Buying In | 10 TAKEAWAYS

Can you believe it was only 9 days ago that Connor Hellebuyck was traded to the Devils? 

I feel like we've experienced so much since then, and yet it's just been nine days. 

From the first long road trip of the season, to watching the team buy-in on a night-in, night-out basis, to going up against some of the Western Conference's elite opponents... it's been a heck of a nine days.

Let's keep it rolling!

1.

Things that aren’t easy: three games in four nights in three different time zones. So to come out of it with a 2-1-0 record is highly impressive for this group.

Let’s start with the trip itself, because it deserves some credit. The Devils played three games in three different time zones over just four days, and came out 2-1-0. That’s a win in Dallas, a tough night in Colorado where the third period got away from them, and a win in Vegas to close it out.

Sheldon Keefe didn’t undersell how hard that stretch was, either. He pointed to the quality of the opponents, the distance and the time changes, and called the finish in Vegas a full team win. After a trip like that, you take it.

2.

Arseny Gritsyuk had himself a night in Vegas too (and I mean on the ice, I know nothing of what goes on after the games!). He scored twice, and the second goal was the kind that gets an audible “wow” out of a crowd. He picked up the puck in the Devils zone, skated it through the neutral zone, and made a move around Shea Theodore before sliding a backhand past Adin Hill.

Here’s the part I loved. When he was asked about it afterward, Gritsyuk explained that Jack Hughes has shown him how to make these plays before. And then there he goes, trying it out in games, and so far, it’s \chefs kiss\.

Jack, though, wouldn't take any credit for it. 

It was only the second two-goal game of Gritsyuk’s career; the first came last season against Buffalo.

3.

We’ve got the mask, but not the pads, blocker and glove, yet...at least not in game action.

Hellebuyck isn’t fully outfitted in his Devils gear just yet. He's been breaking in some of the new Devils-colored equipment. But hasn't used them in a game yet.

In his first few games, he’s stuck with classic white. But it’s all coming together!

4.

I chatted with Steve Nash, the designer of Hellebuyck's mask. I'll have a full story about what it's like to design, paint, complete and ship off a mask in less than 10 days, coming on Friday. 

But what I can tell you before the whole article comes out, is that Nash, from the day Hellebuyck and he finalized the design, spent 18 hours a day working on the mask, for the past 9 days. 

That's roughly 162 hours of work.

5.

And once Nash shipped it off? 

He slept 12 hours straight. He missed the masks debut last night, because he slept through the game, but was thrilled to watch the highlights this morning. 

He also shared with me that there are some hidden easter eggs in the mask if you turn it around just right at a specific angle. 

If you look at just the right angle in some of the black parts of the mask you'll catch the sihlouette of different bass fish. Turn it the wrong way? It just looks black.

6.

Evan Rodrigues was asked what makes a team special, the kind of team that can win a Cup. His answer was simple: buy-in.

“It’s everyone pulling on the same rope and everyone doing the right thing. It’s the only way to have success.”

He didn’t pretend the start was great, either. He said it opened everyone’s eyes, and that things changed around Game 4 or 5, when the group started talking about it and guys started dialing it in.

The numbers back him up. Game 5 was the 4-1 loss to Ottawa on Oct. 12. Before that, the Devils were 2-3 and had been outscored 18-11. They flew to Detroit the next day and won 5-4, and in the nine games after Ottawa through Game 14, they went 7-2 and outscored opponents 37-22. That swing, from minus-7 to plus-15, is a different team.

It matches what Sheldon Keefe said last week about the guys who’ve been here being fed up with inconsistency. And Rodrigues was careful not to get ahead of himself.

“It’s only 15 games in, there’s still a long way to go, we can’t be happy with this early season success, we have to continue to build and not get complacent.”

I'm all-in on the way this group has bought in.

7.

Sure, I like to try and bring you guys inside the Devils locker room a bit when I'm putting together these 10 Takeaways, but how about this? 

The return of Details. An inside documentary-style look at the Devils season. 

First episode drops Friday.

8.

It's hard to explain, but I'm going to give it a shot. And it actually goes back to what I wrote in No. 6.

There's something about the buy-in, the belief, and the overall mentality of this group that just feels different. Not just different from last season, but different from the years I've spent covering this team.

I'm now into my 10th season with the Devils. Over that time, I've walked into that locker room after hundreds of games, both wins and losses. I've seen the highs, the lows, the frustration, the excitement, the disappointment, and just about everything in between.

And after all those games, you start to develop a pretty good sense of the room. You can feel when something is off, when frustration is lingering, when confidence is wavering, or when a group genuinely believes in what it's doing. It's almost a sixth sense that comes from spending so much time around the same team, year after year.

Which brings me to Colorado.

There was something about the energy in the Devils' locker room after that loss that I genuinely don't think I've felt before.

And I know how strange that sounds, especially coming after a loss. But I mean it in the most positive way possible.
There was disappointment, of course. Nobody was happy about losing. But what stood out to me was what wasn't there. There wasn't a sense of lingering frustration, or a feeling that the group had been rattled by the result.

Instead, there was this almost unmistakable sense of perspective. An understanding that it was a tough night, that there were things to clean up, and that none of it needed to become anything bigger than what it was.

We've all heard players say the right things after losses. Turn the page. On to the next one. Learn from it and move forward. It's practically part of the hockey vocabulary, and I've certainly heard those words hundreds of times over the years.

But there's a difference between saying those things and genuinely feeling them.

And in Colorado, I felt like I could actually sense that distinction.

It wasn't indifference. It wasn't a lack of accountability. If anything, it felt like the opposite. It was a group that understood exactly what had happened, wasn't making excuses for it, but also wasn't allowing one result to shake its belief in the bigger picture.

And I think that's where the difference lies.

There's a confidence that comes with knowing what you're trying to build, trusting the people around you, and believing that the process you're following is going to get you where you want to go. That doesn't mean there won't be bad nights. It means those nights don't have to derail everything else.

Maybe that's what I was picking up on.

I wish I could articulate it better, because it's not something you can necessarily point to in a stat sheet, pull from a quote, or even capture on camera. It's just something you feel when you're standing in that room.

I can tell you this: I walked out of a losing locker room in Colorado with a stronger sense of this group's belief than I can remember feeling after plenty of wins.

And that, to me, says something.

9.

You were heard loud and clear, Devils fans! In Hellebuyck's debut, not only did he get a boost out of the hometown crowd love, calling the building "rowdy" but even long-standing members of the team felt the vibe. 

"Me and Jack were kind of talking about it after the game skating, and we said it felt like the crowd really, really came alive today," Jesper Bratt said post-game.

"I thought they really helped us tonight," Hellebuyck, who admitted he had a few butterflies in his stomach heading into the game, said, "We got the momentum going, and they didn’t let us lose it.”

The buy-in from everyone! Not just the players!

10.

With the Devils facing three Canadian teams over the coming days, there's a small detail you might notice behind the bench.

In early November, the Devils' coaching, training and equipment staffs wear red poppies on their suits and tracksuits, a symbol of remembrance in Canada leading up to Remembrance Day on November 11, when Canadians honor those who have served.

It's a small gesture, but one that doesn't go unnoticed. In fact, the Devils' staff even received a shoutout on the Canadian broadcast during the game against Edmonton.

As a Canadian myself, I can tell you it's something that's appreciated. It's not necessarily something you'd notice unless someone pointed it out, but it's a thoughtful nod to a tradition that means a great deal to Canadians.

Sometimes it's the little things that leave an impression. And this is certainly one of them.