Preseason Recap

After going 1-2 in their first three games, the Devils won the final three, making their final record 4-2. Jamie Langenbrunner, Cam Janssen, and Colin White are all out indefinitely. Langenbrunner is expected to return in late November/early December, while it's unknown when Janssen and White will be able to play. Rookies Rod Pelley, David Clarkson, and Nicklas Bergfors all seem to have made the team.

Preseason scores:

G1, L 3-2 vs. Flyers
3rd:
Zach Parise (PP) (Karel Rachunek, Andy Greene)
Andy Greene (PP) (Aaron Asham)
Full Box Score

G2, W 3-0 @ Boston
2nd:
Pelley (Barry Tallackson, Vitaly Vishnevski)
3rd:
Rachunek (Johnny Oduya, Travis Zajac)
Tallackson (Bergfors, Oduya)
Full Box Score

G3, L 3-4 @ NYR
2nd:
Dainius Zubrus (Olli Malmavaara)
Parise (Clarkson, Brian Gionta)
Gionta (Malmavaara)
Box Score

G4, W 3-1 @ Flyers
1st:
Bergfors (Rachunek, Greene)
3rd:
Pelley (Sergei Brylin, Oduya)
Bergfors (Gionta, Jari Viuhkola)
Box Score


G5, W 6-1 vs NYI
1st:
Gionta (unassisted)
John Madden (Arron Asham, Matt Corrente)
Zajac (Parise, Clarkson)
2nd:
Gionta PP (Rachunek, Parise)
3rd:
Gionta PP(Greene, Rachunek)
Madden PP(VIsnevski, Greene)
Box Score

G6, W 2-1 @ NYI
1st:
Zubrus PP (Gionta)
2nd:
Parise PP (Greene)
Box Score

White and Janssen Injured

Colin White was hit above the eye durning 2 on 1 drills in practice today. He and the ice were covered in blood. When coach Brent Sutter went to find him in the locker room after practice was over, he was gone. No word on where exactly he got hit, and how bad it is yet.

Cam Janssen disloacted his shoulder during the preseason game on Monday during a fight. The jersey was pulled over his head and he got a beating. His shoulder popped out while he was trying to throw a punch. He got it back in, but he was involved in another fight minutes later where it popped out again and he missed the rest of the game.

New Captain for 07-08 Season?

Head coach Brent Sutter has announced that there might be a new captain and assistants this season. There's a good chance Elias will wear the C again, but Sutter wants the players to work for it- nothing will be handed to them. Several players have been brought up as options for the new leaders, including

Patrik Elias- Wore the C last season, but didn't have a great season, despite leading the team in points and assists. He admitted the C effected his play in the beginning of the season, but he got more comfortable as the season went on.
John Madden- Usually wears an A, but could change that with hard work during camp and the preseason games. Many thought he would wear the C after Stevens.
Colin White- Same as Madden, but might not be the best on ice leader on the team.
Jamie Langenbrunner- Also an A, and showed a lot of leadership on a line with Travis Zajac and Zach Parise last season. A current groin injury might prevent him from impressing in camp and getiing it, though.
Jay Pandolfo- No letter unless one of the above is injured,although he shows leadership on the ice. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem like a top choice in this race.
Sergei Brylin- Pretty much the same situation as Pandolfo. Is a great leader, but he probably won't get it.
Zach Parise- An excellent player who many believe will be the captain in time, but he's a little young right now. He'll wear an A, if anything.
Martin Brodeur- Goalies can't be captain, but some think they should have three alternates, and make Marty the honorary captain of the team. I can't really see this happening, although if goalies could be captain, we wouldn't even be talking about this right now.
Cam Janssen- Why not? He brings energy to the team with his two minutes of ice time a game. And he'll lead the league in goals, assists, points, +/-, PIMs, and game winners, all with his 2 minutes on ice a game. Book it.

I think Elias, Madden and Langenbrunner are the three best choices of those listed, but Langs's groin problems might also cause a problem with him having a chance as captain.

Dowd to Flyers Camp

Jim Dowd will be at the Flyers' trainging camp this season. Better them than us. He's 39, and was never the best. So thanks for the memories, but see ya Jimbo.

Erik Rasmussen was offered an invite to training camp by none ofther than Lou, which he turned down. I don't think anyone is too disappionted about that eiter.

The Devils currently have four open spots on the third and fourth lines, assuming the first two lines will be made up of Elias, Zubrus, Gionta, Parise, Zajac and Langenbrunner, with Madden and Pandolfo holding their spots on the third line. Asham, Janssen, Rupp, Clarkson, Pelley, Viuhkola, and Brylin will be the top candidates for those spots, but several prospects, such as Bergfors, Vrana, and Tallackson could make the cut, along with NHL vet Grant Marshall.

Just some news

The Devils will not be doing anything special to show off their new jerseys. They will be seen for the first time during their first preseason game on September 17.

The Habs are retiring assistant coach Larry Robinson' number during a game against the Sens on November 19.

The Prudential Center is coming along nicely. Pictures are being updated frequently on their site.

Fromer Devils VP and GM Max McNab passed away at the age of 83 on Sunday.

Scott Neidermayer is still unsure if he'll play this season. Either way, he will miss most, if not all of training camp.

And finally, in case you haven't been keeping up with the Canada/Russia Under 20 series, coach Brent Sutter and the Canadien team are 6-0, with game seven tonight. Devils prospect Alexander Vasyunov has been one of the few bright spots on the Russian team. The game can be watched here.

Keep on voting

Round three of the logo contest: Devils vs Habs

Also, remember to watch the Devils Fifteen to Remember tonight, from April 5, when Brodeur collected his 48th win, an NHL record in the final meeting of the Devils and Flyers last season.

Martin Finally Resigned

Paul Martin has signed a 3 year deal worth 11.5 million (3 this season, 4 in 08 and 4.5 in 09).

Finally, a decent defenseman signed.

Vote Devils

Vote for the Devils.

http://nhllogos.blogspot.com/2007/08/poll-devils-vs-maple-leafs.html

Asham Signed

The Devils have signed ex-Islander Aaron Asham to a one-year, $700,000 deal. I think we have enough fourth liners now to play a different one every night.

Well, I'm sure Janssen's happy about this.

Parise Resigned

Zach Parise has signed a four-year deal worth $4.5mil.

Assistant Coaches Announced

Larry Robinson, John MacLean and Tommy Albelin will be backing up new head coach Brent Sutter this season.

This was a good loss.

Who knew there even was such a thing? Lowell defensemen Alex Brooks and Jim Fahey have parted ways with the Devils. Brooks signed with the Blues and Fahey withe the 'Hawks. Trust me, I'm not crying.

To make up for their losses, which also includes Dan LaCouture who is now a duck, and Dan McGillis and Scott Lachance, who won't be resigned, they signed vet defense man Ian Moran and German defenseman Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (try saying that ten times fast). I think it's safe to say these signings are for Lowell. If not, we just might set a record for most and lamest defensemen on a team during one season.

Marshall Resigned

Why? That I do not know. He's signed for this season, and will be making 475,000. Hopefully he'll be back in Lowell. I have nothing against him, but there are a ton of younger, more/just as talented players waiting to get a shot with the big guys.

New Coach?

UPDATE: According to TSN, the Devils will be announcing Sutter as their new coach today.

