January 22, 1987: The New Jersey Devils' 334 Club

January 22, 1987: A blizzard dropped nearly 2 feet of snow on the New York Tri-State Area. Schools, businesses and airports were closed. All over New Jersey, suddenly panicked shoppers raided stores for supplies.

The New Jersey Devils hockey team were supposed to play the Calgary Flames at the Brendan Byrne Arena, at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. For the Flames, based in the Rocky Mountains of Western Canada, this was no big deal. But for the Devils and their fans? They were used to snow in the Winter, and while a snowfall this deep was unusual, it was hardly unprecedented. But people usually didn't go to sporting events in that kind of weather.

The Devils had sold 11,247 tickets for the game. But the snow was too much for most fans, making conditions too dangerous for anyone to safely venture out to the arena that night. Still, there were 334 paying customers who managed to get to the Arena and through the turnstiles.

The game went on as scheduled, and is still said to stand as the lowest-attended game in modern NHL history.

Jeff Mazzei was a spectator at the game and told Sportsnet.ca, "Someone from the Devils came around with a yellow pad and went to every fan to get our names and addresses." This is how the 334 Club came about. A letter was sent out to thank everyone for coming, along with souvenirs and tickets.

Indeed, each of the 334 fans who showed up would later receive a pin, T-shirt and tickets to the next Devils-Flames game, or the closest game to the one-year anniversary.

And what kind of game did they see? The Devils got goals from Perry Anderson and Doug Sulliman, and had a 2-1 lead after the 1st period. Pat Verbeek made it 3-1, but the Flames got 3 straight goals, and ended the 2nd period leading 4-3. But in the 3rd, the Devils got 3 straight, from Aaron Broten, Randy Velischek and Sulliman. Paul Reinhart got the Flames to within 6-5 in the last 30 seconds, but pulling the goaltender didn't work for them, as Sulliman finished his hat track with an empty-net goal with 8 seconds left. Devils 7, Flames 5.

On January 24, just 2 days later, the Devils took a big step in the growing up of the franchise. They not only beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3 at the Meadowlands, but beat the "Broad Street Bullies" at their own game: Fighting. The brawl included a goalie fight between the Devils' Alain Chevrier and the Flyers' Ron Hextall. Hextall's backup was former Devils goalie and future Devils broadcaster Glenn "Chico" Resch.

On the 25th Anniversary of the game, members of the exclusive 334 Club were invited to a game and a private reception. I was not at the 334 Club Game, but I have seen men at Devils games wearing Devils jerseys, with "CLUB" as the name on the back and the number 334.

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January 22, 1987 was a Thursday. There was only 1 other game played in the NHL, and it was an "Original Six" matchup: The Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 7-3 at the Boston Garden.

And only 1 game was played in the NBA: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers, 118-108 at the Markets Square Arena in Indianapolis.

A man who would achieve athletic success in New Jersey was born on this day, a running back at Rutgers University. Unfortunately, early in what looked like a career that could get him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he was blacklisted from the sport. His name was Ray Rice.