New Jersey Devils: We’ll Always Be Pickle’s Pals: Blake Coleman On His Return To The Rock

Did I write this article with the song “Baby Come Back” by Player in the background?

Maybe. Maybe.

Blake Coleman isn’t the most talented player to ever suit up for the Devils, but in every one of his 237 games with the New Jersey Devils, he left it all out on the ice and was the ‘prototypical Devil’. A guy who could have played on – and succeeded – the best teams in franchise history. He’s a modern-day John Madden; without the face-off prowess. Can play in all situations, with any player, on any line, in any role. In any era. And chances are he’s going to do it well.

As my good friend said, ‘Coleman is one of those guys you can’t overpay. He will find a way to play up to, and beyond, any contract he signs.’ And it’s true. The value that he gave the Devils, and to a larger extent the Lightning, way exceeded what he brought to the table over the course of his now six-season NHL career. It’s crazy to think he’s been in the league that long already.

Takes One to Know One

As luck would have it, I was able to ask another former Devil about coming back to New Jersey after being traded away. Last week, we got to talk to the Seattle Kraken’s Nathan Bastian. In both cases, each player started their career in the Garden State.

“I think we’ve gotten pretty much what we expected of him,” said Calgary Flames Associate Coach Kirk Muller. “He comes in here, and you can’t underestimate going to the Stanley Cup Final with that long season and short summer. Then he goes to a new team, with a new system – it’s a lot to get adjusted to.”

“I think he’s really adjusted well, he has a lot of good hockey sense. He skates well, he competes well, and he’s the type of player that we want to have here. He’s started to produce, had a big goal (against the New York Rangers). That’s what he is,” added Muller. “He comes up big at the right time. He’s been a good, two-way, energized, hard-working guy so far. We’re happy to have him here and with how he has performed.”

Muller knows a thing or two about starting a pro hockey career in the Devils organization, although it was a lifetime ago. Some of you reading this probably weren’t even born yet!

“It was so long ago, the colors have changed,” Muller told Pucks & Pitchforks while chuckling. “You always remember the first place you started. I was drafted in Jersey, played (there) for seven years, was a captain here. I have a lot of good memories of the guys I started my career with. Coming down from Canada at 18-years-old, it was a big adjustment. But this franchise started off slowly, was built up, and has a great reputation,” added Captain Kirk. “It was fun to be a part of it during that time.”

Blake’s Breaks

It seems like only yesterday I was interviewing Coleman summer after summer after summer for my previous employer at the Devils annual Rookie & Development Camp each July. He might be the player I interviewed most, not only there (which was like four years in a row) but following games when he finally got called up to the NHL and never looked back.

I used to joke with him that it all changed when the Devils traded for Michael Grabner. Coleman gave up wearing the no. 40 so his new teammate could rock his favorite number and adopted the no. 20. One of those first few games with the new digits I think he scored and I quipped following the game that 40 was too heavy on his back and it seemed like 20 was a bit lighter.

Hard to argue with it when you look at all that has happened on and off the ice for him since then. Pick your favorite one-handed, or falling, or both, goals of his. The extension he signed with the Devils was so damn good it made him invaluable to a team on the cusp of a dynasty that couldn’t afford more. Coleman brought back a hefty return to the Devils (Nolan Foote and Shakir Mukhamadullin), one that they have yet to really reap the benefits of (patience grasshoppers). He was one of the missing pieces for the Lightning who are currently two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Two Cups. How many players never win one, let alone two; in a row? Also, his family has doubled in size. He and his wife have welcomed two baby girls into the world since the Colemans were last in New Jersey.

Calgary Coleman

This past summer Coleman signed a six-year deal with the Calgary Flames, providing his family the security and stability they deserve and have earned, after being traded and winning two Cups amidst a worldwide pandemic. Some will say the Flames overpaid. I am not some. I say that Coleman is worth every single penny, in American or Canadian dollars. His hockey sense and work ethic are off the charts. He will be the same player until his body can’t do it anymore.

“There is nothing but really good memories for me in Jersey,” Coleman told us during his pregame media availability before making his return to the Rock. “They drafted me, my first pro team, my first pro experience, and we made the playoffs my first full year there.”

“A lot of great memories. They are a first-class organization that takes care of their players with a great staff in place – as far as just people in the organization. Fun people to work with and be around. I have nothing bad to say about New Jersey and my time there. It’s kind of crazy that it has been so long, and I haven’t been back (here) yet. But I’m excited to be back in the Prudential Center and see these fans, this city.”

Coleman’s Choice

For the first time in his professional career, Coleman got to choose where the next chapter would take place and he chose Calgary. We had to ask if New Jersey was an option or his hometown team in Dallas, and Coleman gave us some insight into how it all went down.

“There were quite a few teams, fortunately for me, that came to the table (with an offer). It wasn’t an easy process, it was pretty stressful honestly,” Coleman admitted to Pucks & Pitchforks. “It was one of those things where I really wanted to make sure that the hockey and the family aspect of things was lined up. Having two little girls now, I just wanted to make sure it was a good environment for them; and also have a team that was in a playoff-win now mode. A team that can win games and that I can play a big role on.”

“Jersey was definitely really strongly considered. Like I said, I loved my time in Jersey and look back on it really fondly,” revealed Coleman. “Dallas is home for us, and they were in there as well. But at the end of the day, Calgary just seemed like a great fit for us and a new adventure. We’re really happy with our decision and it’s been going really well.”

Life Changes Fast

“Whirlwind is a good word,” Coleman replied to MSG Networks’ Erika Wachter when asked about all that has happened in his life since he was traded by New Jersey to Tampa Bay on Feb. 16, 2020. “It’s been chaotic, and exciting, and just crazy at times.”

“Obviously I was…pretty upset at the time I was traded. I was very happy in Jersey, my family was happy, and we were about to have our first daughter,” he explained. “It’s one of those things where at the time you can’t see the big picture, but ultimately it all worked out really great. I had a great experience in Tampa – had both of my daughters, won two Cups, went through a global pandemic.”

“It’s crazy, like I mentioned, that I hadn’t been back to Jersey yet. But now that I’m here, I was walking around the city…it feels like yesterday that I was here. It’s exciting to be back, and it almost feels like those two years in between went by really quickly now that I’m back here. It’s nice to be back.”

Wachter keenly pointed out that he was traded in the middle of the Devils’ Dads Trip, which Coleman said just adds to the story. “It made it memorable. I remember walking in (to the arena) with my dad and Fitzy (GM Tom Fitzgerald) pulled me aside to tell me what was going on. It was nice to have my dad there, for the company, as we sat there and waited to find out where we were going.”

“We joke about it because he came down to Tampa for one of the first weekends I was there, and we were about to play New Jersey – and that’s when the world shut down. So he was 0-2 on trips that year,” he added with a sly smile, “ he didn’t get to see me play that year. But it was good to have him there (when I was traded) for support and to get things going.”

The fans in New Jersey gave Coleman a standing ovation when he jumped on the ice for pregame warmups, again when he was introduced as part of the Flames’ starting lineup, and again during the first tv timeout when the Devils ran a video montage on Boardzilla. It was all well deserved, and whenever the franchise decides to dust off the Ring of Honor he should be in consideration to be added (after a number of others who have preceded his tenure in red and black).

“Hopefully they still remember all of the good times we had. I was always treated so well here and the fans were great to me. Hopefully, they think back of me as fondly as I do them.”

In Jersey, you’ll always be a part of our family Blake. We never turn our back on family. We’ll always be Pickle’s Pals.