This is one of the coolest stories I have read in quite awhile. It would be nice to be a part of something like this while the new football stadium is being built. I've had season tickets for Jets for 10 years now. Well, I can dream right?
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Charged up at The Rock: An electrician lives his dream of bringing the Devils to light
He worked here, slept here, spent so much time here his wife had to wonder if he had a mistress named "The Rock." But for the first time last night, Ray Torella, No. 1 Devils fan and master electrician in Local 164, watched a hockey game in the House That He Built.
He sat in the first seat of the first row in Section 233, his hard hat still proudly covering a head filled with more knowledge about his favorite team than any other fan in the building. Most could tell you who scored the game-winning goal for the 2000 Stanley Cup (it was Jason Arnott).
But how many know the number of fixtures in the building?
"There are 32,000," Torella said.
Or how much electrical cable was used?
"Over 500 miles," he said.
Torella, who spent 25 years going to the Meadowlands, landed the job of a lifetime 18 months ago when he started wiring the Prudential Center. The place was not much more than steel girders then. Last night, it was the finest building in the NHL, and sure, Torella got a little choked up when his team skated on the ice.
"Every light on the service level, I did," he said. "All the fixtures, I did. The Devils locker room, I did -- twice, actually, since Lou kept making changes."
Lou, of course, is Lou Lamoriello, the Devils general manager who apparently is as fickle with his fixtures as he is with head coaches. When he wanted ceiling fans in the locker room, it was Torella who dutifully installed them, making sure everything was just the way the man-in-charge wanted.
His bonus: A piece of leftover red carpet. They were going to throw it away. Now it covers the floor of the Devils memorabilia room in Torella's Lincoln Park home.
Yes, this is a big fan.
"The view is amazing," Torella said, leaning over the Plexiglas divider last night. "Did you see how wide the concourses are? The place is beautiful -- and I know every nook and cranny."
Make a list of the biggest moments in Devils history. The three Stanley Cups, of course, go on top. The draft that landed Martin Brodeur is right up there. The arbitration deal that awarded them Scott Stevens, cheered like a hero when he helped drop the ceremonial first puck, is near the top.
The game against the Senators last night, even though the Devils lost 4-1, is as big as any of them. For a team that so often threatened to pack up and leave, for a franchise that had to hold its championship parades in a parking lot, opening a new building -- their building -- is a watershed moment, one that will change its identity.
The Stanley Cup banners were already hanging in the rafters, along with the retired jerseys of Stevens and Ken Daneyko. Devils fans will have to get used to the amenities, the fancy bars and luxury suites (including a large number that were ominously dark).
Torella was one of the charter members of the "Section 228 Crazies" at the Meadowlands, a group of 50 hockey nut cases. They had to change their address to Section 233, but other than that, not much is different.
They are still in the cheapest seats -- they sell for $10 a pop, and Torella's contact with the team helped get them the front six rows -- but they wouldn't have it any other way. These diehards don't need $200 club seats near the ice. They can yell loudly enough for everyone to hear them.
His buddies brought their digital cameras to capture the moment, but Torella didn't need more photos. He has eight DVDs filled with them, chronicling every milestone in the building's construction. With the rush to finish the place, he accumulated enough overtime to buy his own team.
"Thursday was the first day I saw him in about a month," his wife Andrea said. He took her on a date, but still ended up at work. He took her to the Bon Jovi concert at the arena.
"This was his dream job," Andrea said. "He'd call every day and tell me, 'Let me tell you what I did today,' or 'Guess what (owner Jeff) Vanderbeek told me.' He's loved every minute of this."
The Devils showed up for an open house last week, and so did Torella, who explained in great detail to right winger Brian Gionta about how the lights in the locker room had five different "scenes." See, they can shine a light over each locker or just a big one over the Devils logo on the center of the floor, Torella explained. He helped wire them. Gionta was impressed.
Okay, so some of the Senators weren't. Goalie Martin Gerber complained that the stalls were too uncomfortable, and center Jason Spezza used the word "brutal" to describe the ice. Even Torella acknowledges there is plenty of work to do, and he'll be back tomorrow to start doing it.
"But I remember my first day. The place was an empty shell. The wind was blowing through it," Torella said. "It was just cold enough that I had to wear a hooded sweatshirt. You could see where the seats were going to be, but that was about it. I had to look at the blueprints to see everything else."
Now, he can see the (almost) finished product from his seat. Early in the first period of the first game in the House That He Built, Torella could lean back with his buddies, hear the familiar whistle, and let out a guttural "Rangers suck!"
He was home.
Steve Politi appears regularly in The Star-Ledger. He may be reached at
spoliti@starledger.com
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