| The New Jersey Devils hockey team has | | | | hockey circuit of New York, New Jersey and |
| traveled a long way from its humble origins | | | | Connecticut. |
| to become one of the most popular ice hockey | | | | |
| teams in the country. The New Jersey Devils | | | | The Devils have displayed a particular style |
| Hockey Club, then called the Kansas Scouts, | | | | of playing and have always been known as a |
| which was formed in 1974 as a result of the | | | | defense first rather than offense first team. |
| NHL expansions has seen a whole lot of ups | | | | The team places an emphasis on speed and |
| and downs, name and ownership changes to last | | | | alacrity and have patented their own style of |
| any decent hockey team more than two | | | | run and gun ice hockey. Today, the team is |
| lifetimes. | | | | one of the most popular in the country, with |
| | | | a number of Stanley Cup trophies and Atlantic |
| Due to an extremely dismal performance in the | | | | Division titles under their belt. While the |
| first two years of their inception, winning | | | | club faces almost all of the country's |
| only 27 out of 160 games, the team moved to | | | | professional ice hockey teams as a member of |
| Colorado in 1976 with the aim of making a | | | | the Atlantic Division of the Eastern |
| fresh start altogether and was re-christened | | | | Conference of the NHL (National Hockey |
| the Colorado Rockies. However, while the | | | | League), its arch rivals are still the |
| team's performance definitely improved in | | | | neighboring teams of the New York Rangers and |
| Colorado over what it was earlier, it was | | | | the Philadelphia Flyers. |
| still nothing much to write home about. The | | | | |
| final move came when the team was bought by | | | | Some of the most popular players of the New |
| New Jersey shipping tycoon John McMullen and | | | | Jersey Devils hockey team till date have been |
| shifted to New Jersey. The team had now moved | | | | Patrik Elias, John Madden and Brian Gionta, |
| amidst the tigers, and had to contend with | | | | who have been responsible for taking the team |
| the Philadelphia Flyers, the New York rangers | | | | from strength to strength. Other popular |
| and the three time Stanley Cup Winners, New | | | | players, especially among the younger lot are |
| York Islanders, who were all baying for the | | | | Travis Zajac and Zach Parise. |
| blood of the new team to join the tri-state | | | | |