Welcome To Hell

Don't worry, Bryce Salvador, it's just a saying (unless you are a coach). With all of the trade talk that was going around I am very pleased with what Lou did this year. I was a little worried that my mancrush of the season, David Clarkson, would end up being traded. I was even worried that somebody like Holik might be brought back. Instead, Lou traded away the rarely used enforcer Cam Janssen and in return got a dependable defensive defenseman.

I have read some grumblings from Devil fans who think Lou has lost his touch because he didn't bring in a top six forward. Well riddle me this, Batman, what did Lou have to give up in return? Nothing he didn't want to hold on to. Sure, Clarkson and Greene have made some mistakes but they are indeed rookies after all, and I don't see them getting exchanged for a top six forward. Lou kept the draft picks, the few talented prospects in the system, and kept the core together. The Devils got off to a rough start in the season but now currently sit atop the Eastern Conference. Why mess with the chemistry now?

So welcome to the Devils, Bryce Salvador, I'm happy to have you aboard.

And to Cam, I can't say I'm sorry to see you go, but I still wish you the best of luck in St. Louis.

Long Distance Dedication

This is to the Devils:

Thank you for spanking the Flyers the other night. I appreciate it, I really do. However, what happened tonight against the Canadiens was just...well words can't describe.



No, it's not all right.

Speechless

That's what the first quarter of Devils hockey has done to me, made me speechless. However, after three games in four nights and now four days off I think I might be able to finally put some thoughts together.

The season started off on a sour note with word that Langenbrunner would require surgery and miss a couple of months and then White takes a puck to the eye in practice and has yet to return. No problem though because the new head coach, Brent Sutter, said he was going to turn this team into a forechecking puck possession team. Not only that, but our new backup goaltender, Kevin Weekes, was going to be playing quite a few more games than Scott Clemmenson did last year.

The preseason sounded great. I didn't get to see any games but from what I was reading this was a different team. Martin Brodeur didn't even play until the fourth game. The Devils finished the preseason 4-2-0 with 19 goals for and 10 goals against. Needless to say, I was itching to watch this "new" Devils hockey.

The 2007-08 season started off on a sour note, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 3-1, but I (along with most Devil fans) were impressed by what we saw. We saw a lot of things that we liked and were exclaiming,"Who are these guys and what have they done with our Devils!?!"

The first six games the Devils went .500 but us fans were not concerned. We didn't just win games against the Thrashers and Penguins, we won by scores of 6-5 and 5-4 respectively. This was an exciting team to watch, sure we were being scored on more than we were used to, but we were also scoring more than we were used to. Kevin Weekes had already started a game, which the Devils won 4-1 against the Panthers. It looked like things were going in the right direction. We were starting off the the season on a nine game road trip and were playing .500 hockey, but we liked what we saw. But then something bad started to happen. We lost three in a row, two of which were shutouts. The Devils ended the season opening nine game road trip with a 3-5-1 record with 21 goals scored and 30 goals against.

Devils fans were still optimistic, we were getting ready for a new season in the new arena in Newark, New Jersey. The Prudential Center a.k.a "The Rock" would certainly bring inspiriation to this new looking team, right? Wrong. Opening night was a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Chris Neil would go down in the trivia books as the first person to score in the new building. Four nights later though, the Devils would defeat the Tampaa Bay Lightning by a score of 6-1. Jay Pandolfo goes down as the first player to score a hat-trick in the new building. A couple of days later the Devils would defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 3-2. From there it has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride.

The next home game we watched as the Devils lost 5-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. A few nights later responded by defeating the Flyers by a score of 4-1. The rollercoaster ride would continue with l-w-l-l-w. With Broduer chasing 500 career wins, he started all 3 games in a 3-games-in-4-nights span finally getting the win against the Flyers. The win would mean much more though because the Devils would score six goals. Having only scored six goals in the previous four games, that was quite an accomplishment.

