Devils, Hockey Shape Jay Weinberg's Youth | FEATURE

Jay Weinberg is best known for his musicianship as a hardcore drummer in bands such as Slipknot, Against Me!, Madball and the legendary punk group Suicidal Tendencies.

However, the New Jersey native is also a massive fan of the New Jersey Devils and even played youth hockey in the Garden State through high school.

Professionally, Weinberg followed in the footsteps of his drummer father, Max Weinberg, who backed Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for nearly four decades. But Jay, who has filled in for his dad with the E Street Band on occasions, charted his own path with his own musical influences and artistic expression. He also paved his own legacy in the sport of hockey, and his experiences on the ice during his formative years would help him in his eventual career success.

“I’m really grateful for the experiences I had as a young person playing hockey,” Jay said, “because it’s shown up now and again in my professional endeavors as a musician where I learned those great lessons that are worthwhile as a young kid playing hockey.”

And it all started with a near-death experience. Kind of.

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Diehard Overnight

Weinberg’s first experience with hockey was rather traumatic. In spite of that, it would also change his life forever, for the better.

Weinberg attended a Devils charity intrasquad scrimmage at the Continental Airlines Arena during the club’s 1998-99 season at the age of 8. His father, Max, served as a celebrity coach and Jay was permitted to be on the bench with his father during the game.

“I had never been to a hockey game or watched ice hockey before,” Jay said. “It was something new that none of us in my family had any exposure to. It was new to all of us.”

While his father was being interviewed, Jay leaned forward to take a closer look at the action. That’s when he nearly took a slicing from the swinging blade of Devils defenseman Sheldon Souray as he hopped over the boards for a line change.

“Souray stopped right at the boards and lifted his leg and nearly cut my head off with his skate,” Weinberg recalled. “It was a totally nuts experience to be that up close to it. It was very impressive and made a huge impact on me.”

At that moment, Weinberg was hooked. For life. There was something about the sport that spoke to him.

“I had experimented playing other sports around New Jersey. Soccer, didn’t really connect with it, tried baseball, didn’t really connect with it,” he said. “But ice hockey really connected with me immediately. You could feel the intensity of the sport and the pace. Everything we love about hockey was very apparent to me at a young age.”

That moment started Weinberg on a youth hockey career that extended all the way to high school. It was also the beginning of his, and his family’s, diehard fandom of the Devils.

“We become overnight diehard Devils fans. Got season tickets. We were at every game for years to come,” he said. “It was a huge bonding experience for myself and my family. It’s my favorite sport and there isn’t even a close second.”

Family Bond

Jay wasn’t the only one of the Weinberg family to become instantly hooked on hockey. His parents and sister also become supporters of the Black and Red. And soon, the team would become a rallying point for the crew.

Jay was a member of traveling hockey teams. He and his sister, Ali, were in school and dedicated students. His mother ran the household. And his father, Max, toured with the E Street Band while also fronting the house band for the Late Night with Conan O’Brien show.

While each member of the family had their own individual focuses and hectic schedules, the one thing they had in common was the New Jersey Devils. It was the unifying entity.

“We had many things, as families do, that monopolize our time,” Jay said. “But being Devils fans and having something we made time for in our family life, that was like our moment to do this together. We’re all focused on one thing. That was huge for us.”

The Weinbergs purchased season tickets and attended every home game for the next several seasons. Weinberg’s mom would pick him and his sister up after school and drive up the turnpike to the arena. Their father would finish his gig in New York with the Conan O’Brien show and head to the arena. They would all meet ahead of puck drop.

“It was the thing that we all made a concerted effort, and that we really enjoyed,” Jay said. “It didn’t exhaust us. Hockey became our life.”

They also made a few trips into enemy territory, particularly in the playoffs. During the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Weinbergs traveled to Toronto for the second round matchup against the Maple Leafs. But what really stands out to Weinberg was attending Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final in Philadelphia that same year.

The Devils trailed the series 3-1, but rallied to force a Game 7. The entire Weinberg family traveled down I-95 for the showdown.

“I remember going down to Philadelphia wearing my bright red Devils jersey, going into enemy territory,” Jay recalled. “To this day that takes guts being the supporter of the visiting team. But back in 2000, it was even more hardcore. It was legit scary. I remember having many things I can’t repeat in this interview being yelled at me even as a kid, as a 9-year-old kid.”

That 9-year-old kid would have the last laugh. New Jersey would win that game, 2-1, with the highlight being a Scott Stevens hit on Eric Lindros that knocked him out of the game, and was coincidentally his final game as a Flyer.

