Of course it hurt. The Devils were the only NHL team John Madden ever knew, and they knew nothing but success with him for nine seasons.
When Madden looked up at two of the Stanley Cup banners in The Rock rafters in his first day back in an opposition uniform, he was reminded his time in New Jersey never really will run out.
“I was disappointed initially,” the Blackhawks center said. “I wanted to play my whole career here.
“At the same time it’s another page in the book, and I’m happy where I’m at.”
It’s good to have options, the best of which was presented by a Chicago team no closer or further away from a Cup than the Devils he left behind. After Lou Lamoriello made no offer, more than one team dangled two years, but none of those clubs were as good as the Blackhawks.
Madden took one year at $2.75 million from Chicago, which is $1.75 million less than Lamoriello is paying replacement Rob Niedermayer. Some of that savings in salary cap room subsequently went to Ilya Kovalchuk, who can do a few things Madden can’t, although winning playoff rounds has yet to be among them.
“When I heard he got traded here I was surprised,” Madden said. “It’s uncharacteristic of the organization.
“The years I was here, nothing like that happened. (Alexander) Mogilny? He was thirtysomething years old.
“This must do wonders for guys like Zach (Parise), Travis (Zajac) and (Jamie) Langenbrunner. You can’t just match up your top defensive line all night.”
Few players in the game’s history performed that task better than Madden in New Jersey. In Chicago, a role not so defined has been, in Madden’s words “fun,” but his defensive value is about to increase.
“His playoff experience with a young team can lead us a lot of different ways,” coach Joel Quenneville said.
Let the record show Madden wasn’t leading anybody anywhere when the Chicago bus pulled up for the morning skate.
“Real strange,” he said. “I had no idea where the (visiting) locker room is. I felt like a rookie asking ‘Where do they keep the sticks?’ “