New Jersey Devils Team History

Prior to the 1978 – 1979 season, owner Jack Vickers sold the team to New Jersey trucking tycoon Arthur Imperatore, who announced that he wished to move the team to the New Jersey Meadowlands. The NHL vetoed the move since the Brendan Byrne Arena was still being built, and there was no suitable temporary facility in the area. In 1979, the team hired Don Cherry as head coach and traded for Maple Leafs star Lanny McDonald. Despite these moves, the Rockies still posted the worst record in the NHL. They played the next two seasons with the possibility of moving until May 27, 1982, when Imperatore sold the Rockies to another New Jersey millionaire, shipping magnate John McMullen (who also owned Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros). McMullen’s first act was to announce that the long-expected move to New Jersey would finally come to pass.

The 1995 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the New Jersey Devils and the Detroit Red Wings. This was the first of nine consecutive finals with American-based franchises exclusively. New Jersey was making the franchise’s first-ever appearance in the Final, while Detroit returned to the Final for the first time since 1966. The Devils swept the series four games to none to win their first Stanley Cup, becoming the sixth post-1967 expansion team to earn a championship.

The 2000 Stanley Cup Finals was contested by the Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils and the Western Conference champion Dallas Stars who were the defending Stanley Cup champion. The Devils were led by captain Scott Stevens, coach Larry Robinson and goalie Martin Brodeur. The Stars were led by captain Derian Hatcher, coach Ken Hitchcock and goalie Ed Belfour.

The 2003 Stanley Cup Finals was a best-of-seven playoff series that determined the champion of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 2002 – 2003 season. As a culmination of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, the second-seeded Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils defeated the seventh seeded Western Conference champion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games and were awarded the Stanley Cup. It was New Jersey’s first appearance since 2001 and third in four years. It was Anaheim’s first-ever appearance. The Devils defeated the Mighty Ducks in seven games to win their third Stanley Cup in less than a decade.

The Devils opened their new arena, the Prudential Center, on October 27, 2007, against the Ottawa Senators, after opening the season with a nine-game road trip. The game ended with a 4–1 win for Ottawa. Prudential Center (nicknamed The Rock) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, United States. The arena was designed by HOK Sport (now Populous), with the exterior designed by Morris Adjmi Architects. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) New Jersey Devils and the NCAA’s Seton Hall Pirates men’s basketball team. The arena seats 17,625 patrons for hockey and 18,711 for basketball.