Jay and his family were in the building for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against Dallas, hoping to see the club lift the Cup on home ice. However, Mike Modano’s triple OT winner denied them of that chance.

“I remember staying so late because the game went to triple overtime,” he said. “I remember thinking just one more goal. The Devils can win the Cup right here, right now. For Mike Modano to score that triple overtime winner was a dagger.”

Two days later, Jay would fight through another long night. But this time, it was Jason Arnott scoring in double overtime to secure New Jersey’s second championship in franchise history. A title that capped off the family’s first full season as fans.

“That was huge. I have such fond memories,” he smiled. “My first full year of being a Devils fan, we were very privileged of being Devils fans at that time. But my God, anybody out there that remembers that run remembers that it was really, really special.”

The team wasn’t the only thing special about that year. The family’s bond was also strengthened from the sport. For the Weinbergs, the Devils were more than hockey. It was a family rallying cry.

“That was our family’s first obsession together. It really made us rally around a common interest unlike anything we had before or since,” Jay said. “We owe a lot to the Devils for giving us that inspiration and that familial bond that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

“As fans it was so gnarly. I’ll never forget the joy that we felt of ‘oh my God, can you believe that this team really did it? Beat the Flyers,’” he said. “It was after overcoming that 3-1 deficit that I knew this Stanley Cup was the Devils.”

From Hockey to Music

Being a Devils fan during the tenure of Martin Brodeur, the greatest goaltender in NHL history, it’s common for youth hockey players in the New Jersey region to gravitate to the goaltending position. But sometimes, like for Weinberg, that isn’t the only reasons kids choose the position.

“Becoming a Devils fan in the late 90s we all had the best exposure watching the greatest goaltender of all time in Martin Brodeur. That spoke to me,” Weinberg said. “When I first started skating it came as a challenge, getting used to ice skating. At the time, I did try playing forward initially but skating was coming hard to me. So as a cheap way of avoiding having the skate all that much I thought maybe I’ll be a goalie.”

Weinberg figured that as a goalie, you didn’t have to move too much, just around the net. But he would learn that wasn’t exactly the case.

“Then I found out very quickly that the goalie has to be the best skater on the team,” he laughed. “I didn’t know that. I quickly found out what is required of you is a lot of footwork, lots of agility, lots of using your edges, and you’re on the ice the entire game. You don’t get a break.

“I found myself drawn toward the physicality specifically of being a goalie. I loved the feeling of making a save on a slap shot that hit my chest and I knew I stopped the puck. Or the gratifying feeling of making a glove save.”

Weinberg joined the Red Bank Generals, a travel hockey team that played at the Red Bank Armory. Every weekend, the club would play early morning games. Which meant even earlier morning commutes.
“Every weekend I’ve got two games and the first starts at 6 a.m. That’s a gnarly drive (to Red Bank),” Jay said. “My mom is carpooling with myself and a bunch of my teammates. We’re driving up to Long Island for a 7 a.m. puck drop. My family was all in, even my dad with the rigorous music schedule.”

Jay was balancing his interest in hockey with his love of music. He started playing guitar and bass at a young age. But it was when he was 14 and picked up his first pair of drum sticks that everything changed.

“I started to feel that my internal compass was directing me toward the drums,” he said. “I got it into my head that I really want to pursue this, start a band, play with people and really go for it. I didn’t know what that was going to entail.

“But I knew if I stuck it out with both, then both would suffer in a way, and I needed to prioritize one over the other and that happened to be music.”

After balancing hockey and music for a while, Weinberg had to deliver some bad news to his hockey club.

“It was heartbreaking to call my hockey coach in high school the day before summer training started for the team and tell him I can’t come to summer training,” he recalled. “I have to step away from hockey. I need to focus on playing music. That’s where I feel my heart is.

“That was difficult because I was leaving behind something I really, really loved doing and taking a chance on my new passion that I just couldn’t really ignore.”

The decision turned out to be the right one as Weinberg has played drums for over 20 years for many high-profile bands. Though he has lived in Nashville for the past decade, he still makes it home for Devils’ games from time to time, including last year’s Stadium Series.

But he still owes much of his musical success to his hockey life,

“I’m very thankful for the work ethic and investment in a team that hockey instills in you at an early age,” he said. “Some ways intentional and others I didn’t notice, recognizing the similarities between hockey and music.”

And it all started with a scrimmage.