Albany Devils to Play 4 Games in Atlantic City in 2010-11; Trenton Devils to Play 1

by John Fischer on Aug 24, 2010 7:16 PM EDT in Devils Minor League Teams

The New Jersey Devils held a press conference in Atlantic City today to formally announce that the team's minor league affiliates will play some games at Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall in the coming season. Per Tom Gulitti's post on the announcement (which has ticket information so go there now), here are the times, dates, and opponents for those games:

Albany Devils:

Sunday, December 5, 2010 @ 4 PM, vs. Adirondack Phantoms (Philadelphia affiliate)
Sunday, December 12, 2010 @ 4 PM, vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh affiliate)
Friday, February 4, 2011 @ 7 PM, vs. Hershey Bears (Washington affiliate)
Sunday, February 27, 2011 @ 4 PM, vs. Norfolk Admirals (Tampa Bay affiliate)

Trenton Devils:

Sunday, January 23, 2011 @ 4 PM, vs. Wheeling Nailers (Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton affiliate)

The press conference featured Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek as well as New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno, and Jeff made no mistake about the intentions with this move: to expand the Devils realm of influence. According to the news story at the team's official site, this quote says it all:

"The New Jersey Devils are Jersey's team and proudly wear ‘NJ’ on our chest," said Devils’ Chairman/Managing Partner Jeff Vanderbeek. "We are delighted to be playing at Boardwalk Hall as part of our effort to bring more entertainment to Atlantic City and expand our fan base at the same time."

Truth be told, I like the decision to use the minor league teams. The city has a history, albeit short, of minor league hockey; the arena is good for it; and given that the games are largely weekend afternoon games will give them a good chance to fill the place out and give the Devils faithful stuck in south Jersey something to see. If the games do well, then the Devils have more of a reason to continue having more games in Atlantic City or do more, like have a preseason NHL game there. If the games do not draw so well, then not too much is lost except for additional travel and the opportunity cost of those games being in Albany. At the minimum, the parent club is doing something for south Jersey, which is more than what was done in the past as far as I know.

Travis Hughes of Broad Street Hockey was at the press conference, and openly wondered whether this is a move to see whether the Devils can move an affiliate down there. I'm not really convinced. The Devils are in Albany for the next 5 seasons; and as far as I know, there's no rumblings about the Devils wanting to move Trenton. I'm not sure how going from Trenton to Atlantic City would be an improvement, Trenton is in ~~Comcast~~ "Flyers Country"* as much as AC as far as I know. Plus, a lot can happen in 5 seasons. Who knows, perhaps Albany takes to this version of the Devils' AHL affiliate and gives them reason to stay there longer? I know Travis quoted Jeff at the conference:

"This is our toe in the water, said Vanderbeek. "We are looking forward to playing in Albany this season. At the same time, our long-to-mid-range plan will be to have at least one, if not more minor league franchises in New Jersey. It's a possibility."

But the Trenton Devils already satisfy that claim. I think the intent is just as what Jeff said it was: to expand the fanbase. I'm not really concerned about either minor league affiliate moving, and won't be unless there's a development out in Trenton, the Devils don't do well in Albany at the AHL level, or the Devils happen to affiliate with a third minor league (I have no idea what that would be).

Also, if I'm Travis (which I am not, but go with it for a moment), I wouldn't be so concerned about the Devils wanting to actually reach out to the whole state. Surely, if it's largely Flyers fans down there, then they wouldn't be tempted to start following a team who doesn't follow up an improbable Stanley Cup Final run (and an expected loss) by dumping Simon Gagne in a trade for Matt Walker, signing Andrej Meszaroes to a $16 million, 4 year deal, re-signing MichaelLeighton who played well above his level last year, all to go right up to the salary cap, right? Surely, they will resist the call of the Devils and watch them on something like NHL Gamecenter or through satellite or following the team on wonderful blogs like Fire & Ice, Chere at NJ.com, or even this blog to support the Devils instead of the team that dominates Comcast networks. If they're so diehard, then news that the Devils may actually do things in southern New Jersey shouldn't sway them.

Hey, I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Anyway, best of luck to the Albany and Trenton Devils when they go down to Atlantic City. Hopefully, the games draw and the parent club can move forward. Please let me know about your thoughts about the minor league teams playing a few games in Atlantic City in the comments. Do you like this move? Do you think it'll help generate more interest in the Devils in south Jersey? Thanks for reading.

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Well

You can read my very long comment on Broad Street Hockey here.

I REALLY like this move, as I also loved the Trenton move. But, unless the residents of South Jersey start getting MSG network, it will not be a full or serious long-term effort.

True, TV is constantly evolving, Verizon, Dish, NHL Network allows people to get games, but the basic cable needs to be there. Because it is not; I’ve never held any ill will toward South Jersey Flyer fans in Burlington-Atlantic Counties on South.

I DO agree that one of the Devils’ best shots to expand their fanbase exists in Northern Burlington and Atlantic Counties though. There’s been a lot of Northern movement South to get cheaper housing and taxes and I’m sure the 2010 Census results will back that up. Mix it with some cable channel changes to help influence the young kids and you’re getting smarter. . . but remember Comcast is a Philly company.

That’s as far as you can go though. When you get into Camden, Gloucester and Southern Burlington – you’re closer to Philly than many Philadelphia suburbs in PA, so I don’t ever think that’s realistic. Cape May is too far away.

As for Atlantic City being able to support hockey, I lived down there, when AC had the Boardwalk Bullies. Some of them would stay on the island over the summer and I actually got to ref some of their summer league games when they played on local men’s league teams. Funny was seeing them hit on local girls at the bars and telling them they’re from Saskatewan and Alberta. To South Jersey Shore girls, that was pretty exotic.

But the Boardwalk Hall was usually empty. AC IMHO could never reasonably support another team because there is no white collar economy down there. This was cited at the AC Surf‘s demise in the book, No Minor Accomplishment. It’s a shame too because I remember the AC Press wrote an article on how every ECHL opponent LOVED playing in AC because coaches would usually let players hang out in the city afterward.

All in all, I think the Devils should be fighting a stronger fight in North Jersey to pull at loyalties for the worst creatures in my opinion: (New Jersey Ranger fans). How? I’m not really sure. “Jersey’s Team” works well enough. More appearances by NJ Devil in local schools in Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Union counties would be great too.

My preferred method would be to introduce a media campaign and compare people under 35 who grew up in NJ, but pull for the Rangers, to British Loyalists during the Revolutionary War. The Devil fans would have patriot hats on and everything and Gen. George Washington speaks to the troops at Morristown . . . but now I’m just getting carried away.

I have respect for most sports fans with 2 exceptions: NY Ranger fans who grew up in New Jersey, and Dallas Cowboy fans who can't name the capital of Texas.

by Cherno77 on Aug 24, 2010 8:22 PM EDT reply actions

Haha

You’ve got the better GM. You’ve had that for a while. There won’t be an argument with us there so there’s no point disputing it.

Simon Gagne may move between towns, wear new jerseys and call different arenas home, but at the end of the day, he will always be a Philadelphia Flyer.

by PursuitOfLappyness on Aug 25, 2010 4:38 AM EDT reply actions