Stephen Gionta

Stephen Michael Gionta (born October 9, 1983) is an American ice hockey left wing, currently playing for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. He is the younger brother of Buffalo Sabres player Brian Gionta, who played for the Devils from 2001 to 2009.

Pro career

He was not drafted by any team, but after graduating from Boston College he signed an amateur tryout agreement with the Albany River Rats, the AHL affiliate of his older brother's team at the time, the New Jersey Devils.

Stephen made his professional debut at the end of the 2005–06 AHL season with the River Rats. Gionta's first ever AHL game was on April 13, 2006 against the Springfield Falcons. Stephen led his team to a 5–3 victory by scoring 3 goals and adding 1 assist. He was named the first star of the game.

For the 2006–07 season, Stephen played for the Devils AHL affiliate, the Lowell Devils. He was on the team with Mike Pandolfo and Jordan Parise, who also have brothers (Jay and Zach, respectively) playing for the Devils, marking arguably the first time that three sets of brothers were playing for the same system simultaneously. This lasted until Brian signed with Montreal in 2009.

Dmitri Kulikov (ice hockey)

Dmitri Vladimirovich Kulikov (Russian: Дми́трий Влади́мирович Кулико́в; born 29 October 1990) is a Russian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Panthers in the first round, 14th overall, at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Junior

Kulikov began his career in his homeland Russia with Lokomotiv-2 Yaroslavl in the Pervaya Liga, and left his club in November 2008 to sign for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in North America. In his lone season with Drummondville, Kulikov led all QMJHL defencemen with 62 points in 57 games, and took home a slew of post-season awards, including the Emile Bouchard Trophy as the QMJHL Defenceman of the Year, the Raymond Lagacé Trophy as the Defensive Rookie of the Year and the Mike Bossy Trophy as the League's top professional prospect.

Professional

After his rookie year with the Voltigeurs, Kulikov was drafted by the Florida Panthers 14th overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, and was later signed to a professional contract the club on 29 September 2009.

Stephen

Stephen or Steven /ˈstiːvən/ is a masculine first name, derived from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stéfanos), in turn from the Greek word "στέφανος", meaning "wreath, crown, honour, reward", literally "that which surrounds or encompasses". In ancient Greece, a wreath was given to the winner of a contest (from which the crown, symbol of rulers derived). The use of the noun was first recorded in Homer's Iliad. The name is significant to Christians: according to the Book of Acts in the New Testament, Saint Stephen was a deacon who was stoned to death and is regarded as the first Christian martyr. The name has many variants, which include Stephan, Stevan, Stefan and Stevon.

In Middle English, the name Stephen or Stephan was pronounced as a bi-syllabic word — Step-hen or Step-han — much like a Scandinavian surname. Steve was pronounced as it is in Modern English. This etymological usage began a decline in the mid-19th century.

Steve is the common short form, while various diminutives such as Stevie and Ste are also used. Many family names are derived from Stephen: the most common are Stephens/Stevens and Stephenson/Stevenson (others include Stephen, Stephan, Staphan, Stefan, Stevin and Stever).

New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, that competes in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team is a member of the league's Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference. The club was founded as the Kansas City Scouts in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1974. The Scouts moved to Denver, Colorado in 1976 and became the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies moved to East Rutherford, New Jersey in 1982 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 (later renamed to Continental Airlines Arena). Beginning with the 2007–08 season, the Devils relocated to Newark and now play their home games at the Prudential Center.

The franchise was poor to mediocre in the eight years before moving to New Jersey, a pattern that continued during the first five years in New Jersey as they failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs and never finished higher than fifth in their division. Their fortunes began to turn around following the hiring of president and general manager Lou Lamoriello in 1987. Under Lamoriello's stewardship, the Devils made the playoffs all but three times between 1988 and 2012, including 13 berths in a row from 1997 to 2010, and finished with a winning record every season from 1992–93 to 2009–10. They have won the Atlantic Division regular season title nine times, most recently in 2009–10, before transferring to the newly created Metropolitan Division as part of the NHL's realignment in 2013. The Devils have reached the Stanley Cup Finals five times, winning in 1994–95, 1999–00 and 2002–03. The Devils were known for their defense-first approach throughout their years of Cup contention, but have since moved towards a more offensive style.

Jersey Devils

The Jersey Devils was the name of a professional ice hockey team from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

The Devils were formed when the Philadelphia Ramblers, a member of the Eastern Hockey League, relocated to Cherry Hill at the end of the 1963-64 season. The Devils played in the Cherry Hill Arena until 1973, when the team folded along with the Eastern Hockey League (EHL).

The Devils had several notable players (below) and also won the highest scoring game in EHL history, a 16–15 over the Syracuse Blazers on February 24, 1968 at the Cherry Hill Arena before 4,583 fans.

The EHL split into two fairly short-lived leagues. The Northern teams became the North American Hockey League while the Southern teams became the Southern Hockey League, however the Devils (who had been the southernmost franchise in the Northern Division of the EHL) did not join either.

Notable players and coaches