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This last week has been a very disappointing situation for the overall health of NJDevs.com. I was dismayed to find out in the midst of moving that some members of the website decided to take crap posting to a new level. Some members revealed themselves to be quite racist and insensitive and some members egged these members on. As I said, I was directing movers, and packing frantically. I don't have time to babysit. Quite frankly, the New Jersey Devils as a product are at their best in years and look to hopefully make the playoffs...but some of you are still miserable and bringing the rest of us down. You will notice some popular people did not make the return with the website. I won't name names but suffice to say the three of them have either run off or controlled the topics on this site for too long. I tried to placate them, joked along with them to get them to settle down but they would just return and begin it all anew. The fourth member posted some unfortunate posts himself and will also not be back. If you are reading this and can't log in, you were probably banned, I don't owe you an explanation, you knew what you were doing. No, you won't be coming back, it's forever this time Its not us, it was you. To the rest of us, let's get back to enjoying the forum to talk about the Devils and Thank you to everyone that literally called or texted me to find out what happened. Thanks, DM

Can we shoutout @DevilMinder for keeping this place alive during the dark years? Couldn't have been a ton of traffic while the team was collecting draft picks. Feeling incredibly lucky to be able to celebrate with y'all right now. LFGD!

I will be there with my dad tonight. First time I have gone to a game with him in about 4-5 years.

Normally, I'd put an off topic post in another sub, but I feel it is important enough to post here. As the holidays arrive, please, look out for one another, including your friends and family. This time of year is rough for some as they don't always feel included or just feel like they aren't valuable to anyone. I bring this up because about 24 hours ago, I found out a coworker whom I looked up to and went to often for advice took his life in his home, leaving behind a family. He tragically becomes the fourth person I know this year to take their own life. I had no clue. He was always funny, laughing, telling stories and never gave any indication that something was wrong. I'm writing this to remind everyone that there is always another answer. There is always someone out there who is 100% willing to talk, about anything, if you're feeling awful and like there is now help. I'm not looking for sympathy, I just HATE feeling like I'm a bystander, so if you're having problems or whatever, direct message me here, find me on twitter [its the same as my handle here] or any other way and I'll be there to help. Below are contact information for groups of people who are also willing to help and are just an anonymous phone call away. National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255 [This is also the recommended number for Veterans' Suicide Prevention] In Canada each province has their own, but here is a link to find the one you may live in http://thelifelinecanada.ca/help/call/ Please please please look out for one another, if anything, we all have the thread of being Devils' fans in common. Never know, that small bond could end up being the ice breaker that could save someones live. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and any other holidays being celebrated this time of year! All the best & Let's go Devils, Jag

Back on January 13, 2020, it was hard to tell exactly where the Devils might be headed; Ray Shero, the man tasked with trying to build something out of the rubble and ashes left behind by Lou, had just been shown the door, much to our collective shock. Just one month before, a key building block and the player responsible for one of the most dynamic regular seasons ever for a Devils forward in Taylor Hall had been dealt for a bunch of pieces that didn't figure to bring any immediate help. In 2017-18, even if it was partly fool's gold, there seemed to be every reason to believe that the Devils might be headed in the right direction; less than two years later, we were back to wondering if the Devils were ever going to get this thing turned around...even with a pair of promising 1OAs in the lineup, in Nico and Jack, the future still felt very murky and uncertain. And of course as we know, it didn't exactly get better right away. Gotta give Fitz a ton of credit here, even if he obviously inherited a hell of a lot more than his predecessor did. For one, when the Devils needed to sell, he did a hell of a job selling. For another, with the assets that he snagged from those deals and through other smart dealing, he was able to turn those assets into useful players who have helped to turn things around much more quickly than we really had any right to hope for...Dawson, Muk, Siegs, Marino, VV, etc. He then went and managed to pull off something no one ever thought he could: land a big UFA fish, in Dougie Hamilton. And though people act like the Devils have never struck it big with big names at or near the deadline (guess people forget about Lou acquiring Gilmour, Mogilny, and Kovalchuk, among others), Fitz obviously hit the big time in snagging Meier. No GM even bats 1.000 and not like Fitz has been perfect, and I don't think the mess that was the Devils' season last year was a part of his plan, but enough went wrong (especially with the goaltending) that even with the overwhelming frustration that came with what felt like another "punt it away" kind of season, Fitz was right to ignore our pleading and bitching in not trying to make any quick-fix moves that wouldn't have moved the needle all that much. The fact is that nASS and Recchi were still in the fold and no player acquisitions were going to be able to overcome those two. Fitz wisely held onto his bullets and lost the battle to win the war, and we're in a much better position today because he was willing to be that little bit more patient than most of the rest of us. From this fan (and I'm sure many others), thank you Tom. Not since Lou's finest days have I felt this confident about the Devils' future being in the right hands. You were spoken of highly in terms of being a potentially excellent GM someday, and all you've done is prove everyone right. You've not only made watching this team fun again, but it sure feels like you're making New Jersey a destination that players actually WANT to come to; that's no easy task. Thank you for restoring pride to our New Jersey Devils! The future is suddenly blindingly bright.

