New Jersey Devils Tickets

The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in the Continental Airlines Arena of the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL). Originally founded as the Kansas City Scouts in 1974, the team moved to Denver, Colorado two years later and became the Colorado Rockies before moving to its current location in 1982. After failing to make the playoffs their first six seasons in New Jersey, the Devils made their first playoff appearance in 1987-88. After several early playoff eliminations, as well as losing a seven-game Eastern Conference Final to their archrival New York Rangers in 1993-94, the Devils won their first Stanley Cup in 1994-95, defeating the Detroit Red Wings in four games straight. They have since won two more Stanley Cups, in 1999-00 and 2002-03, as well as making another Finals appearance in 2000-01. In 1974, the National Hockey League finished an eight-year expansion with the addition of teams in the Kansas City and Washington, D.C. areas. The Kansas City team was originally named the Mohawks, which would signify a combination of the Missouri and Kansas areas. However, the Chicago Blackhawks objected, and so the team was instead named the Scouts, after a statue in the city. On October 9, 1974, the Kansas City Scouts took to the ice for the first time in Toronto, Canada, and lost 6-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Due to a rodeo being held in Kemper Arena, the team's normal home ice, the Scouts were forced to wait 9 games before making their home debut. Although they lost that game to the Blackhawks 4-3, they won the next night by beating fellow expansion team Washington Capitals 5-4. Unfortunately, the Scouts failed to make the playoffs in either of their two seasons, and managed to win just 27 games out of a possible 160. For the second season, the team managed to sell only 2,000 of 8,000 season tickets. The Scouts' lack of success on the ice, coupled with financial problems (the team was almost $1 million in debt by the 1975-1976 season) forced them to move to Denver as the Colorado Rockies after only two years. Between 1990 and 1993, the Devils made the playoffs each year, only to bow out in the first round each time. In 1994, the Devils started gaining respectability in NHL circles. A team headlined by defensemen Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer; Claude Lemieux, Bobby Holik, Valeri Zelepukin, Stephane Richer and John MacLean on offense; and goaltenders Martin Brodeur and Chris Terreri steamrolled through the regular season, finishing with the league's second-best record and the franchise's first 100-point season. The Devils took the New York Rangers, the only team with a better record during the regular season, to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals before losing the seventh game in double overtime. The Rangers went on to win the Stanley Cup. Despite the setback, the team returned to the Eastern Conference Final during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 NHL season and defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, four games to two. The team went on to win its first-ever Stanley Cup, sweeping the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in four games. The win was accomplished amid rumors that the team would move for the third time in their history. On April 29, 2006, the Devils won their first round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the New York Rangers, four games to none, extending their winning streak to fifteen games. The series was marked with strong play and several outstanding performances from goalie Martin Brodeur. The Devils season ended on May 14, 2006 with an Eastern Conference Semi-Final Game 5 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 4-1. By winning Game 4 against the Hurricanes, Martin Brodeur is now in third place in all-time NHL playoff wins.