Moms Tell All | 10 TAKEAWAYS

Moms’, Dads’ and Mentors’ trips are always some of the best road trips of the season. It’s fun to see how different players resemble their parents, whether it’s their identical faces, their mannerisms, personalities, and oftentimes sense of humor.

The whole weekend also tends to go by in a flash.

The Devils content team was all hands on deck to make sure we brought you the most comprehensive coverage of the special weekend, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor. So, thankfully we have 10 Takeaways every week where we can mop it all up and make sure that every story and tidbit gets told!

We kick off your week with a special edition of 10 Takeaways with a Moms’ Trip wrap-up and the stories we haven’t yet told!

1.

While the official start of the Moms’ Trip was Thursday evening when the Devils hosted Carolina, some of the moms were already in the building when their sons took to the ice for the morning skate at Prudential Center.

There they were, about 10 moms, waiting in the stands for the start of the 10:30 a.m. skate.

And let me tell you, when their sons stepped on the ice, you knew it. And keep in mind, during the morning skate, Prudential Center is quiet, there is no crowd, and you can hear most things around you.

Take, for example, Paul Cotter’s mom, Lisa (who is quite the personality!). When she saw Paul through the tunnel that leads to the ice, she stood up and started clapping and cheering, “Go Paul!”

There was an audible “Oh man”, from Paul as he turned to see his mom, shaking his head with a very big smile on his face.

Something tells me this wasn’t the first time he’s experienced a moment like that.

2.

I asked Lisa Cotter if she was the one who had asked Paul to cut his hair. It was notably coiffed the morning the moms arrived.

She said, surprisingly, no, it wasn’t her. But she was happy because “with his helmet and his hair sticking out the side he looks like Bozo the Clown!”

3.

Jesper Bratt’s mom Karin told me a great story about Jesper when he was a little energetic boy.

We were talking about how calm and methodical he is about everything he seems to do in his life. Well, turns out, Karin tells me, it truly wasn’t always like that.

“When he was young, he was super, super filled with energy, he couldn’t go to a regular daycare,” Karin said. “I had to send him to places to do outdoor activities. He was all over the place for the first three or four years. He climbed everything, he jumped on and off things, he was really, really wild.”

“They had to put him in a special outdoor place so he could climb trees and get the energy out.”

4.

This trip for Karin Bratt was even more special. She told me that visiting Washington was on her bucket list of things to do in life. Check!

5.

Along with celebrating their sons on Thursday night, in the moms’ suite, there was also a mini birthday celebration.

The team brought out a cupcake with a candle on it for Timo Meier’s mom, Claudia, who was celebrating her birthday.

6.

This quote from Lisa Cotter really stuck out to me:

“I think being here, when you see a player, your son do certain things on the ice… like one of the moms earlier, her son kind of missed a pass, and they just put their arm around you."

You could see it play out in real-time in the suite in Washington:

When Johnny Kovacevic fought Brandon Duhaime, some of the moms had their arms around Andja, Kovacevic’s mom. I can't imagine it's easy for a parent to watch their son in a battle like that. Those other moms know the feeling.

But that moment really exemplified exactly what Lisa Cotter was saying.

7.

Jonas Siegenthaler gave his mom a pass. She wasn’t on the Moms’ trip, mainly because, as Jonas explained to me, it’s over a 19-hour trip to make it to New Jersey.

His parents live in Thailand, so it’s safe to say that’s a very long way to go for just a couple of days. Plus, as he joked, “I just told her to stay at the beach instead.”

8.

I asked Jamie Noesen when she knew her son, born and raised in Texas, was serious about wanting to make a go at becoming an NHL player. The story she told me, I was not expecting:

“He was 13,” she said. “And his team had won Nationals the year before, and that was the first team in the state of Texas to ever win a hockey national title. So the next year, the organization kind of went away and became a new organization, so about halfway through that year, and it had been a rough year, he tells us that he was moving next year to Michigan to play for the team that they beat in Nationals.”

Let’s pause here and remind you that this was Stefan talking when he was 13 years old. Talking about just casually moving away.

The story continues:

“And he said, I’m going to go live in a barn. We’re like ‘I don’t think so. I don’t know what you’re talking about’. Anyway, I come to find out that he had called the head coach for that team himself and had already worked out with another family that he was going to live in a barn.”

As the story goes, Jamie and her husband, without Stefan’s knowledge, followed up and went to Michigan themselves, basically to see what was going on. They sat down with the coach of the team and looked at schools for Stefan. They knew, that this change was clearly something their son needed, for him, at 13 to do what he did, on his own.

“He needed the change,” Jamie said. “He really needed it. It meant that he needed something more than what he was getting (in Texas).”

So the family packed up and moved the Michigan… so Stefan didn’t have to live in the barn!

9.

Brett Pesce’s mom Alyssa, might just be the polar opposite of Brett. Their personalities are complete 180’s. Brett is as mellow as they come, while Alyssa is this firecracker. She was so much fun to be around and get to know.

"We're so Type-A," Alyssa said of her and her husband Brian. "And he is just so relaxed and mellow. We just don't know where he came from to be honest with you, we have no idea!"

And boy are they happy to be members of the New Jersey Devils. The family did indeed get season tickets, she told me. I told her that before training camp opened, Brett told me he had a feeling the seats they were going to get would be as close to the glass as they could get.

She confirmed, indeed, that while not right up against the glass, they're pretty close. And does Brain wave?

"Oh yeah, and Brett just ignores him."

10.

What a cool and coincidental moment that the Moms' Trip lined up with Jacob Markstrom's 500th career game. To see Jacob's mom Lena Elisabet, watching her son play in that monumental moment was so sweet. She is also hilarious, reacting to every single play her son makes.

I asked her if she ever gets stressed watching him, as I imagine it can be with your son as the last line of defense.

"Oh! No! We're a goalie family!" she said boisterously.

It is true, all but one member of her family, her daughter Ida, who plays defense, all were goal keepers of some kind.

And I absolutely loved this moment when Markstrom was named First Star of the Game and Lena was put on the big screen. She puts down her phone and makes a heart with her hands.

That's what it's all about.