The Devils started out in Kansas City, moved to Colorado and have settled in Newark (”Gateway to Secaucus”). See how much you know about the third (but best) team in the area. The answers will be posted tomorrow.

1. When was their first season in New Jersey?

2. Who was the team’s leading scorer in their inaugural season in Jersey?

3. Who was the first coach in franchise history?

4. Who is the franchise’s all-time leading goal scorer?

5. Who is the franchise’s all-time games played leader?

6. Who is the franchise’s all-time assists leader?

7. Martin Brodeur is the all-time games played and wins leader for franchise goalies (obviously). Who is second in those categories?

8. The Devils have had three different coaches lead them to Stanley Cups. Who are they?

9. Who holds the franchise single-season goals record?

10. In which season did the team first qualify for the playoffs after moving to New Jersey?

Here is the third installment of our Superteams Smackdown series (for the first two, click here and here). The Islanders won their first Stanley Cup in only their eighth season. The Rangers won their first in their second season, but nobody remembers that one. Their 1994 Cup win was the Blueshirts’ first in 54 years, so it felt like the first time. If the team that started the Islanders dynasty faced the Rangers Cup-winning team that “will last a lifetime,” who would win? And would somebody from Def Leppard be there to place the Cup upside down?

After winning the President’s Trophy the year before, but being upset by the surprising Rangers, the 1979-80 Islanders finished in second place in the Patrick Division (91 points), but went all the way this time, to win the first of four straight Stanley Cups. They were coached by the great Al Arbour, and the architect of the team was Bill Torrey. Bryan Trottier (42 goals, 62 assists) and Mike Bossy (51 goals) led the offense. Three-time Norris …

“We kind of wet our pants a little there and had that look,” said John Tortorella poetically after the game on Sunday against the Bruins. And Henrik Lundqvist has been suffering from the stomach flu, and threw up between periods last Sunday. So the Rangers are peeing in their pants and throwing up, but isn’t that what playoff-style hockey is all about? The standings change every day, and the Blueshirts are still hanging in there for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Or is it the seventh spot? Or sixth? How about fifth? Anything but ninth.

Apparently Tortorella ripped the team a new one between the first and second periods of last night’s game in Nashville. And it paid immediate dividends, as they scored twice and then went on to win, 4-2. It’s now Tortorella’s way or the highway. Just ask Nikolai Zherdev. He was benched for the last two periods in Nashville. Or Markus Naslund, who’s playing time has diminished. Or consult Ryan Callahan and Sean Avery, who …

Here are the Answers to yesterday’s quiz.

1. Fred Shero coached the 1978-79 Rangers.

2. The Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals.

3. They beat the Kings, Flyers and Islanders in the playoffs.

4. Anders Hedberg and Phil Esposito led the team in points, with 78.

5. Esposito led the team in goals, with 42.

6. Nick Fotiu led the team in penalty minutes, with 190.

7. Don Maloney scored 26 points in 28 games after he was called up from the minors during the 1978-79 season.

8. Mike McEwen (58 points) and Ron Greschner (53) were the two Rangers defensemen with more than 50 points.

9. Wayne Thomas and Doug Soetaert backed up John Davidson.

10. Walt Tkaczuk was the only player to appear in the 1972 and 1979 Stanley Cup Finals while playing for the Rangers.

This is the 30th anniversary of the underdog 1978-79 New York Rangers, who made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. See how much you remember about this team. The answers will be posted tomorrow.

1. Who coached the 1978-79 Rangers?

2. What team did they lose to in the Stanley Cup Finals?

3. What teams did they beat in the playoffs to reach the Finals?

4. Who led the team in points during the regular season?

5. Who led the team in goals during the regular season?

6. Who led the team in penalty minutes?

7. What rookie was called up during the regular season and recorded 26 points in 28 games?

8. The team had two defensemen with more than 50 points. Who were they?

9. Who were the two backup goalies to John Davidson?

10. Who was the only player on the team who also played for the Rangers in their last Stanley Cup appearance in 1972?

First of all, we’ll miss Petr Prucha a lot. He always worked hard, and his 90-pound bag-of-bones body was thrown around the ice like a ragdoll, but he always got up, dusted himself off and forechecked like a bastard, and would even get into a fight or two. We’ll kind of miss Nigel Dawes. But we won’t miss Dmitri Kalinin. See ya in the funny papers, Dmitri. But all three are free agents to be and weren’t in the Rangers long-term plans.

They’ve been replaced by Sean Avery, Nik Antropov and Derek Morris. Antropov and Morris, both somewhat of career underachievers, will be free agents also, so the trades consisted of rentals for rentals. Is Avery better than Dawes? Yes. Is Antropov better than Prucha? Yes. Is Morris better than Kalinin? Yes. (Is anybody better than Kalinin? Yes.) So the Rangers improved themselves, and didn’t mortgage the future, unless Prucha turns into a consistent 30 or 40 goal scorer (highly doubtful). They sent Toronto a second-round pick and a conditional …

Welcome to New York (or welcome back, in some cases). This week saw a plethora of new players entering the New York sports scene – free agent acquisitions for the Giants and Jets, players acquired at the NHL trading deadline, a prodigal son returned and a future hall-of-famer is back from injury. The prize for this week’s Hot Stove Player of the Week, Martin Brodeur, is the return of Sean Avery to the area. Enjoy!

