Devils–Flyers rivalry
Encyclopedia
| New Jersey Devils–Philadelphia Flyers | |
|---|---|
| History | |
| 1st Meeting | October 18, 1982 |
| 1st Result | NJ: 3-1 |
| Location | Brendan Byrne Arena |
| Last Meeting | November 3, 2011 |
| Last Result | NJ: 4-3 (SO) |
| Location | Wells Fargo Center |
| Next Meeting | January 21, 2012 |
| Location | Prudential Center |
| Number of Meetings | 212 |
| Number of Meetings since |
176 |
| All-Time Series | PHI Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... : 102–92–18 |
| All-Time Series since |
NJ New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... : 82–78–15 |
| Current Streak | NJ: 1 |
| Post Season History | |
| Post Season Meetings | Tied: 2–2 |
| Post Season Series | PHI Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... : 13–10 |
| 1995 ECF | Devils won, 4–2 |
| 2000 ECF | Devils won, 4–3 |
| 2004 ECQF | Flyers won, 4–1 |
| 2010 ECQF 2009–10 NHL season The 2009–10 NHL season was the 93rd season of operation of the National Hockey League , and the 100th season since the founding of the predecessor National Hockey Association . It ran from October 1, 2009, including four games in Europe on October 2 and 3—until April 11, 2010, with the 2010... |
Flyers won, 4–1 |
The rivalry between the New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
and the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
of the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
is a rivalry between two teams in the Atlantic Division
Atlantic Division (NHL)
The NHL's Atlantic Division was formed in 1993 as part of the Eastern Conference in a league realignment, the predecessor of which was the Patrick Division. It is the only division in the NHL where all of its current members have won the Stanley Cup at least twice, though only three teams have won...
. This rivalry has become quite intense in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
itself, sometimes referred to as the "Battle of the Jersey Turnpike", with the northern part of the state being the Devils fanbase, while the southern part of the state is overwhelmingly Flyers fans due to South Jersey
South Jersey
South Jersey comprises the southern portions of the U.S. state of New Jersey between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation is a colloquial one, reflecting not only geographical but perceived cultural differences from the northern part of the state, with no official...
's close proximity to Philadelphia. The Flyers practice in Voorhees Township, New Jersey
Voorhees Township, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 28,126 people, 10,489 households, and 7,069 families residing in the township. The population density was 2,424.0 people per square mile . There were 11,084 housing units at an average density of 955.2 per square mile...
, and since their Stanley Cup days of and , many members of the Cup teams (as well as other Flyers alumni) have lived in South Jersey.
Since the conferences were realigned and renamed prior to the season, the two teams have won the two highest numbers of division titles, the Devils 9, the Flyers 6; together, the two teams' 15 division championships account for almost all of the 17 Atlantic Division titles.
Early history
The first meeting between the two franchises was in the 1977–78 Stanley CupStanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
Playoffs, and had no geographic significance. The Devils were then known as the Colorado Rockies
Colorado Rockies (NHL)
The Colorado Rockies were an American professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League that played in Denver, Colorado, from 1976 to 1982. They were a relocation of the Kansas City Scouts, a 1974 expansion team. The franchise moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1982 and was...
. The Flyers took the best-of-three Preliminary Round series 2-0. It was the only playoff series the team would play in during their six seasons in Denver, and the only one they would play in during their first 13 seasons of play, until 1987–88.
Although these two teams faced each other on a regular basis since the Devils' relocation from Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
in 1982, the rivalry between the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
and New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
took off with their first playoff meeting in the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season, when the Devils eliminated the Flyers in six games in the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals
1995 Stanley Cup Playoffs
The 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League was played between May 6 and June 24, 1995. In the Final, the New Jersey Devils swept the favored Detroit Red Wings in four games to win their first championship. The Quebec Nordiques played their last ever playoff series...
en route to winning the Stanley Cup
1995 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1995 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the New Jersey Devils and the Detroit Red Wings. This was the first of nine consecutive finals with American franchises exclusively. New Jersey was making the franchise's first-ever appearance in the Final, while Detroit returned...
. The turning point of the series came in Game 5, when Claude Lemieux
Claude Lemieux
Claude Percy Lemieux is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He last played for the San Jose Sharks before announcing his retirement on July 8, 2009. He is one of only ten players in Stanley Cup history to win the Cup with three different teams. His 80 career playoff goals are the...
scored from 65 feet out, sending a wobbly puck past Flyers goalie Ron Hextall
Ron Hextall
Ronald Jeffrey Hextall is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 13 National Hockey League seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers, Quebec Nordiques, and New York Islanders...
, with 44 seconds left in regulation of a tie game. The series was considered an upset, as the Devils were the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, while the Flyers had made a dramatic improvement to end their five-year playoff drought by winning the division and the 2nd seed in the East, and were led by eventual Hart Memorial Trophy
Hart Memorial Trophy
The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different...
winner, captain Eric Lindros
Eric Lindros
Eric Bryan Lindros is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. Lindros played junior hockey in the OHL for the Oshawa Generals prior to being selected first overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques...
. Lindros and Devils captain Scott Stevens
Scott Stevens
Ronald Scott Stevens is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman. Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues, and the New Jersey Devils...
were afterwards known for their on-ice feuds.
During the regular season, the Devils were leading in both the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division, but their 10-game slump near the end of the season resulted the Flyers overtaking them for both the division title and the No.1 seed in the East. They would meet once again in the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals
2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs
The 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League , began in April, and concluded in June. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions ...