As we approach the holiday season with Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanza next week, I am doing my annual bump of this thread in memory of my friend(s) and to help those still battling their own way. Each year, I advocate those around me to reach out if they need anything, literally any time, but a few weeks ago, I realized I was doing so without providing much credibility of myself. So here;'s a bit of my backstory WARNING: Emotional post ahead. In 2016, about two months before I had made the original post, I was diagnosed with the early stages of PTSD. It was a freaking nightmare to be in the middle of a store and have to stop walking because I felt overwhelmed. My wife and I were walking down an aisle, looking at cereal, and I froze dead in my tracks, gripped the cart white knuckle tight and struggled to breathe. After what felt like an eternity, I was able to tell her I need to leave and we eventually left the store. A few days or weeks went by and we were watching Stranger Things and during the scene where they pull fake Will from the quarry, it played the same song from the end of 'Lone Survivor' (blacked out for any possible spoilers, three full years later, lol) and again I lost my mind, uncontrollably sobbing. I couldn't even get the words out to my wife, other than saying "I need help." The next day, I went right in to mental health on base, terrified anyone would find out or I'd see someone I'd recognize, but I knew I had to go, I couldn't live like that anymore. Add to it multiple suicides of close friends after I had started treatment, and let me tell you that I was beyond thrilled I had someone to confide in and be able to, for lack of a better term, dump my problems on. Now, the point of that anecdote isn't to garner sympathy, its to show how it is possible for anyone to recover. I went from being a person who lived in a world of fear that the slightest thing would trigger an attack to, in just a few months, I was able to at least control when those things happen. I WANT TO HELP. Literally anyone, if you need someone to blow off steam to, for fvck's sake message me on here and I'll give you my number and we can chat or even talk on the phone. I've been shot at on the ground, shot at in the sky and held my friends so damn tight when they've landed cause it was an absolute miracle they survived getting shot at. I've held one of my friends who's been overseas with me each time I've gone when he was drunkenly broke down over everything he's been through and me just telling him "i get it" was enough to look at me with that confused look as if to say "really?" and I just nodded back then we shared stories sitting in the parking lot of a hotel. We all have our baggage (from military, first responders, to every day people, we're all the same), hell this team can drive us to the emotional point of exhaustion from stress, it is absolutely not a sign of weakness to reach out to people to talk about it, or even just to ask for help. Lastly, as I wrap this marathon post up and sip a beer following another tough loss, a group I've reached out to work with is the Mental Health League (https://mentalhealthleague.com/). Its just starting up, and a few of their "teams" are just starting up, but the idea is to win more days than you lose, treating recovery like a fantasy sports league. I've volunteered to be the Point of Contact for their PTSD team once enough people to sign up for it, but told them I'm absolutely willing and able to help anyone that needs an ear. In closing, you can see the previous posts and know how much mental health means to me. I wish all of you nothing but the best this holiday season. Hope you and your families have a happy and safe (insert your specific celebratory holiday here), and maybe we all can share a beer sometime together. Merry Christmas & let's go Devils. -Jag

