October 5, 1982: The New Jersey Devils Debut

October 5, 1982, 40 years ago: The New Jersey Devils play their 1st regular-season game, a 3-3 tie against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. As a favor to his friend, team owner John McMullen, John Amirante, usually the National Anthem singer for the New York Rangers, sings the Anthem for this game.

The franchise had begun play in 1974, as the Kansas City Scouts. After 2 terrible seasons, they were sold to a group that moved them to Denver, Colorado, and renamed them the Colorado Rockies, a name that would later be given to Denver's Major League Baseball team.

The Rockies made the Playoffs in 1978, but only in that season. By 1982, they were losing money fast. McMullen, a native of Montclair in Essex County, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who rose to the rank of Commander (the Academy went on to name their hockey rink for him), and a marine engineer in civilian life, bought the Rockies on May 27, 1982, and announced he would move them into the newly-constructed Meadowlands Arena, named for the recently-retired Governor who got it built.

Dr. John McMullen with the Stanley Cup

McMullen, who was then also the owner of MLB's Houston Astros, also had to compensate the Rangers, the defending Stanley Cup Champion New York Islanders, and the Philadelphia Flyers for territorial indemnification. Doing this for the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers had almost sunk the owners of the ABA's New York, soon to be New Jersey, Nets when they joined the NBA in 1976, and they were still terrible when they moved into the Meadowlands in 1981. But McMullen could afford the $20 million or so that it took to buy the team, move it, and pay off the regional rivals.

The 1st goal in team history was scored just 2 minutes and 21 seconds into the game, by team Captain Don Lever, a former Vancouver Canucks star, assisted by Steve Tambellini and Bob MacMillan. At 5:23, Hector Marini made it 2-0, assisted by Aaron Broten and Brent Ashton. At 6:31, Rick Kehoe brought the Pens within 2-1.

Don Lever

At 16:18 of the 2nd period, the Penguins went on a power play, and Pat Boutette fired past former New York Islanders backup goaltender Glenn "Chico" Resch to tie the game. Just 13 seconds into the 3rd period, Kehoe scored on another power play. But 5:03 in, the magically-named Merlin Malinowski tallied for New Jersey, assisted by Bob Lorimer and Marini. With no overtime in the regular season in those days, the game ended tied.

Three days later, also at home, the Devils played their 2nd game, and got their 1st win, against, appropriately enough, the Rangers. As of October 18, they were 3-1-3. Then they started playing like an expansion team, and went on a streak of 7 losses, followed by 3 ties, followed by 7 more losses and a tie, an 18-game winless streak, before finally winning again on November 27.

They finished with a record of 17 wins, 49 losses and 14 ties, for 48 points, finishing 5th in what was then named the Lester Patrick Division, ahead of only the Penguins. Of the 21 teams then in the NHL, they ranked 19th, ahead of only the Penguins and the Hartford Whalers.

Although Resch was a terrible goalie, he would become a beloved broadcaster for the team. Broten was the last remaining Original Devil, playing with them until 1990. His brothers Neal and Paul would also play for the Devils, and Neal, a member of the U.S. team that won the 1980 Olympic Gold Medal, would score the goal that secured the team's 1st Stanley Cup.

It would take until 1988 for the Devils to make the Playoffs, reaching Game 7 of the Conference Finals before falling. They did so again in 1994. They won the Stanley Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003, losing in the Finals in 2001 and 2012. However, despite moving out of the Meadowlands and into their own building, the Prudential Center in downtown Newark in 2007, they have made the Playoffs only once since those 2012 Finals, and still look like they're going in circles.

Having watched the team grow up, become a contender, win 3 World Championships, fall from grace, have an unexpected run to a Finals during which they finally beat the Rangers, and then fall apart again, it should not feel like a surprise that I've now been watching them for 40 years. But the New York media still treats them like an expansion team, as inferior to the Rangers and even to the Islanders, when, since 1994, even with their recent struggles, the Devils have been far more successful than either.