Day 1 Devils Share this story Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports After nearly ten months without Devils hockey, the team has finally taken the ice together again for the first day of training camp before this condensed 2021 season. A lot has changed since the last time this team skated together. I read a dozen articles and watched a couple hours worth of interviews from yesterday’s camp (including so, so many questions about golf) so you don’t have to. Here’s what you need to know: Part One: Who’s New and Who’s Who Beginning at the top, the Devils have some new faces behind the bench. The new head coach is Lindy Ruff, a Jack Adams winner and current titleholder for most wins with a single team with over 500 wins with the Buffalo Sabres. He comes to the Devils with nearly 700 games as an NHL player and just under 1,500 games as a Head Coach and a total of 736 wins, not including the past two seasons he spent with the Rangers as an assistant coach. Ruff says his plan is to build a team that is more aggressive in the defensive zone and can play with increased pace. He wants defenders that are more assertive to finish plays in our zone and then to actively join the rush and be move involved in creating and maintaining offense. He likes to have a theme for training— the motto for this camp, settled on with the players, is “eNJoy the ride” — meaning this will be a fast-paced, strange season in which the best they can do is always stay focused on what’s going to happen next and be ready for the next thing rather than dwell on mistakes or bad games.