52 replies to this topic

[SS-SS]

i do have stories but seriously kinda impossible to remember what "got" me into hockey cause like is said... where i live it's like a religion here... as soon as youre born here you start getting hockey cloths and gift its like the "safe bet gift", 80% of the kids are growing up with a goal in their driveway or inside eventually, or playing hockey at school but anywayi remember when i was like 5-6 years old i was drawing a lot and i had a bunch of hockey cards and hockey stuff and at that age i didnt really liked a team in particular, i was a fan of the league really so i remember drawing all the logos, and they were done pretty well from what i can remember (when you consider that i was super young haha) ended up 20 something years later making a living as a graphic designer so hockey kinda brought me that much.Then when you grow up around here youre kinda brainwashed to cheer for Montreal. But my father was a huge Nordique fan and my sister a Bruins fan and everyone else that i knew were Habs fans but then heard about Brodeur on tv when he was drafted and remember hearing about him on tv before that and i was a goalie at the time (8 years old in 1992) so i kinda decided he was my idol (yup just like that) and that's why i choose New Jersey... pretty damn good choice

Yep, definitely. You can't escape hockey in Montreal...if you're not into hockey its probably because you really don't love this game and had to reject it. Its never because you got into another sport earlier or because you never really was initiated. Your kinda brought into it as soon as your born.

I remember being a Habs fan just because all my friends and all my family were fans of the Habs. However I only liked Saku Koivu in the whole team. I remember being laughed at because he was my favorite player...other kids were fans of players like Pavel Bure, Peter Bondra, Jagr

I became fan of the Devils because of Scott Niedermayer. I don't know why I liked him so much. I mean its hard for a kid to appreciate the play of a Defense-man because you usual like the guy who scores a lot of goals or the goalie because he stops the pucks from getting in, but a defense-man work is harder to appreciate for a kid. However I remember being in complete love with the way he skated. Actually followed the Devils throughout the 2000 playoffs because of Niedermayer ( game after game I was slowly becoming a Devil) and at the end of the playoffs when I saw Stevens, Niedermayer etc lifting the cup I had became a fan.

Edited by SS-SS, 01 January 2012 - 11:37 PM.

[Onddeck]

The Olympics were, like, 18 months ago... ?
Regardless, Vancouver is an absolutely beautiful city. British Columbia is breathtakingly beautiful. We (some friends from work and I) went up there to go to Whistler a couple of times. If you ski at all (and even if you don't, really), I highly recommend it.

i grew up in colorado and even i will say that its basically my dream to eventually snowboard in BC. the place is epic

[Dead]

Wow some awesome stories here.


I know my sister was brought into the game the same way i was, geez go figure right? . She did take a liking to Patty early on and is a huge fan right now. She became a first time FULL STH this season and that doesnt look like it will change as long as she can scream "you suck" when we score.

[thefiestygoat]

I started watching games in 1994 with my brother who is a huge Rangers fan. Once I realized their was a team in New Jersey I became a Devils fan. Even at age 6 it didn't make sense to me to cheer for a New York team when there was a New Jersey team.

Edited by thefiestygoat, 01 January 2012 - 11:45 PM.

[CarpathianForest]

Reason I became a Devils fan is because I was born in Dover, NJ. My Dad and Sister were born in New York and they used to trash talk NJ. My Grandmother would say things,like New Jersey is New York's Garbage dump. Used to irritate me.

[NJDevsRock]

I had hurt my back and couldn't sleep for anything and happened upon the triple overtime game against Dallas and I was hooked.

Amazingly I had gone to a lot of games around '85-87 as my then boyfriend got free tickets all the time. Neither one of us knew what the hell was going on, but it was something to do, so off we went. I remember sometimes being the only people in the whole section, and I don't think we ever went to a winning game. I wish I had all those free tickets now!

Watching the games on TV, and this board helped me learn a lot about the game, which made all the difference. I took my daughter to her first game yesterday and she is hooked. She is still walking around the house chanting kill...I hope by Tuesday she gets over it, before I have to explain to her kindergarten teacher that it's a hockey thing!

