Don La Greca Interview Talking New Jersey Devils Fandom & His New Play By Play Job

Don La Greca Interview Talking New Jersey Devils Fandom & His New Play By Play Job

Oh, welcome back Devils fans. It is your host Ace here on Running with the Devils where we are talking New Jersey Devils hockey all year long. Please hit that subscribe button, smash the like, share with a friend. Thank you very much. And I am here today with a very special guest. A very special guest indeed. You might know him from the Michael K show, from Rangers Playbyplay. We’ll get to that in a minute. The Don Han and Rosenberg show. And now the television playbyplay voice for your New Jersey Devils. Give it up for Don LGrea. How you doing, Don? Good. How are you, man? This is Oh, man. I re really appreciate you doing this. Wanted to talk to you since the news broke. And I will say the first text I got after the news broke, one of my good friends, a hardcore Devils fan, Steve the Maniac, he texted me and he immediately said, he said, “This is great. One of us made it.” He said, “He’s one of us.” And I sat back and I was like, I I’ I’m pretty familiar with you over the years with a lot of your work. I’m not huge into other sports, mainly hockey. I’ve obviously seen a lot of the clips and things online from over the years. And I knew that you were a Devils fan at one time. And I was a little skeptical at first. I was like, you know, like many others, and we’re going to dispel a lot of these notions in the next couple minutes, but then I saw the picture of the tattoo, and I said, I need to hear or see nothing else. Don has a Stanley Cup tattoo with the Devil’s logo. I don’t need to hear or anything else. That to me is the ultimate sign of fandom. And I’m excited for the new season. And like Steve said, one of us is now in the booth. But, you know, what what are your kind of thoughts now after it’s kind of processed for a couple days, you know, now that you got this childhood dream job? Yeah, it’s amazing. Like, I’ve just been on Cloud9 ever since I got the news because like you said, you know, fan, you know, pretty much since the very beginning. Uh, my dad was not a hockey fan, so I was kind of on my own with that. Um, so when the Devils came and I finally got my driver’s license and go into the Medallands, uh, first game February 22nd, 1987, a six nothing loss to the Islanders where a puck went off of Claude Lazelle’s head into the net and I still fell in love with the team and I was part of that run in 88. My girlfriend, now wife, had partial season tickets. So, I went to all those home games against the Islanders Capitals and Bruins and just to follow in the footsteps of, you know, guys like Gary Thorne, um, Mike Emer, you know, Steve Kangelo, it’s just these it just it’s unreal. It’s it’s just been I can’t wait for the season to start. I love the summer, but I just can’t wait till we get to September and the preseason games and and that first game. I just can’t I can’t wait for it. That’s amazing. I I want to know a little bit more about, you know, the lean years. I’m a little bit younger. I became a fan in ’94. Pretty pretty good timing for me as that kind of Yeah. when the Devils kind of started to take strides to be the perennial contender in the Lou days. What was it like being a fan, you know, to see some some tough seasons, but then pretty quickly in 88? What was it like living through the Johnny Mack, right, the Johnny Mack goal against Panganger in Chicago? Obviously, you’ve seen all the the video and stuff. I wasn’t following it at the time, but I imagine for Devils fans at the time, that was pretty magical. Yeah, it was it was incredible. You know, before then, like I said, that game that I went to, there wasn’t many people in the building and and me and my buddy John kind of bounced around the arena trying to eventually get to the glass. So, the ushers wouldn’t notice that we were, you know, stealing somebody’s seats, but there was enough open seats for us to be able to finally get down there and get close. And I think that’s what really helped me fall in love with it. And then that very next year, you know, then they had to make that huge run at the end of the year. And that’s where you you start to get fully engaged because what are the Rangers doing? What are the Whalers doing? What are the Penguins doing? And then everything kind of crystallized after, you know, Shawn Burke got called up and he went on that miracle run. And then to have the them beat Panganger in Chicago on a on that overtime goal by John Mlan and then just go on that unbelievable run was just incredible. And I whenever I would see Panganger, I would I would talk to him about it because I would get the chance to, you know, do some shows or see him on the road and it’s obviously not a great memory for him, but it was just a tremendous memory for me. And that’s where it just kind of all came together for me like that season to find them finally see them become relevant, finally see them matter after all those years of not being very good. It was just it was incredible to beat the Islanders and they were still they still had some fragments of the dynasty era and but Pat Laaf Fontaine was added there a couple of years before so that was a big upset and to beat the Capitals the way that they did and then almost have the have the Bruins beat and quick story after they lost game seven me’s like let’s go to Newark and meet them when they come back. So, we’re sitting there at the gate waiting for them to come in. I guess Lou didn’t want the team to go through the crowd of people. There’s about like a hundred or something of us that decided to do that. And I could see them from afar get on the bus and go to the Medallands. So, we jump in our car, we go to the Medallands, we go into the parking lot, we meet um the players and kind of celebrate with them just to thank them for what a great season. And somebody had given Jim Shawnfeld, who was the head coach at the time, uh a box of Dunkin’ Donuts because of the eat another donut fatboy incident from Don Kohharski back in the Bruins series. Uh and people don’t know that story. It’s great to look up. It’s a lot of fun. And it’s the reason why I don’t know if people realize this, in Wayne’s world, it’s officer Kolharski is after Don Kohharski from that incident, which is an interesting story. So years later when Jim Shawnfeld’s um the assistant GM with the Rangers and I’m seeing him on the road, I told him that story and he thought it was hilarious. And then the very next year, they missed the playoffs, but I was part of the Devil fan club and got to go to meet a devil. My favorite devil at the time was Jim Korn, kind of a journeyman goon, and he didn’t show up. And I got to sit with the broadcasters. And if I knew that that was an option, I would have taken that option and got to meet Gary Thorne. Got to meet uh the late uh Peter McNab, Chris Moore, who was doing radio at the time. And I’ve I’ve got the table display of table A and Gary Thorne um McNab and um Moore’s autograph. And then Gary Thornne saying good luck in broadcasting. And I keep looking at that in my man cave like, you know, who knew that I would actually walk in the same footsteps as those guys. So it was just it’s it was amazing. So the lean years ended up being worth it because that first that 87 88 Lou takes over. They become relevant again. A little bit of a hiccup in ‘ 89, but then in 90 becoming a perennial playoff team and then eventually winning the Stanley Cup is amazing. No, those those are some great stories you just dropped. For anyone who wasn’t sure, that should have told you everything. Jim Jim Korn gives it away because let’s face it, you got a massive audience. I’m sure like a half of those people have no idea who I’m talking about. He’s number 14. Yeah. Another quick I I don’t mean to rattle off, but