Now to get off topic. Souray signed with the Oilers for 5.5 mil. a season for 5 seasons, with a NMC for the first three years.

It's awesome," Devils winger Zach Parise said. "I'm pretty excited about it. He coached Team Canada in the world juniors. Travis (Zajac), who was trying out, said a lot of guys liked him. I think this is great for us."

Judging by that quote, I think it's safe to say Parise is/will resign(ed).


Rumors are flying around that Brent Sutter will be the Devils' new coach. He previously coached junior team the Red Deer, and was apparently a favorite of Lou's for the position for the past few coach hunts. This dude had her heart set on Pat Bruns, but Sutter is, supposedly, the same hard core type of coach, and is good from kids. Kids as in younger players. I'm not saying it's definite, and I won't until I see it from a reliable source, like TSN or the Devils site. After the Souray ordeal, I'm not believing anything until it's made official, again, by a reliable source (NHL Line doesn't count).

It's out

The schedule for the 2007/08 season's out. I'd post it, but it's too long.

Word on the street is Lou's in Minnesota getting Martin and Parise to sign their contracts. Minard, McGillis and Lachance won't be kept. I have no problem with that, they're all a little old. If they haven't made it the NHL yet (or played well on that level), then they never will. Pihlman will be playing in Finland, but we still have his rights. Hopefully Lou will use that in a trade. Dowd wants to return for another season, but LL isn't sure if he will or not. I'm overusing Lou, but he'll most likely be talking to Rasmussen, too. I still smell a trade coming on. Eight defensemen, most of which are barely decent number 2's. It's good for injury, but we have Fraser and Malmivaara for that. Maybe two of them for a good number two? Who knows.

See ya, Sheldon.

Update: He's signed for the next three seasons, and will get 1.4 Mil. this season and 2 per for the last 2. And Janssen's signed for three seasons. I love Cam as much as anyone else (maybe more, judging by the hate I've seen for him by some people), but I think Lou has officially lost his mind.


With Vitaly Vishnevski now on the team, I think it's safe to say we won't be signing Souray, unless Martin isn't resigned or Lou plans on having Oduya down in Lowell. Not enough cap space, and enough defensemen. But if Lou plans to trade for Souray, then we're looking at a whole other story. Well, I don't know how long we have him for, but he'll be making $1.4 mill this season.

Souray?

All this Souray junk deserves it's own post. Long story short, NHL Line is the only site to have anything regarding all of this. I don't know how trustworthy this is, because I've only recently heard of it, the writing has a bunch of mistakes in it, and they reported that Briere had signed with the Canadians. I'm not totally buying it, mainly because they've been saying a signing will be announced shortly for the last three days, and it's been their main story since then. Not that there's anything wrong with that. You never see the Devils with a "big" story, but with Vanek signing that offer sheet from the Oilers, then Buffalo matching it, you would think that would be forgotten or something. I've heard some people suspect Lou's waiting for Parise and Martin to sign their contracts before announcing a Souray signing to prevent what happened with Vanek and the Sabres happening with them. I could see why. If we announce that we signed Souray or anyone else for that matter before Parise and Martin were signed, and that were to happen, a team would know how much to offer so that Lou couldn't match it. Well, we'll see what happens, but if you ask me, this site is as reliable as the National Enquirer.

Signings

The exclamation mark is officially out. Clemmensen's out, and he's been replaced by kevin weekes. More Ranger trash. Now, If you've read nearly anything I've written about Lowell, you know how much I dislike Frank Doyle. I'd rather have him warming the bench for a lot less $$ than the 1.375 he'll be getting over two years. Needless to say, I won't be a Devils fan when he plays- unless we're playing the Rangers or Flyers.
Let's take a look at his stats from last season, shall we?
GP: 14 W: 4 L:6 OTL: 2 GAA: 3.39 SV%: .879
I'm sure you're all up to date with Clemmensen's 6 games, 1 win, 1 loss and 2 shoot out losses. He had a GAA of 3.15 and a SV% of .889. Being that it's almost gaurenteed that Clemmer would probably be willing to take the minimum, I'd take him any day.

Oh, and nothing else on the Souray rumors.




First off, happy Fourth. Now, down to business. The Rachunek rumors have been confirmed by both TSN and the Devils. There are rumors floating around about us signing Sheldon Souray, but it's yet to be confirmed by a reliable source. Weather this is true or not, our D's gonna be pretty hot next season. As hot as an ice cube..


Oh my. Lukowich to the Lightning for three years. So our defense is Oduya, White, Greene, Matvichuk and possibly
Rachunek (TSN has yet to confirm us signing him, so I'm not entirely sure).

Update: 20.4 million over the 6 seasons.
Finally, a big name! The Devils have signed Danuis Zubrus for 6 years, with financial terms not disclosed yet.


Well, Oduya signed the same deal as Greene, 2 years at 600,000 per, and I heard Janssen will be getting 550,000 for I don't konw how long. We also signed ex Ranger Karel Rachunek for one season for 1.5 mil. The Pens got Sykora for two seasons, so my hopes of getting him are gone. I'll keep updating as I find out more.


Here's one Deivls signing- Oduya has been resigned for I don't know how long or for how much.
Update: Nothing on the $$ or the length, but it's not on TSN's list of signings, so I don't have a clue as to what's going on.



Talk about bleeding red and black- Gomez signed a 7 year deal with the Rags for $7.35 mil. per season. Well, I hope they enjoy over paid players- then again, they must, going back to that Holik deal. How nice would it be to see Janssen pull one on him next season? Maybe Rupp, White, or Matvichuk or Clarkson. Anyone. If you ask me, it's be worth someone getting susended over. See ya, Gomer, and I hope you're as good as you were here there.



Brian Rafalski has signed a 5 year $30 mil. contract with the Red Wings. So as of right now, our defense consists of White, Greene and Matvichuk. That seems promising. No word on Gomez of the other UFA's, but I'll keep you posted.

Rupp Signed

Mike Rupp has signed with the Devils for 2 seasons, at $500, 000 per. Lou's close to closing a deal with Rafalski, and Odyua will be a UFA come Sunday. Oh, and the cap will be $50.3 million this season.

Well, since it's Friday, and Rupp was signed, why not make him the star this week?

Height: 6' 5"
Wight: 230
Position: Right wing
Birthday: Jan 13, 1980
Shoots: Left
From: Cleveland, Ohio

2006/07 Season:
Team: Devils
Games played: 76
Goals: 6
Assists: 3
PIMs: 92
PPG: 0
SHG: 0
GWG: 1
+/-: -10

2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games played: 9
Goals: 0
Assists: 1
PIMs: 7
PPG: 0
SHG: 0
GWG: 0
+/-: +1

He's in the Hall

Scott Stevens has entered the Hockey Hall of Fame. Make that he will officially enter on November 12. That's pretty awesome, for him and the Devils. His leadership and skills got him in, and, well, it was all with the Devils- I didn't see him win three Cups with any other team. Aww, congrats, Scotty.

Scott Stevens' 10 Greatest Hits

10/14/06: Lowell Picks up First win

It took two games to do, but on October 14, the Lowell Devils took their first win ever over the Hartford Wolfpack. Kind of funny, how they were 5-2-1 against them, since like the Devils were the same against the Rangers. Anyway, I'll keep it short. They were tied 1-1 going into the second and 2-2 going into the third. Justin Papineau scored the game winner at 7:57 of the third.


