For twenty dollars a year you can fully take advantage of all the good fortunes of being a hockey fan in New Jersey. The people around here with at least one thing in common with you are a fun, humble, supportive, proud bunch. The gift of being associated with one of the elite organizations in the North American sports industry connects you to some of the greatest personalities of our time. Attending games and following Jersey’s Team is definitely a rewarding experience, but attaching yourself to the booster club and seeing what is really around you is a whole new world with an enhanced way of enjoying it.
Every month, members are sent an email newsletter. These include stories from Devils fans, events that are taking place that month in the New Jersey hockey and sports world, and news about the New Jersey Devils and their minor league teams. Also, it gives everyone chances to volunteer at hockey events throughout the state. There are always events taking place such as fundraisers (most recently those benefiting hurricane victims), Tournament of Champions (a yearly high school competition at The Rock), Alumni games, and food drives along with countless other activities that require no hockey experience and are such a great way to meet people and get involved with the community with people that you have something in common with: Devils hockey!
The primary operation of the Devils Fan Club are the organized trips to away games. Take one of the bus trips to Philadelphia, Nassau County, Boston, Washington DC, or even Montreal and make a weekend out of it. Or maybe once a year or every other year, take your spouse and join DFC on a airplane trip to a place like Vancouver and enjoy a memorable tour and a Devils game together.
Every month, Devils Fan Club holds a meeting and hosts a speaker. Speakers include people like Ken Daneyko, Sergi Brylin, Glenn “Chico” Resch, and Rich Chere among many others. March’s meeting, on Tuesday the 12th, will feature our old friend Mike “Doc” Emrick. Last Tuesday’s February meeting brought us Lou Lamoriello. To know who he is and what he has done for sports, let alone hockey, is one thing. To witness him address less than 100 Devils fans in a small room is quite another. Mr. Lamoriello worked his way around the room thoroughly and decisively answering minute long questions with a single syllable followed by everyone else’s laughter and approval. He displayed his love for the team, his work, and his family. And just before he arrived, he had his talk with Martin Brodeur and decided that it would be wise to put him on the Injured Reserve list to spare him the three game road trip to rest his back. How amusing it was for us to get the news from him personally before anyone! Mr. Lamoriello’s sense of humor and great respect and appreciation for fans shone through as we learned things about him that you can only pick up in this type of setting such as the fact that his mother is from Rome, he has extremely fond memories of coaching in the Cape Cod Baseball League and actually coached some serious baseball talent including Bobby Valentine, he has a Yankee Championship ring from the days that the Yankees, Devils, and Nets were all co-owned (and noted that one year the Devils and Yankees were champions while the Nets went to the finals), that he got his influences from the best parts of the Greenbay Packers, Montreal Canadiens, New York Yankees, and Boston Celtics, that he had to work at a gas station and then paint houses when he was young, and that he treasures his relationships with the special people that he had the pleasure of working with over the years including George Steinbrenner and especially Yogi Berra.
Nothing less than a great newsletter each month and an optional facsinating monthly meeting. Anything more you want to get out of it is up to you. Show me a better value for twenty dollars and Ill show you a 2012 New York rangers Eastern Conference Championship banner.
www.devilsfanclub.org
