All Swept Up | 10 TAKEAWAYS

It's been a busy week - again - since our last edition of 10 Takeaways. 

With Sergei Brylin becoming the first player to enter the Ring of Honor and another ultra-successful Sweep the Deck Gala, it's been a busy week or so since we last met. The fun part of two events like that is it brings people out of their comfort zones or out of their element. 

For Sarge, it was the spotlight pointed directly at him - and him alone - as the team honored him, his former teammates and Devils alumnus getting a little bit of a kick out of it. 

"He’s going to hate it, 100 percent," Travis Zajac told me, "As much as he wants to get honored, this is exactly the opposite of what he would want. But you have to shine the spotlight on people who deserve it, and he’s a guy who does."

At Sweep the Deck, watching the players take their turns at curling and bartending is always a real trip. Everyone is such good sports. Even curling gets their competitive juices flowing, all trying to outperform one another.

And it's a recap of Sweep the Deck where we start this week's 10 Takeaways, presented by Ticketmaster.

1.

The dress code theme was “Après Ski” which in French translates to ‘after skiing’. No one understood the assignment better than Timo Meier. That right there is a knit sweater that looks like you'd be warm in the chalet after an adventure on the slopes of the Swiss Alps.

Yes, he was asked, "Who is he wearing?" And I might be bang on here with my chalet-chic use, given that it's a designer right out of Switzerland named Luca Ferrerira.

2.

The Sweep the Deck Gala raised 1.67 million dollars for the Devils Youth Foundation, breaking the previous record. It's a 100 percent increase from the previous year's total.

Bravo to everyone who was a part of the event!

3.

Erik Haula, on his first go-around curling, absolutely nailed it. He even was able to get a perfect spin on the rock and his first shot nearly hit the bullseye (I’m not sure that that’s what they call it, but he nearly got the rock right into the center).

It was impressive.

4.

Tom Fitzgerald was one of the first people I met when I started working with New Jersey. In fact, I met him originally when I came down for my week-long interview process in the summer of 2017. From the get-go, he was welcoming and always made me feel like I was on equal footing with everyone else in the organization, no matter what roles anyone had.

It’s one of the reasons why Fitzgerald is such a great person to work around and work for. He values the people around him and surrounds himself, and that by virtue surrounds everyone else, with really quality people. When he talks about building a culture for the Devils, he doesn’t just mean in the confines of the locker room, he believes it from top-to-bottom.

Fitzy surrounds himself with the best.

So, I was thrilled to see him receive the GM extension and be promoted to President of Hockey Operations on Tuesday. He deserves it for all the work he has put into building up this franchise – with plenty more unfinished business to take care of.

Any time there’s an accolade given to Fitzgerald, I’m always reminded of the first interview we ever did together on camera… and how his answer to my question, all these years later, makes him look like a genius.

He was the General Manager of the AHL team in 2017 (along with his Devils AGM duties) and I’ll never forget talking to him that first day of training camp.

I asked him, which under-the-radar player I should be keeping an eye out for. Who has piqued his interest?

His answer?

Without hesitation: Jesper Bratt.

5.

Please check out this article, Deal with the Devils, by my colleague Sam Kasan on the relationship between Managing Partner David Blitzer and Fitzgerald.

From inside the article:

“The reality is that Tom has done an amazing job,” Managing Partner David Blitzer said. “Both from the standpoint of taking his time and putting this team together the way he has. This was built to last. I don’t mean necessarily everything you’re seeing today. It’s the systems, it’s the people, it’s the culture. It’s doing everything in an excellent way and a substantive way. He really brought the organization to a fantastic place.”

6.

Sergei Brylin finally had his night! It was great to see him get the recognition he so very much deserves for the player and person he has been for this franchise.

For a man of few words, he absolutely nailed his speech, and I think what’s even more impressive is that he didn’t have a prompter or paper, he just spoke from the heart. A lot of times we see people pull out their speeches – not Sarge.

7.

Remember that comment above from Zajac? 

I loved the way Petr Sykora echoed those statements and sweetly added that if Sarge needed any support during his speech "we'll all be there right with him". Of course, Brylin handled it perfectly, as he does with most things. But I just thought that was a very sweet thing to say. 

8.

Again from Sam, take the several minutes it will take to read this Big Read: The Quintessential Devil, which tells the story of Brylin's life from childhood to today.

And although I just finished telling you that Sarge can sometimes be a man of few words, this whole piece came together after a nearly hour-long sitdown chat between Sam and Sarge. The piece is remarkable and Sam tells the story so eloquently.

One of my favorite tidbits from inside the story is Sarge revealing that his mother, Margarita, still has the Devils jersey Lou Lamoriello gave him at the 1992 draft in Montreal.

This might be the most comprehensive story on Brylin's rise from childhood to beloved Devil you'll find. It's worth your time.

9.

Tom Fitzgerald confirmed that regardless of his playing status, Jack Hughes will attend the All-Star Game and Festivities in Toronto coming up next weekend. Fitzgerald did mention that it's uncertain whether Hughes will be able to participate on the ice, but just having him there will be a big deal for all.

This year they're bringing back the draft, so I truly look forward to watching brothers Jack and Quinn going through the drafting process. There's a lot of Canucks on the All-Star roster, so does Quinn pull the older brother card and try and go for all his teammates? It's going to be so fun to watch this interaction and might be the thing I'm most looking forward to seeing unfold.

10.

This was an unbelievable stat pulled up by Matt Loughlin ahead of New Jersey facing Vegas.

When Santeri Hatakka made his Devils debut, he was playing in just his 10th NHL game. Go down the list of the other Devils defensemen in the bunch against Vegas... they had a combined 529 games of NHL regular-season experience.

Vegas and their six defensemen NHL experience total?

2,997.