Chris Mindard (could I have introduced that any better?)

Height: 6' 1"
Wight: 200
Position: Center
Birthday: November 18, 1981
Shoots: Left
From: Owen Sound, Ontario

2006/07 Season:
Team: Lowell
Games played: 65
Goals: 32
Assists: 17
PIMs: 30
PPG: 12
SHG: 0
GWG: 8
+/-: +5

Happy summer!!

I know I'm late, but happy summer. But I guess it's not all that happy, since there's no hockey. I do have some happy news, though. Even without a first round pick in hte draft, the Devils made out pretty well. Here's some info on all their picks. As for that moment of the week, that's not happening- we both have too much going on this summer to be able to do it. On the plus side, FSN NY's 15 To Remember will be replaying some of the season's most memorable games Wednesdays at 8, Thursdays at 12:30 am and noon, and Saturday afternoons. The first game's been done, but there's still 14 more. The Devil of the week will still be done, as will the Lowell moment (we don't have to think of those) and rookie/Loweller of the week, both of which will be done by tomorrow afternoon.

Jamie Langenbrunner

Height: 6' 1"
Wight: 200
Position: Right wing
Birthday: July 24, 1975
Shoots: Right
From: Cloquet, Minnesota

2006/07 Season:
Team: Devils
Games played: 82
Goals: 23
Assists: 37
PIMs: 64
PPG: 12
SHG: 0
GWG: 7
+/-: -10

2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games played: 11
Goals: 2
Assists: 6
PIMs: 7
PPG: 1
SHG: 0
GWG: 1
+/-: +3

Double Dose

On January 14, the Lowell Devils hosted both Red Sox Day, and the Philadelphia Phantoms. With two goals from then-Devil Aaron Voros, one each from Dan McGillis, Petr Vrana, David Clarkson and Chris Minard and 25 saves from Jordan Parise, the Devils cruised to a 6-3 win in a penalty-filled game. The win was Parise's 7th win of the season, and the Devils' 19th.


Parise is a familiar name to many hockey fans- there's the Devils' young left wing Zach, who lead the team in goals in the regular season, came second on the team in scoring and lead the league in playoff goals through the first round. There's Jean-Paul, ex-left wing, who spent 17 seasons in the NHL, with the Bruins (2), Maple Leafs (1), North Stars (9), Islanders (4), and Barons (1). There's also the less-known Jordan Parise, who had an excellent rookie season with the Lowell Devils. An attitude problem postponed his hockey career a bit, but help from his brother got him into the UND for three seasons, and signed as a free agent with the Devils.

Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 190
Position: Goalie
Birthday: September 19, 1982
Catches: Right
From: Fairbault, Minnesota

2006/07 Season:
Team: Lowell Devils
Games played: 32
Wins: 17
Loses: 19
OT Loses: 3
Points: 1
Shutouts: 2
Goals Against Average: 2.68
Save Percentage: .915

Talk About Under the Radar

How many people noticed that Sergei Brylin had 40 points last season? Not many. But you can't blame them. Sarge tends to be a quiet player, so it's not that strange that he was over shadowed by Marty and Parise.

Height: 5' 10"
Wight: 190
Position: Center
Birthday: January 13, 1974
Shoots: Left
From: Moscow, Russia

2006/07 Season:
Team: Devils
Games played: 82
Goals: 16
Assists: 24
PIMs: 35
PPG: 8
SHG: 0
GWG: 2
+/-: -5

2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games played: 11
Goals: 1
Assists: 2
PIMs: 6
PPG: 1
SHG: 0
GWG: 0
+/-: -8

I, personally, am glad we have him for another season. And by the way, I screwed up last week: Gionta had 25 goals, not 35.

*Excuse* me?

I'll save my ranting and raging about Crosby winning the Hart for the other blog, so here are the award winners for now:

Frank J. Selke (best defensive forward): Rod Brind' Amour (420 pts.)
Runners up: Sami Pahlsson (405), Jay Pandolfo (311)
John Madden made it into the top ten in voting, Brindy gave props to Pando.

Calder Memorial (best rookie): Evgeni Malkin (1,357)
Runners up: Paul Stastny (956), Jordan Staal (565)
Travis Zajac came in tenth, with 13 points (I knew he'd get some votes)


Lady Byng (most gentlemanly player): Pavel Datsyuk (not sure how may points, but he did have a lot more than the first runner up)
Runners up: Martin St Louis (no comment), Joe Sakic
Pandolfo came in fourth in voting.

First team all-stars: Marty Brodeur, Nicklas Lidstrom, Scotty Niedermayer, Sidney Crosby, Dany Heatley, Alex Ovechkin

Second team all-stars: Roberto Luongo, Chris Pronger, Dan Boyle, Vinnie Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Thomas Vanek

Jack Adams (best coach): Alain Vigneault (Canucks, 134)
Runners up: Lindy Ruff (Sabres, 126), Michel Therrien (Penguins, 91)

James Norris (best D-man): Lidstrom (1,217)
Runners up: Niedermayer (1,024), Pronger (608)

Vezina (most awesomest goalie): Marty!! (122)
Runners up: Luongo (116), Miikka Kipursoff and Henrik Lundquist (7 each)

Hart (MVP): Crosby (1,225)
Runners up: Marty (763), Luongo (801)

Tomorrow, look for a nice rant about freaking Crosby winning Marty's freaking Hart trophy in the other blog.

Crikey!

The NHL awards are tonight, and the Devils are hoping for a hat trick. Marty Brodeur and Jay Pandolfo have been nominated for the Hart, Vezina (both Brodeur) and Selke (Pando).

The Hart is for the MVP. Sidney Crosby and Roberto Luongo are also in the running. Maybe it's just because I worship him, but I think Marty deserves it. He lead the league in shutouts, was third in GAA and save percentage, and broke the 33 year old wins record. Sid the kid did lead the leauge in scoring, but he didn't play as big a part in the Pens' sucess as Marty did in the Devils. Luongo, well, I think he had a little more help from his D than Marty did, and Marty just played better.

The Vezina goes to the best goalie. Luongo, Henrik Lundqvist and Miikka Kipursoff are going against Marty. If you ask my, it's really between Marty and Luongo. Kipursoff was amazing in the playoffs, but he wasn't as good as the other two. I think breaking the wins record should have put it in the bag for Marty, but Loungo did tie it (although he tied it after Marty broke it, so he really didn't do anything too special). Not only did he actually break the record, but Marty also had him beat in GAA and SV%.

The other candidates for the Selke (best defensive forward) are Rod Brind'Amour and Sami Pahlsson. I'm not quite sure who I think should win this, but I don't think it will be Pandolfo. I didn't see either of the others play too much, but I've seen better defensive play from forwards other than Pando. Who knows. Maybe we will get that hat trick tonight.

I'll post the winners of each award after it's over. The awards start at 7:30 and will be aired on Versus and CBC.

