Pride (In the Name of Hockey)

New Jersey Devils fans have dealt with a lot of ups and downs recently.

Up: The Devils looked pretty good during the pre-season and had some promising rookies vying for spots in New Jersey.

Down: It was announced that Patrik Elias would be out until the end of October or beginning of November.

Up: The Devils signed Rob Niedermayer, who was looking like a solid choice for New Jersey.

Down: The Devils lost their first two games (both at home).

Up: The Devils won a few road games.

Down: The Devils lost Paul Martin, Jay Pandolfo, Johnny Oduya, and Rob Niedermayer to injury.

Up: The Devils started winning at home and continued to win road games too, even with their top defensemen injured.

Every time the Devils seem to be going down, they shoot back up. Many teams are dealing with injured players right now, but the Devils were already supposed to be having a “transitional season”, with many of their veterans being let go over the summer in favor of bringing some rookies up from their Lowell AHL team. Not to mention that they had a new (old) coach, former Devils coach Jacques Lemaire. A lot of hockey analysts said that this was the season that the Devils would miss the Stanley Cup play-offs. Sure, they say that every year, but this year a lot of Devils fans accepted it and were prepared for a lousy season.

But the team proved them all wrong. About ¼ of the regular season is already over and the Devils are looking at tying the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres for the longest opening road game winning streak tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. They’ve beaten the Washington Capitals three times (out of three games) and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins both times that the two teams have met. And the Devils are currently sitting on top of the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference standings. It’s a great time to be a Devils fan.

But let’s remember not to get cocky. As we know, it’s still early in the season and anything can happen. But if the Devils keep playing like this, even with some of their most valuable players injured, then this is going to be a spectacular year for Devils fans.

If you watch any of the last few games that the Devils have played, you’ll most likely see a team that doesn’t look disappointed after the other team scores a goal. In fact, this is a team that seems to relish the challenge of coming from behind. As Tom Gulitti reported on his blog Fire & Ice, the Devils are 5-2 so far this season when they don’t score first. They keep working, and players have stepped up this season when they’ve been needed. Andy Greene in particular has shown his worth this season by already getting as many points this season as he did in the 49 games he played last season.

Overall I just want to say how proud I am of this team. After losing the first two games of the season I was beginning to worry a bit. It looked like maybe I’d have to bite my tongue and say that those hockey analysts would be right. But the Devils have shown that they shouldn’t be counted out just yet. And if they keep it up, they just might get to play past the first round of the play-offs again.

-Kyle Leathers

Kyle can be reached on Twitter at @kleathers.