So here we are now, 20 games played with an 8-10-2 record and a total of 48 goals scored, 56 goals against, and being shutout five times. Kevin Weekes has started only three games going 2-0-1 with a 2.09 GAA and .930 Sv%. The most surprising stats: Jay Pandolfo, last year's Selke finalist, is the Devils goal scoring leader with 7 goals. Karel Rachunek leads the +/- with a +10. Not so surprising: Zach Parise leads the team with 18 points (6 goals, 12 assists).

Some Devils fans have started to panic. Others have not. The biggest complaints I have heard from fans is inconsistent effort by the players and the constant line juggling by Brent Sutter. Not only are lines changed from game to game, but also period to period and even shift to shift. I'm not giving up though, Langenbrunner has returned and even scored on his first shift of the season, hopefully a good sign of things to come. Elias has gotten off to a really slow start but that's not unusual. Zubrus has also started putting pucks in the net. Madden and Pandolfo also scoring goals are a good thing. So basically, file me under: have not.

Clarkson Watch

David Clarkson did a little bit of everything in Saturday nights game against the Panthers. The stats only show that he had one assist but there was a lot more to the story than that. This time he logged twice as many minutes than in game one and played on almost every line. David got the assist when playing with Madden and Pandolfo, a couple of shots on goal when playing with Elias and Zubrus, and created the screen for Mottau's goal while playing with Zajac and Parise. Clarkson was delivering hits, taking hits, even drew a penalty. I could go on and on, but I will just let you watch. (look for #23)^*



*Clarkson apparently has no number preference. This year he is wearing #23 (Scott who?) and when playing with the big club last year was wearing #27. While playing with the Kitchener Rangers he wore #17.

2007-08 First Impression

If you look at the box score from the Devils first game of the season, you may think that it was just a terrible game for the Devils. Ok, yes, it is always nice to win but I still saw a lot of positives in that game. Just don't tell Louie Lams that I said that. This is the Devils afterall, all that counts is winning. While I normally agree with that statement, here are the things that kept me from breaking another Sherwood over the couch.

1. David Clarkson - I just can't get enough of this guy. He only logged seven minutes and I can't understand why he didn't get more. He took the term 'crashing the net' a little too literally and had a goal disallowed because he was in the net before the puck was. Towards the end of the game he knocked a defender into goaltender Holmqvist which set off a little scrum. Chris Gratton did what he was supposed to do and challenged Clarkson to a fight that did not last very long. Cam who?

2. The Parise-Zajac-Gionta line - These guys combined for the only goal by the Devils that counted. The surprising thing was that it was not some pretty tic-tac-toe passing play. It was a hard working, dig in the corner for the puck and just get it on net kind of play. Zajac was the one who got the puck, dished it to Parise who skated with it out in front. While falling down he sent a backhander towards the net that Gionta deflected in. If this line stays together, wow, just wow.

3. The forechecking - Sutter says the team is still committed to defense and what he means is that if the other team doesn't have the puck, they can't score. Last year you would have seen a Devil dump the puck and retreat, but last night they kept going after it. There was actually some sustained pressure in the offensive zone and Holmqvist is the only reason the Lightning won. Torts needs to take him (and the left goalpost)out for a really nice steak dinner.

4. The new guys on defense - Rachunek and Vishnevski actually have a pretty nice shot from the point. Combined, they hit less shin pads in a whole game than Rafalski did in a period. They helped keep the puck inside the offensive zone and were able to pass from D to D without going offsides.

The only thing I didn't like was that the Devils were not able to maintain the intensity they had in the first period through the whole game. We will see if they can do it tomorrow night against the Panthers.

Devils Season Preview

Fantasy Leagues have started so the real thing can't be too far away. It's almost that time again, NHL hockey time. I'm sure you have read all of the offseason news. Gomez, Rafalski, Lukowich, Rasmussen, Dowd, and *cough* Clemmensen have left town. Langenbrunner, White, and *cough* Janssen will miss some time. Hey at least Brylin, Parise, Martin, and *cough* Marshall signed new deals. Coming in we have Zubrus, Rachunek, Weekes and some other guys I don't feel like looking up. But their names don't matter any way because this a fantasy preview. I feel I can do this now because I have already drafted all four of the teams that I am going to have this year so I won't be giving out insider information to my rivals.

