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T-Devs on Thin Ice


LousBallsack

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Just to clear things up, I live about 50 minutes south of trenton, and about 2 hours south of newark. I went to multiple games for each team last year. I am literally ten minutes from wells fargo center, but I will never be a fan of Philly. Given those circumstances, going to a flyers-affiliated game to me would be hitting to close to home, even if it is just the ECHL. I saw the T-Devs as a way to finally break Devils hockey through to the rest of the state and I was in favor of the AC games. I just loved the thought of maybe one day having the state of new jersey as a whole embracing Devils hockey.

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I don't know, I'm not really in the Trenton area, I'm closer to Newark. I think it's not necessarily about where you live, it's about whether or not you were a Titans fan prior to the Devils taking over, though where you live probably has a lot to do with it in most cases. Obviously adam and hurricane were not, and everyone else in this debate were.

Yes, that's basically what I was getting at. I assumed -- obviously incorrectly -- that the two groups were one and the same.

Just to clear things up, I live about 50 minutes south of trenton, and about 2 hours south of newark. I went to multiple games for each team last year. I am literally ten minutes from wells fargo center, but I will never be a fan of Philly. Given those circumstances, going to a flyers-affiliated game to me would be hitting to close to home, even if it is just the ECHL. I saw the T-Devs as a way to finally break Devils hockey through to the rest of the state and I was in favor of the AC games. I just loved the thought of maybe one day having the state of new jersey as a whole embracing Devils hockey.

I don't think anyone's faulting you for wanting the Devils to succeed in Trenton. We all wanted the T-Devs to succeed; it's just that some of us had heard this story before and already knew how it would end. Sadly, we were right. And on the surface it was a good idea to have the Devils take over in Trenton, but since they know next to nothing about marketing, especially on the minor-league level, it quickly turned into a disaster.

Edited by RowdyFan42
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Just to clear things up, I live about 50 minutes south of trenton, and about 2 hours south of newark. I went to multiple games for each team last year. I am literally ten minutes from wells fargo center, but I will never be a fan of Philly. Given those circumstances, going to a flyers-affiliated game to me would be hitting to close to home, even if it is just the ECHL. I saw the T-Devs as a way to finally break Devils hockey through to the rest of the state and I was in favor of the AC games. I just loved the thought of maybe one day having the state of new jersey as a whole embracing Devils hockey.

I felt that way too, and was sure that since it was going to be a daunting task, they’d come in all guns blazing and make T-Devil games something to talk about (meaning the whole game experience on and off the ice)

In reality it was all lip service. It wasn’t until this past season that I fully gave up the Kool Aid and realized they didn’t care about that goal as much as I, or you, did. I went to better than 95% of all Trenton Devil games. I was committed to them being a success. After the first season I never felt the Home Office was equally as committed. Up until this past season I held out hope they’d turn it around but this season…it was clear it wasn’t going to happen. There was clearly a ‘we’ve given up’ vibe about the place, a bit hard to explain but a definite ‘dead man walking’ vibe. So it was sad and yet expected when they said they were folding up.

The fact hockey’s coming back is fantastic, and the folks they’ve got running it are top notch. As has been said, affiliation at this level has little impact on NHL results. Todd Fedoruk and Ruslan Fedotenko were the big names to put on a Titan uniform, and they barely count as they didn’t come close to 20 games between them.

Now had the alternate scenario happened and the Titans folded, and Philly moved the Phantoms in…I don’t think I could wear a Phantoms jersey. Well, no, I couldn’t wear a Phantoms jersey; it’s way too close to the Flyers. But I’d go to the games. They’d probably trade the best prospects away for some stiff anyway before they could wear a Flyer jersey….

Wonder who the second affiliate might be. I would say it could never be the Devils but…a franchise was pulled together in less than a month. Never say never. (as a footnote they used to be affiliated with the Islanders on a couple of occasions).

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I don't think it's that the Devils know nothing about marketing, they do a pretty decent job (attempt) in newark. It's hard to figure it out, honestly, I just don't think they cared. They see the minor league as a development pool, and I've read on various NJD forums of people who just don't give a fvck what the big club does with the minor league affiliates ("i dont care if they play in front of 50 people, it's just development"). Now, I don't agree with that. If they truly wanted to turn the state into Devils fans then yeah, money and resources needed to be exhausted to do it, and they were not willing.

