November 26,
2005
Devils Win
One For Coach Burns
The New Jersey Devils finally put it all together, at least
for one night, and did so against the defending Stanley Cup
Champions. With former coach Pat Burns on hand in the press
box, the Devils trounced the Tampa Bay Lightning by an 8-2
margin. The entire team from top to bottom contributed to the
effort, with two goals apiece scored by Alexander Mogilny and
Sergei Brylin. Viktor Kozlov had a career high five point
night, with one goal and four assists. The Devils scored on
four of their eight first period shots. It was one of those
rare nights (at least for this season), that everything the
Devils did went their way. The win over Tampa Bay gave the
Devils a two-game sweep of the state of Florida, and they did so
by a 13-3 margin.
The game was very emotional for the Devils, especially for
those players who had played for Pat Burns, who is recovering
from his second bout with cancer. After defeating colon cancer,
Burns was diagnosed with cancer of the liver, a much more
serious illness to defeat. It was great to see the team put
together such a good effort for their former coach, who has so
much to deal with. We wish all the best to Pat Burns on a
speedy and healthy recovery from his bout with cancer. Maybe
his appearance with the club has given them the spark they need,
because the team looked better than it has all season.
Hopefully, it is a sign of things to come.
NOTES: Brian Gionta scored his team leading 15th
goal of the season, and now has scored in four straight games...
Patrik Elias has not been skating lately, but is expected to
resume his on-the-ice workouts in the very near future, which is
music to the Devils’ ears, as his scoring and leadership have
been desperately missed as Elias recovers from hepatitis A...
Devils traded three minor leaguers, including Pascal Rheaume to
Phoenix for two minor leaguers, including former NHL’er D Brad
Ference, who has been assigned to Albany... Scott Gomez,
Alexander Mogilny and Brian Gionta scored in both games against
Florida, and have combined for 12 goals over the last five
games...
October 19, 2005
Devils Use Power Play to Defeat Florida
While it
certainly won’t go down as their best effort ever, it may go
down as their most complete 60 minute effort thus far. However,
the New Jersey Devils still have a lot of work to do, but it was
nice to see them garner a 4-3 win over Florida last night at
Continental Airlines Arena. The Devils continue to struggle at
putting the puck in the net at even strength, but were great on
the power play last night, scoring 3 times on the power play in
7 chances. However, the biggest accomplishment of the night was
only yielding one power play to their opponent, as the Devils
played more disciplined hockey, skated strong, and played smart,
something they had not done recently at all.
The key to
the offense was Alexander Mogilny, who scored the game winner at
13:54 of the 3rd period, and had previously added two assists.
Mogilny had previously been the victim of a give away on
Florida’s first goal back in the first period, but his three
point night certainly made up for it big-time. The goal in the
first period, scored by Nathan Horton, was quickly answered by
Sergei Brylin on the power play, giving the teams one goal
apiece at the first intermission.
The teams
exchanged goals in the second period, with New Jersey getting a
great shot on a power play opportunity by Viktor Kozlov at the
13:38 mark of the second period, off a feed from Mogilny.
Mogilny took advantage of an open passing lane after Florida
defenseman Jay Bouwmeester lost his stick, and Kozlov had a
great shot that beat Luongo up high. Florida answered with a
fluke goal just under three minutes later, when fourth line
winger Serge Payer banked a puck in off the back of Martin
Brodeur’s goalie pad from behind the net.
In the third
period, the Panthers jumped out to a 3-2 lead just 3:20 into the
period, when Juraj Kolnik beat Brodeur off a goalmouth scramble.
Again, the Devils responded quickly, as Zach Parise scored just
43 seconds later, giving Parise his second goal of his NHL
career. Almost ten minutes later, Mogilny buried a Jamie
Langenbrunner cross ice pass into an open net, and the Devils
had themselves the 4-3 margin of victory.
Goaltending
was good for the most part on both sides, with a couple of
scrambly plays at times. Brodeur stopped 21 of 24 shots for the
Devils, while the more contested goalie, Florida goalkeeper
Roberto Luongo stopped 30 of 34 shots sent his way. The Devils
rise to 3-3 on the season, while Florida now falls to 4-4.
UP NEXT FOR
NEW JERSEY: Devils travel out to Pittsburgh to play the Penguins
at the Igloo on Thursday evening at 7:30.
NOTES:
Devils welcomed back Paul Martin to the lineup, but lost Colin
White to a groin injury… …John Madden left near the end of the
first period, with what looked to be a serious leg injury, but
he was back to start the second period and looked to be 100%.
As always…
LET’S GO DEVILS!!!
October 13, 2005
Devils Get Manhandled By Rangers
It is not
often the New Jersey Devils get out worked, out hustled and out
played in goal in a given game. Teamwork and hustle are two
traits that have been the backbone of an extremely successful
franchise in New Jersey in the last ten to twelve years.