When it comes to the first round, even if your league is twenty teams deep, the only Devil to choose would be Martin Broduer. He's a pretty safe bet when it comes to getting goaltending stats. Marty has been around awhile though, so of course, you already knew that.

So where do the forwards go? First, I would probably take Patrik Elias. His numbers last year were far below the pace he set at the end of the 2006 season but he is due for a big year. I don't see the loss of Gomez being a factor to Elias. If anything, it may even help. Sutter also ripped the 'C' off of his chest and we may get to see if that was a burden that was holding him back last year.

The next forward that I would take would be Brian Gionta. He set a new record in Devils scoring but his numbers slumped last year due to, that's right, groin injuries. Rumor has it that with Langenbrunner's recent groin surgery that Sutter is trying Gionta on the wing with Parise and Zajac. If that doesn't work out there is still Elias and Zubrus.

Zach Parise is the next forward to go. He almost doubled the output of his freshman year and there is absolutely no reason to believe that he will not exceed those numbers this coming year. The kid doesn't know the meaning of the word quit. There seems to be natural chemistry between him and Zajac and the injury to Langenbrunner opens the door. Could there be a better linemate for these two? I'm sure Sutter will find out, but more on that later.

We don't have much of an idea how Zubrus fits in to the picture so I'm going put him fourth. The obvious first place for him to play is centering for Elias and Gionta in the so called 'first scoring line'. Last year was a career year for him but how will he do wearing a Devils sweater? There is no reason to think he won't score fifty points with quite a few on the PP, so if your league is deep enough you may want grab him if you have a bench position to fill.

Well if Zach's numbers are going to increase then surely Zajac's will too, right? Well for now, I would just put him on your watch list. He still has a lot to learn about faceoffs so if your league uses faceoff stats, you might want to look for a different center.

Speaking of the watch list, there are other names to look out for. David Clarkson was called up for a few games last year and looks ready to make the show. Many compare him to Randy McKay but I see more of an Arnott in him. David probably has the best chance to fill in for Langs on the Zajac line. Another player who could also crack into that spot is Nicklas Bergfors but I haven't seen enough of him to be able to speculate. All I know is that he just scored two goals tonight against the Flyers.

Moving on to defense, Paul Martin is probably the only Devil worth drafting. He is being put into a tough situation with the loss of Rafalski but you never know how that could turn out. Will it bring out the best in him and will he finally live up to the hype or will he bust? I wish I could confidently say that he will have a career year but I can't. He showed moments of brilliance last year and let's hope Sutter finds a way for us to see more of those this year.

The only other defenseman to keep your eye on is Andy Greene. Once enough cap space was cleared last year, Andy was brought up and he never went back down. He's won both offensive and defensive defenenseman awards in the CCHA and more than likely will fill Paul Martin's old role as the number two offensive defenseman.

The Good And Bad Of Big Air.

X-Games 13 started off with a bang this week. Skateboard Big Air is a fairly new event to the games, introduced in 2004. This year was the first time it was held indoors, inside the Staples Center. Bob Burnquist was thrilled to have the event moved indoors. When you are flying across a 70ft gap and then catching about 20ft of air out of a 25ft quarter pipe, taking out the wind factor is a big advantage, not to mention a little more safe. However there is nothing safe about this event, particularly the quarter pipe. The basic principle is to go straight up and straight back down on the Z-axis. Lateral movement on the X-axis is fine and adds more style. Any movent on the Y-axis though can be very dangerous. Too far forward and you can hang up on the deck or land on the top of the deck. Too far back and you may miss the transition all together and hit the flat bottom. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened to Jake Brown.




From a spectator's point of view, this is an awesome event. I look forward to it every year. The athletes that compete must have a set of brass balls the size of cantelopes. The fact that Jake was able to walk away from that is amazing. The story does not end there. Bob Burnquist still had yet to take his final run. He must have nerves of steel because he dropped in switchstance, did a switch backside 180 ollie over the gap, and then a huge frontside 540 on the quarterpipe.



Update: They just announced Jake Brown's status. His only injuries were a lung contusion, and a fractured wrist. He has scheduled to have surgery on the wrist next week.