Czech it

Ha, I crack myself up. Ok, so moment number 8 (is it that many already?) happens to do with Rod Pelley, who's supposed to become the next John Madden, who happens to be the the Devils' checking center (for all you non-Devils fans). Pelley started the game with three goals, and ended with six. For all of you who aren't good at math, that's three goals in one game, which we in the hockey world call a hat trick (unless it's done by Patrik Elias, which is called a Pat-trick. Get it?). The Devils had a 3-0 lead after 23 minutes, courtesy of Pelley, Nicklas Bergfors and David Clarkson. Seven minutes into the third, the Wolf Pack had tied the game at three. No worries. Justin Papineu and Pelley scored, making it seem as if the Devils had it in the bag. But the last minute was more insane than I am. With an empty net behind them, the Wolves got with in one. As if their hopes of at least going into OT being squashed wasn't enough, Pelley netted an empty netter with three seconds left to record the first Lowell hat trick ever.

Now, where does the Czech come in? Right here. Petr Vrana may not have turned out to be what the Devils hoped, but you sure can't say he was bad.

Height: 5' 10"
Wight: 185
Position: Center
Birthday: March 29, 1985
Shoots: Left
From: Sternberk, Czech Republic

2006/07 Season:
Team: Lowell
Games played: 61
Goals: 13
Assists: 19
PIMs: 44
PPG: 3
SHG: 0
GWG: 1
+/-: -9


Kind of funny how his stats were so similar to Nicklas Bergfors' and neither had the type of season that was expected, right?

Just a little

Late, that is. Speaking of little, Brian Gionta had a not-so-good season after his 48 goal performance last season. But you really can't blame him. Claude Julien was the coach for almost the whole season (nothing against him, but no players reached their full offensive potential this season, and I blame him for that) and he missed about a quarter of the season with groin injuries. The way I see it, had he not missed 20 something games, he could have easily lead the team in scoring yet again. Why am I rambling about him? Let's think. I said this was late, I never did the Devil of the week thing..I know, shut up and do your thing.

Height: 5' 7"
Wight: 175
Position: Right wing
Birthday: January 18, 1979
Shoots: Right
From: Rochester, New York

2006/07 Season:
Team: Devils
Games played: 62
Goals: 35
Assists: 20
PIMs: 36
PPG: 11
SHG: 0
GWG: 4
+/-: -3

2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games played: 11
Goals: 8
Assists: 1
PIMs: 4
PPG: 3
SHG: 0
GWG: 1
+/-: +5

I think I said enough about him. Let's hope he can have another season like last season this coming season *with Elias and Sykora*.

More Marty

I completely forgot about the moment thing, until today. Sorry bout that. But it's not like I forgot for a week or six.

So, yeah, it's about Marty. Incase you've been living under a rock, or you just don't care, Marty broke that 33-year-old wins record, with a 3-2 win over the Flyers, who's old goalie, Bernie Parent, set it in the 73/74 season.

The game was almost like catch. The Flyers took and early 1-0 lead, that Jamie Langebrunner evened out with a power play goal over 15 minutes later. The Flyers took the lead again, about half way through the second, but Sergie Brylin provided another PPG, and tied it up again. Brylin was on the PK with Jimmy Dowd when Scott Gomez was in the box for hooking in the third, and Dowd scored short handed for the Devils' first lead of the game. Brodeur was his usually awesome self, and led the Devils to a 3-2 lead, setting a new wins record, and franchise record for wins. Brodeur had 34 saves, and Brylin had a goal and an assist.

New Stanley Cup Champs

So the (Mighty) Ducks won the Cup (finally). They won the series 4-1, with a 6-2 win tonight. I'm happy for them. And for Scott Neidermayer for getting the Smythe, but it should totally be Parise with that trophy. And the Devils should be cheering and passing around the Cup. Ugh. It was so weird seeing a captain besides Scotty Stevens with the Cup. And it was even weirder to see Neids with it not as a Devil. Ah, congrats, Ducks. But the Devils will get it next season.

Alright.

The Devils signed Andy Greene to a two-year $1.2 million contract (that's $600,000 a season). That's good. Andy rocks. Sad that he's almost as good as some of the older D-men, right?

No Way!

Let's go back to my No Way! entry from my other blog, shall we? I'm starting to become amused by the reasons people want Souray back. The most common (maybe even only?) one I've seen is he's good offensively. Ok. Let's get someone who's not exactly decent on D, but is good offensively, to improve our less-than-amazing defense. Makes sense, right? I saw this video, and, after you watch it yourself, I think you'll see my point about him not being a Norris-worthy d-man.

Now, Souray is barely making $2.5 million, so, with the cap supposedly going up about $2 mil., and we need defense, what's the harm? Well, not only will be definitely want more than Rafalski, just look at his stats from this season, and focus on his +/-. It's not a joke, or a typo, he was really a -28. That's not the kind of guy I wanna see making Marty's job easier, which, as we all know, is the D's job.

So that's it, really. If you want a "No way to Souray" button, they'll only be $.75.

Bergforce!!

That nickname didn't exactly fit this season, after a not-so-good season, compared to his rookie season, but, hey. Since this week's moment is kind of lame (just about the Devils purchasing the franchise in July), I'm going right into Bergfors. Not that it wasn't good or anything, but it didn't say much, and I'd be easier to just read it than to listen to my rambles.

Height: 5' 11"
Wight: 190
Position: Right wing
Birthday: March 7, 1987
Shoots: Right
From: Sodertalje, Sweden

2006/07 Season:
Team: Lowell
Games played: 60
Goals: 13
Assists: 19
PIMs: 8
PPG: 10
SHG: 0
GWG: 0
+/-: -1

On the plus side, he doesn't take too many penalties. Maybe he's one of those players who's better suited for the NHL. Who knows?

I see coaching potential

In Jimmy Dowd. Not any time soon, though. Give him 5 or 6 years.

Incase you didn't hear, and you care, Sidney Crosby's the Penguins' new captain. I just won't comment on that right now.

And finally, me and my friend over there have started another blog for all of our rants, since there seem to be a lot of those. No rants yet, but I'd say soon, since there is a game tonight (Ducks @ Senators at 8 on Versus).

Marty-riffic

Riffic sounded best. So, it's Marty time.

Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 215
Position: Goalie..Duh.
Birthday: May 6, 1972
Catches: Left
From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

2006/07 Season:
Team: Devils
Games played: 78
Wins: 48
Loses: 23
OT Loses: 7
Points: 1
Shutouts: 12
Goals Against Average: 2.18
Save Percentage: .922


2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games Played: 11
Wins: 5
Loses: 6
OT Loses: 0
Points: 0
Shutouts: 1
GAA: 2.44
SV%: .916

Marty's the best. End of story.

Ahh..

I changed my mind again. There's only gonna be 15 moments, because I really don't wanna do 2-3 a week. I'm finally gonna start that today. With my complaints about Clemmensen's lack of ice time and all that last night, I think his only win this season deserves something. That, and I'm really not in a thinking room.

After not playing with the Devils since a 40-save 5-3 loss to the Bruins in December, Clemmensen was sent down to Lowell for a game in February, and made 35 saves for a 3-0 victory. He played on the following Sunday, after the Devils suffered a 4-2 loss the day before, with Marty in the net and Janssen scoring his first NHL goal.

Zach Parise scored the first tying goal (Travis Zajac, Jamie Langenbrunner) early in the second, and the Devils took the first lead of the game less than two minutes into the third, with a tally from Zajac (Parise and Brian Rafalski). About nine minutes in, the Capitals tied it, only to see the tie broken yet again by Langenbrunner (Rafalski and Patrik Elias). Clemmensen ended with 23 saves, and his first win since the previous March. The Caps were 0/2 on the PP, while the Devils were 1/4 (Langenbrunner).

