HellOnICE Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 (edited) http://northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpc...2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2 Blueliners reunited Sunday, September 17, 2006 By TOM GULITTI STAFF WRITER WEST ORANGE -- Colin White first met Claude Julien 12 years ago when he was a raw, 17-year-old defenseman with the Hull Olympiques in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. At the time, Julien, now White's head coach with the Devils, was an assistant coach with Hull. "He's actually calmed down," Julien said after Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage at South Mountain Arena. "He was always a very intense player." White, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound native of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, still has some of that intensity, but has matured into a well-rounded defensive-minded, physical defenseman to carry on the legacy established by Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko. He has fond memories of playing for Julien, who would become the Olympiques head coach and guide them to the Memorial Cup in 1997. So, when Julien, the former Montreal Canadiens coach, was hired by the Devils on June 13, White was thrilled. "I knew he was available and I never heard anything, but I was pulling in that direction myself," he said. "I won a championship with him and whenever you win a championship with anybody you have that special bond and an appreciation of him." White credits Julien, a former defensemen who played 12 years in the minors and briefly in the NHL, with helping him develop into the player the Devils would draft 49th overall in 1996. "He was a defenseman when he played and he taught me a lot about defensive hockey, hitting, fighting," White recalled. "He coached me in every area. He really worked with the young guys when I was there, the first-year guys that didn't play so much and just skated after practice. He spent a lot of time doing that." White's temper flared at times. He piled up 600 minutes in penalties his last two seasons in Hull. Julien downplays any influence he may have had on White's fighting skills, though. "I might have given him some tips," Julien said. Julien saw more than simple toughness in White. He saw potential and helped him become a valuable contributor on his Memorial Cup-winning team. White had three goals, 12 assists and 65 penalty minutes in 14 playoff games that season. "In our last year together [1997], he was a guy that was probably the most-feared defenseman in the league because he had that mean streak, had good size, had an edge to him," Julien said. "Where he's improved a lot is he's controlled his emotions a lot better. He's obviously a better skater, stronger. This organization has been a real good fit for him. Julien remembers having to occasionally sit White on the bench to calm him down. With the Devils, White has followed Stevens' example and learned to control his emotions. "He still has the edge," Julien said. "It's under control now. It may not look like he's got an edge, but you can ask anybody he plays against and you can ask his teammates." Now, White sees an opportunity to team with Julien again to do something special. He believes Julien will be a good fit with the Devils because of his focus on team defense. That's been evident over the first two days of training camp as the Devils have worked intensely on their defensive-zone coverage. Julien has a reputation as a disciplinarian, but White says there are two sides to him. "He can be a nice guy, but he can also be a hard guy too," he said. "I think that's one of his best qualities. He's not one of those guys that if you have an argument with him, he's going to hold a grudge. He's going to talk to you about it and resolve it before it gets any further. I think that's a good quality to have. "The guys will know that he cares about the guys. He cares about the team." BRIEFS: The Devils play their first preseason game this afternoon against the Boston Bruins in Lowell, Mass. ... The Devils are close to completing the purchase of the Trenton Titans of the East Coast Hockey League. ... Devils backup goaltender Scott Clemmensen on playing in today's preseason game though he still is unsigned: "I have to play in the preseason games. I don't get to play that much during the regular season." Edited September 17, 2006 by DevilMinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilMinder Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Pinned, because that is an interesting development! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanity_gallops Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I will be THRILLED if the Devils take the Titans! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moustic Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Why is a great new ? (I didn't say it isn't... I just don't understand why) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyFan42 Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Pinned, because that is an interesting development! Interesting indeed, though from where I sit it reeks of preparing to move the Titans out of the way so they can put the AHL in Trenton in two years' time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilish34 Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Interesting indeed, though from where I sit it reeks of preparing to move the Titans out of the way so they can put the AHL in Trenton in two years' time. That would be grand Trenton is only an 1hr 30 min ride Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elias2600 Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I would love that. I am originally fom trenton, and all my family and friends are still there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njdevil26 Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 that would be awesome... i go to college at albright in reading PA and the trenton titans are coming to play the reading royals next month. sweeeet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 