Personalities Shine Behind the Scenes | 10 TAKEAWAYS

I cannot imagine what it must be like to be a coach for the New Jersey Devils right now or any NHL team for that matter. The intensity of preseason and a training camp just looks exhausting from the glimpse I get to see from the inside. Even when the players are off, the coaches still meet, there are decisions to be made, evaluations too.
After a game, I may catch a coach on the walk out to our cars. When the players have the day off, so do most of the staff, so my natural instinct is to make some sort of comment about getting ready to enjoy a day off. And then I am swiftly reminded by the coaches that they will still be in, while the players and some staff are enjoying the day. These are long days, long hours. I don't envy that position. And then I think about what their feet must feel like. For a solid week, they were doing three-a-days with 50 players at camp. Now we're down to two games, but even that looks draining. These guys are on their feet, in skates all day. But they keep on going, readying this team for the start of the season.
And we're just two preseason games away until the focus moves to opening night. And there's plenty to get to from the last week. Here are my 10 Takeaways, presented by Ticketmaster.

1.

I want to start by mentioning how great it is to be back doing player and coaches interviews in person. There was something missing from all media scenarios last year when everything was done through Zoom. Players were staring into cameras, listening to a voice asking them the question, and then they'd respond. The human element was completely removed, a lot of it could feel very robotic at times. But now we're in a place where, while we're at a physical distance, there is eye contact, there is the occasional smirk, there is body language. All those things are so vital to not only conducting the best interview possible but also creating relationships with players and coaches that bring out the best in them.
I'm excited to see what type of content will come out of returning to a much more normal, human way of conducting interviews.

2.

And that's mostly because we're so fortunate on this Devils team to have all kinds of personalities. Take for example Yegor Sharangovich. He's getting far more comfortable with the English language; his vocabulary has really expanded since the end of last season. And he is quite possibly the funniest guy on the team. He has a very dry sense of humor and will take any opportunity to mess with his friend Janne Kuokkanen.
The two haven't been in the same practice group the last week and maybe Yegor is missing Janne. But Shara, as he is nicknamed, will often pop his head into Janne's on-ice training sessions, just to catch a glimpse of his friend. On more than one occasion, as practice would wrap up, Janne had no problem firing a puck straight at Yegor who was on the other side of the glass. Those two are very mischievous. The other day Yegor asked me if I knew how to work the smoke machine in the player's tunnel. I don't know what his plan is (and I don't know how to use it), but he mentioned something about Janne, so I think I need to learn how to use that machine to see exactly what he has up his sleeve.

3.

Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Graves are so tall, and especially so on skates, that the covering on the player tunnel the team walks through to step on the ice had to be changed. It was already at its tallest capacity, but it's wasn't tall enough to accommodate the heights of Hamilton (6-foot-6) and Graves (6-foot-5) on skates, so a different one had to be put in, in its place. We can't have Dougie and Ryan crouching down to make it onto the ice.

4.

Hamilton put out the SOS on wanting to get Scott Niedermeyer's autograph. In a post-game availability, Hamilton mentioned how Niedermeyer was one of his favorite defensemen growing up, adding that he hopes he can get his autograph "someday." Something tells me someone around these offices knows how to get a hold of him.
I have heard a call has already been made.

5.

I'm getting anxious to see what this final Devils lineup is going to look like. Over the last couple of games, as I'm writing out the lineup in my notebook, I see the names right in front of me. And I remember that's only one-half of the players currently at camp. On Monday night, NHL regulars like Nico Hischier, Pavel Zacha, Jesper Bratt, Janne Kuokkanen, Dougie Hamilton, Ryan Graves, and Mackenzie Blackwood were all on the ice against Washington. That's a heck of a group. And then I remember, missing, with the second Devils group, is Yegor Sharangovich, Jack Hughes, an injured Ty Smith, and Damon Severson…. The list goes on. And not to mention players like Dawson Mercer making a real push… I haven't been this excited about a Devils lineup since I arrived four seasons ago.

6.

For someone with a lethal shot, Alex Holtz seems to have gone through this preseason thus far quietly picking up points. Sure, it's only three games, but he's looking more comfortable with each day. He wasn't shy to admit that the speed of the AHL and NHL game was a bit of a shock when he first arrived in New Jersey, but he's also a smart enough player and talented enough to be able to make those changes. And then of course, he has his all reliable shot.
Whenever you ask him about his shot, one of the first things he always talks about is how much he trusts it. That has been his bread and butter from the time he was a kid starting to play hockey.

7.

Throwing it back to Sharangovich, how about his handy camera work? When we get ready to film our practice report, we use an area in the player's tunnel. This week, Sharangovich was checking out the camera, curious how it all worked:
Tweet from @NJDevils: He needs some work on his technical skills, but he's truly a visionary.#NJDevils | @investorsbank pic.twitter.com/ufXkPm55d9

8.

I really liked what Dougie had to say about a young player like Dawson Mercer. Both of Dougie's preseason appearances have been with Mercer in the lineup. One thing about both those players, at two different times in their current careers, they both care immensely about being the best they can be. It's something that Dougie immediately recognized in Mercer.
"Right from Day 1 I saw a lot of potential," Hamilton shared. " He's one of those guys where you can see he's going to be a really good player. I like when guys care and care about hockey and want to be good. For me, I kind of gravitate towards that and want to help him. I had guys who helped me so I'm just trying to help him, make him feel good, and be there for him if he has any questions. He'll be my teammate for a long time, so it's good to start now."

9.

Pavel Zacha worked really hard this past off-season to come into camp in the best shape of his career and it's something that Zacha acknowledged when he met the media on Monday night. He's leaner, which allows him to be even faster than he once was, but more importantly, it's putting him in a position to contribute at every area of the game, even strength, with the man-advantage and on the penalty kill. The penalty kill is something that Zacha takes pride in, and it was an area on the ice where he saw his ice-time decrease last season. He doesn't want to see that happen again and feels he's put himself in the best possible position to turn that stat around.
"I don't feel too tired on the ice," Zacha shared. "Especially on the penalty kill and stuff like that. I can play more minutes, so it was a good summer and now I have to bring it in the season."
10.
I tweeted about it late one night after a game, so it may have flown under the radar. But last Wednesday when the Devils played their first preseason game, Alex Holtz's father stayed up through the Swedish night to catch his son play his first-ever NHL preseason game. By the time the game ended in Washington, it was already 4 a.m. in Stockholm where the Holtzs live.
I just thought it was very sweet. Not unexpected, but very sweet.