Last week, we talked about a time back in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the New Jersey Devils were trying to find their new home. Things in East Rutherford were fine for a while, but it was clear that a team as good as the Devils should have been able to fill the arena they called home.
Parking issues, a lack of public transportation, and just generally not being close to anything (including bars and restaurants) made the Meadowlands an unlikely place for hockey to thrive. It was clearly made for football, where tailgates are the norm and it’s a once-a-week experience. It made sense for the Devils to move.
However, it appears that Devils fans are nostalgic for the past, despite its flaws.
We recently ran a poll of Devils fans to see where they feel the Devils should call home. This was to go along with a story about the time the Devils almost moved to Hoboken instead of Newark. The choices were a. stay in Newark, b. move to Hoboken and play on the Hudson River, or c. move back to East Rutherford and play in the Meadowlands again. The results were surprising.
If you could choose the Devils home location, which would you choose?
— Pucks and Pitchforks (@pitchforkedpuck) August 11, 2025
As you can see, the results were razor-thin, but East Rutherford came out the winner. After 500 Devils fans voted, the Meadowlands had 32.9% of the votes, with Hoboken coming out with 29.9% and their current home of Newark at 29.1%. Ten votes one way or another would have swung the results, but seeing the Devils' home from 1982 until 2007 was very interesting.
We have to think that some of this nostalgia came after last year’s Stadium Series. The Devils returned to the Meadowlands for the first time, playing the Philadelphia Flyers at MetLife Stadium. It was a dominant performance all around, and the night was a massive success for the NHL.
Devils fans had an especially great time, and the crowds came out in droves. The tailgating was incredibly fun, and it’s something the team must find a way to emulate.
That was very fun for a one-time event. However, getting there and getting out will always feel like a nightmare. We went over that on the Let’s Go Devils podcast on Wednesday night. The Meadowlands were incredibly flawed as a home for hockey. Do we want a place to tailgate? Absolutely, but we also want an option for bars and restaurants.
Let’s find a way to make a game per season at the Meadowlands as a special event. The nostalgia would be fun, but let’s never make this a permanent thing.