Jersey purges its demons - Uncovering the Past - New Jersey Devils hockey team

Hockey Digest, May, 2003 by Alex Gordon

YOUNGER FANS MAY FIND IT hard to believe, but there was a time when the New Jersey Devils were the laughingstocks of the league.

Once called a "Mickey Mouse organization" by Wayne Gretzky, the Devils arrived in New Jersey in 1982, having spent the previous disastrous decade first in Kansas City as the Scouts and then in Colorado as the Rockies.

New Jersey missed the playoffs in its first five seasons, a near incredible feat back in the day when 16 of 21 NHL clubs made it to the postseason. Then in 1987-88, things finally came together for the Devils. First, New Jersey beat the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime on the final night of the season to qualify for the playoffs.

Then, behind the goaltending of rookie sensation Sean. Burke, the Devils went on a playoff roll, defeating the once-invincible New York Islanders in the first round in six games. Next, New Jersey knocked off the Washington Capitals in seven games. Suddenly, the Mickey Mouse club was in the Wales Conference finals.

Alas, a dream season came to an end with a Game 7 defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins, but the Devils served notice--enough so that Burke became the first player from the club to grace our cover in December 1988.

We predicted great things for Burke and the franchise in our cover story: "Burke is now the franchise for the Devils, and to whatever heights he rises, the Devils will rise with him." And while the Devils slipped that season, missing the playoffs, they began a six-year postseason streak in 1989-90, which culminated in the lockout-shortened season of 1994-95 with the franchise winning its first Cup.

By then, Burke had been replaced in the net by another rookie goalie sensation--Martin Brodeur, who happens to grace this month's cover.