The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The club was founded as the Kansas City Scouts in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1974. The Scouts moved to Denver in 1976 and became the Colorado Rockies. In 1982, they moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey, and took their current name. For their first 25 seasons in New Jersey, the Devils were based at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford and played their home games at Brendan Byrne Arena. Before the 2007–08 season, the Devils moved to Prudential Center in Newark.
The Kansas City Scouts were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1974 to 1976. In 1976, the franchise relocated to Denver, and became the Colorado Rockies. In 1982, the Rockies relocated to New Jersey where they have since been known as the New Jersey Devils.
The 1995–96 NHL season was the 79th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup winners were the Colorado Avalanche, who, in their first year as the Avalanche, swept the Florida Panthers in the finals, in four games.
Wilfrid Paiement, Jr. is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right wing who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1974 through 1988, for seven different NHL teams. He is the younger brother of former NHL hockey player Rosaire Paiement.
The 1974–75 NHL season was the 58th season of the National Hockey League. Two new teams, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts were added, increasing the number of teams to 18. To accommodate the new teams, the NHL re-organized its divisional structure and playoff format. The regular season was expanded to 80 games per team. The Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year.
The 1976–77 NHL season was the 60th season of the National Hockey League. The Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver, Colorado, and became the Colorado Rockies and the California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and became the Cleveland Barons. The Montreal Canadiens once again dominated the playoffs as, for the second straight year, they swept their opponent four games to none in the final series for the Stanley Cup.
The NHL's Smythe Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Clarence Campbell Conference. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. It was named in honour of Conn Smythe, who was a longtime owner, general manager, and head coach in the league. It is the forerunner of the NHL's Northwest Division and Pacific Division.
Donald Cairns is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 9 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies between 1975 and 1977, as well as several years in various minor leagues during his career, which lasted from 1975 to 1978. Selected by the Scouts in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft and the Michigan Stags of the World Hockey Association in the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft, Cairns signed with the Scouts and made his NHL debut that year, playing 7 games in the NHL and 33 in and the minor leagues. He played a further 2 NHL games the following year with Colorado, where the Scouts had relocated to, again spending time in the minors, and briefly played one further season before retiring in 1978.
Ernest Charles Arnason is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right wing who played 401 games over eight seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, Atlanta Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Kansas City Scouts, Cleveland Barons, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota North Stars and Washington Capitals. He was the first player in NHL history to play for five defunct teams.
The Colorado Rockies were an American professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) that played in Denver from 1976 to 1982. They were founded as the Kansas City Scouts, an expansion team that began play in the NHL in the 1974–75 season. The Scouts moved from Kansas City, Missouri, to Denver for the 1976–77 season. The franchise moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey, for the 1982–83 season and was renamed as the New Jersey Devils. Denver went without an NHL team until the Quebec Nordiques relocated to become the Colorado Avalanche following the 1994–95 season. The Rockies name itself would be applied to the Major League Baseball expansion team that began play in 1993.
The 1974–75 Washington Capitals season was the first in Capitals history. Along with the Kansas City Scouts, the Capitals joined the National Hockey League as an expansion team for the 1974–75 season. The team was owned by Abe Pollin, owner of the NBA's Washington Bullets. Pollin had built the Capital Centre in suburban Landover, Maryland, to house both the Bullets and the Capitals. His first act as owner was to hire Hall of Famer Milt Schmidt as general manager.
The 1974–75 Kansas City Scouts season was the first season for the franchise. The NHL completed its first 8-year expansion cycle by adding franchises in Washington and Kansas City. Kansas City was awarded an NHL franchise on June 8, 1972. The city had a hockey history but had been a home to minor league hockey teams only. Initially, the franchise chose MO-hawks as their nickname to reflect a Missouri-Kansas union, an attempt to appeal to both Kansas and Missouri residents and incorporating Missouri's postal abbreviation with the Kansas Jayhawker nickname, but the name was vetoed by the Chicago Black Hawks. Therefore, the franchise selected its 2nd choice, Scouts. This was named after the famous statue overlooking the city.
The 1975–76 Kansas City Scouts season was the second, and final season for the NHL franchise in Kansas City, Missouri. They played their home games at Kemper Arena. The Scouts started the season by going 11–21–4 in their first 36 games, but after their December 28 win against the California Golden Seals, the Scouts would win only once in their final 44 games going 1-35-8, to finish with a record of 12 wins, 56 losses, and 12 ties.
The following is a complete history of organizational changes in the National Hockey League (NHL). The NHL was founded in 1917 as a successor to the National Hockey Association (NHA), starting out with four teams from the predecessor league, and eventually grew to thirty-two in its current state. The NHL has expanded and contracted numerous times throughout its history, including in 1979 when four teams came over from the World Hockey Association (WHA).
The history of the New Jersey Devils National Hockey League team dates back to 1982, when the Colorado Rockies moved to New Jersey and became the Devils. Since 1995, the franchise has played in the Stanley Cup Finals five times, winning the Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003.