With our travel day tomorrow, and the season now on pause, figured what better time than to do my annual post bump. Over the past few weeks, I became a certified Standards of Conduct, Sexual Assault Prevention, and Suicide Prevention instructor. It’s been about three years coming but finally the timing worked where I was able to make it happen. On Monday, in an effort to think outside the box for the instruction, I relieved the events of 5 years ago in narrative form and emphasized to the attendees the importance of how the warning signs, even looking back now, weren’t there at all. We talked about how a simple text literally can change someone’s path and that no one should be afraid to ask for help nor reach out to help. There’s plenty of protections for individuals who get help that they can still continue their careers, and absolutely be successful in doing so without blowback from saying “hey, I need a wingman…” It felt great to hear the feedback of, “wow, finally an instructor who shares their experiences instead of just reciting the slides” pretty frequently from the 4 courses I taught that day alone. With COVID deciding to be a Dick again and possibly screwing up a lot of people’s plans, be that helping voice folks. See if your buddy’s from years ago are still doing well, or that friend you just saw yesterday and pounded a beer with us actually good when they got home. Lord knows us Devils’ fans need it (see, deep posts can still have some humor.) I appreciate all of you guys, wishing the best as always. - Jag

I'm going to end this season with a haiku, if you guy's don't mind. It started off great, Coronavirus said wait, Lotto here we come.

This will be my first game in person this year. Taking my Dad for his 70th. LGD!

Remember that week long rant by Daniel? Oh man that aged like a fine 2% milk.

I'm a humble guy, but I'd love some likes. It will make me sleep better tonight:)

Luke was so good, he is going to be a superstar like his brother. And shout out to mcleod, he really stepped up this post season. He was downright an anchor for the team to stabilize from at points.

Aaaaaaaaaand Jack pulls it off! Jack: 43 G, 56 A, 99 Pts PWM: 44 G, 54 A, 98 Pts Aaaaaaaaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha!

McLeod has been absolutely outstanding all playoffs

1% Battery on my phone came to post this

PATTY 🤣🤣

It’s beyond nice to not deal with this sh!t anymore.

Jack with 2 G and 1 A tonight, PWM with an assist. Jack: 35 G, 32 A, 67 Points PWM: 35 G, 47 A, 82 Points Yep…Jack now has as many goals in 50 games this season as Kakko does for his entire career…heh heh

if the devils have 27 wins in their first 41 games played this year, I will donate $5 to this website for every like this comment gets.

Fitz to Jesper

i may be wrong but this is how i interpreted it personally... gotta be honest. it sounds crazy but it might work

And you thought you couldn’t possibly love Ty Smith anymore than you already do...

I haven't posted here in a long time but something about tonight makes me want to. Maybe it's the return of Devils hockey. Brutal first period but they got it together in period 2 - they're going to give some teams trouble with all that speed. Sharangovich drawing 3 penalties, pretty great, him being drilled into the boards, not so great. Thought there were some nice moments for Kuokkanen and Boqvist. And obviously if Blackwood isn't as incredible as he was, we're talking about a lot of different stuff.

