They anointed Team USA’s Olympic captains and a Devils lovefest broke out.
Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke, a Lou Lamoriello protégé from Providence College, leaped to admit that the Devils pedigree mattered when it came to picking the American leaders for Vancouver next month. He named Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner to wear the ‘C’ for Team USA.
Then American coach Ron Wilson, another part of the Providence connection, named Devil Zach Parise, former Devil Brian Rafalski, Ryan Suter of Nashville and Dustin Brown of the Kings as the four rotating alternates.
Even with Rangers coach John Tortorella serving as an assistant to Wilson, Chris Drury was notably omitted from the foursome of alternates.
The Devils have been getting the most of everything this season, leading the Rangers by 13 points with two games in hand as the rivals meet at the Garden tonight.
“A large part of it is, when we were going through the selection process and the captaincy, that kept coming up: ‘This is a guy that plays in New Jersey’s system.’ ” Burke said. “Brian Rafalski cut his teeth as a Devil. Jamie Langenbrunner has gone through that whole process.
“So yes, a lot of this team selection and captains selection is a tribute to Lou Lamoriello, who has been a giant with USA Hockey. No question that that’s a factor.”
Langenbrunner played three games for the ill-fated 1998 Olympics team, managed by Lamoriello and coached by Wilson, that finished fifth amid accusations of misbehavior in Nagano. He also played three games for the ill-fated 2004 World Cup team.
Now he is going to be more than just a bit player, as one of the elders of the new guard.
“As an individual accomplishment, it’s got to be right up there,” Langenbrunner said. “I’ve never really prided myself on individual accomplishments. As far as individual things go, I don’t have anything to compare to it. To be singled out as the captain, it’s an honor and something I’ll take very seriously.”
Burke indicated that one reason Drury, 33, was omitted was that he wanted the letters spread among the age groups on the team, and had elders in Langenbrunner (34) and Rafalski (36).
Burke said picking Langenbrunner was obvious.
“We’ve had some difficult decisions and some long discussions and some vitriolic, profanity-laced arguments through the selection process, but the one thing we didn’t have any kind of a fight on was picking our captain,” Burke said.
“He’s serving on an organization that’s respected throughout the league, and he’s been a model of consistency, of versatility. This is a guy that does just about everything well on an ice surface, and lots of things well in a dressing room.
“There were lots of tough decisions for Team USA going into this Olympics, but picking our captain wasn’t one of them.”
⇒ The Devils are 2-2 in their past four road games, and only 6-4-1 away from Newark since opening the season with nine straight victories on the road. . . . The Devils visit Phoenix Thursday and Colorado Saturday afternoon, before returning for a Monday afternoon tilt at Nassau Coliseum.