His choice was Max McNab who knew the difference between a six-ounce hunk of vulcanized rubber and a social tea biscuit.
Affable Max had been around. With an ever-glint in his warm eyes, was there and -- hockey-wise did that. Some fellas just don't get it but Max had done it all.
He played for the Detroit Red Wings 1950 Stanley Cup champions but he also knew what it was like to ride buses in the minors. To put it simply, McNab knew the score.
"We've inherited a roster from Denver," he explained after moving into his office that was marked vice president in charge of hockey operations. "But this is going to be a better hockey situation for our players coming East.
"They're going to be able to see a hockey game on tv every night. They're going to be able to read four or five newspapers writing about hockey every day. They'll be part of a rivalry with the Rangers and Islanders."
As the players arrived from all points north and south, the team swarmed with media -- The Newark News, Newark Star-Ledger, Bergen Record, Asbury Park Press, Westchester-Rockland papers, not to mention the Manhattan dailies.
The reporters took a wait-and-see view as McNab named Billy MacMillan as the Devils general manager and coach. As one reporter put it:
"MacMillan knows the organization as well as anyone and seems the right pick."
Then, a pause: "But we'll have to wait and see."
What everyone on the press beat also knew was that Billy Mac couldn't play goal, nor defense, nor score goals. If the Rockies couldn't win in Denver, why would essentially the same roster suddenly become a playoff team?
It was a good question and the answer would be delivered both on the ice and in the standings; plus the drafting as well. This spanking, new franchise came with challenges; some were met and some were not.
Take the club's first Draft -- please!
Management got the notion that if Stanley Cup-winning center Bryan Trottier of the Islanders could be a superstar, why not his kid brother, Rocky, who was New Jersey's prime selection.
The simple answer was that Bryan and Rocky were neither the same person nor player. Or, to put it in a sartorial way; Rocky looked great in civies but not very good on the ice.
By contrast, the second pick -- 18th overall -- proved to be a raw diamond that only needed a bit of polish. Ken Daneyko's defensive game only needed a little chiseling here and some buffing there. The shine would come.
"What mattered," said his teammate-to-be, Glenn (Chico) Resch, "is that Kenny was super-motivated to make the big club and -- as we all know -- he eventually became a Devils legend."
New Jersey's third pick looked like a reasonable facsimile of Daneyko; except as a center, not a defenseman. Pat Verbeek had been a 37-goal man with the Sudbury Juniors and won instant acclaim from the New Jersey high command.
"Patty could be the biggest surprise of all," said MacMillan. "He'shard-nosed and very mature."
For those of us covering the new franchise the next big deal would be training camp which opened for business on September 11, 1982. It was held at the Ice World Rink in Totowa.
Some of the eager arrivals would become part of the club's long-term foundation while others would fade away. The most familiar names included ex-Islanders Garry Howatt -- obtained from Hartford -- and Bob Lorimer along with Joe Cirella, Aaron Broten and Joel Quenneville.
The first exhibition games left home fans with a reasonable amount of hope. The Devils beat Washington, 3-1, and barely lost to the Rangers, 3-2. MacMillan singled out Daneyko and Verbeek for praise.
That done, the G.M. added veteran defensemen, Carol Vadnais to the roster along with, Dave Hutchinson and Murray Brumwell -- via the Waiver Draft.
All that remained was a puck drop to lift the curtain on New Jersey's first major league hockey season. How it would go, nobody knew. But everyone figured it would be a good idea to accentuate the positive.
"Now, at long last," concluded goalie Resch, "we're moving in the right direction."
