Lou: "[CAA] couldn't pay me to put a team there"

NJDevs member Skeeter gave us this info from a Lou Q & A on The Rock, and some other issues:

There will be a season NJ Transit train pass available to both full season and partial plan holders. You will be able to purchace it for a fixed price and use it to and from any train station to the Prudential Center. It will be sent out shortly. It is sold by NJ Transit, the Devils are just the middle man and passing it along to us.

They will be running express buses from the Broad St. Station to and from the arena.

They will HOLD trains after games to accomodate everyone, and add trains as needed. No need to worry about not having a train ride home after overtime playoff games.

There will be a big name restaurant at street level that will be open to the public, as well as be open on non-game days. They will also have retail stores and a pro shop at street level that will be open at all times.

There will be approx. 3,000 tickets for each game available to the general public when they go on sale.

The box office or if need be, a makeshift box office will be open for single game tickets the day they go on sale.

There will probably be no area for tailgating.

The arena will open 90 minutes before game time, and restaurants and bars may be open earlier.

Season ticket holders will be able to buy additional tickets for opening night and additional games prior to them going on sale to the public.

Season tickets will be sent out next week.

This will be an overwhelming venue. He is astounded on how well it's come together, and it's beyond even his expectations. The sightlines from the balcony and the mezzanine are amazing, and he wishes he had put aside some seats in the balcony for his family because he had no idea how great the view is.

He hinted at knowing when it's time to let some players go when it becomes more about money than winning and the team. He said "how much money do you really need?"

He says this is the best coaching staff he's ever had since he's come to the Devils.

Stevens stops by practice regularly and offers advice and help to the team, but he's enjoying his family life.

We will be pleasantly surprised by Rachunek and Zubrus. T

he temp box office, if needed would be at the NJPAC. They are waiting for the certificate of occupancy so that they can open the box office.

Someone also asked about moving the AHL team to NJ. He said that want to own the state. A follow up question was asked about having the AHL team play at CAA, and he said that CAA couldn't pay him to have a team play there again.

Oh, and as for that AHL possibility, he said they had Trenton already and don't plan on changing their ECHL affiliation. He said they'd like something maybe in Red Bank, Toms River, or Parsippany for an AHL team somewhere down the line, so I think they extended their term in Lowell to work on something else in the state as well as look like they're making nice with Lowell.

Also, someone mentioned the rumor of him going over to the Rangers a few years ago and he said "the only way you'd get me over there is if you shot me."

From what it sounded like to me, they plan on having approx. 3,000 tickets for each home game available to the general public on the 12th. He said they would be holding a certain number for current season ticket holders to purchase additional tickets, and I'm sure they're holding a bunch for potential season and partial season ticket holders because once they see this place, they may want a plan of some sort. I bet as time goes on they'll release more....Kind of like in 2005 when our home opener against Crosby "sold out" in minutes but the day of the game there were 900 tickets left.