Championship Mentality | BLOG

There's been a shift in the air around the New Jersey Devils this year, and it has entailed moving away from development into tangible progress. With no games yet played and still a roster to be revealed for opening night, you can start to feel the change by the language that players are using to describe this training camp.
"We're trying to build a championship mentality," Jesper Bratt said this afternoon.
This is the first full training camp for everyone. Last year Lindy Ruff and his team didn't have much by way of a training camp, just a few days and then they jumped right into the shortened season. This time, it's anything but short.
It's long and arduous in the best possible terms. There are more than a few instances of skating laps; even after scrimmages. Lindy Ruff is setting the tone for his expectations this season.
As Bratt said, this is about building a championship mentality, as they work to take the next step as a group.

"That starts out in practice," Bratt shared. "They've been really good, they've been intense, and I usually feel the harder the practices, the easier it gets at game time. IT's been really good and I'm happy being here this year."

Of course, Bratt was missing from last year's practice while his contract was being negotiated and then waiting on his visa paperwork, but he's come to camp this year expected to be one of the leaders of this new young generation of Devils.
"I feel that we're really committed, especially right now with all the preseason games starting. That's what you want to do. You came to training camp waiting to play those games. I feel like the intensity went up on the practices, as we come closer to playing those games."
That could come as soon as tomorrow night, with the Devils taking on the Rangers at Prudential Center.