we talked about everything -- the idea of moving on and finding a new club where he'd play more, how he felt about never getting to play much with new jersey, etc etc. he was so honest with his answers too, it was pretty sweet. clemmy signed my ticket and said it was really awesome to see some familiar faces in the crowd that day in pittsburgh. pretty neat that he remembered and all. he also signed my jersey without me even asking haha. i think he was just shocked that someone had his number. (mind you, this was pre-marty injury so clemmy was riding the bench 35893 games a year.) we said our goodbyes and as i was about to leave, clemmy's dad grabbed my hand and gave me a firm handshake and said "it was a pleasure meeting my son's number one fan. it really means a lot to us."

it was seriously the coolest experience i've ever had with this team. i'll never forget it. such a great guy and such a great family.

[mrthemike]

First- Arnott

Best-Arnott

I met him in 99 at one of my first devils games, and I fell in love with him.

BOW CHICKA BOW WOW

[yankeesjetsfan]

First Devil Mat-Bruce Driver at a bar close by the Rock

Best Devil met-Chico. I met Chico at a fundraiser in Coldwater and when I asked him to sign my puck, he was happy to do so. even asked if I wanted his full name. Very nice of him to ask.

Mike

[TravisZajac19]

First Devil -Randy McKay in 2000 outside Continental

Best Devil -David Clarkson, always smiling and willing to talk. Zajac is a close second.

Worst Devil -Jay Pandolfo was awful on two meeting where he just signed and ushered me away after I asked him a quesiton.

[StarDew]

First Devil - Hector Marini

[ThreeCups]

First Devil: Ken Daneyko (have talked to him/got things signed by him countless times since)

Best Devil: Ken Daneyko/Zach Parise. Kenny will always engage in some good hockey convo and Zach is always willing to sign and make small talk for the most part. Even when surrounded by larger crowds. Nice guys all around. Most Devils have been good over the years....

[Souray44]

First = Craig Wolanin

Best = Way too many to list. Some of the best meetings has been Parise, Clarkson, Souray. These three stick out as guys who would make small talk. Most of the Devils have been awesome!

[RunninWithTheDevil]

I think the first devil I actually met was patty. I was about 9 or 10 with my family at south mountain arena. Patty was leaving in his car and he actually stopped to sign and take a few pictures with us. such a cool guy. best devil I ever met was kenny daneyko. I've talked to him so many times I think he must recognize me by now.

[estreetcrew3]

First Devil I met was Sean Burke in 89 at Brick Ice Palace. He came to sign autos and he is the reason im a Devils fan.

There is too many devils too list as a a Best Devil.

I do have to say best non-Devil player has to be Bernie Parent. He was a great guy to talk to and i 'd say he was more siked to meet me. Then he was the one who said lets take a picture. Never met someone so happy to meet a fan of a rival team.

[GA Devil]

i went to a martin brodeur autograph session when i was a kid in 1994. still have the 8x10 to this day. prized possession.

the best devil i met was scott clemmensen. most of you know the whole story, but for those who dont, the gist of it is that i had gone to a road game with some buddies in pittsburgh and happened to sit right behind clemmensen for the game (at mellon the backup goalies didnt fit on the bench so they had to sit elsewhere.) we noticed clemmy so we started chanting his name for fun and he turned around and gave a hat tip to us. pretty neat. the devils ended up storming back from being down 2-0 and won 3-2 in overtime -- when elias scored in OT, clemmy turned around and pointed to us and gave a thumbs up with this huge smile on his face. it was awesome.

fast forward a couple weeks and we were at a home devils game. i happened to have the ticket stub on me from that pens game so i thought of staying after to get the ticket signed as a cool souvenir. waited forever and no clemmy. my buddies were at the other side trying to meet parise and all the big boys so i was off by myself. after a half hour or so went by, i decided to go meet back up with my friends. as i was walking back, i noticed a group of suits emerge from the front of the caa. sure enough, it was clemmensen AND his entire family. he noticed that i was wearing a clemmensen jersey and shouted over to me "hey, i'll be right over -- let me just say goodbye to my family!" i waited for a minute or two and a man ended up approaching me. he kind of startled me, actually, because i'm pretty sure i had my back turned...or something. i dont remember. it's been a few years. anyway, he says to me "so, youre a fan of my son?" it was clemmensen's DAD lol. i ended up having a 15 minute conversation with his dad haha. about 10 min into the convo, scott and his mom came over and joined the convo. we talked about everything -- the idea of moving on and finding a new club where he'd play more, how he felt about never getting to play much with new jersey, etc etc. he was so honest with his answers too, it was pretty sweet. clemmy signed my ticket and said it was really awesome to see some familiar faces in the crowd that day in pittsburgh. pretty neat that he remembered and all. he also signed my jersey without me even asking haha. i think he was just shocked that someone had his number. (mind you, this was pre-marty injury so clemmy was riding the bench 35893 games a year.) we said our goodbyes and as i was about to leave, clemmy's dad grabbed my hand and gave me a firm handshake and said "it was a pleasure meeting my son's number one fan. it really means a lot to us."

