Andrew Gross

Staff Writer, @AGrossRecord

Just as it’s fitting the Devils’ first owner, the late Dr. John J. McMullen, will be the franchise’s first inductee into its new Ring of Honor – there will be a ceremony prior to Friday night’s game at Prudential Center – it’s fitting that the opponent will be the Maple Leafs since their general manager is Lou Lamoriello.

McMullen brought the Devils to New Jersey in 1982 by purchasing the then-Colorado Rockies and moving them to the Meadowlands. Lamoriello brought three Stanley Cups to New Jersey with his management.

“To me there’s no question or a thought any other way that it shouldn’t be Dr. McMullen,” said Lamoriello, surely bound for the Devils’ Ring of Honor himself. “What he did for hockey in New Jersey by bringing the Colorado Rockies here and then making sure it was named ‘New Jersey,’ and you know I spent a number of years with him and that’s all real. His pride factor in New Jersey was something special. And then wanting to bring a championship here was something that he dreamed about and so it’s more than fitting for this to occur and I know that all the players that played for him and all of us who had the opportunity to work for him and with him will cherish everything that he’s done and how he’s done it. He’s a man’s man. You never had to worry about what was on his mind, there was no gray area. But his honesty and his integrity and his own work ethic was second to none.

“We had a special relationship,” Lamoriello added. “I did not know Dr. McMullen before I came here. I certainly had a meeting with him. And after he sold the team I’m proud to say we became better friends over the years and enjoyed a relationship and a friendship.”

McMullen, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 87, sold the Devils following the second of the franchise’s three Stanley Cups in 2000.

“The friendship we had after he sold the team, it was stronger, yet never talking about hockey,” Lamoriello said. “That’s something special to me. That’s something that will never leave me. I have a lot of things to be thankful of, personally and professional because of John McMullen. It’s just fantastic. The timing was just perfect. And for the right reasons, this is appropriate in every way. I think new ownership and management certainly recognized that. I wasn’t part of that decision but certainly the right decision and I’m glad they did, because it is the right decision.”

Lamoriello, of course, was known for his hands-on leadership of the Devils, often perceived as an autocracy.

He said McMullen was not the type of owner to interfere in what Lamoriello decided.

“He never got involved in the hockey end of it,” Lamoriello said. “The thing about people like John McMullen, the first thing is they know what they don’t know and that’s what makes them so successful. Any time Dr. McMullen used to maybe come up with something, I used to say to him, ‘You got your hair cut this morning,’ knowing somebody was talking to him. And he’d smile.”

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Finally got around to asking left-shooting defenseman Kyle Quincey, who had been used on the right side until two games ago, what it was like being back on his natural side.

“It seems like a long time, too,” Quincey said. “I realize I’m on my forehand a lot. When I look up the ice I can make a lot more plays. On the right side, I’m on my backhand a lot. It’s definitely a nice change.”

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Also got around to asking defenseman Jon Merrill about the increased ice time the five other defensemen received in Tuesday’s 3-1 win at Carolina after captain Andy Greene exited late in the first period, not to return after being struck about the left wrist by Jordan Staal’s shot.

Greene is day to day with an upper-body injury.

“When you’re playing down, you know you’re going to go out on the ice again,” said Merrill, whose 20:55 of ice time was just 27 seconds shy of his season high. “It always gives a level of confidence to yourself knowing you’re going to be back on the ice. You’re in the rhythm of the game.”

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Lastly, got around to asking Seth Helgeson whether he was surprised to have been re-assigned to Albany (AHL) on Dec. 23 or whether he just doesn’t worry about things he can’t control.

“I think I learned a lot the first year I got called up that you can only control the way you play,” Helgeson, 26, said. “You can’t control the transactions. It’s a business. That’s what you learn as you grow.”

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