However, this was not the case on Thursday night at Madison
Square Garden, where the Devils got completely outplayed by
their local rivals, the New York Rangers, in every facet of the
game. The Rangers beat the Devils rather easily by a 4-1
margin.
The Rangers scored three goals on star goalie Martin
Brodeur in the first period, including two just 17 seconds
apart, and the Devils would never recover. They played a very
sluggish game and were not able to perform at their normally
high level.
Perhaps the Devils were a little rusty, having not played
since Saturday night? One could also say the Rangers were due,
having been continuously manhandled by the Devils in the regular
season in recent history. No matter what it was, the Devils
will need to respond in their next game on Saturday against
Carolina.
NOTES: Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped 20 of
21 shots to pick up his first career NHL victory.
Congratulations to Henrik... ...Devils are now 24-4-13-1 in
their last 42 regular season match ups with the Rangers...
...Rangers future goaltender Al Montoya was the backup for
Lundqvist, as Kevin Weekes nurses a groin injury... ...Devils
were without defenseman Paul Martin, creating a huge void on the
backline in terms of moving the puck, something that was exposed
greatly by the Rangers... ...Rangers had moved Martin Straka to
the second line, and moved up rookie Petr Prucha to play with
the top line along with Jaromir Jagr and Mychael Nylander, a
move that paid off, as Prucha played a very solid game.
October 6, 2005
Sidney Who? Devils Cruise Over Penguins 5-1
The big talk around the NHL yesterday was the debut of
superstar-in-the making Sidney Crosby, who was lacing up his
skates for the first time. At just 18 years old, Crosby has
been deemed "The Next One,” and is already being counted on to
help save the sport from the troubles it has experienced with
the labor dispute. Well, unfortunately for Mr. Crosby, in his
first NHL game, he wasn't even the best rookie on the ice.
Let's not call him a bust just yet ladies and gentlemen, but the
best rookie on the ice last night at Continental Airlines Arena,
was Zach Parise, who scored his first NHL goal, and assisted on
another, as the Devils cruised to a 5-1 victory.
The flow to the game was disrupted often with many
penalties called on both sides, leading to 11 power plays for
the Penguins, and 8 for New Jersey. The Devils however, had two
power play goals, including the game winner by young Parise at
19:25 of the first period.
The Devils were also led by two goals apiece from Sergei
"Sarge" Brylin and Brian Gionta, as the game was never really
much in doubt. The shutout for goaltender Martin Brodeur was
spoiled at 5:36 of the third period, when Sydney Crosby set up
Mark Recchi for a power play goal that eluded Brodeur. The key
to the game was the goaltending of Brodeur, who turned aside 36
of the 37 shots he faced on the evening, including several from
close range during power plays of one and two man advantages for
the Penguins. All in all, it was a great night for Devils fans,
but most importantly, it was a great night to have the NHL back
in action.
NOTES: It was very eerie, to be at the Meadowlands, and
not only not see Scott Niedermayer, but also no Scott Stevens.
Man that will take some getting used to… Devils spent more time
on special teams then at even strength against the Penguins, due
to all of the penalties called… next up is Philadelphia on
Friday night at the Wachovia Center…
As always…
LET’S GO DEVILS!!!
September 15, 2005
Devils Hockey Won’t Be the Same In 2005-06; Training Camp
Opens...
We’d like to welcome you back for another exciting season
of
New Jersey
Devils hockey. We certainly missed the
season dearly last year. Keep in mind, the Devils have gone
through a ton of changes as we are about to see the opening of
training camp. There are a few things we should point out that
will be considerably different this season compared to prior
years. Let’s start out with the coaching staff. Gone from last
season (2003-04) are Head Coach Pat
Burns and assistant coach
Bobby Carpenter. Pat
Burns has yet to fully recover from his cancer
diagnosis and is taking care of his personal health in lieu of
returning to the bench, as he clearly has his priorities in
order. Taking over for Burns is an old friend to the
New Jersey
Devils, Larry
Robinson, who starts his second tenure as Devils
coach. He will have to do without Carpenter, who is taking the
season off for personal reasons, most likely to take care of his
ailing father, another noble task, which leaves the Devils a
little shorthanded behind the bench, but something the Devils
should no doubt still be able to overcome.
