NHL

Langenbrunner returns to face Devils

The last Devils’ captain returns to play in Newark tonight for the first time since he was traded away last season.

Jamie Langenbrunner has been a vital veteran in the rise of the Blues under Ken Hitchcock this season. When last seen in Newark 13 months ago, he was on his way out under the cloud of strained relations with re-hired Jacques Lemaire.

He’s entitled to a grateful welcome from the fans who saw him lead the 2003 playoffs in goal-scoring en route to the Devils’ last Stanley Cup, and hurry back only nine days after arthroscopic right knee surgery to rejoin the lineup in the 2009 playoffs.

“I’m sure it will be a little weird at first,” Langenbrunner told The Post. “Having gone through one before with Dallas, I know what to expect. But it’s a little different at first.”

Langenbrunner, now 36, was dealt to the Stars Jan. 7, 2011 for what was finally a third-round pick (Blake Coleman) when the Flyers offered the Devils what would have been at least a second-rounder, and could have become a first.

He and fellow former Devil Jason Arnott signed with Blues last summer, and since Hitchcock replaced Davis Payne, the Blues are 25-7-7.

“We’ve played pretty solidly lately, extremely so at home (23-3-3) and trying to find our way a little bit on the road,” Langenbrunner said. “It’s a good group of guys really playing together.”

There also is Hitchcock, ignored by general manager Lou Lamoriello in his summertime coaching search.

“He’s a great coach and he understands how to get the most out of guys,” Langenbrunner said. “The guys have really bought into what he’s done. They’re ready for someone to push the buttons.

“I’ve enjoyed [St. Louis]. It’s a great place to live. My family’s settled in. I enjoy the team very much, and there’s definitely some excitement in the city about the team.”

But questions about Langenbrunner’s departure from New Jersey remain. The Lemaire spat took hold when the coach sat out Langenbrunner at the end of the 2009-10 season to rest the captain for the playoffs, while Langenbrunner wanted to complete a full 82-game schedule.

Other players rebelled when Lemaire wanted someone else to wear the C while Langenbrunner rested. There also were suggestions that other issues between Lemaire and the team existed.

Lemaire went back into retirement temporarily while John MacLean took over, and Lamoriello asked Langenbrunner to waive his no-trade clause even before last season began. Langenbrunner finally agreed after Lemaire replaced MacLean, though Lemaire claims he told Lamoriello he wanted Langenbrunner to stay.

“Do I wish things would have ended differently? I don’t think anybody wants to go out that way,” Langenbrunner said. “But sometimes you’re dealt a certain hand and you have to deal with it. It was a learning experience for me on what can happen.

“Hard feelings, I definitely had some. But I still wish them well.”

Langenbrunner faced the Devils in Dallas last season, a 1-0 Jersey victory Feb. 22. He still won’t go into specifics on the issues that led to his departure.

“A lot of things happened,” Langenbrunner said. “It sort of changed with the direction the team was going.

“I was the odd guy out, right from the start.”

His spat with Lemaire?

“It had to be part of that,” Langenbrunner said. “I felt I’d made some sacrifices and decisions to help the team, and it didn’t work out that way. But there was nothing I wish I’d never done. Most of it was not about me. He made a decision and I didn’t agree with it. Any issue we had was not about me. It was issues about the team, and things he did.”

Langenbrunner said the captain became the pawn.

“I got stuck in the middle. I’ll take that,” Langenbrunner said. “I know Zach Parise looks at me and considers me a friend and thinks I made the right decisions.

“I wasn’t captain for the coach. I was captain for the players.”

Despite the unhappy departure, Langenbrunner remains a classic Devil, especially in silent self-defense. There aren’t many of their Cup-winners still playing, still able to return for a welcome.

Martin Brodeur sat out practice resting an ankle injury sustained in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over the Rangers the Garden. Johan Hedberg may face Blues tonight, having won all three starts of 2012.

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Devils have won five straight for first time since an eight-game streak that extended into that victory in Dallas last season. They are 5-0-1 in six . . . Parise (five goals, three assists, eight points) and Patrik Elias (1-6-7) own six-game point streaks, and David Clarkson is 5-3-8 in a four-game streak.