The Star-Ledger describes how the calls went out soon after Hurricane Sandy had passed and Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello had a working telephone. He needed to find out whether players he knew in the area were okay.
“I did check up on all the players who are here. Everyone fared fine,” Lamoriello said today. “Certainly there was inconvenience, but everybody is fine.”
Several current and former Devils lost power and dealt with fallen trees. Some are still waiting for electricity to be restored.
Goalie Martin Brodeur still has no power, as an example, although he has a generator and has spent some time in Montreal.
“What a terrible thing for a lot of people,” former defenseman and current TV analyst Ken Daneyko said. “You watch it all on TV. We lost power but we’ve gotten it back. Not so bad. A few friends got hit hard.
“A buddy lost his house at the Shore. He had a place right on the beach in Mantoloking which was totaled. But he’s fine.”
Former Devils forward and coach, John MacLean, still lives in Bernards Township. Now an assistant coach with the Carolina Hurricanes, he packed up his family and went to North Carolina.
“We have no power and the boys don’t have school so we’re living with the Mullers in Raleigh right now,” MacLean said, referring to Hurricanes head coach Kirk Muller. “So I came down to get a little work done, like watching the minor-league team.
“There are trees down but the (New Jersey) house and everything is okay. Monster trees. We got lucky.”
The storm didn’t keep Lamoriello at home.
“We were without power (at home) and didn’t get it back until (Monday),” the GM said. “I came to work. We had power (at the Prudential Center) after a few days. But everybody had it worse, so I don’t want to talk about me. For me it was a lot of little things, but it’s been catastrophic for other people.”
