Albany Devils

 
 
One of the newest minor hockey league teams are all set to make their mark on the sport once again. The Albany Devils will be trying their best to make their presence felt and stamp their authority on the league. The progress they have made is there for everyone to see and if they keep on treading the same path then it won’t be too long before they reach where they want to be. So grab your Albany Devils tickets and make your way to the arena to root for your favorite team from the bleachers.
 
The Albany Devils are affiliates of the New Jersey Devils. Albany has had a long association with minor league hockey which can be traced back to the days of the Albany River Rats. The River Rats are incepted in 1990 and were named the Capital District Islanders. They re-located to from New York to Albany in 1998 and that is when their name was changed to Albany River Rats.
 
The Rats enjoyed their most productive spell in the mid 1990’s first as Islanders and then as River Rats. From 1995 to 1998, the team went on to win four division titles, one Calder Cup and two league championships.  The years following that didn’t exactly go according to the script and the team was eventually bought by Michael Kahn in 2010.
 
New Jersey Devils then wrote to Albany that they were making plans to re-locate to the county. They wanted to sign a five year contract to make the switch provided the Times Union Center underwent certain upgrades. Over one and a half million dollars were approved to modernize the arena and the New Jersey Devils minor league affiliates the Lowell Devils made the move in 2010.
 
The move prompted the management to change the name of the team to the Albany Devils. John MacLean was promoted to the position of the head coach on 17^th June. 10^th August saw Rick Kowalsky taking over the duties and he has been at the post since then.
 
The Albany Devils took to the ice rink for the first time in 2010-2011 season. They played host to the Adirondack Phantoms on 9^th October, 2010 and David McIntyre etched his names in history books by becoming the first Albany Devils player to score. The team didn’t make it to the playoffs and captured eighth spot on the regular season standings.
 
The next campaign was an improvement on the previous one. The Devils didn’t make it to the playoffs again but they went to the fifth spot on the standings to improve their position by three places compared to the last campaign.
 
The Albany Devils have been improving and the trend has carried forward to the current campaign. They just need to now believe in themselves and with a few more additions to the squad they will reach the top sooner rather than later. The support of the fans will count for a lot as well in this journey so book your Albany Devils tickets and make your support count from the stands.