Ladies and gentlmen, your Albany Devils...
The NHL's New Jersey Devils officially announced today that they're moving their minor league affiliate in Lowell, Massachusetts to Albany and the TU Center. (The River Rats scurried off to North Carolina earlier this year.)
The new team name: the Albany Devils. That's the logo on the right.
We're now wondering what the mascot will be. Buzzy Beelezubub? Dev the Devil? Pitchfork Pete? The parent club's mascot is the creatively named...N.J. Devil.
This is the second time New Jersey's had a team based here -- the Rats had been their minor league team for 13 seasons, ending in 2006.
Earlier on AOA: Rowdy the Rat goes searching for a new home
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Comments
Well I guess this goes with the whole "where are we going and what are we doing in this hand-basket" theme the state's been pushing lately.
... said Jeff on Jun 10, 2010 at 3:45 PM | link
Well…. Since the NJ Devil is from their pine barrens and Albany is home to one of the great pine barrens, the Pine Bush, the mascot should obviously be an indigenous critter…
therefore, I present to you, the Albany Devils’ mascot:
The Fisher Fiend!
(Because butterflies aren’t scary.)
... said Sandor on Jun 10, 2010 at 4:26 PM | link
This page describing the events of the New Jersey Devils' equipment auction mentions an appearance by the Albany Devil Dawg.
http://devils.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=62545
and was posted on Tuesday before the official announcement. The move from Lowell to Albany has been described as the worst kept secret in the AHL.
For the record, I still think that the name River Styx Rats would have satisfied both the old and new teams. May have also kept Rowdy in employ as well.
... said Mr. Salamack on Jun 10, 2010 at 5:00 PM | link
Thank goodness -- a new name and, more importantly, a new logo. The River Rat looks like it was designed by my ten-year-old nephew.
... said Gabe on Jun 10, 2010 at 9:17 PM | link
I'm not crazy about the new logo or name (I think it dilutes the Devils brand; their ECHL (third tier) team is also named the Devils), but I have to agree that the River Rats logo looked pretty amateurish.
The last Albany AHL team had its best years as a Devils affiliate.. I hope that they return to that level. The New Jersey Devils were a much more talented team back then though, so it all comes down to smart drafting by them in the future.
... said Alex on Jun 11, 2010 at 9:07 AM | link
What about The Albany Beavers?!
... said BT on Jun 11, 2010 at 1:03 PM | link