In Conversation with Glenn 'Chico' Resch | 40 YEARS WITH STAN

With the Stanley Cup playoffs not very far beyond the blue horizon, Devils fans have much to enthuse about in anticipation of the postseason thrills that lay ahead.
And that includes the team's broadcasters on both radio and television. In fact, one such individual -- who normally wears a grin -- will have a great smile on his mug.
That would be Devils radio "color" commentator Glenn (Chico) Resch. Unlike his other amiable colleagues, Glenn was there when the major league hockey club was born in East Rutherford, circa 1982.
Unlike today, there were no playoffs to anticipate but rather a hoped-for victory here and there in '82-'83. (It was the year after Resch's former club, the Islanders, had won their third straight championship.)
But the beauty part was that Chico always was there for the Devils, generating hope in the challenging early years. He provided good cheers and helped create a fan base that would grow and grow and GROW.
With that in mind, I decided to check in with my old pal and co-author of a few books. The following are the topics we discussed and Glenn's responses:

STAFFING THE TEAM IN TRAINING CAMP:

"We certainly weren't overloaded with talent but we had a decent defense. In fact, I figured that we had as much defensively as three-quarters of the teams in the NHL. But we were short on offense and that's where Billy Mac had his work cut out for him.
"When Mac heard that Garry Howatt -- one of my Islanders teammates -- wanted out of Hartford, Billy made a pitch for him. Plus we had some good kids, especially Patty Verbeek and Merlin Malinowski.
"When the waiver draft came up before the season opener, Mac got three defensemen, Carol Vadnais, Dave Hutchison, and Murray Brumwell."

HIS OPENING SEASON HIGHLIGHT:

"It may seem strange in retrospect that -- of all the games we played that opening season -- the highlight one for me at least was our first meeting with the Rangers at Brendan Byrne Arena.
"Even so early in the life of our franchise, the Blueshirts had become our greatest rival. Not only that but their coach at the time was none other than the hero of the Lake Placid Olympic Gold Medal, coach Herb Brooks. The big barn was filled with the kind of energy not to be rivaled until New Jersey finally iced a playoff team.
"Unfortunately, much of that energy was being supplied by Rangers fans. The way my Devils teammates guessed it, sixty percent of the fans were rooting for the Visitors and we got the forty percent cut. But we got even with them; we won.
"The fans from across the Hudson went home disappointed and that turned out to be a very meaningful event. It told me that right then and there that victory had enabled us to create a New Jersey Devil fan base. Not only that but it would grow to become as big -- if not bigger -- and as loyal as any fans in the NHL."

WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN THE WINNING DEVILS CLUBHOUSE:

"I was sitting in my stall after the game surrounded by my teammates and later the press corps from both New Jersey and New York. Frankly, it was one of the most satisfying moments of my long hockey career.
"It was like the feeling you get when you move into a new home you just purchased and you're having your first meal and first night's sleep. It slowly began to sink into my head that, yes, this is our new home. What's more, I was so pleased to hear the cheering crowd. Funny thing is that I never had that feeling when I played in Denver for the Rockies."

HOW THE TEAM FARED AS THE SEASON UNFOLDED:

"After we had beaten the Rangers, we played the Maple Leafs and came back from a 5-1 deficit to tie Toronto. It was another refreshing thing for the young franchise.
"There even was a feeling of maturity about the team. But we finally got beaten by Montreal, 5-3, and MacMillan said it right: "This winning Isn't going to go on forever."

AND THE BAD NEWS:

"When the losing streak came about, it seemed like it would go on forever. No question, we began to get apprehensive as we began slipping down to the bottom of our division.
"An eight-game winless streak in February dropped us to fifth place in the six-team Patrick Division. Still. my buddies who played with me in Denver believed that we had improved a bit over the Rockies.
"'We still lose,' said Joel Quenneville, "but last year the game would be over in ten minutes. Sure enough, on March 3d the Flyers beat us 4-1 and we were officially eliminated from a playoff berth. That body slammed us back to reality and was as demoralized as I ever felt in my entire career."

