9.
Seeing as the Devils just saw Brent Burns on the ice in Carolina, I thought it would be a good time to relay a couple of stories that Brenden Dillon had from his time as a teammate with one of the more interesting characters in all of hockey.
It sounds like Burns was the one to first introduce Dillon and Brett Pesce this summer after both signed in New Jersey. Burns of course, having played with both of them, Dillon in San Jose and Pesce most recently in Carolina, immediately gave Dillon and Pesce something to talk about: Burns.
"I think the first 20 minutes of talking to each other was about Burnsy," Dillon told me.
"Burnsy text Pesh and was like 'Dude, you're going to love Dilly', and then he did the exact same thing to me, saying 'Dilly, you're going to love my boy Pesh. I'm gonna miss him, we were just together the last few years."
So when he first met Pesce at the Devils facilities earlier this summer, Dillon approached Pesce and says: "Hey bro, I know we never met, but I feel like I know you, and I hope you know me and I hope you know we're gonna be boys. We've got a bunch of years together and it's gonna get fun." It was just one of those things where Burnsy just brought us together. The power of Brent Burns."
10.
Colleague Sam Kasan was ultra observant on Sunday at practice and noticed captain Nico Hischier after the whistle to signify the end of practice. He gathered his power play compatriots around the whiteboard for some further work to lead a discussion. Up until that point, the first power play unit, composed of Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Jack Hughes, and Dougie Hamilton hadn't quite found their groove with just a single goal for their unit.
Sam also spotted head coach Keefe peek his head in, listening to his players problem-solve as a unit on their own, as a group.
“You have to be on the same page,” Meier told Kasan. “There’s a structure to keep but if you work hard and are crisp, that’s where the talent is going to take over, that’s where you’re going to make plays if you’re disciplined in the job you have to do. The talent will take over. We have to simplify and work, and the talent will take over.”
Whatever was said in their group chat on the ice may have helped spark something. The Hischier unit has two goals in the past two games.