I’m I love talking Devils hockey. When I went to college, I had I was I had a radio show at Ramapo College. It’s where I went to school. And I wanted to interview somebody. So, I’m like, I want to interview Jim K. So, I went to the practice in South Orange. That’s when they used to practice over at South Mountain Arena. And I there was I didn’t talk to the PR director. I just went up to him and he’s like, “Listen, we’ve got an engagement at the Winners’s Club at the Melands, interview me there.” And so I run to the I I get in my car, drive to the Medallands, wait at the Winners’s Club just to see Jim K walk in, look at me, and walk right past me. And I never got to interview him. I was so devastated. But years later doing NHL live, I’m interviewing Brendan Shanahan who was on that team and I told him the story and he’s like, “I’m not surprised. Korn’s a piece of garbage.” He just jokingly said that. And then he told me how um when Jim K was a veteran, Shanahan used to have to get him like a soda. That was like his job. And I’m like, geez, you’re you’re going to the Hall of Fame and Jim K was had a cup of coffee with the Devils and he blew me off and here I am talking to you. You know, it’s pretty surreal. So I I think of that every time I think of Jim K. So if anybody questions my Devil fandom to you look up Jim K and say if that was his favorite player, he must have been a diehard. That that Shanny story is ridiculous. I uh Shannie’s an all-time great. One of my favorites. I loved when he came back towards the end of his career uh when Lou brought him back when he was like, you know, 40 and he was still out there 600 goals and he’s fighting guys like Eric Bolton. Like what what a treat to watch to watch Shanny. What an absolute legend. What are some of your other Devils kind of favorite players over the years? Oh, there’s so Well, Dano obviously is at the top of the list. Uh Dano, you know, I became friends with him. I can’t wait to work with him. He invited me to his barbecue after they won the cup in 2003 and I went uh I went to his house and drank from the cup and I was there in Newark when he had a chance to to have a uh at bat with the Newark Bears and then I was in Somerset when he got a chance to bat for the Somerset Patriots. Now Dano’s really up there. Pat Burbique was one of my favorite guys too. um one of probably one of the most prolific goal scorers they had and he really ended up having an amazing career at Hartford and beyond and playing with the Rangers for a little bit too. You know, some of the guys that just, you know, pop into my head that, you know, maybe maybe weren’t great players, but I just happen to like. Randy Velich was a really cool guy that I got to know and he of course did color on radio for a lot of years. And uh Claude Loyel, who I mentioned earlier with the puck off his head, um he ends up being executive. I’d see him at the Garden when he was at the Tampa Bay Lightning. Um, those are some of the guys that that I got to know because most a lot of my Devil fandom came when I was already in the business. I I worked at Sports Phone, started working at Sports Phone in ’92 and I would cover a lot of the Devil games because Sports Phone was located on Long Island and for 15 bucks they’d charge they would pay me to go cover the Devils or the Nets because I was one of the lone guys that were in New Jersey. So even though like a lot of my fandom came when I was already in the business. So I got to go into the locker room. I got to meet some of the guys and then eventually getting to to to work with some of them when I was working with Rangers, getting to know a lot of those guys. So um a lot of my experiences with those former Devils came when I was already in business and I got a chance to get to know them, get close to them, which was really cool. When when and how did you meet Dano for the first time? just covering um the team. But when it really came together was that 03 run because I was already working at ESPN at the time and we in in 03 we had the Islanders that that was the team that we had and once the Islanders were eliminated they let me cover the games and I was like doing games. I was doing shows from the concourse. I remember when they won the cup I actually did a show from the concourse that night and he would always come on. It was always nice to come on and we kind of built up a bit of a kinship. And then that next draft there was a show um that I did with him in ‘ 04, the Ovetkin draft and that was just before the lockout and he was just very gracious just just being around and knowing him. You couldn’t be around you couldn’t be close to the Devils without being close to Kendanica. You know, there’s a reason that his name is up in the rafters because of how important he was to the organization. He doesn’t have the stats or the ability of an Elos or Nina Meyer, Stevens, Broaddor, the guys that are up there, but he was so important to the organization. You couldn’t be close to them without being close to Kenny. And he’s such a good guy and such a generous guy with his time. So, but I think it really kind of crystallized during that 03 run. Yeah, they definitely don’t call him Mr. Devil for nothing. I’ll spare the whole story, but my beginning of kind of going from a casual hockey fan to a hardcore hockey fan is from a chance meeting with Dano at his restaurant back in the day. And that’s kind of what cemented it for me as well. I mean, the nicest guy, the biggest ambassador for hockey uh New Jerseyy’s ever seen. And like you said, you know what, excellent guy and just great, you know, he he is the devil. And and the perfect example of that is um and I can use this opportunity to promote August 23rd is my Mark Sasso softball over at Wag Field on Wagner Road in Hawthorne, New Jersey. It’s 5:00 on August 23rd. It’s for my buddy Mark who passed away of cancer back in in ’08. And we have a charity softball game he and um his his widow put together with his family. And Kenny has come every year. Every single year he’s been able to come, which I think is is absolutely tremendous. because he’s just all about jerseys, all about being helpful. So, that also helped cement our friendship that I get to at least see him once a year uh at the charity softball. Other than the obvious Stanley Cup wins, is there any particular Devils moments, games, or plays that kind of stick out in your head when you were like, oh, you know, something that just kind of stood with you over the years? No, it’s a it’s a great question. Obviously, you know, all three cups. I was in the building in ’95, in the building in 2003, um there for the home games in 2000, but obviously they clinched in Dallas, so I couldn’t be there for that. Um I I got pretty much the whole parade on VHS. I I got a camcorder in 95. Uh going to the going to the parking lot to see that. That would be kind of if I could find a VCR, that’d be cool to look back at and see what I looked like and what the players look like. Um, you know, one of my one of my strangest moments came in 2012. Um, I was already doing the the Rangers and of course that was the conference final against the Rangers. I got the call game three, a game the Rangers won to take a two-1 series lead. The Devils went on, as you know, to win the rest of the series. And um, I was I was in the corner where Henrik scored because I was the third announcer for that game. So Kenny and Dave were calling the game up in the booth and I was down uh at ice level and just finished the intermission before overtime and I had just got down there before we scored and I had my buddies and devil fans saying why aren’t you banging on the glass? Why aren’t you getting all excited? I’m like I’m working for the Rangers. I was neutral at that point. But it was just surreal how if I didn’t work for the Rangers, how glorious a moment that would be to