"Brett Berger is my latest example of innate talent. At age 7, he showed an ability to play hockey as though he were born to the game. Steadily, he has gone up, one rung at a time, until now, at age 23, the former Springfield resident is the assistant hockey coach for Adrian College in Adrian, Mich.

His dream remains to scout or coach in the National Hockey League, and since he is a longtime Devils fan, it's easy to guess his final objective.

Brett started with the Cranford Hockey Club, advancing from "Squirt" to "Midget", the highest level.

Frankly, I was unaware of so-called traveling clubs for kids, but I learned they are well organized on the local and national levels, and thousands of kids participate. Cranford loves to travel and designated Brett as its captain. Its reward: The captain was named MVP in several tournaments.

At Jonathan Dayton High in Springfield, Brett is still the school's all-time leader in points (139), goals (47) and assists (92). Then it was on to Rutgers, where he played as a center and a wing. Out in 2007, he returned to Dayton as assistant coach.

Now he is the assistant coach and scout at Adrian, a Division 3 school usually found in the nation's top 25. From Adrian, he can see how the Devils are doing, and calculate when he will join them.

Could be only a matter of time."

"Sid Dorfman appears regularly in The Star-Ledger"