Andrew Kitchenman`s is the Statehouse correspondent for NJBIZ, which he joined in May 2009. He previously worked as a reporter at The Times of Trenton and the Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Conn., and as an editor for Sun Newspapers (now Sun-Gazette) in Northern Virginia. He has a master`s degree in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor`s degree from St. Mary`s College of Maryland. He grew up in Willingboro and in Bucks County, Pa. 
The event, at McLoone’s Pier House, in Long Branch, was the first of several the team has billed as its “Jersey Tour.” It drew 150 invited attendees from Monmouth and Ocean counties, said Robert Sommer, spokesman for Devils Arena Entertainment, a team subsidiary that operates the Prudential Center, in Newark.
The team is having a successful off-season so far, with ticket sales running 4 to 5 percent ahead of where they were a year earlier, Sommer said.
The next invitation-only event will be for Hudson County fans in Hoboken on Aug. 5, with later events planned for Bergen and Morris counties.
“We’re going to be implementing some of the ideas the fans gave us as well,” Sommer said, noting that Vanderbeek was impressed with a proposal to include more players’ biographies on the team website.
One major factor that could impact ticket sales could be resolved in the next several days, as the National Hockey League and the players’ union work to find an arbitrator to rule whether the team’s contract with star forward Ilya Kovalchuk follows league rules.
E-mail Andrew Kitchenman at akitchenman@njbiz.com
