Just the Beginning | 10 TAKEAWAYS

Here we go again! The NHL season is already a week and a half in, and four games down. The Devils are off and running, out to prove they’re ready for the long grind ahead and with their sights set on big things. A new season always comes with all the anticipation, energy, and possibilities. There’s nothing quite like the fresh start of a new year, when every team has a clean slate.

As we kick off another year, I'm thrilled to once again bring you closer to your team with weekly editions of 10 Takeaways, presented by Ticketmaster for a behind-the-scenes look at the grind, the funny stories, and the moments that will come to define the season.

Already, this group has faced its share of early adversity with injuries, but they’re no strangers to overcoming those challenges. Each day has become an opportunity to get just a little bit better and to build something special, leading up to the crescendo and beyond an 82-game regular season. The road ahead won’t be easy, but this team looks more ready than ever to put in the work and chase something special.

1.

When the Devils’ brass got word of Markstrom’s injury, there was a bit of a sigh of relief. The result turned out to be better than what the initial concern had suggested. Out for a couple of weeks, as head coach Sheldon Keefe said, is considered a positive outcome in this scenario.

The Devils have been down this road before, tested by injuries, and each time they’ve found a way to persevere. In the meantime, there’s no one better suited to steady the crease than Jake Allen. He's that veteran presence who’s calm, composed, and fully capable of carrying the No. 1 load while Markstrom works his way back.

The Devils are lucky to have such a solid, veteran duo.

2.

It was difficult to talk to Jake Allen about seeing Jacob Markstrom go down with his lower-body injury in the final minute against Columbus. You could tell, by his body language alone, that Allen felt awful about coming out of the lineup in that way. That’s just who Allen is, the ultimate teammate. He’s the kind of guy who shoulders responsibility even when it isn’t his to carry, the kind who feels the weight of a situation because he genuinely cares about this group as a team and as human beings. No one will wear that guilt more than he will, not because anyone’s asking him to, but because that’s how much the team matters to him.

It was one of the first things he said when he talked to the media on Wednesday.

“I feel terrible for him,” were the first words out of Allen’s mouth. “It’s partially my fault. I take sort of responsibility for it. I reiterated how bad I feel for him right now. We’re hoping he’s going to be back real quick.”

The truth is, there’s no blame to place, as Allen himself said, hockey’s a game full of variables. But watching Jake stand there and face the media the way he did was a real testament to his character, as well as the respect and connection he has with Markstrom and the rest of the team.

It could not have been easy.

3.

A big welcome to MSG play-by-play man Don LaGreca, who now has a couple of games under his belt. MSG didn’t have the home opener broadcast, so LaGreca is undefeated so far. Which means we’ve heard three times what appears to be his signature call to close out a win.

Put a pitchfork in this one, the Devils have won!

If you were at the game you may have caught it on the big screen, but if you weren't there you may not have seen... when the camera is panning to fans in the crowd showing off their tattoos, they saved the best for last.

LaGreca has a huge Devils logo tattooed on his leg that he showed off before hyping up the crowd.

A perfect introduction in his first regular season home game!

A couple of other great additions into the fold at MSG, former Devils Mike Rupp and Corey Schneider have joined the broadcast and will appear occasionally over the course of the season. They will be on the broadcast alongside Don and Dano and Rachel and Sal at the desk. It's a great mix of voices and personalities that adds even more insight and energy to the broadcast crew. It also speaks to MSG and the Devils’ ongoing commitment to giving their alumni opportunities in broadcasting, something that’s worked out really well all across the industry to give an insider's perspective on the game.

4.

Looks like it will be hard to scoop Arseny Gritsyuk on anything this year. The man is a constant presence on his Telegram account, giving his own behind-the-scenes look into his life. He’s been a real joy to be around, happy-go-lucky, but hard-working and as dedicated as they come.

But here’s my likely one and only scoop:

Arseny has joined the pre-game soccer crew. I spotted him out there ahead of the Rangers game at Prudential Center.

One of my favorite stories that Gritsyuk did share was finally having his daughter in New Jersey with him but not having any proper toys for the two-year-old to play with. He mentioned it to his teammates and the next morning sitting in his stall was a bunch of toys from Ondrej Palat. Palat, the father of two young girls himself, brought in some toys they no longer use (and a few new ones too!) for Gritsyuk to bring home to his daughter.

