For Paul ''Biz Nasty'' Bissonnette, making bold claims is nothing out of the ordinary. However, it is a bit out of the ordinary for him to make a commitment to permanently mark his body if a certain up-and-coming team makes a deep postseason run.
Biz took to social media this weekend to issue a challenge that could result in him getting a tattoo on his ass. Yes, you read that correctly. The Spittin' Chiclets co-host confirmed on Twitter that if the New Jersey Devils make it to the Eastern Conference Finals in either of the next two seasons, he'll tattoo their mascot - the NJ Devil - on his ass.
The New Jersey Devils may have swung and missed on Johnny Gaudreau in free agency this summer, but they still improved their team by going out and signing two-time Stanley Cup Champion Ondrej Palat, and trading for defenseman John Marino and goaltender Vitek Vanecek to strengthen the roster at all 3 positions.
There is a lot of noise surrounding the Devils in recent seasons and they're quietly building a pretty strong team, centered around a young core of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer, who form a pretty formidable trio up the middle of the ice. After drafting Simon Nemec 2nd overall this summer, the Devils now have a potentially elite future top pairing in Luke Hughes and the aforementioned Nemec coming up. In the meantime, they have a D corps that consists of Hamilton, Severson, Marino, Graves, Siegenthaler, and Smith to buy them some time to allow their young blueliners to develop properly (though Hughes and Nemec may actually be ready now).
Biz may be safe, since the Eastern Conference is pretty much murderer's row every year. The Metropolitan Division has the likes of the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers near the top of the list, with the Columbus Blue Jackets also making some significant additions this offseason and a solid young core. Nevertheless, if the Devils can play their way into a bubble spot and challenge for a Wild Card seed, anything can happen in the postseason, and Biz may be wearing some new ink - and they have two kicks at the can to get it done.