it was seriously the coolest experience i've ever had with this team. i'll never forget it. such a great guy and such a great family.

Awesome story. I have a similar story, although not nearly as spectacular. A few years ago (2005?) I went to one of those rookie tournaments. This was held at the Sharks' practice rink and got to watch unproven rookies like Setoguchi, Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, and Glencross play for the first time. I'm sitting next to an older couple in the stands who turn out to be the parents of Shay and Logan Stephenson. It was quite the learning experience in regards to the process (for some) to get to the NHL. Really nice people.

First Devil - Hector Marini

Alas, one of the Devils' first all-stars. Isn't he deceased or greatly debilitated now? I forget.

Oh yeah, first: Bob Lorimer

[devlman]

i went to a martin brodeur autograph session when i was a kid in 1994. still have the 8x10 to this day. prized possession.

the best devil i met was scott clemmensen. most of you know the whole story, but for those who dont, the gist of it is that i had gone to a road game with some buddies in pittsburgh and happened to sit right behind clemmensen for the game (at mellon the backup goalies didnt fit on the bench so they had to sit elsewhere.) we noticed clemmy so we started chanting his name for fun and he turned around and gave a hat tip to us. pretty neat. the devils ended up storming back from being down 2-0 and won 3-2 in overtime -- when elias scored in OT, clemmy turned around and pointed to us and gave a thumbs up with this huge smile on his face. it was awesome.

fast forward a couple weeks and we were at a home devils game. i happened to have the ticket stub on me from that pens game so i thought of staying after to get the ticket signed as a cool souvenir. waited forever and no clemmy. my buddies were at the other side trying to meet parise and all the big boys so i was off by myself. after a half hour or so went by, i decided to go meet back up with my friends. as i was walking back, i noticed a group of suits emerge from the front of the caa. sure enough, it was clemmensen AND his entire family. he noticed that i was wearing a clemmensen jersey and shouted over to me "hey, i'll be right over -- let me just say goodbye to my family!" i waited for a minute or two and a man ended up approaching me. he kind of startled me, actually, because i'm pretty sure i had my back turned...or something. i dont remember. it's been a few years. anyway, he says to me "so, youre a fan of my son?" it was clemmensen's DAD lol. i ended up having a 15 minute conversation with his dad haha. about 10 min into the convo, scott and his mom came over and joined the convo. we talked about everything -- the idea of moving on and finding a new club where he'd play more, how he felt about never getting to play much with new jersey, etc etc. he was so honest with his answers too, it was pretty sweet. clemmy signed my ticket and said it was really awesome to see some familiar faces in the crowd that day in pittsburgh. pretty neat that he remembered and all. he also signed my jersey without me even asking haha. i think he was just shocked that someone had his number. (mind you, this was pre-marty injury so clemmy was riding the bench 35893 games a year.) we said our goodbyes and as i was about to leave, clemmy's dad grabbed my hand and gave me a firm handshake and said "it was a pleasure meeting my son's number one fan. it really means a lot to us."

it was seriously the coolest experience i've ever had with this team. i'll never forget it. such a great guy and such a great family.

Thats a great story

[cubanjd305]

I live in a far away land so...

Met first (together): Zajac, Elias, Parise, Fraser.

Best was Parise. Very cool guy, chatted with me for a while, that day is definitely stored in my memory bank

[NYCdevil]

first: sergei brylin in 96-97' approx.

best: kovy (even though he was a little cold)

worst: Stephane Richer, met him at a game when he was a healthy scratch i think, he didn't want to sign an autograph until some drunk dude said something. i was probably about 8-9 yrs old.

met: brylin, gomez, richer, kovy, lemaire (first stint as coach), and lou in a restaurant. lou is awesome