Dangle, snipe, celly! Marketing major and sports management minor Jessica Pawlik ’26 shares her ice cold experience shadowing the New Jersey Devils Network radio broadcast team.

Q: In Spring 2024, you had a very cool shadow experience with the New Jersey Devils. How did you learn about this experience?

Jessica: Ramapo College has a new partnership with the New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center which includes opportunities for students to shadow the Devils Hockey Network radio broadcast staff during a live game. Since I am pursuing a minor in sports management, I received an email from Anisfield School of Business Dean Edward Petkus about the opportunity which included a meet and greet opportunity with broadcast team members as well as a listen-in from the radio booth for the game. I immediately said I was interested, and I was selected along with Kathleen Bishop ’26 and Juliette Ezgilioglu ’25 for this experience.

Q: What did the experience entail?

Jessica: It was a great hands-on learning opportunity! We arrived through the Press Entrance and were greeted by Kyle McKenna, the New Jersey Devils statistician. Mr. McKenna gave us a tour and allowed us to mingle during breakfast. We met and spoke with many different organization team members from sports broadcasters to public relations staff and even the NJ Devil mascot! It was an afternoon game, so we then headed to the radio booth where we met Matt Loughlin, the radio play by play voice, and Glenn “Chico” Resch, the color commentator. Chico is a former NJ Devils player! We stayed in the radio booth for the duration of the game. It was great to see the inner workings of the radio broadcast of an NHL game!

Q: What did you learn from this experience?

Jessica: I truly learned a lot from this shadow experience. I was able to see first hand all that goes on behind the scenes of a hockey game. I never realized how much really goes into the operation of a sports team.

Behind the scenes action during the live broadcast of the New Jersey Devils game

Q: What was the coolest part of it?

Jessica: My whole life I have been not only a hockey fan but a Devils fan specifically. I grew up watching and attending games with my family, so being in the Prudential Center alone is an exciting experience for me, but being behind the scenes and up close with the Devils organization reached another level of excitement for me.

Q: How did Ramapo College prepare you for this shadowing experience?

Jessica: I felt prepared for this experience through a few different experiences at Ramapo. I’ve had many classes where public speaking is important and that made me feel more comfortable with conversing with professionals. Ramapo’s pathways also prepared me for this opportunity, through building my resume and interview preparation, so I felt ready to answer any questions and talk about myself.

Q: Anything else you wish to add?

Jessica: I hope to be able to partake in more experiences similar to this one! I would also love to work for the NJ Devils one day!!

L to R: RCNJ student Jessica Pawlik ’26, Devils/WFAN Color Analyst & Team Ambassador Glenn “Chico” Resch, RCNJ student Kathleen Bishop ’26, RCNJ student Juliette Ezgilioglu ’25, Devils/WFAN Play-by-Play Matt Loughlin

Read all about the RCNJ/Devils & Prudential Center partnership!

To learn more about the marketing, sports management, visit ramapo.edu/asb. More shadow opportunities will be scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.