This is just a copy/paste of my post in the Purgatory forum because I blindly glanced by this thread: Vanderbeek specifically said at the fan club meeting last April that he wanted the Devils minor league team to be within 60 miles of the Devils. Trenton is what, 60 miles from Newark? Toms River didn't go through, this was the next best thing. Now they don't have to build another new arena and you're spreading Devils hockey further south in Jersey. As it is now Titans games are about 55% Devils fans, 35% Flyers fans, and 10% Ranger fans. I always enjoyed going down there for games and will be there for their 8th home opener next month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilMinder Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I agree Rowdy which is what I thought of also. Pretty obvious what they had in mind with this purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyk Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Sweet. I like this news. Now if they were to move the AHL team there where would they move the Titans? Seems the Devils have all sorts of money to buy some minor league teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils731 Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Could they just swap the rosters and the leagues of the 2 teams? Like move Trenton into the AHL with the AHL roster and then have Lowell play in the ECHL. Nothing would change for the teams but their opponents and the roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyk Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Another question, are the Titans still affiliated to the Flyers or did that relationship end? I know the Isles one did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mddevsfan Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Another question, are the Titans still affiliated to the Flyers or did that relationship end? I know the Isles one did. I would assume if it hasn't already, it's about to! Could they just swap the rosters and the leagues of the 2 teams? Like move Trenton into the AHL with the AHL roster and then have Lowell play in the ECHL. Nothing would change for the teams but their opponents and the roster. That would be a pretty good idea. Which brings up the one major question I have about this deal. Do the Devils really intend to have a full-on ECHL affiliate, or are they just buying the Titans so that they can move them out of the way, just to sell them to someone else after? I hope they intend to keep the ECHL team, even after a move. I never liked that the Devils were one of the few teams in the league without an offical secondary affiliation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 I love this move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyerCub Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Another question, are the Titans still affiliated to the Flyers or did that relationship end? I know the Isles one did. Right now, the affiliation between the Titans and the Flyers and Phantoms is still active. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucifersDog Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 I am not pleased with this move. The Trenton Titans were fun to go and see and they were competitive. When Lou move his son to Albany to run the Rats the Rats when to hel and the Devils cared less. While I understand fan teams they still require fans. That requires being competitive. I hope they don't destroy the Titans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRASHER Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Yay no going to Lowell!!!! It would be nice for the Devils to have an ECHL team too.. always seemed odd that they DIDN'T and they should have some brotherly name draws on an ECHL team with Lil Pando, Parise and Littler Gionta as well.....good moves again and even better if they swap the AHL and ECHL tags on the teams! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Yay no going to Lowell!!!!It would be nice for the Devils to have an ECHL team too.. always seemed odd that they DIDN'T and they should have some brotherly name draws on an ECHL team with Lil Pando, Parise and Littler Gionta as well.....good moves again and even better if they swap the AHL and ECHL tags on the teams! They did have agreements with the Augusta Lynx and I believe the Charlotte Checkers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyFan42 Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 I am not pleased with this move. The Trenton Titans were fun to go and see and they were competitive. When Lou move his son to Albany to run the Rats the Rats when to hel and the Devils cared less. While I understand fan teams they still require fans. That requires being competitive. I hope they don't destroy the Titans. Everything may turn out all right in the end. Lou made a lot of moves in the offseason that point to either dumping salary and filling the holes with minimum wage guys or stocking Lowell so that they're actually competitive for once. If enough of those guys stick in Lowell, I may lose my bet with Triumph after all, and if Lou can keep it up going into Trenton, the Titans won't be "destroyed". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkrdevil Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 I am not pleased with this move. The Trenton Titans were fun to go and see and they were competitive. When Lou move his son to Albany to run the Rats the Rats when to hel and the Devils cared less. While I understand fan teams they still require fans. That requires being competitive. I hope they don't destroy the Titans. Well I think it will be different because now the Devils own the AHL team. Remember that before the Devils were working with a tight budget and trying to won Cups at the NHL level. I don't know if they really could afford to sign career AHL players in order to win there and line someone elses pockets. Now with a cap and that they own the team you are seeing a lot more organizational depth signings to where Lowell will be much more competitive than Albany was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.