N.J. Devils: First Half Had Few Credible Highlights

From the desk of: ALL MOTHER LEEDS CHILDREN

So far, the firing of Peter DeBoer has failed to fan the flames.

1st Half ~ 7th Metropolitan Division

17-22-6 (42 points)

NEW JERSEY DEVILS: Lou Lamoriello Has Been Slow To Address An Aging Roster; Team Headed Towards 3rd Season Out Of Playoffs.

The Devils are in their third season since posting 102 points in 2011-12, and reaching the Stanley Cup finals against the Kings.

Last season, they fell to a 35-29-18 record for 88 points.  This season, gaining 80 points is questionable.

That's what happens when Martin Brodeur's Devils' career comes to an end; when Ilya Kovalchuk walks away from the NHL and still leaves behind a nearly $7 million dollar salary cap hit in 2014-15; when the organization fails to retain guys like Zach Parise, David Clarkson, and if you want to go back a little further, Brian Gionta, etc.

Instead, Scott Gomez is back.

Just saying...

Newark's 1st half highlights have so far been few, however, credible.  The Devils own victories over the Capitals, Penguins, a pair over the Lightning, and they defeated the Kings in Los Angeles last Wednesday by a 5-3 final.

Monday night, they turned in another impressive victory over the San Jose Sharks to end the first half of their season.  The team's leading goal scorer, Mike Cammalleri, broke a 2-2 tie in the second period with his 15th goal of the season.

But, despite their recent outbursts against L.A. and San Jose, it's no secret the Devils have trouble putting pucks on net, much less scoring goals.

Leading the Devils, Jaromir Jagr entered Monday night's game against the Sharks with 99 SOG this season.  Next was Michael Ryder with 83, followed by defenseman Marek Zidlicki with 76 shots on goal.  By comparison, the Islanders have 4 players with 100+ shots on goal, and another two players with 90+ SOG.

It's no wonder then, they rank 27th in the league in goals.  Their top three scorers; Jagr, Adam Henrique, and Mike Cammalleri; have only scored a combined 34 goals.  Henrique (10) and Cammalleri are the only Devils in double-digits.  By comparison, the Isles have 5 skaters in double digit goals, and the Rangers have three.  The Rangers Rick Nash has 28 goals, the Islanders John Tavares has 21, and as noted, Cammalleri leads the Devils with 15 goals.

Jagr leads the Devils with 25 points, and 16 assists.  He's played in 43 of 47 games this season, and averages 18:23 minutes a night.  On January 3rd against the Flyers, Jaromir Jagr became the oldest player in NHL history to register a hat trick.  He will turn 43-years old next month, and one has to ask how much longer can the Devils lean on him in the manner they do?

If Lou Lamoriello can negotiate a satisfactory deal, he should move Jagr to a willing contender, and begin adding more youth around Adam Henrique, and his young defensemen like Adam Larsson and Eric Gelinas.

The Devils are now 5-5-1 since Lou Lamoriello fired Peter DeBoer; a marginal improvement over their 12-17-7 record prior to his dismissal.

Lou Lamoriello is indeed famous for firing coaches.  I'm sure last season's 18 OT losses, failing to make the playoffs the past two seasons, and this year's poor start inspired Lou to make a move.  Peter DeBoer, however, deserved better.  Many aging players and matters of retention are Lou's problem, and Lou's only.

In just over 3 seasons, DeBoer posted a 119-88-42 record, had them playing ferocious hockey through various stretches of his tenure, and led them to the finals.

Highlight:

With a goal and two assists on January 6th against the Sabres, Patrik Elias scored the 1,000th point, and registered the 600th assist of his NHL career.


Mike

N.J. Devils: Jeff Vanderbeek and Travis Zajac Moving Devils Forward

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY DEMONS


NEW JERSEY DEVILS - Carving A New Path Without Zach Parise.


Money changes everything.


New Jersey Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek went from having the NHL threaten to separate him from the team, to recently buying out his partners, and solidifying his place as sole owner.  In the process, he refinanced the team's debt, and ultimately removed the Devils from under a constant cloud of organizational uncertainty.


With Jeff Vanderbeek's new found operational certainty, I guess comes operational flexibility as well.  And with a new CBA in place, I guess operational predictability plays a part too.  The result?  Wednesday, Lou Lamoriello announced the Devils signed their seventh year center, Travis Zajac, to an eight year contract extension worth $46 million dollars.  Last year, Zajac's season was derailed by an Achilles injury.  He only managed to play in fifteen regular season games before participating in the Devils inspired playoff run to the Cup Finals.  Zajac would have become a free agent at the conclusion of this season.


