NHL players raise money for Hurricane Sandy victims in Atlantic City charity game

Thirty-two NHL players got together in Atlantic City Saturday night and gave fans a little more than hockey to cheer for.  

The charity hockey game — dubbed Operation Hat Trick — featured Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Brodeur, Brad Richards and a host of other NHL stars from all over the league and helped raise money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

There was no lockout at the historic Boardwalk Hall as 10,792 hockey-hungry fans watched a battle between the New York Rangers and a team comprised of their Atlantic division rivals.

The "New York" team, captained by forward Richards, included nine of his Rangers teammates while the  Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Hartnell wore the "C" the "New Jersey/Philadelphia" side.

Lundqvist — facing his familiar counterpart Brodeur — made 56 saves to lead his squad to a 10-6 victory. 

"It seemed like he was in playoff shape," said Hartnell.  "And we were joking after the first period there that now the Rangers will want to play really bad because he's on fire right now."

The Rangers goaltender — who flew in from Sweden just for the event — had no problems with that scenario.

"I want to play real games," Lundqvist said after the game.  "But it was probably the best feeling I've had in a long time."

The sold-out crowd — mostly Flyers fans — showed support for both the Sandy relief effort and the sport which has already cancelled the first 70 days of the season and is still in a  lockout as the owners and players do battle off the ice.

Prior to the game, 25 of the players met with union executive director Don Fehr at Caesars Hotel for a lockout update — one day after the league announced the cancellation of the All-Star Game and all regular season games until Dec. 14.

"WE WANT HOCK-EY!," fans started chanting during the first period and didn't let up until the final handshakes — fans who might lose more than an NHL hockey season.  A reminder of that was right outside the doors of the rickety arena.

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Devils lend Prudential Center to HS hockey team affected by hurricane

It's already pretty hard to find ice time in the state of New Jersey and with the high school hockey season getting under way, rink availability comes at a premium price — especially after Hurricane Sandy.

Since the NHL is cooling its skates during the lockout, New Jersey Devils owner  Jeff Vanderbeek is opening the gates of the Prudential Center so that Newark's East Side High School hockey team can begin their season, reports NJ.com.

The Red Raiders regular rink at the Ironbound Recreation Center is still not back on line after the superstorm shut down much of the state.

"They haven't been able to get ice down," said Keith Veltre, who with another teacher Dennis Ruppe, founded Hockey in Newark — a Devils-sponsored program that teaches the game to local students.

The East Side team was looking at losing lots of practice time in their schedule while other teams were gearing up for the season.  The team can now practice as long as needed at The Rock, said Veltre.

"It essentially saved our season," he said.  The Devils loaned their practice rink to East Side last year after Hurricane Irene.

Imagine the thrill of skating on the same ice as forward Patrick Elias or minding the same net where Martin Brodeur rests his water bottle.

Vanderbeek said he took a lot of pride in the program which has helped send a few students to college.

"We're committed to this program," he said.  "It's also making sure for kids that there's something they can do with their time."

The Devils may not be looking at a lot of ice time this season and — with the Nets wowing the crowds over in Brooklyn —  there's no reason to leave The Rock silent.  The kids' cheers just might be louder than you think.

Tortorella and DeBoer go at it during Devils-Rangers Game 4

Tempers flared— both on the ice and between the benches— after Mike Rupp of the New York Rangers shoved New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur after getting called for a penalty during the third period of last night's matchup at the Prudential Center.

After Rupp was told to leave the ice, players from both teams got into a scrum in front of the Devils' net and the head coaches from both teams got into a verbal screaming match from their respective benches.

John Tortorella and Peter DeBoer looked like they were using a lot of colorful language to accuse each other's team of using dirty play.

Would you expect anything less than this at a Devils-Rangers Stanley Cup playoff game?



Rupp— a former teammate of Brodeur— received 14 penalty minutes last night— including the 10-minute misconduct that set off the fisticuffs and finger-pointing.

New Jersey won the game 4-1 and the Eastern Conference Finals is now tied at 2-2.  The game moves back to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night and it probably won't be pretty.

The good news?  At least Torts is talking to someone.

Devils Salvador gets hit in mouth while scoring empty-netter to clinch win

The New Jersey Devils turned up the heat and scored four third period goals to tie the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at one game apiece.  The four unanswered goals led to a 4-1 victory after sloppy play in the first period.

The Devils now drive up the Jersey Turnpike to the friendly confines of the Prudential Center— taking away the Flyers home ice advantage.

The Flyers, down 3-1, took a big gamble and pulled goalie Ilya Bryzalov 3:13 left in regulation and tried to go for broke with a six-to-four player advantage after a Devils penalty.  Too bad the ploy backfired after the Devils Bryce Salvador took a shot to the face but still managed to flip the loose puck from in front of his own net into the Flyers empty cage for the short-handed goal.

As the puck bounced down the length of the rink, the Flyers home crowd could only watch in silence.

It was Salvador's first goal of the playoffs and Devils goalie Martin Brodeur had 19 saves.

The next game is on Thursday night in Newark.

Devils win Game 7 in double-overtime classic

The New Jersey Devils won Game 7 of their first-round Eastern Conference match-up against the Florida Panthers— on a goal by Adam Henrique in 3:37 of the second overtime period— after blowing 2-0 lead.

The two teams went into the first OT tied, 2-2 and basically played dump-and-shoot hockey after regulation was over.

It was the Devils first playoff series win since 2007 propels the exhausted team into the second round against the Philadelphia Flyers— ending five years of playoff frustration.

The 3-2 win also put a sweet finish on a tough seven game series against a solid Panthers team who made  the Devils fight for every goal to win the final two games and move on.

Martin Brodeur had 43 saves and was magnificent in the first OT period.  It was his 103rd playoff victory in what might be his last playoff run.

The game had an unusually late starting time of 8:30 pm Thursday, even though the game was played in South Florida, because of another Game 7 playoff game between the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators in the same time zone in New York.

By the time Henrique's game winner went by Panthers goalie Jose Theodore, it was 12:15 am on Friday morning.