Mentors' Trip Kick Off | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are practicing at Prudential Center Friday afternoon. The session will kick off the annual dads/mentors' trip. The dads/mentors were all in attendance for practice and joined the team on its trip to Columbus. 

Stay tuned to the notebook for the latest info, updates, interviews, videos and more from the practice session!

Practice Details

All the team's expected players were at practice for the Devils. The team used the following workflow...

Father Figures

The Devils are holding their annual Dads/Mentors’ Trip. The fathers and mentors attended practice and joined the players on the team plane to Columbus. During the weekend they’ll be around their sons for video meetings, practice, morning skates and watching the Devils face Columbus and Anaheim from a suite.

“You don’t get to see what goes on behind the scenes,” Schmid said of the fathers. “For them to see what happens in the locker room and a travel day, is great for them. And for us to share this experience with them is awesome.”

Schmid’s father, Andreas, is attending his first-ever Dads’ Trip.

“This is just amazing,” he said. “It’s overwhelming because we live in a little town, maybe 9,000 inhabitants. They have 2x the size here (at Prudential Center). It’s nice to see where he lives because it’s the first time for us.”

Other fathers, such as Rob Toffoli, are veterans in terms of Dads Trips.

“I think it’s a great experience to know all the other fathers while we’re here,” he said. “I haven’t seen Tyler since summer time, so It’s good to connect with him. And hopefiully we win some games on this trip.”

Some fathers may even be mistaken for their sons, such as David Lazar.

“He’s a good-looking guy. He’s like a twin,” Curtis said. “He means the world to me. Being able to share this with him is always special. It’s his third father’s trip but it never gets old.”

Co(L)umbus Revenge

While it will be fun having their dads and mentors on the trip, once the puck drops Saturday night at Nationwide Arena in Columbus it will be all business for the Devils.

The Blue Jackets scored a 2-1 victory on Nov. 24 at Prudential Center.

“We were stuck in the mud there. We’re trending in the right direction now,” Lazar said. “You can see that in the way that we’re playing. Being patient with games, sticking with it, playing to our identity.

“They knocked us off in our home rink so it’s a chance to get some revenge in theirs.”

Though the Devils lost the contest, it was still theirs for the taking. They just couldn’t find a way to take it.

“We had a ton of opportunities but we made some big mistakes inside the game and in the end, we couldn’t beat the goaltender,” Ruff said. “Eliminate the mistakes, get off to a lead. You saw the game last night it was a wild one. They jumped on Toronto with a 5-0 but Toronto came back. They’re very capable of scoring goals. You give them some opportunities they’ve got some gifted goal scorers. Away from the puck we have to be disciplined. With it, we have to make good plays.”

Mo-mentum

Momentum has a crazy way of taking over for teams. You win a couple games, and then that momentum can carry you. Take the Devils, who are now 7-2 in their last nine games.

“Confidence is a scary thing,” Lazar said. “You want to come to the rink and you want to play. That’s ultimately why we want to be in the NHL, to play games.”

Those good vibes have been obvious in the team’s attitude and on-ice play. The Devils have found success in many fashions of late, whether it’s high-scoring games (6-5 at Vancouver) or low-scoring games (2-1 vs. Boston).

“It’s nice to get wins that aren’t scoring six goals,” Toffoli said. “It was nice going on the road trip and starting off what we know we can do and win 2-1 games.”

He Said It:

Ruff on the Metro Division: "Everyone anticipated it would be the toughest division. It’s proving to be. Battles every night, three-point games. Only one team in Columbus is a couple games under .500. I think it’s going to continue throughout the year. It’s going to be tight so you’ve got to win your games."

Tyler Toffoli on his dad: "To be able to do this and share a room, listening to him snoring and keeping me up all night is a lot of fun."