Winner

Martin Brodeur: The Devils goalie made his triumphant return, and has won all four games he’s played. He threw two shutouts in those games, and only let in a total of four goals. He’s about to break every goaltending record there is. And now his old nemesis is back. The new kinder and gentler Avery wouldn’t dare call the goalie Fatso again, would he?

Runners Up

Bart Scott/Jim Leonhard/Lito Sheppard: The Jets improved their D with two former Ravens joining their old coach, and an ex-Eagle thrown on the pile for good measure.

Chris …

As expected, Sean Avery is headed back to the New York Rangers.  

The notorious agitator was claimed off re-entry waivers from the Dallas Stars today and comes at a half-price discount.  New York will be on the hook for half of the remainder of the four-year, $15.5 million contract Avery signed with Dallas during the offseason.  

Of course, with zero interest around the league and the team’s payroll already precariously close to the salary cap, the dollar figures hardly amounts to a bargain. It’s another gamble by General Manager-for-life Glen Sather, whose penchant for rolling snake eyes has peppered his nine-yes, NINE-year tenure in New York.

Earlier this season, while serving as an analyst for Canada’s TSN, new Rangers coach John Tortorella stated that Avery “doesn’t belong in the league.”  So we’ve got that going for us.

In all seriousness, I’m curious to see what sort of impact Avery has on this lineup. I think the disruption he could potentially cause in the locker room has been overstated. …

It took three games, but the Rangers may finally be getting used to John Tortorella’s new aggressive style of play. In the first two games under their new coach, they did just about everything right except for one little detail: score goals. But last night’s explosion against Colorado took care of that. Yeah, yeah the Avs stink, but so does Toronto and the Rangers lost twice to them this week, so who cares who they beat, as long as they won. Tortorella may not be a miracle worker, and they only have one win (against a crappy team) since he came aboard, but here are some positive changes we’ve seen so far:

1. He’s instituted a whole new system (or is it the old system from the beginning of the season?), attacking and controlling the puck. He’s opened up the offense, which the forwards have to be happy about. And the defense hasn’t suffered because of it. The defensemen have actually played a whole lot better.

2. Wade …

Here are the answers to yesterday’s quiz.

1. Rod Gilbert was the first Ranger to have his number retired, on October 14, 1979.

2. John Davidson wore 00 in 1978.

3. Tom Laidlaw (1981-87) was the last player to wear #2 before Brian Leetch.

4. Glen Sather wore #6 when he played for the Rangers from 1971-73.

5. The last Ranger to wear #9 was Pavel Bure in 2002-03.

6. The highest number a Ranger has worn besides #99 is Petr Nedved’s #93.

7. Brandon Dubinsky wore #54 before switching to #17.

8. Ken Hodge wore #88 in 1977-78.

9. Ron Duguay wore #10 (1978-83) and #44 (1987-88) for the Rangers.

10. Besides #77, Phil Esposito briefly wore #12 when he first came to the Rangers.

In honor of Harry Howell’s and Andy Bathgate’s numbers being retired, here’s a quiz devoted to Rangers numerology. The answers will be posted tomorrow.

1. Who was the first Ranger to have his number retired?

2. Who is the only Ranger to have worn 00?

3. Who was the last player to wear #2 before Brian Leetch?

4. What number did Glen Sather wear when he played for the Rangers?

5. Who is the last Ranger to wear #9?

6. Besides Wayne Gretzky’s #99, what is the highest number a Ranger has ever worn?

7. What number did Brandon Dubinsky wear before he changed to #17?

8. Besides Eric Lindros, who else wore #88?

9. What two numbers did Ron Duguay wear for the Rangers?

10. What other number did Phil Esposito wear with the Rangers besides #77?

The Tom Renney era is over. The Rangers coach was given the ax today (along with assistant Perry Pearn). Out of all the people responsible for the disaster that the 2008-09 Blueshirts have become, Renney is probably the least culpable. I’d put James Dolan (does even know he owns the team?), Glen Sather and the players all ahead of the now-former coach on the who’s-to-blame list.

Renney brought respectability back to the Rangers after they missed the playoffs for seven straight seasons. In his three full seasons as coach, Renney guided the team to the postseason all three years. Sather blundered his way through free agency the last few years, with the regrettable signings of Scott Gomez, Chris Drury and Wade Redden, not to mention smaller mistakes like Patrick Rissmiller (remember him?).  The team president is the one who saddled Renney with the poorly constructed squad that doesn’t have enough players that can score or enough defensive-style players to play a defensive-style game.

Renney surely has made mistakes, and is …