If the T-Devs were good and the marketing was there, do you think they'd legitimately have filled their arena? It's hard to say. We fault them for not trying, but even if they did it may never have worked.

I honestly wouldn't mind if the Titans came back and affiliated themselves with the New Jersey Devils. I just don't see why this wasn't an option. If the Titans fans just wanted the Titans back, then the affiliation shouldn't prevent them from coming back, right?

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They can't be serious with those jerseys on the facebook page, can they? Didn't they learn from the Devils?

Ugh. Apparently not.

228827_211814958869715_100001236378063_643092_7423289_n.jpg

If these are for real, I may have to remove myself from the "Happy The Titans Are Back" bandwagon.

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Sure those are even real? The numbers on the arms looks weird like the sizing is off. Could be knockoffs?

I'm hoping they're knockoffs. The pic was posted by someone named Philly Flyer, not the actual Trenton Titans. If they were official, I don't know how A) Philly Flyer could post them before the team, and B) how the jerseys could be put together so quickly after the T-Devs demise/Titans revival announcements were made.

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I'm hoping they're knockoffs. The pic was posted by someone named Philly Flyer, not the actual Trenton Titans. If they were official, I don't know how A) Philly Flyer could post them before the team, and B) how the jerseys could be put together so quickly after the T-Devs demise/Titans revival announcements were made.

Then it is quite possible. How come on one jersey the numbers on the sleeves look larger than on the other jersey? IDK just looks like someone stitched up something quickly at home to me.

Also the crest on the white looks much smaller than the crest on the orange. Also looks like someone photoshopped it on there. Could be because of different sizes but just doesn't look right to me.

Edited by DevsMan84
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Apparently they're looking to secure a second affiliation....

A couple things that were discussed at the press conf.

The PR guy was soliciting questions and somebody said now go get Zancanaro back, Lisk waved from the table and commented saying something along the line of the odds of anyone returning from last years team is remote at best. There is no plan to work with the Devils in fact I would say that was made very clear. There was also no talk at all about seeking another affiliation. However somebody pointed out that there are 6-7 coaches in the AHL that have ties to trenton and they have spoken with all of them and most have insinuated they would be interested in helping out and sending guys our way, not necessarily AHL contracted guys although that could happen (ala Paul Brown) but solid players that would have the opportunity to showcase their skills in a market that had tradionally been near the top of the league in AHL callups. Removing the limitations on where players can go is a big selling point to a young unsigned kid.

Positive vibe throughout although McKenna and some blowhard politician made reference to being caught off guard by the devils leaving so suddenly, basically announcing at the BOG meeting that unless the league found a buyer in 2 weeks they were done. Thankfully Lisk contacted the Martinson's immediately and they were all in right away just took this long to get the legal issues worked through.

One thing that hasn't been decided is if the Titans own the rights to the 8 players that were qualified, I'm not sure if they even eant them but the league should rule in the next few days, they initially had announced they were all free agents when the devils left. But that announcement was apparently premature (the Jtown/Greenville scenario was brought up). Owning a players rights doesn't necessarily mean squat at this level when push comes to shove most of the time.

They were talking about red/black and white and changing the Bertoli banner to those colors so I don't think the O+B sweaters are anything more than somebodys imagination running wild.

Head coach expexted to be announced in the next 10 days along with player signings in the next few days. They have been recruiting for a couple weeks now, however it's still late in the game.

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Apparently they're looking to secure a second affiliation....

A couple things that were discussed at the press conf.

The PR guy was soliciting questions and somebody said now go get Zancanaro back, Lisk waved from the table and commented saying something along the line of the odds of anyone returning from last years team is remote at best. There is no plan to work with the Devils in fact I would say that was made very clear. There was also no talk at all about seeking another affiliation. However somebody pointed out that there are 6-7 coaches in the AHL that have ties to trenton and they have spoken with all of them and most have insinuated they would be interested in helping out and sending guys our way, not necessarily AHL contracted guys although that could happen (ala Paul Brown) but solid players that would have the opportunity to showcase their skills in a market that had tradionally been near the top of the league in AHL callups. Removing the limitations on where players can go is a big selling point to a young unsigned kid.