In the 2010's at least, it seems as if the Devils have turned over a new leaf.  This is twice now the Devils have bucked the trend and doled out major dollars for a player.  Money couldn't solve all the Devils problem though.  Sandwiched between signing Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk's pact, was the  departure of free agent Zach Parise to the Minnesota Wild.  The Devils offer was representative.  But apparently, Zach Parise wanted to be home.  And speaking of home, Ilya Kovalchuk finally returned from Russia and reported to Devils camp.


So what do the reigning Eastern Conference champions do now?  They continue the relentless search for interchangeable players, like the Devils always have.  This is not the first time money came between a player and the Devils.  Instead, this is a way of life in New Jersey.  They will absorb the impact of Parise's defection, who was a Devils 2003 first round pick, and somehow find themselves right in the mix again this Spring.  It is now the turn of more recent first round selections like Jacob Josefson, Mattias Tedenby, and Adam Larsson, and an outstanding hockey player picked in the third round named Adam Henrique to carve a new path.  But without a suitable replacement for Zach Parise, the Devils certainly have their work cut out for them indeed.  However, if we've learned anything about the New Jersey Devils in the Lou Lamoriello era, it is to never count them out until they're out.



Mike.BTB

N.J. Devils ~ Dancing Near the Fire; Game Four

From the desk of:   THE BRICK CITY DEMONS

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE  ~  2012 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Eastern Conference Semi Finals

Devils Lead Series 2-1

I  -  PHI 4; NJD 3

II  -  NJD 4; PHI 3

III  -  NJD 4; PHI 3

*I and III overtime*

IV  -  SUNDAY

GAME FOUR

Philadelphia Flyers

vs.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

From

THE ROCK

Brick City, New Jersey

NEW JERSEY DEVILS:   Flyers Fall in Devil's Playground.

Game One and Two:
No Sympathy Needed; Series Tied
N.J. Devils - Renaissance Men

GAME THREE FINAL:

Philadelphia Flyers  3

New Jersey Devils    4

overtime

On a night their top scorer wasn't supposed to play due to overly aggressive back pain, Ilya Kovalchuck turned into a pain for the Flyers.  And in a game when all the Devils' players you wanted to see score goals did, a little known former Toronto Maple Leaf yeoman; Alexi Ponikarovsky; stepped up to play hero for the home crowd.


Little known Ponikarovsky?  He's not exactly your average household Devil.  In ten seasons; eight full seasons; he has scored 179 regular season goals.  So, he's not exactly a slouch.  But if you don't know who he is, don't worry.  If the Devils can capitalize on their 2-1 series lead, and take Game Four at home, the Flyers will surly never forget him.  Just like they won't forget Adam Henrique or Adam Larsson either.  Because for all the Flyers' fire power, these are the names beating them.


The imported veteran left winger scored the Devils' winning goal with just 2:39 left in the first overtime.  Why?  Because midway through the third period, Daniel Briere showed up and did what he does best - score clutch, back breaking, playoff goals.


The Flyers scored first in this game as the Devils insist on continually putting themselves in the penalty box.  In all, the Devils put Philly on the power play five times this game.  Philly's Brayden Schenn made them pay on the Flyers' first opportunity, scoring at the 6:08 mark of the first period.  The Devils then struck back with fury.  First, Patrick Elias rejoined New Jersey's scoring effort with his own power play goal at 12:33;  his third of the playoffs.  Just twenty seconds later, Travis Zajac burned Ilya Bryzgalov for a 2-1 Devils lead heading into the first intermission.


A little over four minutes into the second period, the Flyers tied the game on Matt Carle's second goal of the playoffs.  Then in the third period, Zach Parise scored what the Devils thought would hold up to be the winning goal.  But three and a half minutes later, Daniel Briere erased that notion from New Jersey's minds.


Martin Brodeur faced twenty-eight shots and made twenty-five saves for the win.  In three games this series, he has surrendered eight goals on eighty-four total shots against.  For the playoffs, Martin Brodeur is sporting a 2.16 GAA, and owns a .917% Save percentage.  Game Three was Martin Brodeur's 105th NHL playoff win of his career.  It is a growing record his team mates hope Marty will continue to increase upon.


By far, the most mischievous Devil during these playoffs has been Travis Zajac.  Zajac is the Devils top scorer with five goals and nine points.  Ilya Kovalchuck also has nine points, but sports a -2 plus/minus, while Zajac is a plus-two.


