Many things have changed over the last 25+ years, especially with the New Jersey Devils. Players, coaches, executives, broadcasters, they’ve all come and gone. Championships have been won and lost. Wins have become losses and losses have become wins. They’ve even switched home arenas. And yet, season after season, amongst all that change, is one constant – the presence of Arlette.

Arlette Roxburgh, or simply Arlette as she is known around The NHL and especially at Devils home games, has been the Devils’ primary National Anthem Singer for approximately 26 or 27 years. That’s a run of consistency that you just don’t find anywhere else. 

When Arlette first started singing at Devils’ home games, Scott Stevens was the team’s Captain. Lou Lamoriello was its General Manager. The Meadowlands was the franchise’s home arena and Mike “Doc” Emrick was the voice of the team’s television broadcasts. 

Now, those roles are held by Nico Hischier, Tom Fitzgerald, Prudential Center and Don La Greca. And don’t even get us started on the vast number of coaching changes she’s been present for. 

But through it all, Arlette remains a constant presence. 

It’s not often that a team keeps the same Anthem Singer for as long as the Devils have had Arlette on the mic. And it’s even rarer when an Anthem Singer becomes so ingrained in the fabric of a team that you can’t think of one without the other. 

A select few singers have been with and been as connected to their teams as Arlette. Those rare few include: John Amirante (NY Rangers), Rene Rancourt (Boston Bruins) and Lauren Hart (Philadelphia Flyers). Remember, it’s not just about the length of time, but also about being synonymous with their team. 

When asked about her connection to the Devils and their fans, Arlette told Blittner’s Blue Line, “It’s definitely heartwarming. I wouldn’t say overwhelming, but sometimes it is when I really think about the magnitude of it, which is very heartwarming. I have received nothing but love from the Devils fans for the 26 or 27 years that I have been the Anthem Singer. 

“Of course, when I’m not there, I don’t know what people are saying, but you could be sure, I get a lot of DMs asking me where I am. Literally, people text me and ask me what is my schedule so that they can choose the games that they’re gonna come to. And that’s mind-blowing. 

“I’ve realized recently, as well, in the past couple of years, I’ve spotted people with ‘Arlette’ jerseys on the back of their shirt. So, for me, you’re gonna take your hard-earned money and put my name on the back of a jersey. I’m so humbled by that. I’m so appreciative of all the love that the fans have given to me and I give it right back to them.”

Think about that for a minute. It is exceptionally rare for fans to put the name of their team’s anthem singer on the back of their jerseys. In fact, outside of the Devils fanbase, we can’t think of a single other example of this behavior anywhere else. 

But that’s how beloved Arlette is in New Jersey. And it’s not just the home fans who make it a point to see her sing at games. Visiting fans and even visiting media have made it a point to be in the building when Arlette performs. 

“I think that I represent for them, I’m like the heart of, I don’t wanna say I’m the heart of the Devils, ’cause that sounds like a lot. I just feel like I represent the Devils to them,” Arlette pondered. “If they think of The Devils and their team, they think of me as well, ’cause I’ve been there for so long. I remember when we transferred from the Meadowlands over to our current, The Rock. I remember when I had the first time that I came out in that building and I sang. I remember I received so much applause. 

“The reporters would say, ‘Wait, she’s getting more applause than the players here.’ I thought about that and I think it’s really just the familiarity. I think that when I came over here, it made the fans feel more at home because of my familiar face. It’s definitely the familiarity that people relate to. I think it’s the passion as well, because when I’m singing the Anthem, I’m singing from the bottom of my heart. So, I think that bleeds through as well. When I do sing, they know that it’s real. They know that I’m genuine. They know that I love them. They know that I love this country. There’s so much that I think I’ve shown over the past 26, 27 years. So, I think, as I said, for me, I think the fans just recognize me as home in a way.”

Familiarity is certainly part of it. As is her genuine and humble nature. Of course, a key piece of her longevity is the fact that, like the thousands of people who pack the arena on any given night, Arlette is a huge hockey fan. And let us tell you something, that wasn’t always the case. 

“I was not a huge hockey fan when I first started singing,” Arlette explained. “Remember, I was born and raised in Trinidad, so we didn’t have hockey growing up. We certainly didn’t have ice hockey. It’s like 90 degrees, so the ice would melt,” she laughed. “So for me, I had no exposure to hockey until I came to New York, to America.”

Devils fans can thank Lamoriello and a chance encounter for the vocal-stylings of Arlette at their home games. And she thanks “Uncle Lou” for getting her into hockey.