Bitter much?

Does Ray emery ever smile? Pictures, during games, after games..I've never seen a smile cross that man's face. Maybe he knew he would be down 2-0 in the series against the Ducks? Yep, Jean Sebastien Giguere had an excellent game, and the Ducks won the game 1-0 and increased their lead in the series. Samuel Pahlsson scored the only goal.

I believe I had a point, other then pointing out emery's bitterness. Ah, yes. I've brought up the backups many times,
just like my desire to have Sykora and Neidermayer back, and, well, I feel it needs to be done again. I've said it before that I don't want Clemmensen to go. I think I've also made it pretty clear that if we can't find a decent UFA to do it, I'd pick Jordan Parise over Frank Doyle any day, even if I was in a coma. The only goalie aside from the two listed above that I like is Giguere, now that Holmqvist is with the Bolts. Unfortunately, he's too good to be a backup, and the Ducks will probably manage to keep him under their wings (get it? Ducks? Wings? I quack myself up..). Enough with the stupid jokes, I like Giguere. Maybe we can steal him and give them Gomez in exchange. It could happen.

As I've sid many times before, though, the lack of games Clemmensen played will effect both what he can get and who would want to sign with us. I feel bad for Clemmensen. He's just not as good as Marty. There's nothing wrong with making $450, 000 a season to sit on the bench and play a handful of games, but sitting there so long must be horrible for his confidence, which is why I'd be happier to see him go somewhere else and actually play.

Priceless.

"I'm cheering for the other guys to beat the Ducks because I am a Red Wings fan. I predict Ottawa will win it in three.'' -A skateboarder in Newport Beach - and self-proclaimed hockey fan - predicting who will win the Stanley Cup.

Genious, that boy is. Speaking of smart guys, I told my buddy he could do the moment, if he brought up tfour other points. He brought up one, but forgot about the other three I'll let it slide this time. I have nothing better to be doing now anyway.

In case you didn't hear, the Ducks came back from deficites of 1-0 and 2-1 to win their game and take the lead in the series, 1-0. The recap's here.

My second point was the Devils have signed Finnish center Jari Viuhkola, who used to be Blackhawk's property. He's not very big, and doesn't have much of a scoring touch. Eh, maybe we can change that. I'm obviously not too excited about it, but, hey, maybe I'll change my mind. Although the only ones I want to see signing with us right now are Sykora, Rafalski, Clemmense, and Drury or Briere.

Finally, the Devils moment of the week thing has not been forgotten, we just didn't start it yet. Similar to the 25 moments featured on the Devils site all season, there will be 25 of them, meaning most weeks will have two moments, which will most be posted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'll start it this week, maybe tomorrow instead of a Tuesday. We'll see.

To all you other James Vam Riemsdyk fans, there's more of a chance that Scott Stevens will come back. We have no first round pick, and that's when that boy's getting picked. Even Lou can't make that happen. Way to stay positive, right?

Six is good.

It's Andy Greene's number, it's..I'm sure there are other good things about it. Moment number six was a good one, too.

On November 17, after the first 20 minutes, things didn't look good for the Devils. They were down 3-0 against their rivals, the Manchester Monarchs. Frank Doyle was pulled from goal and was replaced by Jordan Parise. They were solid in the second, getting goals from Grant Marshall (PP) and Dan LaCouture, and Parise not letting anything get past him. Nicklas Bergfors (PP) tied it up a little over five minutes into the third period. They ended up on the power play in overtime, and Dan McGillis blasted a shot that went right past the Monarchs' goalie for the Devils' second win in a row, in a week against the Monarchs. Parise stopped all 16 shots he faced, while Doyle had 10 saves on 13 shots.

As a side note, I was told to add that if the Devils are looking for a disciplinary coach, they should forget Stevens and Burns and go after our (as in we, the writers) vice principal, who "is there to discipline us, not to teach us."

Czech It Out.

I knew I could think of something not lame. Again, happy Memorial day, if you missed my pervious post.

There's one UFA that few Devils fans seemed to not even notice is available, who, along with Patrik Elias, was part of the infamous A Line. Not Jason Arnott. He still has quite a bit of time on his contract with the Predators. Not Elias, since, well, he already is a Devil, and he and his $7.5 mil. a season aren't going anywhere for another six years. That leaves Pert Sykora, a clost friend of the Captain's, who hasn't played his best lately- lately meaning since he left the Devils. Now, after looking at his stats from recently and his salary ($2.9 mil.), there's no little chance that he'll be making more than $3 mil, unless there's a GM out there who's a little off the rocket.

Unfortunately, Lou can't force him to sign with us (if he had those powers, Neidermayer would still be here, and I wouldn't be complaining about, well, him not being here), but there's always the fact that he was on the 2000 Stanley Cup team, was on Anaheim when we beat them for the Cup in 2003, and hasn't played as well since leaving us.

His highest +/- while not on the Devils was a +5. With us, he reached +36 and was only a - for one season. He hasn't passed 59 points, while his all time high with the Devils was 81. His stats were better with us, and he and Elias have a lot of chemistry on the ice. A line of him, Elias, and Brian Gionta could easily become a line with more points then the EGG line, although the EGG line has a cooler name. They can be the B Line or something. Now I don't know what I'm doing.

Bottom line is I want Sykora back (what's with me desparately wanting old players back?). Maybe Elias would have a good season. And maybe that would win us cup number 4.

Happy Memorial Day!

Before I start rambling about nothing, happy Memorial day to all of you.

So, Lowell hasn't posted a new moment yet, but that doesn't mind there's no Rookie/Lowell-er of the week yet. The potential next John Madden, only not as good, Rod Pelley, is the star. Or player. What ever you wanna call it.

Height: 6'
Wight: 200
Position: Center
Birthday: September 1, 1984
Shoots: Left
From: Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada

2006/07 Season:
Team: Lowell/Devils
Games played: 65/9
Goals: 17/0
Assists: 12/0
PIMs: 35/0
PPG: 4/0
SHG: 1/0
GWG: 2/0
+/-: -1/-3

No playoff games for Mr. Pelley, unfortunately.

A spot on the 4th line might be his next season. Or the next season. Or maybe he'll just play as a fill in until Madden retires. Who knows. He drew a little negative attention declairing in a game against the Bolts that there was no way Vincent Lecavalier was gonna score on him. He was right- even though we lost the game. I like him, regardless of his arrogantness. And I also like this picture. Make that, these pictures.

Now I've heard it all.

I've seen people who want Souray over Lukowich. Ok, so they had one too many drinks. Understandable. Then there are people who would trade Gionta for Pyatt (did they remember to take their medication?). But the craziest I've seen is not Souray over Rafalski, but Oduya and Fraser over Raffy. Huh? Those two over our top scoring D man? Why not toss Elias or Langenbrunner to the curb for LaCouture or Ryznar? And we'll send Brodeur down to the AHL and make Parise our starting goalie, too. Nothing against those who would like Rafalski to leave, but it wouldn't work in our favor. Granted, not signing Raffs would leave room for Gomez, but the the chances of him staying, even if Lou does offer the most are very slim.