finally beat the Rangers after not being able to do it in 94 and not being able to to do it in 08. They did get their revenge in ‘ 06, but it was a it was a four game sweep. There wasn’t that like magical moment like beating him in overtime in game six and how it didn’t mean anything because I was working the working the Rangers. I already kind of was in in in that um thing. So it just very very strange and very surreal moment. But all the the run the run in in 88 when the replacement officials were on the ice wearing those they look like yellow raincoats that they were wearing or something because obviously the injunction where um Shawnfeld was suspended and the referees refused to go on the ice when Lou was able to get the injunction to have Shawnfeld coach. And that was and that was before cell phone. We had no idea what was going on. Like what are these officials doing? And there was a delay and somebody had a transistor radio and we were able to listen to the broadcast to find out what was going on. That was a that was crazy uh as well. So those are some of the things that kind of pop in from a fan standpoint. Like I said, my first game February 22nd 87, that six nothing loss. Um and how about this? In 95, my buddy and I knew the Devils were good. They had gone to the conference final the year before when you became a fan. And we’re like, “Let’s save up our money and let’s get the last two rounds, rounds three and four, in case they make a run so we can be in the building.” So, of course, they get to the conference final against Philadelphia. So, we’re in the building. We had to buy eight games for strips for strips, right? And obviously we only had to pay only got five. They only had the three home games against Philly and then they only had the two home games against Detroit in the Stanley Cup final. So how much do you think the strips were for rounds three and four? Now we were way up in the corner. Okay. We were in the nosebleleeds. But this is this is Eastern Conference final, Stanley Cup final, eight games. What was the total price of the strips? I I tell the kids this all the time, Don, that it was a different era. I was buying tickets in the parking lot. The eight game strips in 95 for the Eastern Conference Finals and the Cup finals, I’m going to say was probably you were probably at like 40 bucks a ticket. So probably like, you know, 320 to 350 a ticket probably. Yeah. The whole thing we paid was $200. Oh, two. And we got money back for three of the games. You couldn’t you can’t sniff a first round game in the nosebleleeds for that now. And meanwhile, my buddy my another buddy of mine cuz game four, they’re up three games to none. So, they’re home chance to clinch. He ended up paying like 400 bucks for that ticket in the parking lot. So, I paid 200 bucks for my, you know, eight possible games. Ended up being less than. I never doing the math. Probably paid like 120 bucks for all five games that I went to. and he paid 400 for the last one, but it was um you pretty amazing to be in the building for that. That was a surreal moment to be at the Medalland seeing them win the Stanley Cup was crazy. I I was almost 10 years old. I begged my parents. They couldn’t pull it off, but I eventually saw them win it in 03 in person. Uh back to the game six 2012 Eastern Conference Finals when Henrique um you know dispatches them in the conference finals. Obviously, like you said, the Devils had beaten the Rangers before, but it definitely seemed like in the dramatic fashion, like you said, in the conference finals, it seemed like they finally exercised the demons of Stefon Matau. Were did you feel like kind of conflicted in the moment? Was part of you still like excited as a as a Devil fan or a suppressed Devils fan? I was happy for them, you know, and and I know pe people aren’t going to understand this that are watching because if I could I saw somebody the the response to me getting the job has been over overwhelmingly positive, but somebody had sent out a clip of me calling a r a devil goal against the Rangers and some somebody had said, “Well, if he’s really a fan, he would have been way more excited.” Oh god. But like but so I know there’s going to be people that aren’t going to understand how I was able to shut it off, but I had to. And by that point, I had been doing the Rangers pre and post since the 0506 season. And then I was filling in for Kenny since ’08. And then two years later, I ended up calling game one of the Stanley Cup final when they played the Kings because Kenny had to fill in for Doc on TV because Doc’s father-in-law passed away. So, that hadn’t happened yet. But, you know, you make the decision that you you want to broad broaden your career and I wanted to do more games like so with the Rangers being out as happy I was for the Devils and I I went to those Stanley Cup final games in 2012. As a matter of fact, after that game was over, I went right down to the bowels of the Credential Center and made sure I had my credentials set for the Stanley Cup final. So, I went to the home games of that series and uh but if the Rangers had won, I’d still be working. I’d still be getting a chance to do games. So, that’s where you find yourself. So, now to be back with the team and now to have it all kind of come together, you know, is pretty amazing. So, believe it or not, I wasn’t that conflicted because by that time it was I I had to to shut it off. But believe me, turning it back on has been um part of the excitement of getting this gig for sure. You mentioned you were at game seven in the 2003 cup finals. I was there as well. Probably one of the greatest nights of my life. What did you think about Marty not getting the Khan Smite and them giving it to Jigair? It’s it’s so interesting because it I listen I know Jagar played well and it is the whole playoffs not just the Stanley Cup final but I just did a hit with um SiriusXM earlier today with Scott Lachland um and he he was talking about Patrick Elosh deserving to be in the Hall of Fame and I thought back to 03 because the whole character and reputation and stereotype of the Devils even though they had some great offensive teams teams was the trap defensiveminded and a lot of times Neidmire Stevens Broaddor wouldn’t get the credit they deserved because it was the system you know the system made it work didn’t face more than 15 20 shots a game it was easy for Stevens and Neita Meyer to be able to do what they did because of the system and I thought well didn’t the system have something to do with squel ing the offensive opportunities. So, shouldn’t Elosh be given even more credit for being a thousand point scorer being on a team that didn’t think offense first. And I always think back to 2003, it was all off of reputation. Like Marty didn’t get the credit he deserved because oh, it was all system. And I thought about that today like and I felt bad for JS like how do you how do what do you even want the trophy for, right? Like who wants the K smite for a team that lost in seven games? So yeah, but I wasn’t going to let it bother me at the time. I was just happy they won. I was happy. If you remember, Danico had been a healthy scratch. Y and Pat Burns, who I think is one of the most underrated coaches in NHL history, and it’s a shame he went into the Hall of Fame after he passed away. Shame on you. Happened while he was alive. Absolutely. And um deciding to play Dano in game seven. And I remember Dano telling me he thought it was a mistake. He thought he hadn’t played in a while and it was a mistake, but boy, it turned out to be great that he got to play in that game and got to lift that Stanley Cup and then walk away from the sport. Just unbelievable. Legendary night. Yeah. I mean, Marty, to your points about the de, you know, everyone trying to detract from the Devil’s achievements and say the trap and all these