{"id":16815,"date":"2025-05-07T13:19:30","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/16815\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:19:30","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:19:30","slug":"new-jersey-devils-history-stanley-cups-notable-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/16815\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Devils | History, Stanley Cups, &#038; Notable Players"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"topic-paragraph\">New Jersey Devils,  American professional <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/sports\/ice-hockey\" class=\"md-crosslink \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ice hockey<\/a> team based in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Newark-New-Jersey\" class=\"md-crosslink autoxref \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Newark<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/New-Jersey\" class=\"md-crosslink autoxref \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New Jersey<\/a>. The Devils play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern <a class=\"md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb\" data-term=\"Conference\" href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/Conference\" data-type=\"EB\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Conference<\/a> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/National-Hockey-League\" class=\"md-crosslink \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">National Hockey League<\/a> (NHL). The franchise found little success until the 1990s, when it established itself as one of the NHL\u2019s most dominant teams, winning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/sports\/Stanley-Cup\" class=\"md-crosslink \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stanley Cup<\/a> titles in 1995, 2000, and 2003.<\/p>\n<p class=\"topic-paragraph\">The franchise was established in 1974 as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Kansas-City-Missouri\" class=\"md-crosslink autoxref \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kansas City<\/a> Scouts, and after two unsuccessful seasons in Kansas City, during which the team posted 27 wins, 110 losses, and 23 ties, the team relocated to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Denver\" class=\"md-crosslink autoxref \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Denver<\/a>, becoming the Colorado Rockies. The team continued to struggle, and in 1982 the franchise was again relocated, this time to New Jersey, and renamed the Devils. (The name, selected through a fan contest, originates from the Jersey Devil, a mythical creature that was said to roam the New Jersey Pine Barrens.) Though the team originally played their home games in New Jersey\u2019s Meadowlands in East Rutherford, it moved to Newark for the start of the 2007\u201308 season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"topic-paragraph\">When it first moved to New Jersey, the team continued its losing ways, winning only 17 games in each of its first two seasons. In 1987 the team hired as its president Lou Lamoriello, who named himself general manager and helped <a class=\"md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb\" data-term=\"revitalize\" href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/revitalize\" data-type=\"EB\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">revitalize<\/a> the Devils. The team posted its first winning record in the 1987\u201388 season, when it went 7\u20130\u20131 in its final eight games to clinch a playoff birth in its final game by scoring an overtime victory. Riding the momentum, the Devils advanced to the conference finals before losing to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Boston-Bruins\" class=\"md-crosslink \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Boston Bruins<\/a> in seven games.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module\" href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/quiz\/great-moments-in-sports-quiz\" data-link-module-iframe-link=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Serena-Williams-womens-single-trophy-Australian-Open-Januray-28-2017.jpg\" alt=\"Serena Williams poses with the Daphne Akhurst Trophy after winning the Women's Singles final against Venus Williams of the United States on day 13 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 28, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (tennis, sports)\" class=\"rounded-sm mr-15\" width=\"70\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Britannica Quiz<\/p>\n<p>Great Moments in Sports Quiz<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"topic-paragraph\">In 1993 the Devils hired Jacques Lemaire as their coach. He established a defense-oriented strategy with players such as Stephane Richer, Scott Stevens (who captained the team from 1992 to 2004), and Ken Daneyko. Contributing to the Devils\u2019 dominance was goaltender <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Martin-Brodeur\" class=\"md-crosslink \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Martin Brodeur<\/a>, who won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league\u2019s top <a class=\"md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb\" data-term=\"rookie\" href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/rookie\" data-type=\"EB\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rookie<\/a> in 1993\u201394. That season the Devils reached the conference finals in what is considered one of the NHL\u2019s greatest playoff series, losing the seventh and final game to the cross-river rival <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/New-York-Rangers\" class=\"md-crosslink \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Rangers<\/a> in double overtime. In 1994\u201395, a strike-shortened season, the Devils won their first Stanley Cup. The Devils won successive division championships in 1996\u201397, 1997\u201398, and 1998\u201399 but failed to reach the Stanley Cup finals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"topic-paragraph\">In 1999\u20132000, behind Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Jason-Arnott\" class=\"md-crosslink \" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jason Arnott<\/a>, and Scott Gomez, the Devils once again won the Stanley Cup. The team dominated their division over the next several years, advancing to the Stanley Cup finals in 2000\u201301 and winning a third title in 2002\u201303. Although the Devils continued as one of the NHL\u2019s winningest franchises, finishing first or second in the Atlantic Division in each season of the first decade of the 2000s, they failed to return to the Stanley Cup finals that decade. In 2009 Brodeur recorded his 552nd victory to become the all-time winningest goalie in the NHL. In 2009\u201310 the Devils topped the 40-win <a class=\"md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb\" data-term=\"plateau\" href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/dictionary\/plateau\" data-type=\"EB\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">plateau<\/a> for the 13th consecutive season, matching the record set by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Montreal-Canadiens\" class=\"md-crosslink \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Montreal Canadiens<\/a> from 1971 to 1983. The team\u2019s play fell off the following season, and the Devils\u2019 40-win and postseason appearance streaks both came to an end at 13. The downturn was short-lived, however, as the Devils won 48 games in 2011\u201312 and advanced to the Stanley Cup finals, where the team lost to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Los-Angeles-Kings\" class=\"md-crosslink \" data-show-preview=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Kings<\/a> in a six-game series. However, New Jersey\u2019s ascent was equally brief, and the team finished last in its division in 2012\u201313 and failed to qualify for the playoffs until 2017\u201318, an appearance that resulted in a first-round loss. The team subsequently resumed its streak of missing the postseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Jersey Devils, American professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils play in the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5109],"tags":[301,5213,201,5212,5211,5,576,151,5185,5184,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-16815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-jersey-devils","8":"tag-article","9":"tag-britannica","10":"tag-devils","11":"tag-encyclopeadia","12":"tag-encyclopedia","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-new-jersey","15":"tag-new-jersey-devils","16":"tag-newjersey","17":"tag-newjerseydevils","18":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114466754803061889","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}