[Brick Pig]

I grew up in North Carolina in the '70s and only vaguely knew there was such a thing as hockey before seeing the "Miracle on Ice" during the 1980 Olympics. Then I never saw it again until sometime in 1983, when my college roommates and I finally had cable installed. One day soon after that, I was flipping channels and stopped on a game. I don't even remember now what teams were playing, but I was mesmerized. After that I watched any time I found a game, although that was not very often. Still, it was at a time when I was able to see Gretzky and Messier with the Oilers, and Lemieux and Jagr with the Penguins, which of course was a good way to get introduced to the game.

At the same time, though, I come from a family that is not generally sports oriented, and my wife isn't into sports either, so I was only a very casual fan for all those years.

Flash forward to 2006: My wife and I are living in NJ by then, but my aunt, who lives in Raliegh, was absolutely nutso excited about the 'Canes run to the Cup. Her enthusiasm made my wife want to watch the games, and of course I was only too happy to oblige. Long story short, my wife flipped out over it. During the finals, I said "You know, if you're really digging this, we live righting the middle of some of the best teams in the league. We can watch as much hockey as you can stand when next season rolls around."

So during the 06-07 season we went to a couple Rangers games, a handful of Devils games, and even a couple 'Canes games, and watched almost all the Rangers and Devils games on TV. Over the course of that season and the next it just became clearer and clearer to us that we both preferred the Devils over the Rangers. After Avery's bullsh!t in front of Marty during that '08 playoff game, we dropped the Rangers entirely and have been loyal Devils fans ever since.

Edited by Brick Pig, 02 January 2012 - 01:44 AM.

[Steven M.]

My plan for my great post-grad school graduation celebration is to fly out to San Diego and spend two weeks on the west coast, driving up to Seattle/Vancouver, and going to the Seahawks home opener. I've never been to Seattle (and therefore a home Seahawks game) before and I'm dying to. This probably won't happen this summer/fall, but maybe if I'm lucky I can swing it in 2013.

That sounds like an awesome plan. I'm jealous. I lived in Petaluma, CA from May 2010 - the first week of October 2010 for training. I really should've made my way up there for a game.

[Joonas #6]

When I started playing hockey at the age of...uhh...10 I guess.

[EdgeControl]

grew up in bergen county had a french canadian grade school best friend who needed a street hockey partner in 6th grade. started shooting real pucks in my basement against the wall, and started skating before school when ponds actually froze in NNJ for weeks at a time = early 70s

challanged the neighboring towns kids to a street hockey game in the 8th grade and it grew into a big event throughout HS we had more students at our street hockey games than the HS football team LOL because of the fights! honed a nasty slap shot. went to jack rilys hockey camp for 2 years for summer vacation.

was a boston bruin fan for some strange reason. because of orr, but the sight of brad park in a bruins jersey was too much, and i went off to college and left hockey

20 years later I marry a devils fan! so she takes me to a few games and I watch a few PO series and cup wins with her, but still dont "get into" the game. then my second son turns 7 and his school has a skate day so I take off from work and go skating with him and the school for the first time in 30 YEARS!!! rental skates and age lol its not like riding a bike I felt weird out there but slowly it started coming back. went out and bought him and I skates and pads and started reading and viewing laura stam and Skinner skating instructions
a few pond hockey nights passing the puck around with my son finally kicked my love of hockey back in. so after being a fringe devils fan for a few years I decided I would commit to them after seeing zach in the olympics and kovy skating the puck in.

[hattrick]

I got into hockey in my sophomore year in college around 1981 or 82. I went to 2 Rags games vs the Failures and the Kings. My family and relatives all hated hockey and kept the game away from me. My family were typical baseball and basketball fans. After those 2 games, I was so pissed at all my relatives who kept hockey away from me. At that time, I was the only one into hockey in my family. I made sure my son was and is a big hockey fan. Anyway, I was not going to be a Rags or Failure fan cuz they don't need me to be a fan and at that time I was an Isle fan just to be different and rebellious. I got into the Devs during their first playoff run in 1988 and I got pumped at how it upset Failure and Rag fans

[Jimmy Leeds]

Then in March of 2010 I joined the Coast Guard.

Awesome for you. Protecting our shores. Stay safe out there.

You parents must be very, very proud.

[Steven M.]

Awesome for you. Protecting our shores. Stay safe out there.

You parents must be very, very proud.

Thanks, I appreciate it... best decision I ever made!

I miss Jersey often, but that just makes it even sweeter when I get the chance to come back and hit some Devils games.