New three-part series: 15 things for the Devils to do in ’15

By Kevin Canessa Jr.
NewJersey-Devils.com Publisher

PART 1 of 3

So we’ve got new owners who really seem receptive to doing things that honor tradition. And they also seem to do things that buck the trends of the past. So with this in mind, we present to you this three-part series — 15 Things for the Devils to do in ’15.

We’ll offer it in three parts of five suggestions.

These are my ideas and my ideas alone. So if you have suggestions similar — or nowhere near these — please share them in the comments section, on Google+ or Facebook. We’ll make a post of all reader suggestions after our series is over.

So here’s part 1 of 3 — concept 1 to 5.

1. Embrace our past — and wear the green at 20 home games. And here’s how we’d like to see this done — wear the red and green sweater 10 times and the white, red and green (old home sweater) 10 times. By doing this 20 times a year, it’s just under 50 percent of all home games.

We understand there may be some who think 20 times a year is too much, so we’d settle for 5 times in red and 5 times in white. But this would not only satisfy your traditionalists, it would also be good for sales, something that has apparently never been a factor in this team’s history, given it’s never really had an alternate jersey.

And really, this isn’t even an alternate — it’s a throwback that has very little variation from the modern jersey, save for color.

2. Bring back the old goal horn that was used from the 1993 playoffs through the final season at the Continental Airlines Arena. Sure, the new one is fine. But it’s the old one that represents the best times in this franchise’s history.

And quite frankly, it’s just a better horn.

Never quite understood why it was changed in the first place.



3. If he’s willing to come out of retirement, re-hire Bob Arsena as the PA announcer. I say this with all due respect to current PA announcer Kevin Clark, who is fine at what he does. But there is no voice like Arsena’s — and it’s one that never should have been silenced after the first lockout of 2004-05.



4 Create a Devils Hall of Fame at the Prudential Center (as the Mets have done at Citi Field) and induct an inaugural class. After 32 years, there are plenty of people worthy of such an honour, so do it — and include special artifacts from Devils history in it. We won’t suggest possible inductees here, but I am sure you could think of countless people worthy of such an honour.

5. Have a special night this season to mark the 20th anniversary of our first Stanley Cup Championship.

It’s hard to imagine it will have been 20 years this season, but it is. Just envision how great it would be to have a special ceremony to honour the likes of Claude Lemieux, Randy McKay, John MacLean, Martin Brodeur (do it when his new team is in town), Jacques Lemaire, etc.

There has never really been much of a celebration of this team’s past — good or bad — so this year’s 20th is the perfect chance to get a start on that.

What are your thoughts? Comment here, on Google+ or on our Facebook Group. Part 2 coming Monday, July 7.