I think, the best line up would be (if we could get the players that are UFAs and what not):

Elias/Sykora or Briere/Gionta
Parise/Zajac/Clarkson
Pandolfo/Madden/Langenbrunner
Pelley/Dowd or Rupp, if Jimmy retires/Brylin
Rupp (if Dowd plays for another season) and Bergfors or Vrana (both if Dowd's gone)

Martin/White
Rafalski/Matvichuk
Greene/Lukowich
Fraser or Oduya. I'm not too fond of any UFA defense men, or any in Lowell.

Brodeur
Clemmensen or Parise

If the coach, whoever it may be, makes Parise play center and splits our little dynamic dou of him and Zajac up, the dude's got issues. Sykora had a..not good season, but maybe if we pair him with Captain Patrik, that will change. I think it's time for Dowd to retire. I like him, but he's the best, and he won't get better with age. With him gone, we could make room for some younger players (i.e.: Bergfors, Vrana and Pelley).

Ahoy, Captain!

How lame can you get? Before I get completely off topic, the Devil of the week is Captain Patrik. Isn't that fun? This season wasn't too good for him, but hey. Life isn't always fair. As for the whole moment thing, that's gonna wait till I feel like doing it.

Height: 6' 1"
Wight: 195
Position: Center/Left Wing
Birthday: April 13, 1976
Shoots: Left
From: Trebic, Czech Rebublic

2006/07 Season:
Team: Devils
Games played: 75
Goals: 21
Assists: 48
PIMs: 38
PPG: 8
SHG: 0
GWG: 5
+/-: +1

2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games played: 10
Goals: 1
Assists: 9
PIMs: 4
PPG: 1
SHG: 0
GWG: 0
+/-: +3

Maybe next season things will go his way. With Petr Sykora becoming a UFA after this season, maybe Lou will go after him and try to create line similar to the A line (only not as A-mazing) with the two Czechs and Gionta. Hey, it could happen.

15 To Remember

On Wednesdays, from June 20 to September 26, FSN NY will be airing "15 To Remember," a program reliving the Devils' Silver Season from 8-10 PM, and on Saturdays at noon. The program will feature rebroadcasts of several games. Details here.

The Worst Part of the Season

Any true hockey fan would agree that the off season is the worst part of the game, especially when it starts as early as the Devils' did. We were lucky to get that far, unlike some teams, like the Thrashers and the Flyers, but it would have been nice to go until June. The season was pretty good, undoubtedly- to any casual fan, or a fan of any other team. But to us die hard fans, the season isn't very good, if it doesn't end in June and result with us getting the cup.

Now that the bad part started, Lou is faced with many decisions: six players (Gomez, Dowd, Rasmussen, Rafalski, Lukowich, and Clemmensen) will be UFAs, six more (Parise, Rupp, Janssen, Martin, Greene and Oduya) will be RFAs, and we desperately need a coach. Dowd and Rafalski will be on the roster next season, if they get any offers from Lou. I think it's safe to say all of the RFAs, with the exception of maybe Janssen and Oduya, will be here. It's gonna suck to see Gomez go. He's a talented play maker, but, not only will we most likely not have the cap space for him, is he really worth the $6 million he'll be asking for? Rasmussen is good for the checking line, but we have Clarkson and Pelley to do that, for less. Lukowich is reliable, so I hope Lou can get him to sign, but if not, it's not that big of a loss. Clemmensen will have a hard time signing somewhere, not really because of his performance, but because he doesn't play too much. The guy isn't too bad, but some teams probably don't know he even exists, and they probably think there's a reason he doesn't play too much.

Defense UFAs (for the Devils):
Quite honestly, Lukowich and Rafalski are the only two UFAs I would like to see on the Devils. I'm very against us getting Souray, regardless of how good he is on the PP. I'd rather our PP still be...not good than have a player who was -28 this season, because it shows that he screwed the Habs over more than he helped them this season.

Forward UFAs (again, for the Devils):
One day, I hear Drury's with the Sabres again. The next, he's with the Rangers. The next, he didn't sign. I'm sticking with the third option in hopes of signing him or Briere, if Gomez moves on. We need a center for the first line, and our other natural centers aren't first line material, except maybe Parise, but I'm not too sure it would be good moving him to a position he hasn't played since college, and splitting him and Zajac, who were fantastic together. Shanahan, no matter how bad he was with the Rangers, wouldn't be a bad chioce either.

Goalies:
If we can't keep Clemmensen, it's wouldn't be the end of the world. Instead of signing another backup, Jordan Parise would be a good idea (I'd pick him over Doyle too). He had a better season than Doyle, and he probably wouldn't play too many games, so no there's no harm.

Now, for the biggest piece of the puzzle: a coach. Ex coach Pat Burns and assistant coach John MacLean have both made it clear to the public that they would like the job. Scott Stevens has also been rumored to be a candiadate, but, if he coaches, it'll most likely be as assistant to whoever gets the job. Ron Wilson, the Sharks' coach from this season, 's job has been said to be hanging by a thread, but Burns or MacLean are the most talked about choices. Personally, I want Burns back, with Stevens by his side.

This all will, hopefully, be resolved by June, so we'll have to wait and see.



-Ty

{Edit} I must be spending too much time around my blogging buddy, because I meant to put my idea of a good line up for next season (without Gomez). Better late then never, right?

Elias - Briere - Gionta
Parise - Zajac - Clarkson or Langenbrunner
Pandolfo - Madden - Pelley or Langenbrunner
Brylin - Dowd - Pelley or Clarkson

- OR -

Langenbrunner - Elias - Gionta
Parise - Zajac - Clarkson
Pandolfo- Madden - Pelley
Rupp - Vrana or Dowd - Bergfors or Brylin

Rafalski or - Greene
White - Martin
Matvichuk - Lukowich or Hannan
Fraser

Brodeur
Parise or Clemmensen

Coach: Burns

Clearly, I'm not a fan of signing new players. With a different coach, I think we would be the ones waiting to see who wins the Ducks and Red Wings series, not the Senators.

Just as a side note, I'm praying that we draft James Van Riemsdyk this season. Aside from him, I really don't care for any of the draftees.

Here we go

Monday is officially Memerable Moments Monday. Just, you know, by the way. So moment number five is up. Back in January, before the All Star break, the Devils went 1-3-1 in five games, and were last in the Atlantic Division. On the 26th, they can from behind (3-0) and won it, with goals from Ryan Murphy, Grant Marshall, Nicklas Bergfors, David Clarkson and Tuomas Pihlman. The next day, they blew and 2-0 lead, but won it with an OT goal from Barry Tallackson. Andy Greene and Chris Minard scored the regulation goals.

On a somewhat off topic note, I was thinking, for once. Why should Lowell get a memorable moments thingy, when the Devils had a very special season of their own? Their last season even in CAA, Marty breaking the wins record, the debuts of several great players, including Greene, Clarkson, and Travis Zajac, and all that jazz deserves some recognition. So I'm gonna pick awesome parts of their season (and some moments that were just plain awesome, like Stevens/Daneyko nights, the 3 Cups..) and they'll be posted on either Wednesdays or Fridays. Wheneven I feel like it. Some weeks might have 2. Who knows. So, good bye for now.

It's Monday!

