Something's Missing

I have been holding off on giving my opinion about the free agent aquisitions of Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik because I needed some time to let it sink in and think about it. Short and sweet, I like both signings because Rolston adds some much needed offense and Holik helps take some of the defensive load off of Madden. But I can not help but think that something is still missing...a leader. Something that was confirmed by watching the 2003 Championship DVD and reading Jamie Langenbrunner's Q&A this week.

In 2003 the Devils had both Scott Stevens and Joe Nieuwendyk. They were two different kinds of leaders but leaders none the same. In the video Jeff Friesen says that he thinks Scotty was going to throw a skate at him. During the Eastern Conference Finals Joe goes down with a back injury. Pat Burns response to the rest of the team was, "You've got a guy that's played 17 years in the NHL with a couple of Stanley Cups and a Conn Smyth trophy, and he's in there bawling his eyes out because he can't be out there helping you guys out."

From Jamie's Q&A:

You've played with great leaders like Scott Stevens and Joe Nieuwendyk. What aspects of their games have helped you be a good leader?
Dave
New Jersey

The way they treated people and the way they went about their business... seeing that from those guys was a great learning experience for me. I try to take the best of what I saw from them and use as much as I can in my own demeanor. You can't duplicate the presence of a Scotty Stevens. He didn't say a whole lot, but his leadership came through in the way he came to work every day. Joe, on the other hand, was a guy that would say the right things at the right time. More importantly, he treated every player as an equal and with a lot of respect. He made every guy feel like he was a part of the team, even a kid that had just been called up from the minors.

Don't get me wrong, I really like Langenbrunner (even enough to buy his jersey last summer) but he doesn't get veins popping out of his forehead and scares his teammates. Zach Parise is someone that fans look forward to being a future captain but the post game interview he gave after the final game this year is not inspiring fear in anybody. Zach has a tremendous work ethic though and will lead by example. Brent Sutter certainly hates to lose, but he's the coach. He can froth out the mouth all he wants but he's not actually down in the trenches with the players.

I hope I'm wrong, there are a lot of new faces on the team after all. Maybe this group of guys don't need to have a teammate that scares the crap out of them. Maybe just the thought of disappointing each other will be enough. Maybe... but I think the next Scott Stevens needs to present himself. Could that person be Corrente?

Obligatory video:

I couldn't find Somethings Missing by the Lemonheads, so here is a dedication to Ray Emery instead.