things like these guys had amazing careers and were first ballot Hall of Famers. And in the playoffs in general that year, Marty had insane numbers. He had seven shutouts in the playoffs and he had three in the finals. So, like, yeah, Jagger played well, but I I just thought that was terrible. And and the fact that Marty was never able to get one um in the rest of his career, kind of annoying, but it is what it is. I was just happy. And if you remember, Marty was just as soon as they announced that Marty was just, you know, gesturing for the cup, skating around, and that’s when everyone was chanting Marty’s better. Yeah. What an amazing night. All right, so uh staying on 03 and the in cups in general, when did you get the tattoo, the famous the now famous tattoo? I got the tattoo after they won in 2000. Okay. Um, I was, um, I was working at WFAN and I also was working at an internet radio station called IATA at the time. Um, and I said, you know what, this is my team. I don’t I don’t think you see that changing anytime soon. So, I got the tattoo and if you look at it, there’s no 03 because by the time we got to 03, I was already in the business. And I’m like, do I get it? Do I not get it? Um, so my wife joked that I guess now I gota Well, first of all, I got to update it. Thing’s 25 years old. It’s starting to fade now because I’m an old man, but maybe maybe got to get the 03 on there just to make it work. But there’s a reason why if you look at it, it just has 1995 and 2000. For people who haven’t seen it, I actually, if you go back to the 1990 Calgary Flames media guide, because when I worked at Sports Phone, I got all these media guides. They they had just won the cup the year before. So on the cover of their media guide, they had the Stanley Cup. And I’m like, “All right, this is what I want.” I told the woman that did, I said, “I want this Stanley Cup.” And in the middle of the Stanley Cup of the Devil’s logo and put 1995 and 2000. And I figured I’ll keep putting cups. I’ll keep putting years underneath the cup. And I got it right on my left calf, but I never got the 2003 updated. So kind of reminds me that uh it’s the they I don’t remember what the date was. It was probably around now, 25 years ago that I got the tattoo. So funny you mentioned that. I I would love to go with you and document the addition of the 2003. That was the first thing I actually a million tweets, but I tweeted to you. I was like, I think you need to get that 03 added on there. I I would love to document the the updating of of the 30 seconds into it, I started to regret it. It hurt way more than I thought it was going to. So, I’m not I’m not going to be quick to jump and get it updated just because I’m sure the pain’s going to probably be the same. So, we’ll see. We’ll see how uh how things go. All right, that’s awesome. Just a couple questions on the job. So, I did see when I was doing some research and, you know, diving through all the clips and things amidst announcing the end of the Michael K show, which was in response to, I guess, someone had put out an article or something that kind of leaked um and you guys were doing the show and Michael seemed a little perturbed, but he he was telling an anecdote and he tagged you in and he said, “If I was, you know, in charge of negotiations, I would handle it like Lou.” And he said, “Don, tell them about Lamarillo.” And that was kind of a part of kind of that moment of of you guys announcing the the end of the show essentially on the air. And he referenced Lou and kind of tagged you in to talk about how Lou keeps everything under wraps and it’s like CIA top secret Pentagon stuff. Uh I just thought that was kind of an interesting little thing that he randomly came up in that, you know, pretty big moment. I remember because I always told him the story that in 93 when they hired Jacques Laame Mer I was working at Sports Fund because I was in Jersey. I went to cover that press conference at the winners club at the Medallands and no one in that room to my knowledge knew who was going to come out from behind that curtain and coach the New Jersey double. When did you ever see that? That that’s real. They were waiting for a new coach announcement and no one there knew who nobody knew who it was gonna be and and no one and it was like oh well nobody cared about the devil. No no no they it wasn’t about caring. It was just that he did not tell anyone. So out comes Jacques Laame Mair and you know listen a certain generation of fans knew exactly who he was but there were a lot of people like who is that? And then he introduc literally introduces Jacqu Lamair. It wasn’t a dog and pony show. He was literally introducing him. And then something similar happened when um Claude Julian was introduced too. Like nobody had a clue. He kept things so close, which tells you you can do it. You know, when when leaks happen, they happen from within, not with not under Lou’s watch. And as as as tough as Lou could be, he was always a gentleman to me as well. I got a um when my when my twins were born, I bought a somebody suggested to me, my sister-in-law suggested to me, get a journal, document some of the things that happened in their lives. And that way when they get older, you can show them and in your handwriting um some of your memories. And what I also decided to do is get people to sign the journal because, you know, luckily being in the business that I’m in, going to Super Bowls, get different people to to to write something to the Twins and and Lou did that for me, which I thought was was tremendous. So, as gruff and hardnosed as he could be, um, I thought he was a he was a gentleman. And as much as players hated to play for him during the they all wanted to come back and work with him, right? They there were times that John Mlan, you know, had trouble with with Lou as a player and then he came back to coach the team and um so it’s amazing that uh how h how interesting Lou could be with some of the rules and all that and facial hair and everything and yet when it came down to it, everybody loved the guy. He’s he’s definitely a winner above all. Definitely had some things about him that not a lot of players enjoyed. But as I’ve interviewed a bunch of players that played for him and a lot of them said, you know, at the time I didn’t understand it, but looking back on my career as a young guy coming into the league, I kind of needed that military type structure and everything to get my act together because a lot of them have said they were kind of a loose cannon prior to coming to the Devils and Lou kind of set them straight. Do you have a a favorite Lou either kind of known tale from over the years or like a trade or something that that sticks out to you about Lou over the years? Well, I remember getting uh Newandike and and and and I believe like the trade deadline was at 3:00 and for some reason that came down like close to six. It was really strange how and I remember that trade was a big deal. Didn’t think it at the time, but how amazing the Neil Broton trade was. How how intrical he was in the 95 run. I thought that was tremendous. Getting Alexander McGillni, getting Doug Gilmore. Doug Gilmore was one of my favorite non-devils before he came to New Jersey and Dave Anderchuk because I love them uh when he played for the Leafs and landing those players. There was always this Lou will never go for big names. Lou will never bring on big contracts. But when Lou smelled a cup, there would there was nothing to stop him from trying to get there. And if Lou didn’t think the team was good enough, he wouldn’t just make a deal for the sake of making a deal. That’s what I loved about him. But you look at some of the great deals he made and some of the players he were able to bring over and they all seemed to have an impact. But maybe maybe one of the biggest ones that was the