Bewitched, bothered and bedeviled

Sporting News, The, March 28, 1994 by Mike Tully

Depending on which version you believe, the legend of the Jersey Devil can date back to the early 1700s.

From the southern part of the state he came, leaving his footprints, screaming in the night and instilling dread in the Delaware Valley's natives.

Years later, the Jersey Devil made another appearance. He ended up as the logo of an NHL franchise.

Of course, the creature had to change his image. Rather than suggesting danger, he now stood for an evening of fun. He even had to change his address. No longer materializing from the Pine Barrens, he now set up housekeeping in the meadowlands.

But his work has scarcely begun, and it may take the power of the supernatural to complete it. More than a decade after this devil was recast, dread remains afoot in New Jersey. But the presence that haunts the meadowlands comes from across the river. From the New York Rangers.

"You're always competing against the Rangers," says Jamie Huscroft, a Boston defenseman who spent parts of three seasons with the Devils. "You'd play the Rangers (in New Jersey) and there'd be more Ranger fans than Devils fans."

As with the devil of old, you never know when today's specter may appear. It came February 10 when the Devils were wrapping up a 7-3 victory over Vancouver. By then, many of the 11,966 fans had left. From the remainder came the chant of "1940."

Think of it. At a moment of Devils triumph, their fans were chanting a date. Not 1982, when the franchise arrived from Colorado. Not 1988, when the Devils came within one victory of the finals. But 1940, the year of the Rangers' last Stanley Cup -- proving that the Rangers didn't even have to be in the building to haunt the Devils.

"You've got to accept that the Rangers are an original-six team," Devils center Bernie Nicholls says. "I don't think you can expect people to jump over and be for you. I can accept that."

That comment came about an hour after the Rangers had scored a 4-2 victory over the Devils on February 24.

The Rangers have won all five games against the Devils this season, single-handedly accounting for the gap between first place and second place in the Atlantic Division. They meet again April 2 at the Meadowlands arena. No other club has given the Devils so much trouble this season, and no other losses could carry the same sting.

The Devils are fighting for more than just points. Despite being a contender -- a fast, smart, disciplined team with a right to dream of the Stanley Cup -- the Devils need their own fan base, their own identity. And they must create it in a region where thousands have given their hearts to the Rangers.

"I think it's very hard to put a franchise 10 miles from an original six team," Nicholls says. "It's been very tough to compete with a team that's been around since Day One."

Technically, the Rangers are not a charter member of the NHL. They entered the league in 1926, nine years after the league's formation. But that has been long enough for fans to fall in love with the Rangers, and this loyalty can make second-class citizens of the Devils in their own building.

When the Rangers visit the Meadowlands arena, the lobby takes on a shade of blue. Just before game time, a chant of "Let's go Rangers" comes from the crowd. Forty-five seconds into the February 24 game, All-Star defenseman Scott Stevens takes a cross-checking penalty. Twelve seconds later, Sergei Zubov gives the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute into the game, the Devils had to endure a crowd cheering against them.

"It's a fact but the guys are pretty good on it," Devils Coach Jacques Lemaire says. "I heard some comments before the game, 'Let's make some of the people unhappy and win the game.'"

Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello says, "I think you'd have to be inhuman not to let the crowd the way it was that night bother you."

"A lot of the guys are used to it," says rookie goalie Martin Brodeur, referring to the way the home crowd cheers for the Rangers. "What can you do? If we do well, maybe they will cheer for us more."

It sounded like such a good idea at the time, back in 1982. Take a struggling team from Denver, and place it in North Jersey. Thousands of hockey fans live there, many of them shut out of Rangers tickets. A network of highways leads right to a brand new arena. A team in New Jersey would add a rivalry.

It sounded like an idea that could work, and it still might. But there were mistakes, and factors outside the team's control. For one thing, the brand new arena lacked atmosphere and it lets noise escape. No matter what the Devils do on the ice, the crowd can't generate the roar you hear in Madison Square Garden or the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

Then there was the matter of the Devils uniforms: a combination of green, red and white that made them look like Christmas decorations. The uniforms have been changed, but nothing can be done about the building. And there is one thing that neither the league nor the franchise can do -- turn off the lights of Manhattan that you can see from the Meadowlands parking lot.