Stadium Series at MetLife will ‘showcase’ state of New Jersey, Brodeur says

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Martin Brodeur believes the time is right for the sports world to witness outdoor hockey at its finest in the state of New Jersey.

The Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender was all smiles Wednesday, back where it all began for him as a member of the New Jersey Devils. The three-time Stanley Cup champion was joined by NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly during a media availability session at MetLife Stadium to discuss the weekend hockey event taking place on back-to-back days at the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series.

"I think it's going to be great and having it in New Jersey is important," said Brodeur, the Devils’ executive vice president of hockey operations. "I think it's a time to showcase our state and obviously the Devils being part of it is, like, No. 1. Guys are super excited to be part of this and it should be a great event."

The two regular-season outdoor games will feature four Metropolitan Division rivals. The Devils will face the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN360, TVAS2), and the New York Rangers will play the New York Islanders on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS).

"This is pretty cool for me, personally ... I'm a Jersey kid," Daly said. "I grew up in New Jersey and hockey was always my favorite sport here and I've seen it grow. I saw the Devils (enter the League) in 1982 and win their Stanley Cups (1995, 2000, 2003). I lived through the Islanders dynasty in the early 1980's. I happened to be a Rangers fan, so I saw one Stanley Cup (1994).

"But it's great that we can bring NHL hockey home to New Jersey and play two games at an iconic football stadium. We expect more than 140,000 people over the two days in less than a 24-hour period, so it's really exciting."

Brodeur won his three Stanley Cup titles while playing for the Devils at Brendan Byrne Arena (1995) and Continental Airlines Arena (2000, 2003), situated within the parking lot of MetLife Stadium. The Devils moved to Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, in 2007.

"This is awesome," Brodeur said. "I think obviously all the players that are playing on our team don't really know about the Meadowlands too much, but I'm sure in the last few weeks they've been hearing about it and it's a great opportunity for these guys to be in a big stage probably for the first time in their whole careers.

"Every time you come around here you always peek to see if the arena is still there. It definitely brings back great memories. Obviously, the parking lot that we used to go around is not there anymore, but it's still pretty cool."

Brodeur expects to see and hear a loud Devils contingent when they face the Flyers in a critical matchup.

"I mean, [Devils fans are] passionate," Brodeur said. "Obviously, I've played here and been here all my professional career, and I think the support that they brought to the Devils has been fantastic. It's not the amount of fans, it's the quality of fans that we have, and that has shown up in the last few years. They bit the bullet for a while when we had some lean years in New Jersey but stuck with it, and finally, after getting lucky in the NHL Draft Lottery, got some really talented players like Nico Hischier (No. 1, 2017 NHL Draft), Jack Hughes (No. 1, 2019 NHL Draft) and Luke Hughes (No. 4, 2021 NHL Draft), and other guys.

"A lot of the young people now are big Devil fans. I see it every single day when I walk around Prudential Center, and it's such a big difference than the way it used to be. I think the fans are really answering the bell here and supporting our team."

The home of the New York Giants and New York Jets will host the 40th and 41st regular-season outdoor games in NHL history. The 38th was the 2023 Tim Hortons Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 29, when the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames 5-2. The Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken played the 39th, the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, on Jan 1. Seattle won 3-0.

"Our Stadium Series has been very successful in introducing new people and new fans to the game in local markets and I think here in New York, you have the three New York area teams, and Philadelphia is not too far away," Daly said. "You'll have a lot of youth hockey players here. A lot of youth hockey coaches. The hockey infrastructure in New Jersey will have an opportunity to celebrate this weekend, so I think it's great for growing the fandom of the game."

Before the games, fans will be entertained with fun hockey activities in Parking Lot G at the stadium from 2:30-6:30 p.m. ET Saturday, and 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET Sunday.

The Jonas Brothers will perform a concert at 6:30 p.m. ET prior to face-off Saturday and will also perform during the second intermission. The Gaslight Anthem will perform a set of their songs during the first intermission and their hit "Howl," the Devils’ goal song since 2015-16, after each goal scored by New Jersey.

"Having it home in New Jersey, right near where the Devils won three Stanley Cups, is not a not a bad place to be," Daly said. "I think Devils fans are super excited about the opportunity to participate in this game."

The Flyers have played five outdoor games (1-3-1), the Rangers four (4-0-0), and the Devils and Islanders one each (0-1-0, respectively). Philadelphia (29-19-6) is third in the Metropolitan Division, six points ahead of New Jersey (27-21-4). The Rangers (34-16-3) have a six-point lead atop the Metropolitan, and the Islanders (22-18-13) trail the Detroit Red Wings by three points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

"It's great that there's going to be two games that are very meaningful in the standings," Daly said. "And that always means good games. So, we think that's fantastic."