Bahl is obviously the most intriguing of the three prospects coming back. 6'6", 230 lb left shot defenseman that's going to be playing with Ty Smith on Team Canada at the World Juniors in a couple weeks, and this year I think he's taken a significant step in his two-way game. Primarily, he's still a physical shutdown defenseman and I think he likely projects as a #4 defenseman who can play on our top PK unit at his ceiling, but he also has some decent mobility and hands for a player his size. Tonight, I was already planning on watching a 67's game in preparation for an article on Marco Rossi I'm working on, and Bahl made this excellent play for a goal in the game I was watching. It's a good illustration of some of the upside he can have beyond just being your prototypical hulking defenseman, which is encouraging. Not a high-end guy, but enough there to feel good about. Nate Schnarr is an interesting pick up. 6'3" center who was a top player for the Storm last year (34G, 102PTS in 65GP) but has taken some time to adjust in the AHL, which should be expected for a 20 year old coming out of junior. I'm not sure he's more than a 3rd line center at his ceiling, but there's enough there to think he could maybe have a place on a PP2 in the future if he pans out right. Merkley is someone I liked quite a bit in 2015 (was actually who I wanted the Devils to grab in 2015 in the 2nd round before the Yotes grabbed him at the end of Round 1), but he's taken some time now to find his footing at the AHL and has regressed a little since his rookie AHL season. I think there's still something there to the point where we should give him a chance to stick in our middle six for the rest of the season. Once upon a time, he projected nicely as a potential top six forward, so hopefully a change of scenery and a bigger opportunity with the Devils helps him realize some of that upside. EDIT: More than anything, we shouldn't be looking at Kevin Bahl as the centerpiece of this trade - he's not. The centerpiece was getting that 2020 1st Round pick; I've been beating the drum that this is the best draft since either 2015 or 2003, and if this pick ends up in the middle of the 1st round or earlier, we're going to walk away with two foundational pieces to build around. A lot of people were clamoring for Soderstrom from the Coyotes, but I feel fairly confident in saying that whoever we get with this 1st Round pick is going to be better than Soderstrom. If for arguments sake we end up with Lucas Raymond and Jeremie Poirier with our two 1st Rounders this year, I think people are going to look at our long term outlook with much, much more optimism than what is being thrown around right now, those would be two massive additions for our club.

Why are you like this?

Checking in from the Rock with the fam. Twins are raging already. LFGD

This is mine…I’ve put these up before. If I’m not at the game, this is where me and my daughter are watching.

What an overall absolutely amazing season that none of us remotely expected. Such a huge turn around from last season, the biggest ever. Most wins ever, Hughes with the most points ever. Beating the rangers in 7 for the 1st time. Actually playing in May. Beats the absolutely misery of the past decade with nothing to give a sh!t about besides stupid draft lottos and draft picks that I don't give a fvck about besides hoping they turn out good. I had an absolute blast attending home games this year and watching this team. Love seeing our fan base rejuvenated. Was nice to finally balance out all those miserable nights I've spent watching dog sh!t hockey the past decade at the rock. Thank you Devils!!!

Just got back. First thing…shared intermission brews with @Lateralous and @MadDog2020 and that was a blast. Great meeting Lateralous for the first time and seeing MD2020 again. Obviously lots to love about this game…especially so many guys finding the net…maybe now the damn dam breaks for both Nico and Timo. Not going to kill VV but at the same time pucks are just not finding him during these playoffs. Luuuuuuuuke…just keep playing him Lindy. Guy might indeed be one of those fast-trackers who can handle the NHL quickly. And is it possible to healthy-scratch Brewnet?! It’s getting dangerously close to feeling like he’s getting advice from Recchi at this point.

Stan woke up in a mood! Hahaha...

Let's give a round of applause for Schmid. What an amazing three games.

Side note but how awesome is it that Jack isn’t just a regular season guy but also turns it on in the playoffs?? Some skill guys shrink away from physical playoff hockey but Jack is thriving in it. I say it a lot but I cant wait to see what he does in his prime

It was an honor to create the NJD 22-23 regular season thread for this incredible season and now, it is an even greater privilege to be able to kick off the playoffs against the wretched Rags with you beautiful people. Not a lot of information is available about the game yet but I think this gif can capture the essence of the upcoming battle that has been laid before us.

Checking in for a long night from Belfast, Northern Ireland 📍 LGD

How badly did we crush the 2018 draft coming out with Ty Smith and Sharangovich considering we went into it with the 17th overall and then nothing until the 4th round? It kind of makes up for pissing away our 2nd on Grabner (which made sense at the time)

Game 3 for the boys tonight. After great performances vs. the bruins, WE WANT MORE!!! NHL.com Preview: https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-nyr/2021/01/19/2020020046 LGD!!!

Hopefully we don’t meet buffalo in the playoffs. They seem to have our number this year.

Yea, he looks just like Miles fvcking Wood. When the team is bad some of you guys go off the deep end and say the dumbest sh!t.

Never made a Game Day Thread before. Maybe some minor change in my life will result in some major change elsewhere in the universe. Namely, on the ice surface in Newark tonight. Three games have been discouraging, but let't not lose hope y'all. We're one outstanding performance on home ice from remembering why this team excited us so much all summer. LGD!

A room with a view