M-I-C-K-E-Y D-E-V-I-L-S

Five years ago, Wayne Gretzky, the Superman of ice hockey, called it a "Mickey Mouse organization."

Sunday night, after that same organization had eliminated the Washington Capitals to advance to the Wales Conference Final, several of my friends who are Boston Bruins' fans labeled them "the Bruins' free ticket to the Stanley Cup Championship."

Who are these targets of such disrespect in the National Hockey League?

It must be the New Jersey Devils, who had not qualified for the NHL Playoffs--an elite group of the "best 16" of the 21 league teams--since the franchise moved from Denver to the northeast.

But this season has been different. New Jersey held onto first place well into December before returning to its old losing ways. Most traditional cellar-dwellers would have been happy with a great start. Not the Devils.

Jim Schoenfeld was hired as head coach in the middle of the team's horrendous mid-season slump, and his defensive wizardry helped the squad close in on Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Most traditional cellar-dwellars would have been happy with the play of goaltenders Bob Sauve and Alan Chevrier, Not the Devils.

New Jersey's second choice in the 1985 draft, Sean Burke, joined the team in mid-March after spending the year as the Canadian Olympic goaltender. Schoenfeld immediately gave him the number-one goaltending position in New Jersey.

Since the 6-ft., 3-in. goalie joined the Devils, the guys from the Garden State have exploded into the NHL spotlight. Burke won 10 of his 11 regular-season games, and the Devils edged into those elusive playoffs by going unbeaten in their last eight games.

Next, the "fluke" team dominated the New York Islanders and squeaked by the Capitals to set up this week's showdown with Boston.

However, the Devils are not another "cinderella team." Cinderella needed a fairy godmother. New Jersey doesn't.

The Devils haven't sought revenge against those that scoffed. They haven't gloated as they swept aside those that scoffed. And they haven't brashly predicted that they will continue sweeping aside those that scoffed.

Like Schoenfeld and Burke, the Devils are young, excited, humble and standing tall.

Dough Brown's overtime goal in the Boston Garden Wednesday brought the Devils one step closer to ripping up the Bruins' ticket to the Stanley Cup. Waiting in the background as a prospective opponent in the finals for the "Mouseketeers" are the Edmonton Oilers. And Gretzky.

The NHL has not crowned its Stanely Cup Champion yet, but it has found its 1988 "winners" in the purest sense of the word--the New Jersey Devils.