acquisition of Scott Stevens. To me that was absolute brilliance. For those that don’t know this was back in the day when if you if you lost a free agent you got compensated. So the Devils lose Brendan Shanahan. He signs with the St. Louis Blues. And as legend has it, the compensation for losing Shanahan that the Blues wanted to offer was Curtis Joseph and Rod Bindore. And Lucid, no, I want Scott Stevens. And I remember at the time thinking, damn, the Kujo Bindore. Yeah, you know what? I I I could probably live with those guys. And then Scott Stevens comes over and and then the rest is history. So, I think a lot of other general managers would have taken Kujo and brought Bindammore. Um, that was uh that was pretty big. And who was it? Uh Kevin Rooney, I believe it was and being able to get John to get be able to get McKay. Like that that was Randy McKay. Like those were coups, man. And those guys were major major players for the Devils especially in 95. So Lou was a magician back then. Total magician. You referenced the the Newandike deal. That’s one that always sticks out to me because it was uh Randy McKay and Arnot, two fan favorites, right? Going the other way, bringing Langen Bunner and Newandike and without without the both of them, but even more so probably Jamie had a monster playoff that season. Without those deals, and you could kind of trace these to every cupinning season, you had Neil Broton in 95, you know, 2000 he brought Claude called Lemieux back early uh early in the season, then he went out and got Mildy. It’s like when you look back at it, it’s like Lou did make these amazing deals that in the moment stung a lot of fans and I talk about this regularly that sometimes you to move forward you have to make those deals that kind of sting and when you look at all the cup years there was at least one of them and every single one of those years and the guys all played a crucial part in the run. Yeah, he he he definitely knew how to work the trade deadline and um that you listen I can’t even think of I’m sure there were ones that didn’t work out. I guess you could say Gilmore and Anderchuck didn’t work out because they came between the first and second cups. Those are some weird years, right? Like 96, 97, 97, 98. Yeah. N listen, 96 stung not making the playoffs ever going to the playoffs. Tom, what hurt? I know what hurt, you know, losing to Ottawa. I remember was a day game. I think it was like a Saturday day game or Sunday day game was that there were already people saying well it was the lockout only a 48game schedule and that never bothered me because they had gone to the conference final the year before so I didn’t think they had to prove anything to anybody but it was something that obviously Ranger fans or non-devil fans kind of stuck in their face about the lockout and then not make the playoffs the next year and the list was very short of teams that won a cup and didn’t go to the playoffs the next year so it kind of fueled that and then 97 losing in the first round. 98 losing in the first round. Oh, no, excuse 97 losing in the second round. Two of all teams, the Rangers. Um, I covered the Montreal series. I actually went up to the Bell Center for those road games. So, I was in the building when Broaddor scored the goal, which was amazing, but then to lose to the Rangers the way they did. My father passed away the night before the Adam Graves goal which um which obviously was was awful um to have to go just to go through obviously the the Graves goal didn’t matter at that point but it certainly didn’t help matters to lose to that team of all teams and then 98 99 losing in the first round made 2000 very sweet 95 will always be the best because it was the first and 03 was always special cuz I was in the building. Um, but two 2000 was it just it kind of justified 95 a little bit. Kind of backed it up and uh you you bring up Yeah, those were those were tough three years of underachieving during the course of uh the postseason. Yeah, you talk about coming off the lockout. I I had a a neighbor who was a Rangers fan and I remember as a little kid, he was probably like 10 years older than me, was taunting me after the Matau thing. So then finally the Devils win and like you said first thing he goes, “Oh, when I was walking out with this, not this this t-shirt, but a smaller version when I was a kid in my hat and I went up to him and I was talking smack on his front lawn and he was like, “Calm down.” He’s like, “You didn’t win the Stanley Cup.” He goes, “You won Stan’s cup.” I go, “Buddy, we still had to win 16 games in the playoffs.” And so it was nice, like you said in 2000 and obviously 2003 that you couldn’t possibly try to come with any of these kind of nonsensical things to, you know, undermine the achievement. and it’s still 16 games. Childhood dream to be in the booth throughout all the years and working with the Rangers. Did the dream ever fully die for you where you thought it was like this is this is you know that’s never going to happen. I’m kind of past that into a different phase of my life now or did you still kind of always hold out hope in the back of your mind that maybe one day you know before you retire that you would get the opportunity to do it? It was over. Um I I auditioned three years ago and I lost out to Bill and um and and and Bill Bill did a great job and then but then so I I I felt like now it’s over. You know, I’m in my mid50s, you know, I’m happy doing the Rangers. Um how could you ever anticipate ever anything opening like that again? So, I felt just because of my age and uh my opportunities, I I had I I auditioned for the Islander job back in 2016, lost to Brendan Burke. That was a great decision by them because he’s been amazing. And just like all the doors are closing and then it was like, well, maybe, you know, something will open up with the Rangers. And then Sam left and Kenny got the TV gig. And obviously, that wasn’t even a debate. Um but so it kind of felt like if it was anything would probably be in radio and maybe on a part-time basis. So no I I I I thought it was over. I I I had kind of basically shut that down and just very happy with the where my career was. So for this to come out of the way it did was just amazing. No, it’s a great it’s a great story of you know sometimes you know unexpected things happen and you get a crack at something that you thought was over and it’s never over till it’s over. So, I know it’s tough to say at this juncture. Do you think this is something you’d like to do long term and kind of, you know, till the end of your career? Do you hope to be kind of in there for a while? Oh, yeah. Listen, I got this thing where I like to be places a long time. You know, I was at the fan for five years before the ESPN job to open up. And on September 3rd, it’ll be 24 years at ESPN. Um, even even Lincoln Pharmacy where I worked at on um Lincoln Avenue in Glenrock, I I worked there from 85 to 96. I worked there through the my second half of high school all through college into me actually working at the fan like sports phone WFAN. Um so I I like to stick No, listen. I I want to do this for as long as they’ll have me. Um so yeah, this is something that I Yeah, I’m going to hold on to as long as I can. No, it’s amazing. Most fans seem to like the kind of familiarity that comes with a long time kind of the same team. As Devils fans, we were all spoiled with Doc and Chico, my favorite tandem of all time. You know, coincided with the great years. And so, you know, I I do think that, you know, hopefully now in the the new era of Devils hockey that you’ll be with us for a while and the fans, you know, will grow with you in this new role. It’s very exciting stuff. Well, that’s the thing. I’m I’m hoping I want to make them proud, you know, because I I know this is a very proud franchise. As you said, some of the