Positive vibe throughout although McKenna and some blowhard politician made reference to being caught off guard by the devils leaving so suddenly, basically announcing at the BOG meeting that unless the league found a buyer in 2 weeks they were done. Thankfully Lisk contacted the Martinson's immediately and they were all in right away just took this long to get the legal issues worked through.

One thing that hasn't been decided is if the Titans own the rights to the 8 players that were qualified, I'm not sure if they even eant them but the league should rule in the next few days, they initially had announced they were all free agents when the devils left. But that announcement was apparently premature (the Jtown/Greenville scenario was brought up). Owning a players rights doesn't necessarily mean squat at this level when push comes to shove most of the time.

They were talking about red/black and white and changing the Bertoli banner to those colors so I don't think the O+B sweaters are anything more than somebodys imagination running wild.

Head coach expexted to be announced in the next 10 days along with player signings in the next few days. They have been recruiting for a couple weeks now, however it's still late in the game.

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Ugh. Apparently not.

228827_211814958869715_100001236378063_643092_7423289_n.jpg

If these are for real, I may have to remove myself from the "Happy The Titans Are Back" bandwagon.

If they are real, they're just as dumb as the Devils. But that's an interesting photoshop job, especially when you see the logos are different sizes. The socks on the mascot are a nice touch though. Looking at the guy's FB page, he's clearly into photoshopping hockey stuff.

However - those would make a great one-off third jersey/charity auction.

Edited by LousBallsack
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Sorry for the double post.

Perhaps the most important thing discussed was that from McKenna to Lisk to the Martinson's they all realize the market has been damaged and the Martinson's are comitted to rebuiling the fan base over the next 2-3 years. They fully understand turning it around is going to take a while. That said they have a 6 figure marketing budget to do as much as possible as soon as possible. They touched on how many businesses they've turned around as part of their investment ventures, stressed they are very competitive and are focused on seeing this through. They are clearly huge hockey fans first and foremost.

I believe they bought the Devils franchise although maybe not, that franchise may have been dissolved in order for the county to shred the lease without penalty. There is still the issue as to whether or not the Titans own the rights of the last years guys that were sent qualifying offers which would seem to indicate it is the same franchise.

Could definitely see those putrid jerseys as being a one off auction jersey for charity. Wouldn't be caught dead in one but they would sell without question.

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People always mention these promises and say they did things wrong, but no one has every actually said what these supposed promises were and what they should of done instead. YOU try filling the seats in that slump of a town and let me know how it goes.

How about the promise of signing a 10 lease 2 seasons ago.

The league president said today up until the bog meeting 4-5 weeks ago the Devils told him all was well, at the meeting told the BOG they had 2 weeks to find a buyer or they were done.

There are dozens of nitpicking empty promises too, like bringing players down from newark on off nights. Painting the town red etc. JVB last Oct in Trenton said he has never been more committed to Trenton and pointed to said lease as an indication. However most fans could gladly live without those things IF the hockey was competitive and the org actually cared.

And again to Adam who keeps bringin up declining attendance, YES but they were still above league average when the devils came to town and last year were less than half of the league average. Albany attendance was down drastically last season as well. Defending their abiltiy fill seats is really difficult to understand. Also coming from the former GM in trenton the Flyers plan all along was to have the Bermans fold after they finished out their 10 year original lease commitment and to slide the phantoms in there without having to lay out the ~1M to buy the titans, so saying they saved the market isn't necessarily true.

Nobody that continued to actually pay for season tickets wanted the devils to fail regardless of what big club they like the venom for those of us that stayed built up once it was apparent that this was Lowell/Albany 1 all over again. Hell there's no bigger Devils fan than 1985 so for him to have reached the point he's at speaks volumes. As others have point out at the AA level we're not talking about guys you're ever likely to see on an NHL rink any time soon. At best those guys have a cup of coffee at this level. On the dlip side for those of us with kids all these guys are Wayne Gretzky in their eyes, seeing that side of it is what made the whole thing special to our family in the first place.

Anyway to each his own, Trenton survived and hopefully the arena can come back to life and going game in and game out can return to what it once was over the next couple seasons.

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Anyway to each his own, Trenton survived and hopefully the arena can come back to life and going game in and game out can return to what it once was over the next couple seasons.

Yea I can't wait to kick everyone's ass on the air hockey table during intermissions again! :D

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