5 Surprise New Jersey Devils Who Made All-Star Game

Brian Boyle – 2018 NHL All-Star Game

Brian Boyle was an immediate fan favorite after putting on the New Jersey Devils uniform. Of course, we know the story. Right before the season, we learned that Brian Boyle was diagnosed with cancer. We all learned about chronic myeloid leukemia to see what Boyle was going through. He was lucky, as this was something that was caught incredibly early and Boyle ended up beating cancer. He was the greatest story of the Devils 2017-18 season, and that includes Taylor Hall winning the Devils only MVP award.

Hall was the clear choice to play in the All-Star Game, but he was dealing with a thumb injury at the time of the game. So, Boyle was chosen as his replacement. The game was in Tampa, a place where he was once again a fan favorite when he played for the Tampa Bay Lightning. It just made sense. Was Boyle the second-best player on the Devils at the time of the All-Star Game? Well, he already had 11 goals on the season despite not getting into a game until November 1st.

Boyle was able to play in the accuracy shooting challenge, and he surprisingly did quite well. He came in second with 11.6 seconds to hit all five targets. Only Brock Boeser did better.

Boyle was a little out of place when it came to the 3-on-3 format of the All-Star Game. The Devils very rarely used him for overtime, actually on second check, Boyle played zero seconds at 3v3. It was still fun seeing him on the ice for the All-Star Game. Boyle and Noah Hanifin were the only two skaters to fail to record a point, but Boyle got to skate with the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and this year’s All-Star MVP Claude Giroux.