New Jersey Devils Fans Show They Are Ready For Success After Taking Podcast On The Road
By Sam Woo
Last week, my Florida trip following the New Jersey Devils when they played the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning brought me to the conclusion that Devils fans still have strong allegiances to the red, black, and white even after they left the beautiful Garden State. It’s been a long few years being a Devils fan, but that’s never caused this fanbase to waiver.
“Game Day Live!” and “Devils After Dark” editions of the Let’s Go Devils Podcast met Devils fans from all over the state of Florida. One particular fan, Andrew Bunin, reached out on a Facebook Devils fan group and asked us to visit his Cocoa Beach bar named Sandbar Sports Grill which he claimed where fellow New Jersey Devils transplants hang out with other hockey fans. They have all the NHL games and after some due diligence, I took him up on his offer.
When I got to his Cocoa Beach Bar, what I found was astonishing. This was truly a New Jersey Devils bar but with a Florida twist. The staff was prepared for my arrival with each one of them wearing either a Devils jersey or t-shirt. The establishment paid homage to the three Stanley Cup victories and of fan favorites like Ken Daneyko, Chico Resch, and the players on the 1995 Stanley Cup championship team with signed photos and memorabilia. After setting up the podcast equipment for that night’s shows, I was invited back to Andrew’s house to see his backyard hockey rink where they welcomed us with a plane towing an advertisement banner that said “Welcome Sam Woo Let’s Go Devils Podcast” over the beach!
A hockey rink right next to the water! Walking through his house, I saw even more memorabilia as if his house became a shrine to the team. Andrew’s story is like most Devils transplants. He grew up loving the New Jersey Devils while living in or next to the Garden State but never wavered on his devotion to his team and the sport. And that is what I found to be true with other Floridian New Jersey Devils fans that visited our podcast at the bar.
Knowledgable and informed fans that love their team and because of the lack of coverage in their area, they gravitate to any Devils hockey content they can consume like Pucks and Pitchforks blog and our podcast. This is how they stay connected to their favorite hockey team. They can never get enough of Devils hockey and when the Devils are in town, they put on their jersey and walk into the arena as if they owned the place!
And that is what happened when we took the podcast at Thunder Alley outside of Amalie Arena in Tampa for Game Day Live! Groups of Devils fans from all over Florida and some coming as far away as South Carolina make their way to support their New Jersey team and obviously celebrating after the Devils came back from behind to beat the back to back Stanley Cup champions 5-3.
These Devils fans may have left New Jersey but they brought their Devils fandom with them. It never wavered and they are a big part of the fanbase. Devils nation is truly alive and well over the state of Florida!