Kovalchuck and Zach Parise have four goals each.  The one Devil yet to join the overall scoring is Dave Clarkson.  He has been getting his share of shots on goal, but has also been the Devils' biggest repeat offender and keeps finding himself in the penalty box.  As things stand right now, if Clarkson can get his game turned around, and he exercises a bit more discipline, he could very well become the deciding factor in upsetting the Philadelphia Flyers.


Philly is still too dangerous.  Look what they did to Pittsburgh, and it's not like the Penguins do not play defense.  So it's too early to start talking about a series win for the Devils.  But David Clarkson can sure as hell hasten an untimely Philly exit from the playoffs.  And if the Devils can win again Sunday on home ice, they'll have three chances to win one game, with still one more home game in hand.


If Philly pulls out a win on the road to tie, prepare for another seven game series.  But in order to do that, on one level, their scoring has to stop being so wildly streaky.  On another level, the same goes for the Flyer goalie.  Both aspects of the Flyers game have been either terribly hot or cold, or just plain 'ol inconsistent.  When combined together, Philly has been their own worst enemy.  So the Devils can either do what it takes to win, or, wait around to see which Philly team shows up that day and let them beat themselves.  But is that really a choice?


The operative magic number in this series is the number FOUR.  Four goals is what it has taken to win a game this series.  And in two out of three games, it took a FOURTH period to get it done.  Do the Devils have enough fire power (for argument sake) to score four goals per game?  Yes.  Can Marty Brodeur, who will turn FORTY years old on the same day as Game FOUR, keep Philly under four goals per?  He's cutting it close.  Can the Devils still win Game Four at home?  Yes.  Can the Devils stay out of the penalty box?  We'll see.  Let's give that an over/under of four infractions as well.  So, here's hoping for at least a push.  Right?





* Devil's Playground Graffiti/Bushwick BKN
Mike.BTB

N.J. Devils ~ No Sympathy Needed; Series Tied

From the desk of: THE BRICK CITY DEMONS

2011-2012

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE  ~  STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

 

Philadelphia Flyers

vs.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

SERIES TIED 1-1

I -  PHI  4;  NJD 3

II  -  NJD 4;  PHI 1

III - Thursday

NEW JERSEY DEVILS:  The Newark Demons Follow-Up Game One's Frustrating Loss With Formidable Game Two Effort.


Zach Parise's first period score in Game One went for not.  Midway through the second period, Marty and the Devils gave up two goals within thirty four seconds of each other.  The first was Daniel Briere's sixth goal of the playoffs.  Then Van Riemsdyke followed with his first.  Philly's fireworks didn't stop there.  Claude Giroux scored on a power play at the 4:19 mark of the third period.  That was Giroux's seventh goal of the playoffs.


In the face of all the Flyers' firepower, the Devils seemed resilient.   I'll give them that.  At the 11:22 mark of the second period, Travis Zajac tied the game at two while on a power play.  And after Giroux's goal, Petr Sykora tied the game for the Devils again half way through the third.  That's the way it stayed through the rest of regulation.


Now for the real story.  After peppering Ilya Bryzgalov with fifteen shots in the first period, Philly shut the Devil's attack down.  All they managed were three shots on goal in the second period, and four more in the fourth.  And once again, the Devils killed themselves by taking too many penalties.  They put Philadelphia on a man-advantage six times in all to include once in overtime.  But Philly only cashed-in once.  But all that time on the penalty kill meant less time attacking the offensive zone.


And we learned something else along the way.  What we didn't know in Game One, we found out as they headed into Game Two.  Ilya Kovalchuck was playing hurt and would not play in Game Two.  Ilya played 21:00 minutes and failed to take one shot on goal.


As for the rest of Game One, resiliency only got the Devils so far.  After regulation time, they needed to draw on a little luck too.  But even luck wasn't enough.  After getting Daniel Briere's apparent game winning goal overturned due to a kicked puck across the goal line, the Devils proved they were destined to lose Game One regardless, as Daniel Briere followed up and scored against Brodeur again, only this time the goal counted.  Devils lose by a 4-3 final.


Martin Brodeur faced thirty-six shots in all, but let four get by for a Game One loss.


Most thought an even bigger loss awaited the Devils in Game Two.  In addition to being down 1-0, and playing on the road, the Devils had to skate without Ilya Kovalchuck, and no one on the outside world really knew why.  It was one of those darned lower body injuries or something only Coach Bill Belichick could appreciate.


