Luke Evangelista’s first goals in a Devils sweater came in a losing effort, but the 24-year-old winger still found a way to deliver a much bigger win for his father after practice in Newark.
Evangelista met former NHL goaltender Glenn “Chico” Resch at RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House, beside Prudential Center, when Devils assistant equipment manager Brent Overkamp introduced the two. It quickly became clear that Resch was more than a familiar hockey name in the Evangelista household.
A road-hockey hero meets the next generation
-
As a boy, Evangelista’s father, Andrew, regularly played goal in neighborhood road hockey and adopted Resch as his player identity. “My dad was really into being a goalie,” Evangelista said. “When he played road hockey, he would go in net. As a kid, you choose a favorite player, and he was Chico Resch.”
-
After leaving a recent Devils practice, Evangelista was stopped by Overkamp, who asked whether he had met Resch. Evangelista did not immediately recognize him in person, but the name landed right away. “My dad used to talk about Chico Resch,” he recalled thinking.
-
Evangelista spoke with Resch, took a picture and recorded a video, then sent both to Andrew. The response came quickly. “He said it made his day,” Evangelista said.
-
When father and son spoke later that evening, Andrew described the moment as full circle: the child who once pretended to be Resch in street hockey now had a son playing in the NHL and standing beside the real thing.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Evangelista said. “Now I’m playing and taking photos and videos with him. So my dad was fired up.”
A busy first month in New Jersey
The Resch meeting arrived during a fast-moving stretch for Evangelista and his family. New Jersey acquired the right-shot winger from the Nashville Predators on Sept. 1, then signed him to a five-year contract worth $36.25 million on Sept. 15.
The deal carries a $7.25 million average annual value and begins with the 2027-28 season. Before the trade, Evangelista posted 45 goals and 97 assists for 142 points across 253 regular-season games with Nashville.
He opened his Devils scoring account Tuesday with two goals in a 5-3 loss to the Utah Mammoth. The individual milestone did little to soften the disappointment of the result.
“At the end of the day, I’m just trying to help this team win,” Evangelista said. “It was nice to get the first one, obviously, but it stinks that we didn’t get a win out of it. You always want to do your part.”
For Evangelista, the early days in New Jersey have already included a new contract, his first Devils goals and a memory that will live well beyond the scoresheet: a former road-hockey goalie getting a surprise visit, by video, from the player he once imagined himself becoming.