“I remember the first time when (I met) Lou,” Arlette recalled. “He and his friends were walking down the street one day and I was singing at a restaurant and the doors were open. It was a restaurant in Manhattan, the doors were open and I was singing. He and his friends heard the music and then they came in and stayed for a while, listening to music. And then they started coming back whenever they were around. 

“We became friends and then he said, ‘Hey, you know I’m affiliated with this team and would you like to come sing the anthem for us sometime?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I had no idea. And then he sends a limo for me and my husband at the time. First of all, I was overwhelmed. I had no idea that my friend, who used to come see us once in a while to sing, was the GM of The Devils. And I had no idea about hockey. 

“I remember when I first came to the game and at that time, fights were way more common. They threw their gloves down and they were fighting. I was so horrified. I was like, ‘Oh my G-d, why are they fighting?’ This was my first foray into hockey, but with time, of course, I got over that. I get into it too now. Now I get it.”

She may not have gotten hockey at the time, but now she’s as big a fan as anyone. Of course, she almost didn’t even end up as a singer and without her music, who knows if she ever would have become a hockey fan? 

“When I grew up in Trinidad, as many young girls did, we kind of grew up in the church,” Arlette reminisced. “I grew up singing in the church. That was just something that I’m singing for the Lord. It was not ever to be my path in life as a singer. I studied science when I was in high school. 

“How I came to America was, I took the SAT while I was in Trinidad and I got a very good score. And then I got a scholarship to go to LIU in Brooklyn. That’s how I came to this country. I was a chemistry major. 

“While I was in LIU, I needed to make some extra money. So, I answered this ad from this Italian wedding band that they were looking for a singer. I just answered the ad and I started to sing with this band. My foray into singing was really just to make some extra money to get me through college. It wasn’t like I had planned to be a singer, but my life took that trajectory while I was (still) in college studying chemistry. 

“Through that wedding band, I actually met who had then proved to be my husband, an Italian gentleman that I started to work with as well and we later got married. I remember, I graduated, got my degree in chemistry, put it in a nice plaque on the wall and got married like the next week. We were married for about 20 years; we’re no longer married, but we were married for about 20 years. 

“Him and I did the music together and that was my whole career. I started to sing and that’s how my life went. I was supposed to be a chemist. I was supposed to open a pharmacy or something weird like that. And I’m so glad I didn’t. I would’ve blown up everything in the lab. It wasn’t for me. 

“The way Trinidad works for their students, when you are a bright student, they tend to push you into the sciences. You kind of just accept it for the most part. When you’re young, you’re kind of impressionable. So, I was pushed into science and I just did that. 

“But obviously, there was so much more layers to me than that. I never look back and say, ‘Gosh, I wish I had been a chemist.’ I have had a beautiful life. I really have had a wonderful life in the music and I’m so glad that that happened.”

Arlette “The Chemist.” Somehow, it just doesn’t seem right. Devils fans and the Devils organization are exceptionally glad that she went down the music route and will forever be Arlette “The Singer.”

Of course, “Uncle Lou” is no longer part of the Devils’ organization, but he and Arlette remain friends to this day. And no, there was never any possibility that she would leave New Jersey to go to Toronto or Long Island. 

“Lou is my dear friend still to this day,” Arlette said. “I have never met a more kind, principled, generous, sensitive, I can’t even put in all the adjectives to describe this human being. We don’t talk very often, but once in a while, we check in. We have that connection because he ‘discovered me.'”

“I’m the Devils’ Anthem Singer,” Arlette continued. “I would never have been anything else. There was no question in my mind. I would never go and sing for another hockey team.”

Thank goodness for that. Devils’ home games just wouldn’t feel right without Arlette. It would be weird to see her wearing the jersey of another NHL team. And just as the fans have gotten to experience plenty of joy throughout her tenure, so has she.

“For me, when we actually won the championship at home in the building, in 2003,” that’s Arlette’s answer for her favorite Devils game that she sang the National Anthem at. “That would be my all-time high game that I sang at. I remember the thrill when we were counting, when we knew we were going to win at the end of the game. 

“When we knew, the whole arena started to chant ’10, 9, 8…’ And then it just exploded. Then I was ushered down, and I went onto the ice. I remember jumping into my crush at the time, well, he’s always been my crush, Martin Brodeur, jumped into my crush’s arms. And then I jumped into Patrik Eliáš’ arms. It was just an amazing experience.”

An amazing experience indeed. And just like it has been for the past 26 or 27 years and hopefully for many years to come, it is and will always be an amazing experience being in the building for an Arlette rendition of The National Anthem.