For the LeBoeuf family, New Jersey Devils fans mean the world.
Sports Minded Unlimited, located just 25 minutes from the Prudential Center in Warren, New Jersey, is a sports memorabilia store that has become synonymous with the Devils and their fans.
Brian LeBoeuf started the store in 1987 with his own baseball collection which eventually branched out to other sports. When the economy crashed in 2008, the store started to have paid signings with athletes to help stay in business.
In 2009, Zach Parise was the first Devils player to come to the store for a signing. Since then, almost every player has been to the store.
Despite the teams struggles in recent years, 300 Devils fans would still show up for a signing.
"The Devils fans are just really loyal when it comes to that stuff," said Emily LeBoeuf, Brian's daughter who now runs the store. "They are just genuinely excited to meet a player, shake their hand, take a picture with them, say thank you for playing with us."
Fans from all across the state to Pennsylvania and even Delaware have come to these signings.
In October of 2020, Brian was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, Stage 4 brain cancer, and passed away in July 2021. Emily was in between jobs at the time and was able to keep the store running.
Now she runs the store on her own while working in her other profession as a dance teacher.
"The biggest thing for us is we just want them to have the best experience possible when they come in this store," Emily said. "When they walk through the door, my dad always would run up to them and knew everyone by name and always made every fan feel comfortable as possible. Even though growing up I was always behind the scenes doing other things, I'm kind of stepping into that [welcoming] role now of making sure everyone feels comfortable walking into the store."
To honor her father, Emily ran a special Hockey Fights Cancer event at the store this past November with Devils captain Nico Hischier. The store made a $5,000 donation to the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital new cancer wing from the event.
Hischier was supposed to stay for only two hours but ended up staying for three. When Emily tried to pay him for this extra time, the Devils captain asked her to donate the money instead.
"For [Hischier] only being 24 years old and the captain of the Devils he is such a great guy," Emily said. "He knew my dad too. We had him two times before my dad got sick and passed away. He knew my dad and how close we were to this organization. That was awesome."
The relationships built with the Devils players have been just as meaningful to the LeBoeufs.
Brian was the one booking the athletes, but Emily was the one becoming friends with the players and finding a connection with them because they were close to her age.
The family formed a close relationship with former Devils forward Adam Henrique, who has done the most signings at the store (11), including two as an Anaheim Ducks player.
Emily says the veteran forward was like her older brother growing up and her father took him under his wing by having dinner and showing him around New Jersey. She is still in touch with Henrique and tries to see him when he comes to the tri-state area or if she visits California.
On Sunday, the store hosted Devils legend Patrik Elias for his ninth signing at the store.
This season, Emily hopes to have another six or seven signings with Devils players and already has a few lined up.
At the end of the day, it all comes back to the fans.
"[Devils fans' support] means everything to my family and everything my dad has worked for this entire business," Emily said. "I could almost liquidate everything in this store and just sell Devils things. They are that supportive and they keep our business running. I mean if it weren't for these signings [and] it wasn't for [Devils fans] we wouldn't be here anymore."
