This isn't the only story shared between the three as Stevens, who attended Northeastern University, told his now teammates about another game he remembers.
"I think we were bouncing back college stories maybe when one team beat the other or what not," Pinho said. "Stevens was telling a funny story about maybe something that two guys might have said to each other and we got a good laugh out of it."
"It's kind of fun reliving the stories we had playing against each other," Stevens shared. "We share stories of what it was like playing on the other side. It's pretty fun hearing that kind of stuff."
From rivals to teammates all trying to show the Devils organization what they can individually bring at this year's training camp. It's a process that can be nerve wracking and overwhelming; however, the trio have each other for support.
"It feels like you already have friends in the locker room, there's some guys that you're on some level comfortable with so that's awesome," Stevens said. "Seeing those guys, getting to know those guys, they're obviously great competitors but you know I think it's going to be really fun being teammates with those guys moving forward."
"They're really good guys on and off the ice and in college you don't get to see the other side of it, only on the on-ice part of things," Gambardella explained. "But off the ice, I've only been around them a couple of days but I have nothing but good things to say about them, they're really good."
"We've been playing against each other for awhile so just pushing each other to compete every day, make everyone better," said Pinho. "I think that's what everyone's trying to do at this camp, it's just get better each day and push one another and compete and work hard every day."
Although they might not agree on certain games or support the same college teams, these forwards felt the competitive environment in Hockey East taught them skills that have helped in their pro careers.
"The biggest thing was how competitive it was. You had to show up every night if you were going to win games," said Stevens. "I think my sophomore year (Hockey East) sent six teams to the tournament so it was a lot of fun. It felt like you were playing a Top-10 team every night. I think that gets you really prepared for pro hockey, just you're never playing a bad team, you have to bring it every night or else you're going to get beat."
"I think Hockey East is probably one of the tougher divisions defensively and to score in, but you have to be good on both sides of the puck," said Gambardella. "In Hockey East, we don't have the full Olympic sheet that a lot of the teams in the Midwest do, so that's similar to pro ice and I think being able to be good in tight areas and be good on the defensive side of the puck has really helped the pro side of the game."
As the season approaches and these three are now a part of the Devils organization, the hatchet is buried with their college rivalries … for now.
"Maybe each weekend series, throw a couple bets on," said Pinho. "I think Providence will take this year. They're going to have a solid team."
"There will definitely be some stuff going down," Gambardella agreed. "I can't say exactly what yet, but I'm sure we have some wagers already in our heads."