Since when is that a good thing, right? Eh, Lowell hasn't updated the moment thing yet, so that's gotta wait. Of course, there's always other stuff to..blog about. Several sources have indicated that the Devils have signed Sergei Brylin for another season. I won't say anything else, until I see it on the NHL site, or the Devils site. My dreams of signing the Lightning's goalie Johan Holmqvist are now gone, being that he signed a one-year deal with the Bolts. That rumor about Drury's "contract" and Briere being as good as gone have been followed up with rumors of Drury signing with the Rangers. Again, no comments till I see it with my own eyes from a trustworthy source. With that, I move to my Lowell-er/rookie of the week. This week's victim, er, player? David Clarkson (ironic that I just mentioned him on Friday, right?) and his great season with both the Devils and Lowell Devils.

Height: 6' 1"
Wight: 205
Position: Right Wing
Birthday: March 31, 1984
Shoots: Right
From: Toronto, Ontaria, Canada

2006/07 Season:
Team: Lowell/Devils
Games played: 67/7
Goals: 20/3
Assists: 18/1
PIMs: 150/6
PPG: 4/2
SHG: 0/0
GWG: 3/1
+/-: +1/-1

2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games played: 3
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
PIMs: 2
PPG: 0
SHG: 0
GWG: 0
+/-: -1

Seriously, if he doesn't make the roster full time next season, I'm sending Lou for therapy. He almost ended up with a Gordie Howe hat trick in his second game (and would have had it, had the refs let him get into it. Too bad, since that would have made that game seem a little better), he can hit, he got time on the PP, what more can you ask for? Dude can do it all.

We Neid him!

That was pretty lame. But dude's not feeling too creative right now. Eh. I think you should have realized that this is about Mr. Gray Playoff Beard, aka Scott Neidermayer. Not that I have anything against gray playoff beards, unlike Stan Fischler, who is against playoff beards in general (do I agree with him on anything?). And I digress..

Three overtime winners so far, six assists and -1 (you can't have it all) in 14 playoff games this season. Nine points isn't exactly a lot, but hey. It's third with defensemen, and he lead defensemen in scoring in the regular season with 69 points. Ok, he has a lot of points. What's my point? That Lou should go to Anaheim and drag Neids back to Jersey by his rather unattractive beard. Get rid of Gomez and Rasmussen and Rupp if he has to. Even throw Janssen away, if necessary. And throw Martin in his jersey so they don't notice (he can tell 'em it was plastic surgery). Hey, you never know.

I blame his brother for all this. If it wasn't for him, Neidsy might have signed with us again, and we might have still been in the playoffs. Eh, what are you gonna do? No one ever said life was fair.. If it was, Stevens wouldn't have retired, and there wouldn't be a cap.

On a somewhat brighter note, apparently the Sabres (who were eliminated yesterday) are thinking about tossing Daniel Briere. Rumor has it that he and Chris Drury got into it in the locker room after yesterday's loss over a contract that Drury signed with the team, and it could be the end of Briere's career as a Sabre. Wouldn't it be exciting if Lou could get him to sign (if Gomez doesn't)? Let me have my moment, ok? It could happen. If Lou knocks him out and forges his signature on the contract..

Oh, the memories.

Remember back in the beginning of the season, before half the team missed a million games due to injury? Remember how good Zajac was in his rookie year? Or how great Greene was in both his first regular season and playoff games? What about the debute of David Clarkson? And who could forget Marty breaking the wins record, in the arena of the team who's ex-goalie set it? And there's Parise, who lead the team in goals in the regular season and through the first round of the playoffs, and was second in scoring in the regular season, and third in the playoffs. Parise's stellar sophmore season is what earned him the spot as my second Devil of the week. Actually, it was the fact that I somehow skipped this week when I was setting up who I would do when (I get bored in detention) and just figured I'd use the player for next week. Either way, it's Parise's week this week.
*Side note: a friend of mine wanted to start a blog, and wanted me to help with it, so I just invited him to write here. He'll start writing soon. Possibly.*

Height: 5' 11"
Wight: 190
Position: Center/Left Wing
Birthday: July 27, 1984
Shoots: Left
From: Fairbault, Minnesota

2006/07 Season:
Team: Devils
Games played: 82
Goals: 31
Assists: 31
PIMs: 30
PPG: 9
SHG: 0
GWG: 7
+/-: -3

2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games played: 11
Goals: 7
Assists: 3
PIMs: 8
PPG: 2
SHG: 0
GWG: 1
+/-: +4

This kid is just plain awesome. He's gonna be like, the Scott Stevens or Marty Brodeur of offense. Ok, Maybe not that good, but hopefully, he'll keep getting better.

Poor Sabres.

Ryan Miller: 31/32 Saves
ray emery: 15/15 saves (not bolded for a good reason)

Do you see anything wrong with this? As in round 2, emery has about 15-20 saves, and comes out looking like a hockey God, while the other goalie, who has about twice as many saves looks like crap. I really don't think that's fair at all. Maybe the Sabres can play like they did in the regular season and win the next four. As fun as it would be to see the sens lose in the finals (I hold grudges. I'll probably still hate them in 5 seasons, even if we win every game against them until then), I think the Sabres deserve the Cup more. Scratch that. Miller deserves the cup. As with the Devils, it's the goalie (Marty) and a few forwards who really deserve it. With the sens, it's their defense that's really doing all the work. If they weren't there clearing the puck everytime it got within 10 feet of emery and he wasn't able to cover it, I doubt they would have been able to take even one game from the Devils, let alone the Sabres or Penguis. Basically, it sucks, and it's just not fair. Yeah, it looks better to be eliminated my the team that wins the cup than to have them eliminated, but come on. The senators deserved maybe two or three games that they won, four max.

Zajac, and moment number 4.

It should really be "Moment Number 4 and Zajac," but do I care? No, I don't. Here we go.

Moment number Scott Stevens is the pre-season game on September 17, where that Devils beat the Bruins, 5-0, in Lowell (Tsongas Arena). Scott Gomez and Barry Tallackson scored in the first, Zach Parise in the second, and Jamie Lagenbrunner and Mike Rupp in the third. Parise's goal was the only even strength goal of the game, and the Devils were 4/11 on the power play. Scott Clemmensen and frank Doyle split the game, with Clemmensen getting 30:12 of game (and shutout) time, and Dolye getting the rest.


Aanndd, since he just celebrated his 22nd birthday yesterday, the rookie of the week is *drum roll*..TRAVIS ZAJAC!! Yeah, I know, that was pretty lame.


Height: 6' 2"
Wight: 200
Position: Center
Birthday: May 13, 1985
Shoots: Right
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

2006/07 Season:
Team: Devils
Games played: 80
Goals: 17
Assists: 25
PIMs: 16
PPG: 6
SHG: 0
GWG: 2
+/-: +1

2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games played: 11
Goals: 1
Assists: 4
PIMs: 4
PPG: 0
SHG: 0
GWG: 0
+/-: +4

If he improves as much as Parise did from his rookie season, I'll be one happy camper.

Brylin to play *with* Russia

Sergei Brylin will be playing with Russia's national team, and could play in their semifinal game against Finland. Wouldn't it be kinda funny if team USA had won and he was playing against Parise? Hope he got all of his Hep. A shots too.

Anyway, about that coaching thing. According to several people/sites, John MacLean, Pat Burns and Scott Stevens are on the top of Lou's list. Johnny Mac and Burns have both made their desire to coach the team public, while Stevens is another story. I haven't read anything (yet) stating that he wants to do it (actually, I haven't heard anything about him really since he retired), but I have heard that Lou would like him to consider it. I'd settle for any of the above, but Stevens would be my top choice, followed by Burns, with MacLean in third. Sadly, as awesome as I am, I'm not nearly as amazing as Lou, nor will I ever be, so the decision is not up to me. Good luck to all of the "contestants," and may the best candidate win.