best to ever do it have been involved in it. and and to be able to do playbyplay in this city where you’ve got so many great hall of famers like Sam Ros and like you know Bob Murphy. Um I got to know Bob Papa as a Giant fan. I think he does an amazing job and was choosing with the Jets. I mean there’s just so many great people. Mike Breen to me when I got the gig doing the Knicks and of course Michael Kay who I worked with for 22 years and I probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him as far as where my career has been. Um some of the best ever to do it. So, you’re following in footsteps, but I want to make the Devil fans proud. I want them to be happy with me because they deserve it. They deserve the best that there is. So, um, it’s a fan base that’s been through a lot and, uh, to represent the state of New Jersey. It’s the only professional sports team left in New Jersey with the Nets being gone. So, yeah, I want to do I want to do the state. I want to do the fan base proud. What what do you anticipate the biggest adjustment to be for you going obviously aside from switching teams going from uh radio to television? What do you anticipate might be a challenge or something you’re going to have to get used to? It’s it’s you know it’s interesting. I’m trying to take advice from as many people as possible. Uh I’m going to be working with an extra person or actually when you think about it two extra people. When I did radio I just had Dave Maloney uh who was an amazing analyst who’s getting the opportunity to do Rangers TV now. and congratulations to him of just getting him in. But I had to be descriptive because I was the I was the eyes of of the um the listener, but now getting not just Kenny, but Sal, you know, Bryce Salvador being able to get Rachel involved as well. So that that’ll be where the adjustment of during that downtime of being able to to be to be still be descriptive even though it’s television. I think it’s important to identify who has the puck, identify what’s going on. Um, I think that’s important to people, but also making sure that the other three other people that are in that broadcast are also going to get their moment. Somebody had told me a long time ago, what made Doc great was that he made his analysts sound even better. So, that’s my goal is to make Kenny, Rachel, and and and Bryce shine as well. So, there’s going to be times where I’m just going to have to learn to shut up, make sure you hear the crowd and the ambiance of the moment. So, they’ll they’ll be that balancing act and hopefully I’ll be able to do it. So a lot of people when the news first broke were like oh you know the people referring to the rants and stuff and obviously a lot of the rants are absolutely classic on the myriad of topics and overwhelming uh in the search but you know that’s a talk show kind of lends itself more to that type of thing obviously versus playbyplay but I guess the question I would like to know is how much of the of the passion of that we know is inside of you and especially for this team how much of that, you know, will you be able to express or are you going to have to kind of put a governor on it? Like on a scale of 1 to 10, where do you think you’re going to have to kind of fall on a night by-night basis in terms of the broadcast? I can pretty much guarantee you you’re not going to even as bad as the devils may be playing, I don’t think you’re ever going to hear me say, “Look at this garbage. Look at this garbage.” Um, it’s a different world. As you said it, you know, being entertaining an audience, getting mad at a caller or getting mad at your favorite team doing something is not the job of a playby-play guy. My job is to describe what’s going on and leave the passion of the moment to Kenny. I mean, that’s the thing is that when I work with Dave Maloney, nobody’s going to be more passionate than Dave. He’s a former Ranger. He’s going to let him yell at the officials. Let him slam his hand down on the table. It means more to the fans if it’s coming from a former player, a guy that’s been there. Let Kenny be able to do that. Let Bryce be able to do that as former players. But part of the reason I got this gig is is my passion. I think they want uh I there’s nothing better than playbyplay. I love doing it and I want you to know when I’m calling the game how much fun I have doing it. So, you’re going to hear me. You’re going to hear my passion. I’m not sure you know, look at this garbage or we know and all those silly rants that I’ve done are going to uh translate necessarily to my playbyplay, but you’ll know it’s me. You’ll know how I feel. You’ll know how excited I am. And that’s going to be the most important thing. I think we all look forward to it. for a playbyplay. What a lot of people don’t realize what goes into this behind the scenes and obviously a very taxing, very difficult job. What does your game day preparation look like? Well, morning skate to me is vital and and there’s less and less of them now because you got a lot more back to backs and but you know getting to know the players, getting to know the line combinations and and and what’s working, who’s hot, who’s not, you know, knowing the numbers of the other team and what’s happening with the other team. I’ I’d get more sometimes at a morning skate from the other team and talking to their coaches and their players in prep for the job. So, it’s a lot easier for me because I’m a passionate hockey fan that watches all the games that kind of knows the league. But still, those morning skates are vital to me and just the knowledge of knowing what’s going on and being as prepared as possible. that whole thing of, you know, leaving something on the table, meaning like overprepare. There’s a lot of stuff I don’t get to then making than then then not having something. Now, it’s and that’s going to be the challenge with TV because radio I had to describe what was going on and then what little time before the hurry up face off is get Dave to analyze it. So, there was a little less for me to do on radio. I thought there’ll be a little bit more information that I’ll be able to express during the TV. So, that means a little bit more homework. But, you know, those morning skates to me are vital. Watching what the team did the game before um as far as getting to know what they’re doing is also pretty important. So, a lot of prep, but I love the sport so much it doesn’t matter because it’s not like it’s real prep because I just love watching games anyway. The worst part of the gig has to probably be not butchering some of these names, right? I mean, I see some of these names and I’m like, you know, it’s it’s funny. Um, and it’s not it and it’s like because I also got um a lot of uh heat from some of the Devil fans on that call because I think I said heir instead of heir, you never know what’s going to come out of your mouth sometime. As much as you prep, I I didn’t I can’t even Did you see the guy the San Jose Sharks um drafted? It’s like got 26 letters in it. Like I I don’t know how I’m going to do that. Um but yeah, that’s always a challenge sometimes, too. Um I remember um there was a Blackhawk Sergey Ka Crafts off I can say it now but at the time I’m like oh how am I going to say this name um when I first started at sports phone I struggled with Goran Ianisovvich the tennis player noticed that these things come out very easily now after doing it 200 times but at the in the moment that sometimes is the biggest obstacles making sure you say all the names right that they come out right so uh but it’s still fun to just get to know all that stuff. Yeah, I can’t imagine. I’m sure you’ll do just fine. Any names that jump out to you for Devils you think that should be amongst the next guys put in the Ring of Honor? Oh, that’s a good question. Um trying to remember like I I’ve had the thoughts of