I also got a kick out of him coming up to me the other day and asking if I'm the one who does the handwriting. He said everyone sees it back home. Yes, it's me!

I also have to share this...! When I first met Arseny when he arrived in New Jersey, I had the opportunity to sit down with him for almost half an hour to get to know him for our introductory article. When it came to the topic of his daughter, Esiniya, I asked him if he could write it out for me, to make sure I got the spelling correct.

My first impression? I actually don't think it's that bad! Definitely different than mine, but it has some character!

5.

And on the topic of Arseny, I should note, and give him credit where credit is due, that his English is actually very good - especially for someone who only started learning the language a year ago.

You'll see him in interviews on TV with a translator, whether it was Dmitri Osipov during training camp, or Evgenii Dadonov and assistant coach Sergei Brylin now that we're in the regular season, but that's really only when interviews are being conducted. There's a certain intimidation factor when a camera gets put in front of anyones face, you tend to want to be more careful about your words, it's far less impersonal than just talking face-to-face.

So when you do catch Arseny in just regular conversation, say walking down the hallway, without any intention of recording or being an interview, he's very much capable and is, in fact, very engaging.

6.

Something noticeable about assistant coach Brad Shaw: he has two different lanyards that hold his whistle during practice. The most notable is eye-catching with a long string of bright yellow smiley faces. It definitely stands out with the contrast of the black tracksuit that coaches wear during practice.

I asked Shaw about it and his answer was so simple, yet so important. He told me it’s his reminder of how lucky we are to be playing/coaching in the National Hockey League, how happy we should all be to know we’re here playing this/coaching this game we all love.

I don’t know, something about that felt so pure and true.

7.

Let’s talk about Luke.

Glendening, that is.

Glendening’s impact may not always show up on the scoresheet, but it’s already being felt in the faceoff circle. His ability to step in for key draws gives the Devils a valuable edge, especially in defensive and special teams situations. By handling some of those tough minutes and crucial faceoffs, Glendening frees up Nico Hischier to stay fresher throughout games, allowing the captain to focus more on driving play offensively rather than constantly being leaned on for every critical draw.

Here's a bit of what Sheldon Keefe had to say about the significance of having someone like Glendening available:

“The hope is that we get a fresher version of Nico more consistently. That he doesn’t have to take as many faceoffs, especially when he’s already a little fatigued. Penalty kill, if there’s a penalty kill that happens when he’s already on the ice or just gotten off, a lot of times in the past I’ve felt compelled to put him back out there because we just really need him for that faceoff in the early going of the penalty kill. We want to give Glendening a real good run at taking on that responsibility. A, because with think Glenny can do the job, along with Brownie, but also we’re hoping that there’s some payoff in terms of the impact that it has on Nico (…) it’s all done with an eye towards managing Nico’s workload.”

8.

Had to share this hilarious quote from Brenden Dillon when we were talking before the season started… I think he may have felt guilty (sort of!) for saying it, but it was too good not to share.

We were talking about his injury last year in the playoffs and how it took him out of the series against the Hurricanes. Of course, it was beyond difficut for him not to be there with his teammates, but it was also devastating not to be able to get all wrapped up in the playoff atmosphere that these athletes live for... an opportunity to win games and ... crush dreams?

"It was really frustrating, there's no other word to put it," Dillon said of his injury. "Because, like, even coming out for warm ups, and I personally almost like playing on the road more, just because the atmosphere is like, you're just the villain. You've got like a five-year-old kid yelling at you as you're going out of the tunnel. And you're just like, I just want to be like, and this sounds bad, but you want to crush their dreams. Like, we're gonna win this game."

Brenden Dillon: Crushing the opponents and crushing five-year-old dreams.

9.

Catch Paul Cotter in the right mood after a game for a media interview and he certainly knows what to say and how to say it. Little did we know, he's been practicing for years.

Paul told me a story this week about how, when he was a kid, he would go to Red Wings games with his family. On the way home, his dad, camcorder in hand, would conduct post-game interviews with Paul.

"My dad used to have a camcorder or something and (on the way home) would ask me, kind of like a post-game interview, 'How do you think they did today?' and I would say something like 'I think they could have forechecked better... We'd do post-game interviews the whole way home."

10.

The guys absolutely crushed the Red Carpet arrivals.