The Beloved Back-up

Maybe not so beloved, since a lot of people want him gone next season, but I <3 him. Scott Clemmensen was lucky enough to be that first non-rookie/Lowell-er who's profile thing I posted. [Side note: I have a little update on the coaching thing, but that'll come a little later.]

Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 205
Position: Goalie
Birthday: July 23, 1977
Catches: Left

2006/07 Season:
Team: Lowell/Devils
Games played: 1/6
Wins: 1/1
Loses: 0/1
OT Loses: 0/2
Points: 0/0
Shutouts: 1/0
Goals Against Average: 0/3.15
Save Percentage: 1.000/.889


2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games Played: 0
Wins: 0
Loses: 0
OT Loses: 0
Points: 0
Shutouts: 0
GAA: 0
SV%: N/A

I may be in the minority, but I hope he resigns with us.

Parise to Play in Russia

The Zach Attack will be playing with team USA for their quarterfinal against Finland. He also played with the team in 2005 and recorded two assists in three games. Good luck, Zach, and beware of Hepatitis A.

Momento Numero..Trois.

I don't know any Spanish, so forgive me for putting "three" in French. Moving on, Lowell's third awesome moment was my favorite-est back up goalie ever, Scott Clemmensen, shutting out the Worcester Sharks back in February. Clemmy stopped 14 shots in the first period, 13 in the second and 8 in the 3rd, and Aaron Voros scored two goals and Ryan Murphy put in the empty netter for a 3-0 victory for Lowell. Clemmer then lead the big guys to a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals several days after. He was first star in that (Lowell) game, because he's the best.


As for my Devil of the week thing, I decided I'll do two a week: a rookie or a Lowell-er on Mondays, to go with the Lowell moments, and a bug guy on Friday. This week, I'm giving Andy Greene the honors of being my first rookie. He was by far the Devils best D man in the play offs.

Height: 5' 11"
Wight: 195
Position: Defense (duh)
Birthday: October 30, 1982
Shoots: Left
From: Trenton, Michigan

2006/07 Season:
Team: Lowell/Devils
Games played: 52/23
Goals: 5/1
Assists: 16/5
PIMs: 28/6
PPG: 1/1
SHG: 0/0
GWG: 1/0
+/-: +6/-1

2006/07 Playoffs:
Team: Devils
Games played: 11
Goals: 2
Assists: 1
PIMs: 2
PPG: 0
SHG: 0
GWG: 1
+/-: +6

Andy's amazing. End of story.

So long, Continental.

25 years and 7 months after it started, it's all over. Never again will the Devils play at Continental Airlines Arena. Oh my, I'm ready to cry. I'm not even gonna do the whole recap thing, just a box score type thing.

GOALS:
1st:
Scott Gomez, wrist shot from Patrik Elias and Paul Martin (6:59)
2nd:
No one cares.
3rd:
Gomez, wrist shot from John Madden and Zach Parise
Final: 2-3.

(My)THREE STARS:
#3-Parise
#2- Brodeur
#1- Gomez


So..yeah. Gomez made it pretty clear that he doesn't wanna stay with the Devils next season, and I doubt Clemmensen will stay, if he gets an offer anywhere else. I think Rafalski will stay. He seemed like he wanted to. I don't know about the rest of them, though.

After the post game last night, I hate that ranger worshipping stan fischler more than ever. For those of you that didn't see it, he flat out said Clemmensen sucks. And he wasn't exactly nice about some of the other players. He pretty much dissed Elias right to his face, too. Patrik really didn't have a bad series. Things just didn't go his way. It happened to everyone. As if jagr's a good captain anyway. Someone hits one of his teammates so instead of hitting them back, he goes and lectures their bench. What's wrong with him? If your teammate is incompetent and can't hit back himself, don't (basically) make your team shorthanded. Do what Rupp would do and beat the crap out of them (even though the Devils usually have the sense to hit back themselves).


I still can't believe it. We were one goal away from forcing it into OT. And with the exception of a few crap goals, Marty was amazing. It's sad how this came down to which goalie was better, but the better one didn't win. Nothing went our way. The entires series was decided by unlucky bounces garbage calls.

Since I can't bear to not write about hockey until october, I'll be posting recaps of other games and news and all that stuff. And I'll be doing a Devil of the week thing, where I'll post that stats from this season and profile of a Devil once a week (probably Mondays or whenever I post the Lowell moments thing). Till next October, my friends. Actually, until the Sabres/rangers game is over. Then till Monday. So I won't be gone too long.

Things to improve upon.

Lou needs to read this. After paying close attention to the play of the Sabres, Ducks, Canucks, rangers, senators, and, of course, the Devils, I noticed exactly what's wrong with us. In short, we suck. But we wouldn't suck if the following would be improved:

The offense. Some of our offense (re: Parise, Zajac, Gionta and Clarkson) has been pretty good. If only they could score. Their shots aren't the best, and they're not getting on the rebounds quickly enough (I finally noticed them!). The problem isn't lack of rebounds, but the fact that we can't seem to get to them in time. By the time we get there, the D cleared it, or Emery covered.

The defense. With the exception of Matvichuk, Martin, and Greene, it sucks. Rafalski's mind hasn't been with him, White has anger issues and Lukowich hasn't been bad, but he hasn't been as good as usual. Matvichuk blocks anything he can, Martin's great at breaking up plays (namely odd man rushes), and Greene's been good all around. I think Oduya would be a better choice than White or Rafalski right now.

The lack of heart. Minus the seven that aren't really having offensive or defensive problems and Marty, no one has any heart. Elias, our captain, is playing with less heart than imaginable. I think you all know by now that I'm always the first one to defend him, unless he's just that bad. None of them seem to care if they make it to round three or not.

The lack of pressure. Boy, are they lacking a lot of things, but pressure has to be the most important. If they would pressure Emery, even a little, he would crack like an egg. They need to shoot what ever they can at him, and get a goal (preferably more) early in the game, just as a blow to his confidence. He's not like Marty. He's not as good, and he doesn't shrug off those goals like he does.

The lines. The line choices just suck. Not so much the lines themselves, just how much they're played. Was it just me, or was the Zajac line playing better against the Spezza line the the Madden line was? They had the puck in their zone, and they were creating some scoring chances. The Madden line was creating scoring chances too, just not for us. That line is being over played. Save them for if we make it to round three and have to play the Sabres. Let ZZPop get the job done and be done with it. Oh yeah, put Clarkson with Parise and Zajac, stick Langenbrunner on the first line with Gomez and Gionta, and put Elias where ever there's an opening. That would play out well.


Things that aren't that wretched:

The rookies. Clarkson, Greene, and Zajac have been some of the best players in this series, and they're only rookies. If I was Rafalski or Elias, I'd be a little embarrassed that rookies were out playing me.

Parise and Gionta. Scoring or not, they're still amazing. They both hit (and hard, which is pretty cool, since they're both kind of small), shoot, and do anything possible to score.

Marty. After the very first period of this series, he's been a God on skates. That's all I have to say about him.

So, the end. And someone try to get this to Lou.