like when you think of the great play like so 95 it’s all about you know um it’s all about Claude. It’s all you know Marty Kenny the guys that numbers are retired. I’m glad that Sergey Breland got some love. He’s the forgotten guy that was on all three, right? Sergeant. Yeah, he was he he was a he was a great player, too. Um, you know, I always I had heard a rumor that there was there was a lot a push to get Chico’s number retired just because he was like their first star and even though the teams weren’t very good, he was at the tail end of his career, I don’t know what would ever happen to that. But guys that you bring you bring up Langgham Bruner, not a lot not a lot of time here, but how big a player he was. Um, but yeah, I just don’t know what the criteria would be because a lot of the guys I think of like Jeff Fzen, like how important he was to, you know, that 2000 run, 2003 run. Um, nobody jumps really to mind in thinking of like who am I who’s been left out because there’s a lot of guys that weren’t here alone but they still had a major impact. Is there anybody you that you you debate yourself? I’m I’m kind of biased to, you know, winners. You you raise a cup here especially twice like you said call them right. I have him above my head here. 95 Khan Smite winner monster playoff won the cup again with the Devils in 2000. Like he a thousand% needs to be in. And then I just like I said the other two cup guys like Bobby Holik he was here for 95 in 2000. Uh you know the John Maddens like they again like they might not have the flashiest stats but two time Bobby Holik was a major major player on this team. He was part of the crash line in 95. Yeah. and and and when you remember he also came back when they tried to put the band back together back in like what was that 06 07 when he came back with Madden and even though it didn’t work for a championship I thought they really brought a little bit of heaviness that they needed at that particular time and I thought they played pretty well Scott Gomez another one I love won the rookie of the year two time Cup champ Gomez you know he’s the one guy that I I I don’t talk enough about because we became friendly as well he invited me um to Trenton when the um Alaska Aces were playing in the playoffs against the Trenton Titans when they were in during a lockout and I remember he didn’t play in the championship game uh one of the because he had an oblique and I’m like listen Lou doesn’t control you could play if you want you’re in lockout he’s like no I’m not going to piss off the old man and then when my father-in-law passed away he sent me deer meat I’ll never forget that deer meat a box of deer meat after my father-in-law passed away. Scott Gomez, a really interesting guy, very interesting guy. Um, he was also a part of that 2003 run, a guy that I became uh friendly with. He’s a he’s a really good guy, too. And you’re right, underappreciated that what do you have a 33 goal season coming out of the lockout? Um, and I thought that maybe he he could be their there the first 50 goal scorer for them. It didn’t pan out. I’m glad he got to be a part of that Shark team back in the day, even though he was banged up and hurt. Uh, but no, I love Scott Gomez. That’s a good one. A lot of fans are still sour because he took that massive payday and went to the Rangers like other guys, including Holique did, but it is what it is, right? I mean, part of the business, people kind of Hey, I know what that’s about, right? All right, we’re at the end here, man. Don, this has been awesome. Really appreciate it. Rapid fire. Your favorite to get to know you a little bit as a as a as a human being. Favorite food? Steak. Steak. Yeah. How do you get it cooked? Medium well. It pisses my my wife off. Well, Don, she likes it dragged through a warm room, but hey, I like the way I like it. I was just at Del Fris the other day. That’s what I do. All right. Favorite actor. Favorite Oh, wow. That’s a really good one. God, I there’s so many guys that jump to mind. God, that’s a really That’s That’s But I’m going to go Carrie Grant. How about that? Carrie Grant. Okay. Yeah. Favorite actress? Kate Beck and Sale. Kate. I can’t even think of a movie she was in, but I’m I’m a big fan. Favorite movie. Wow. That’s a good That’s another great one. I’m Boogie Nights. And not for the reason you think. I think it’s an absolute cl. It is a spectacularly well-made movie. Paul Thomas Anderson did an amazing job with that. Whenever I bring up, oh yeah, you like it because all the naked women. No, it has nothing to do with that. That movie is a an awesome movie. I love it. You know, obviously there’s The Godfathers and stuff, but if I had to pick one movie, I think it would probably be it would be Boogie Nights or 2001 of Space Odyssey. Favorite TV show. Another good one, Mary Tyler Moore Show. Mary Tyler. You weren’t expecting that, were you? I love that show. Hilarious. It’s kind of like even though it’s TV, not radio, it was kind of like, you know, I kind of got some of the jokes and stuff because of like being in the industry, but I I I that show made me laugh. Um it’s um it’s what they’re definitely my favorite show. Seinfeld would be up there, too. Odd Couple, the classics, but Mary Tyler, all time favorite athlete. all-time favorite athlete for me would probably be Nolan Ryan. Um or Lawrence Taylor. Now, Lawrence Taylor wasn’t the greatest human being of all time, but but as a Giant fan, he was amazing. And I grew up a pitcher, so I always idolized Nolan Ryan. So, that those would be the two guys that jumped to mind. Lawrence Taylor and Nolan Ryan. Whenever I hear Nolan Ryan’s name, despite obviously being an amazing Yeah. And he was pretty old, man. He was just beating the brakes up. I know that it never gets old. Every time it pops up and something I I watch it every time and get a kick out of it. Uh and LT obviously a classic. Last one. Favorite musician or bands. Well, my favorite alltime band would be Black Sabbath. And I wished I could have been in in Birmingham last weekend. Looked like an amazing show. Got all the albums. Got to know Ronnie James Dio a little bit before he passed away. So, there’s a lot of bands that I love. Rage Against the Machine, Slayer, um, Simon and Garfuncle, too, just to show you that I’m eclectic. But, if I had to name one band, be Black Seven. Very diverse. A very diverse man indeed. Don, thank you very much for this. This was pleasure fun. I’m glad the Devils fans got to get to know you a little bit better and put any notions that you were not a real fan to rest. Like I said, the tattoo was enough for me, but you are a Devil’s historian indeed. look forward to seeing you on the broadcast this upcoming season. Uh if you guys check out in the I’ll put in the description the links for the softball tournament. You can check him out on his afternoon show. I’ll have the links for all that in there as well. August 23rd 5 o’clock Wagfield Field Hawthorne New Jersey. I will be there. I think Mr. Devil will be there. Dano’s going to be there. Chris Kanty, Greg Buttle, Marty Lions, Brian O’Halerin, who is Dante in Clerks. Okay, come on. You’re a Devil fan. You got to know Clerks. I I it’s a little bit I I Come on, go see it tonight. Watch it tonight. I I got I’ve been meaning to uh kind of do a deep dive on a lot of Kevin Smith stuff. I I Yeah, I I went to go see Naturalborn Killers and in the trailer it was for Clerks and I’m like somebody’s wearing a Devil jersey in a movie. I got to see that. And it’s all about Jersey. You got to see that movie, man. What are you doing? I’m gonna watch it tonight. All right. Watch tonight. Don, again, thank you very much. Look forward to seeing you on the broadcast and have a great rest of your day. Really appreciate this. This was amazing. Thank you so much. Enjoy your summer and take care. [Applause] [Music]

