Devils Get a Behind-the-Scenes Taste for Stadium Series | FEATURE 

When Jesper Bratt was growing up in Sweden, he and his friends had a routine. After school, the group would jump on their bikes and head to a local outdoor rink in a town next to his parents. Even if it was snowing, the kids would bike through the snow arriving at the undersized sheet that had no roof.

The games consisted of 3-on-3 or sometimes 4-on-4 play. And when it snowed, the kids would have to get shovels to clean up the ice surface.

“Before our own (hockey) practice started, we spent a couple hours outdoors,” he reminisced. “We played scrimmage games against each other outdoors. Just a bunch of good memories back home.”

It may or may not snow on Feb. 17 when the Devils face the Philadelphia Flyers at MetLife Stadium in the latest installment of the NHL’s Stadium Series. But Bratt will enjoy the experience either way.

“I grew up watching some Winter Classic games. When there was snow it makes it a little more real,” he said. “I grew up playing outdoors a lot. It would be cool to get a little snow and a little nostalgic.

“Bringing it back like this and playing it on this level that we do is awesome.”

Bratt and teammates Nico Hischier and Timo Meier took a tour of MetLife Stadium on Wednesday. They stopped by the New York Football Giants locker room, saw the big board control room and even stepped onto the field where the first renditions of the ice rink are starting to form.

“It’s pretty impressive what they’re doing behind the scenes so we can have a good event,” Hischier said. I’ve watched those games. Being able to play in one, it was a game on the calendar that was circled for sure.”

“It’s really exciting to see the locker room,” Meier said. “See who they’re building the ice. It’s an incredible facility it raises the excitement for the upcoming event.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise to the players was how big an NFL locker room is that houses 53-plus men.

“I’ve never been in a football locker room. It’s impressive how big it is compared to ours,” Meier said. “I’m not sure how they’re going to set it up. We might need some megaphones to talk to each other. But to step in it and see that for the first time is a really cool experience.”

“Bigger. Their squad is way bigger than ours,” Hischier said of the locker room. “It was pretty impressive seeing how big it is. I’ve never stood in one. Seeing how big the locker room is, it’s hard to imagine. It was pretty cool.”

Like Bratt, Hischier and Meier also played on outdoor rinks in Switzerland, which had a different feel to it.

“I skated on the outdoor rinks in Switzerland,” Meier said. “There were mountains in the back, but not 60 or 70 thousand people that you were playing in front of.”

And for Hischier, it’s been a long time since that experience.

“When I was younger growing up my hometown team had some teams in the mountains that had ice rinks with no roof,” he said. “I also did some skating on some frozen lakes. I was probably 10 years old so it’s been a while.”

With MetLife located in New Jersey, the Devils expect a home crowd feel for when the puck drops in 10 days.

“I know they’ll show up and they’ll get rowdy in here,” Hischier said of Devils fans. I’m looking forward to it.”

“The more people we have chanting for us, the more energy it’ll bring us,” Meier said. “It’s a special event with a lot of stuff around it going on. It’s going to be a task to focus on that game. Enjoy it obviously, but knowing there is a big task ahead of us. It’s a different kind of game playing in front of this many people. We just have to come hard and play hard and try to win the game.”

And winning the game will be crucial for New Jersey, which is fighting for its playoff lives right now. What’s more, the Flyers are one of the teams with which New Jersey is trying to get ahead of in order to clinch a playoff spot. Giving the game, beyond the festivities, added meaning.

“At the end of the day, it’s a hockey game,” Hischier said. “We want to try to win. It’s obviously a big event. But we’re playing a hockey game. The rink is the same size, same puck. We’re just playing out doors with a little different atmosphere. We’ll go out there and try to win a hockey game.”