Group Night Summary - 12/1/25
The New Jersey Devils hosted the Dare Devils at the Prudential Center this evening for our annual Group Night event. This year, the Devils treated us like the royalty we are and provided our entire outfit with prime seating in the lower bowl to see the Devils take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. Unfortunately, the Devils lost an action packed (and fight filled) battle to the Blue Jackets. Despite seeing the home team lose, the Dare Devils still had a great time this evening. It was a great bonding experience for the team to let loose and watch the pros play.
The highlight of the night occurred during the 1st intermission when a group of Dare Devils players and coaches had the opportunity to participate in the "Marquee Matchup" game on the ice under the bright lights of the Prudential Center. The Dare Devils were split into two evenly matched teams to participate in this prime time event. Reese Citro, James Cooney, Taylor Esposito (goalie), Shea Passikoff, Owen Silverstein and Liam Smith wore their white uniforms while Ayden Duran, Theodore Howard, Patrick Law and Will Trampota donned their red jerseys. Coach Bernard drew the short straw and played goalie for the red squad while Coaches Brendon and Eric supervised the action from center ice.
Similar to the NHL game that sandwiched our event, this Marquee Matchup had a lot of action. Taylor Esposito made several pad stops to thwart Will Trampota and Patrick Law breakaway attempts. Not to be outdone, Coach Bernard caught the goaltending bug and used his freshly taped stick to block a flurry of chances from the white squad. In succession, Shea Passikoff went end-to-end only to be denied by Coach Bernard, Owen Silverstein's rebound attempt was also flung away, and Shea Passikoff had another shot blocked by the wily coach. Coach Bernard even stonewalled James Cooney, when James tried to stuff home a rebound. However, just when Coach Bernard seemed unsolvable, Owen Silverstein collected a puck in the defensive zone and weaved his way to the net and put home a goal. At this point, Reese Citro substituted in for the short-handed red team, deked up the ice, and snuck a puck past Esposito in the closing seconds to tie the game up at one. Liam Smith, Ayden Duran and Theodore Howard all played strong all around games for their respective teams.
After the Marquee Matchup ended, Theodore Howard was named the man of the match and was interviewed in front of the 16,000 fans in attendance. Theodore made the Dare Devils proud by talking about how long he has been playing hockey and by leading the crowd through a "Let's go Devils" chant. Way to go, TJ!
In addition to the players participating in the game, several Dare Devils players and family members made their way onto the big board. Aidan Hung was singled out by the camera man and the Silverstein family had their enthusiasm highlighted on the score board for the rest of the crowd to see.
All around, it was a great night for the Dare Devils. Thank you to the approximately 140 Dare Devils players, family members and friends who attended tonight's event. In addition, a special thank you goes out to our Devils representative, Adam Spitz, and everyone else with the Devils who once again showed us excellent hospitality. Thank you, Adam and thank you, Devils!