Last week the news broke that Don La Greca is the new play-by-play voice for New Jersey Devils television broadcasts on MSG Network.

Don was a NJ Devils fan back in the 1980’s through the early 2000’s before making the difficult decision to accept a job calling New York Rangers games.

Years later, Don has returned for his childhood dream job.

I had a great conversation with Don, we talk about a ton of things including:

– His beginnings as a New Jersey Devils fan

– The Don Koharski doughnut incident

– Some of his favorite players over the years

– New Jersey Devils Stanley Cup Championship teams

– His New Jersey Devils Stanley Cup tattoo

– Lou Lamoriello

– Tons of historic Devils figures over the years: Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko, Claude Lemieux, Patrik Elias, Jacques Lemaire, Brendan Shanahan, Bobby Holik, Randy McKay, Jamie Langenbrunner, Scott Gomez, Chico Resch, Doc Emrick and many more!

– The challenges of being a play-by-play announcer

– What he hopes to bring to Devils fans

– Some of his “favorites”

& MUCH MORE!

I am excited for the upcoming season and for Don to begin his new journey as part of the New Jersey Devils family!

The Don La Greca era is here…

You can catch Don on “Don, Hahn & Rosenberg” weekdays from 3:00-7:00PM on ESPN Radio.

Follow Don on X:
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*Details to follow for information on the Mark Sasso Charity Softball game Don referenced in this video!*

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