On today’s New Jersey Devils Daily, two stories dominated the headlines. Brian Boyle returned to the team after his cancer diagnosis and Kyle Palmieri was injured in practice.
Pucks and Pitchforks looked into the return of Brian Boyle to the New Jersey Devils. The 32-year-old center has been dealing with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, a type of cancer that’s treatable when caught early. His presence was a welcomed sight to the ice. The season ticket holders who came out to the practice gave him a huge ovation when it was revealed he was practicing. Boyle says he still has time to go before he is NHL ready, but just his presence in practice was a boost.
New Jersey Devils: Brian Boyle Returns To Practice
Jesse Spector with the Devils looks at the specifics of what Boyle’s return brings to the locker room. Taylor Hall talks about rallying around Boyle in the locker room. Having one of your leaders fighting so hard for his life is hard not to rally around. Boyle fought hard in practice, a hard one since the Devils don’t playing until Friday night. This whole process has been extremely hard mentally as well as physically. It’s good for Boyle just to be able to come to the arena at the same time as everyone else.
Boyle’s return to locker room a big boost for Devils
Also at yesterday’s practice, forward Kyle Palmieri took a hard hit into the boards and came up lame. While the injury doesn’t seem too severe, it reminds you of how important Palmieri is. Despite the influx of young scorers, Palmieri continues to be one of the most important Devils. He scores when the team needs him. He provides a certain type of calmness when the Devils are losing. Palmieri can get that key goal to turn it around. That’s why his injury was such a scare.
New Jersey Devils Can’t Afford Kyle Palmieri Injury
The infamous Larry Brooks with the New York Post talks about the deal the Devils didn’t make that ended with them landing Will Butcher. If Ray Shero was successful in signing Kevin Shattenkirk instead of the New York Rangers, Butcher would have chosen a different destination. The University of Denver standout wanted a place where he had the chance to play opening night. If Shattenkirk signed with the Devils, he would think he’d have better opportunities elsewhere.
Devils have to be happy with the big deal they didn’t make
Finally, it started to come out more and more over the weekend the good gesture from Devils fans before the game against the San Jose Sharks. A young girl from Jersey City named Lauralie Mufute was singing the national anthem when she froze. The Devils faithful helped her out by singing along. Score one for the Devils faithful.
WATCH: Classy Devils fans help young singer after national anthem stumble