Kicking Things Off | 10 TAKEAWAYS

How another week has gone by, I'm not quite sure!
This week in 10 Takeaways, presented by Ticketmaster, I catch you up on a few behind-the-scene fun moments but also do a little stat digging... like the last time Jack Hughes took a penalty, and how Shakir Mukhamadullin is faring in the KHL.
Although it tends to go that way when the hockey season starts moving into full swing. Everyone is settling into their routines, which takes time when new players enter the mix. It can be a simple thing, from a new player's pre-game routine to making room for extra bodies during pre-game soccer matches, things are starting to find their rhythm... and that's where we kick (no pun intended) things off:

2.

I have a bone to pick with some of those soccer players... walking by the intense game the other day, I got caught with the ball at my legs. Upon turning around, there were a lot of guilty faces and some hysterical finger-pointing, everyone blaming the other. Those who I suspect, based on their reactions? Tatar, Palat and Haula. It was definitely one of them whose aim was off. I got a good laugh out of it, especially because nothing will (I hope) ever top the last time the pre-soccer game

and I definitely took one for the team!

3.

I cannot get over how sweet this is. Dougie Hamilton's grandmother was watching the game against the Anaheim Ducks on TV and when Dougie was named the first star of the game, he had the honor of signing the camera lens. After wins, I'm sometimes standing in the tunnel and I was this time, I looked to one of my colleagues standing next to me as Dougie was signing and I was like 'why is he taking so long to sign his name?'
Turns out, he wasn't.
He was saying hello to his grandmother... or at least was trying to. He couldn't quite fit the whole of "Hi Grandma!" on the small lens!
Also, did he sign his name backward?

4.

I was perusing stats the other day and I was curious. Jack Hughes didn't take a single penalty last season, he hasn't taken one yet this year. So I went back to check... he's played in 172 NHL games, and in only 8 of those games has he taken at least one penalty. That's pretty remarkable when you consider the minutes he's been playing for the last couple of years.
Hughes' last penalty was over a year ago on May 8, 2021.

5.

I haven't officially asked, but it's been pretty clear through the first six games of the season that the two players who will wear the 'A' on their jerseys this season to compliment Nico Hischier as captain is Ondrej Palat and Jack Hughes. They are the two players who have worn the A's through the opening six games of the season.

6.

Three first goals of the season were scored by the Devils against the Washington Capitals on Monday night, none more anticipated than Jesper Bratt. He's been piling on the assists in the opening games and finally broke through the net against Charlie Lindgren, the Capitals' netminder. No assists against Washington, but Bratt's single point makes him the only player to register at least a point in every game of the season to date.

Eight assists and one goal through six games puts Bratt, 24, in some unique company. Extended his season-opening point streak to six games with his goal, only three other players in franchise history have opened a season with points in six straight games. Tim Higgins in 1984-85 stretched his streak to 10 games, David Clarkson had a six-game streak in the 2012-13 season and Claude Lemieux did the same in 1992-93.

7.

Happy 15 years to Prudential Center! Officially open for 15 years today and now the home of the Devils for the last 15 years!

8.

You might call me biased, but I love the look of the 2022 Reverse Retros, especially as the team is set to celebrate four decades as the Devils. I look forward to seeing the whole kit put together.

Also, these Utica throwbacks are pretty sweet.

9.

Six hours!
Last year when Ryan Graves and his girlfriend were getting ready for the team Halloween party, Graves wanted to "do something that was the easy way out" and suggested doing a body-painted costume. He and his girlfriend went as Hulk and She-Hulk and while their costumes looked awesome, Graves shared on the latest episode of Devils Download, that it definitely wasn't the easy way out, the joke was on him with the painting taking six hours to complete!
I'm sure in next week's edition of 10 Takeaways we'll have some Halloween costumes to break down!
Make sure you check out the next episode of

, a fun new content piece where you get to know the Devils players a littel better off the ice!

10.

Let's have a look into the future:

Shakir Mukhamadullin, 20, taken 20th overall by the Devils in 2020 has been having himself a season in the KHL. He has three goals and nine assists in 21 games played with Ufa.
He had two points in the opening 13 games of the season and has been regularly contributing to the offense with six points in his last eight games, including goals in back-to-back games on the 20th and 22nd of October. Mukhamadullin will remain with his KHL club this season, as general manager Tom Fitzgerald indicated earlier this summer, but he's definitely an intriguing prospect to keep an eye on!