HOW CONFIDENCE WAS RESTORED:

"What helped boost our spirits in the homestretch was the fact that in the last month of the schedule, we played the Rangers three times and won two and tied the other. One game, in particular, stands out in my mind. It was late March and we were playing the Blueshirts at Byrne. The arena was filled to its seating capacity (19,023) which was a thrill in and of itself.
"As for the game, we jumped into a 2-0 lead but the Rangers bounced back and tied it 2-2. But in the third period, Aaron Broten beat their goalie Glen Hanlon twice and we went home secure in the knowledge with the 4-2 win that we did well in The Battle of the Hudson.
"All in all it gave us hope for our second season in East Rutherford. Even Rangers coach Herb Brooks was impressed. 'I give them a lot of credit,' Herbie said, 'the Devils came up big when they had to.'"

THE GAME I'LL NEVER FORGET -- SADLY!

"Despite the high hopes we had at the end of that first season, the second time around was no bargain. Year Two was an unmitigated disaster. We were all shocked at how poorly we started the season. And, in all fairness, I have to admit that I was as much a part of the problem as anyone on the team.
"The bad news came right at the start. We opened against the Rangers at The Garden and they got revenge from the previous season by clobbering us, 6-2. Then, two nights later we played them at home and they got more revenge only this time it was a 3-1 defeat for us. It seemed that the hope and confidence just got sucked out of us right at the start. Imagine; at The Garden, the Rangers scored three shorthanded goals against us and at home, we had nine power plays and scored a grand total of no goals!
"Hard as it was to believe but after thirteen games we had only one win and a dozen losses. I finally got to feel a little better about myself early in November when we beat Chicago 6-3. I out-goaled the great Tony Esposito in that one by making 43 saves on 46 shots.
"Then the roof really fell in with five straight losses and fifteen defeats out of the last sixteen games. A little more than halfway through November we went into Edmonton with a dismal record of 2-17-0; or a total of four points in nineteen games.
"Little could we have imagined that things would get even worse; both on the ice and behind the bench. We were up against a mighty Oilers team that was led by Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, not to mention a darn good supporting cast.
"Coach MacMillan decided to start Ron Low in goal rather than Yours Truly. Frankly, it seemed like a good move. After all, Low had spent four years as Edmonton goalie and knew their shooters darn well. Low was a good goalie and a great guy. Every one of the Oilers loved him; that is until the game began. Then you can say that they really loved him because -- as they say -- Ronnie became like a duck in a shooting gallery.
"After two periods they had beaten him eight times. Billy Mac figured that he had to spare Low any more humiliation, so he put me in to start the third period. Granted, I held the fort for half a period, and then everything went bonkers against me and my team.
"The Oilers beat me five times in the last half of the period. And when the final buzzer relieved me of my misery the score was 13-4 for Edmonton. Or to put the embarrassment another way; the largest score had been run up against the franchise.
"That would have been bad enough; me and Ron sharing the defeat. Ironically, even the winners were upset by their win. Gretzky and his buddies felt sorry for their old pal, Low. And when the media crowded The Great One, he not only ripped our team but the entire organization right up to our owner, Dr. John McMullen.
"I won't repeat Wayne's whole speech but, suffice to say, the most damaging words were: 'They had better stop running a Mickey Mouse organization.' To his credit, Gretzky later admitted that he shouldn't have said what he had said, but the damage was done. And, unfortunately, the immediate follow-up proved fatal for my pal Billy MacMillan.
"The next morning our team met at the Edmonton airport and Billy came up to me and said, 'I've just been fired.' Then he added, 'Well, not technically, but soon after we land in New Jersey it will happen.'
"Naively, I guess, I said, 'Why?' Then, he showed me the headlines in the Edmonton papers. Splashed in big letters was Wayne's dumping on us. They even appeared in our New York Post when we got home: 'GRETZKY; DEVILS ARE MICKEY MOUSE TEAM.'
"Unfortunately, my good friend Billy officially was fired when we got back. As a result, I've always felt sad that I had played quite poorly in a game that decided Billy's future. I remember it to this day. And that's why that 'Mickey Mouse' game in Edmonton is one I'll never forget!"