After just 2:53 into Game Two, luck didn't seem to be on the Devils side again.  An early score by Matt Read put the Devils instantly behind.  But even playing without Ilya Kovalchuck, the Devils still out-shot Philly in the first period thirteen shots to nine.  In the second, New Jersey really clamped down and only allowed the Flyers to get off two shots all period.  And in the third period, the Devils limited Philly to single digit shots again.  New Jersey however, out-shot Philly in each period during Game Two.  But they were still behind 1-0 through two sessions.


In the third period, all the Devils' work started to pay off.  At 3:08, Adam Larsson scored his first of the playoffs.  Eight minutes later, David Clarkson finally joined the playoff scoring for New Jersey and netted the go-ahead goal.  Then three minutes later, Travis Zajac cashed-in on his fifth goal of the playoffs.  It just goes to show what the Devils can do when they're not spending time in the box.


To seal the deal, you guessed it - inside the third minute, the Devils put Philly on the power play.  On the ensuing PK, Bryce Salvador received the puck from Adam Henrique in the Devils defensive end, and flicked it up ice to clear, but watched it continue bouncing into an empty Flyers' net.


The Devils hampered and slowed down the Flyers' high powered offense and limited them to twenty shots all game.  Save for the opening Flyers goal at three minutes into the game, Martin Brodeur, and the Devils as a whole, followed up a frustrating loss in Game One, with a rather formidable effort; especially on the defensive end; in Game Two.



New Jersey played without the services of their own high-powered sniper.  Devils win a gut-check game.  We now have ourselves a series.  Like I said, it's about time David Clarkson joined in on the scoring.  Now if Patrick Elias can join in as well.......maybe...


New Jersey gets one back on the road.  Now it's on to The Rock for a pair.




Mike.BTB

N.J. Devils ~ 30th Season of Hell On Ice

GAME ONE; 2011-2012 Season: vs. Philadelphia Flyers. 
From: The Rock, Newark, N.J.

N.J. DEVILS

30th Anniversary Season

NEW JERSEY DEVILS:   Good Team; Bad Team.  The Club From Newark Battles Its Demons.


Here comes the Mickey Mouse Club.  I was watching MSG Vault today and a special on the Devils.  Wayne Gretzky characterized the New Jersey Devils as a Mickey Mouse organization after a game in which the Edmonton Oilers mercilessly beat the Devils in a 1983 game by a 13-4 final score.


Thirty years into their New Jersey history, that isn't the case now..., is it?


Last season was the ultimate season of  - WHAT IF..?  What if Zach Parisi hadn't been lost for the season?  What if Ilya Kovalchuck hadn't forgotten how to score?  What if the Devils hadn't gotten off to that horrific start?  As horrific as their first half was, they played with fury after the break and almost salvaged a playoff spot.


This season comes replete with it's own - What If's.  What if they hadn't lost Travis Zajac for this season?  What If Marty Brodeur breaks down?  What if they start as badly again as they did last season?  What if Parisi and Kovalchuck don't get enough help playing on two different lines?  What if no one steps up and makes a name for themselves on defense?


The Devils have a new coach this season; Peter DeBoer.  The what-ifs are all his problem now.  This time Lou Lamoriello went out of the organization for his choice.  John MacLean didn't work out and Lou used the Jacques LeMaire card for the last time.  So Big Lou tabbed the former Florida Panthers head coach.  But then again, coaching issues are nothing new to the Devils.


One of Coach DeBoer's problems this season will be the Devils lack of a true center.  Patrick Elias will man that position by necessity.  But who exactly do the Devils think they are playing at center after Elias?  Who?


The bigger problem is the Devils suffer from a wholly unbalanced gang of Forwards.  But somehow, between Elias and Kovalchuck and others, they made it work in the second half of the season and incredibly only lost three games down the stretch.


The Devils surge was incredible actually.  But what really made it possible was a band of over-achieving Defensemen.  Bryce Salvador and Andy Greene are the known.  But the Devils are putting an awful lot of stock into kid-Adam Larsson.  If he and Henrik Tallinder can't add up to four reliable blue-liners,the Devils will have huge problems that will make their forward situation pall in comparison.


The 2010-2011 season was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde campaign.  Which team will show up early this season?  And which team will finish the season?  Or will one just dominate them?


The Devils should never be taken lightly; ever.  But they are far from their glory days now.  There are still members of those days still here; but few.  There's still a Hall of Fame goalie in net.  But a  frustrating chase for the eighth or seventh spot come April of next year, starts now.






Mike.BTB