Let’s now take a look at the changes in personnel on the
ice. This is something the Devils do not appear to be finished
with, as the team is the only one in the NHL that is currently
above the salary cap. Although we realize there are still
changes to come, we will take a look at the current roster, and
the various changes that have already taken place. The most
dramatic changes will be on the defense, as gone are the two
Scotts that anchored this defense for the last ten seasons or
so. Scott Niedermayer has moved on via free agency to join the
Anaheim
Mighty Ducks. The main reason behind
Niedermayer’s departure was not a financial decision. In fact,
Scott turned down a maximum contract offer from the Devils, to
allow him to join his brother on the Ducks. This will be the
first time in the professional ranks that the Niedermayer’s will
be skating on the same team. While it is nice to see his family
loyalty, it still pains me to realize we will no longer see the
skating prowess of ol’ #27 in the red white and black of New
Jersey. After all, he is the reigning Norris Trophy award
winner, so anyone who thinks he won’t be missed in New Jersey is
kidding themselves. He will be missed, and he will be missed
dearly. However, it’s hard to fault the Devils, they did offer
him about a million dollars a year extra, and we all know GM
Lou Lamoriello had tried on
various occasions to acquire Rob
Niedermayer, he was just unable to do so. Losing
Niedermayer, forced the Devils to go to what Lamoriello called,
“Plan B.” Plan B was to bring in two veteran defensemen, old
friend Vladimir Malakhov,
and new acquisition Dan McGillis.
Malakhov was a player, who thrived under Coach Robinson’s
tutelage back in 2000, and the Devils are hoping he rekindles
that level of play, as he will be counted on to help move the
puck, and use his skating ability. While he is not expected to
replace Niedermayer, he will be counted on heavily to provide an
offensive spark. The Devils also used the money earmarked for
Niedermayer, to resign veteran free agent
Brian Rafalski, who has been
a key member of the defense the last five seasons.
In addition to losing Niedermayer, the Devils also lost
Scott Stevens to retirement. This did not come as a surprise to
many, but nonetheless it does not make it any easier to
overcome. Stevens was an NHL legend, who will be very tough to
replace in a totally different capacity from Stevens.
Niedermayer’s game was built around speed, offense and his puck
moving abilities. While Stevens was far from a slouch in the
offensive zone, his game was built around defense, leadership
and strength. Opponents knew better than to keep their head
down while Stevens was on the ice. Guys like Eric Lindros,
Slava Kozlov, Ron Francis, Shane Willis and Paul Kariya found
out the hard way what it feels like to take a direct hit from
Scott Stevens. That element will be missed most by the Devils
come playoff time when on more than one occasion, Stevens
hitting abilities change the tones of an entire playoff series.
The Captain will be missed, and he will be missed dearly. The
closest thing to replacing the combo of the Scotts will be
youngsters Paul Martin and
David Hale. This isn’t to say that either Martin or
Hale will be replace Niedermayer or Stevens, respectively, but
the Devils will most likely put these two youngsters into those
types of roles and see if they can flourish. Martin is
definitely further along than Hale, who might even need another
season developing in the minors, after an injury riddled
campaign at Albany. In the meanwhile, veteran
Richard Matvichuk is expected
to fill the role of defensive stopper, and play against the
opponents’ top lines. The players expected to be in the top six
rotations to start the season are: Rafalski, Malakhov,
McGillis, Martin, Matvichuk, and
Colin White. Sean Brown, Tommy Albelin, and David Hale
will be fighting for the seventh and possibly eighth spots on
the backline, with Hale likely targeted to at least begin the
season in Albany.
As much change as there is on the defense, that isn’t to
think that the forwards won’t see their share of change. For
starters, leading goal scorer Patrik
Elias is recovering from hepatitis A, and will miss
at least the first ten games. His injury will be another thing
the Devils will have to overcome, at least for the early part of
the season. The Devils are in a little bit of a quandary in
terms of the salary cap. With Elias out for the first ten
games, the team gets a reprieve on Elias’ salary. However, upon
his return, the Devils will have to make the necessary moves to
get their salary structure below the salary cap. This will put
a few players on the hot seat in not only the early part of the
season, but training camp as well, as Lamoriello will look to
shed the necessary dollars off the salary cap that is
necessary. This puts players like
Jeff Friesen, Sergei
Brylin, Viktor Kozlov,
Erik Rasmussen, Darren
Langdon, Krzysztof Oliwa,
and possibly even Jamie Langenbrunner
that they will need to produce, or they could find themselves
with a one way ticket out of town. The Devils also brought back
old friend Alexander Mogilny
to help with the scoring up front. A possible “wild card” to
add to the mix is up and coming youngster,
Zach Parise. Also returning
are guys like John Madden,
Jay Pandolfo, Grant
Marshall, and
Scott Gomez.
It should be interesting to see what lies in store in the
season ahead, with the rule changes and different personnel. We
will breakdown the impact of the rule changes in our next
installment, but until then, it’s great to know hockey’s back!
Enjoy training camp everyone!
As always…
LET’S GO DEVILS!!!
Seth Levin is the NHL Director for
SportzNutz.com, and has been the fan writer for the New Jersey Devils since 2001. He also
writes an NHL column “IN OVERTIME” and makes weekly “POWER RANKINGS,” which can be accessed
at:
http://www.sportznutz.com/nhl. If you have any questions or comments, or if you would be
interested in writing your own column at
SportzNutz.com or any part of NutzWorld, please email me at: NHLDir@nutzworld.net,
and most importantly, THANKS FOR READING!!!!