; this time, the Flyers blew a 3-1 series lead over the Devils, including losing 3 of the 4 games played in Philadelphia. Game 7 of this series would also be the final game for Eric Lindros
Eric Lindros
Eric Bryan Lindros is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. Lindros played junior hockey in the OHL for the Oshawa Generals prior to being selected first overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques...
as a Flyer, suffering a concussion at the hands of Stevens, whose controversial hit was viewed by some as the key moment of the Devils' playoff run. The loss had been attributed by some Flyers fans to the Curse of Billy Penn
Curse of Billy Penn
The Curse of Billy Penn was an alleged curse used to explain the failure of major professional sports teams based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to win championships since the March 1987 construction of the One Liberty Place skyscraper, which exceeded the height of William Penn's statue atop...
, as the Devils would go on to win the Cup by beating the defending champion Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...
in 6 games.
21st century
The Flyers would finally defeat the Devils in the playoffs in , when they eliminated the defending Cup champs 4 games to 1 in the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs
The 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs for the National Hockey League began on April 7, 2004, following the 2003–04 regular season. The playoffs ended with the Tampa Bay Lightning securing the Stanley Cup with a seven-game series win over the Calgary Flames on June 7. It was Tampa Bay's first Stanley Cup...
. The Flyers also defeated the Devils in the 2010 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
2010 Stanley Cup playoffs
The 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 14, 2010, after the 2009–10 NHL regular season. The Finals ended on June 9, 2010, with the Chicago Blackhawks defeating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to two to win their fourth championship and their first since 1961...
, again 4 games to 1, en route to the Stanley Cup Finals
2010 Stanley Cup Finals
The 2010 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League season. As the culmination of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers faced the Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks...
. The latter series was considered a big upset, as the Devils won the Atlantic Division and the 2nd seed in the East while the Flyers clinched the 7th seed in a shootout victory over the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
on the last day of the regular season. The Flyers finished with a combined regular season & playoff record of 9-2 against the Devils for .
In the season, Devils goalie Martin Brodeur
Martin Brodeur
Martin Pierre Brodeur is a French-Canadian ice hockey goaltender who has played his entire National Hockey League career with the New Jersey Devils. In his 19-year tenure with the Devils, he has won three Stanley Cup championships and has been in the playoffs every year but two...
broke Philadelphia legend (and fellow Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
er) Bernie Parent
Bernie Parent
Bernard Marcel Parent , better known as Bernie Parent, is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played 13 National Hockey League seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs, and also spent one season in the World Hockey Association with the...
's single season wins record of 47 by earning his 48th win against the Flyers. Flyers fans booed Brodeur and the milestone was not announced by the Flyers' PA announcer, Lou Nolan, at game's end. Nevertheless, Parent offered his praise, even though he didn't have the benefit of overtime or shootouts in his era (12 of Brodeur's 48 wins were in overtime or the shootout). Brodeur also notched his 500th career victory at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia in . This time, the milestone was announced by the PA announcer and was booed. Furthermore, on Sunday, March 1, 2009, Brodeur recorded his 100th career regular season shutout during a home game versus the Flyers. Brodeur recorded 27 saves in the 3-0 victory.
In , both teams were headed in different directions. The Devils finished under .500 for the first time since , while the Flyers led the Atlantic Division steadily and won the division in their final game of the season.
Rivalry outside NHL
The rivalry has taken on an even further extension; the Flyers had an ECHL affiliate in Trenton, New Jersey - the Trenton TitansTrenton Titans
The Trenton Titans are a professional minor league ice hockey team that currently plays in the ECHL. The team participates in the Atlantic Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Titans play their home games at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Established in 1999, the...
, from 1999 - including the 2005 Kelly Cup Championship - to 2006, when the team was sold to the Devils, which flipped the team's affiliation after the 2006–07 ECHL season and nickname to reflect its new ownership and identity, rebranding as the Trenton Devils. Intending to establish the Devils fanbase further south in New Jersey, the rebranding instead alienated a large segment of fans in the central New Jersey area, where the Flyers have a significantly larger fanbase than the Devils. Coupled with poor performance on the ice (missing the playoffs 3 out of 4 seasons) and attendance figures near the bottom of the league, the Devils suspended operations in July 2011. A week later, the franchise was revived under the original Titans brand and reestablished affiliation with the Flyers.
For several years, the American Hockey League
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
had a rivalry between the Adirondack Red Wings
Adirondack Red Wings
The Adirondack Red Wings were a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Glens Falls, New York, USA at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The team was affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League...
and Capital District Islanders
Capital District Islanders
The Capital District Islanders were a team in the American Hockey League based in Troy, New York, which is located within a region popularly called the Capital District...
/Albany River Rats
Albany River Rats
The Albany River Rats were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center.- Founding to 2010 :...
, both served by Interstate 87
Interstate 87
Interstate 87 is a Interstate Highway located entirely within New York State in the United States of America. I-87 is the longest intrastate Interstate highway in the Interstate Highway System. Its southern end is at the Bronx approaches of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in New York City...
. After the former team folded, the area was without an AHL team until 2009, when the Philadelphia Phantoms
Philadelphia Phantoms
The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and played most of its home games at the Spectrum. During schedule conflicts or some Calder Cup playoff games, games were...
moved and became the Adirondack Phantoms
Adirondack Phantoms
The Adirondack Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League , who began play in the 2009–10 AHL season. The Phantoms are based in Glens Falls, New York, playing home games at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The Phantoms are the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers...
, still affiliated with the Flyers. The River Rats moved to Charlotte
Charlotte Checkers (2010–)
The Charlotte Checkers are a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the American Hockey League , and are the AHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League...
and were replaced by the Albany Devils
Albany Devils
The Albany Devils are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League , founded in 2010. The top AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League 's New Jersey Devils, the team has as its home the Times Union Center in Albany, New York...
in 2010, so the Adirondack-Albany rivalry takes on new significance due to the teams' parent clubs. The rivalry will not last long, as the Phantoms hope to move to the Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...
area in 2013.