From the desk of: RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS
NEW YORK RANGERS - In Saturday's Blueshirts/Leafs Game, Mike Rupp and Colton Orr Combined for 5:37 Minutes Of Ice-Time. At 4:01 of the 1st Period, They Fought.
IT'S A BATTLE OF APPLES AND BANANAS - BUT WHO WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE..., MIKE RUPP OR COLTON ORR?
Since the onset of this condensed 2013 NHL season, I have, in order, A) - complained about the Rangers lack of quality fighters, B) - fretted about how they are getting pushed off the puck too easily, and C) - have been itching for the Rangers to tweak the roster accordingly
Ask and ye shall receive.
The Rangers signed 38-year old center-man Jason Arnott to a one year contract. Assuming he passes his physical, Jason will provide the Blueshirts with size, depth, experience, and toughness at forward. Jason Arnott, at 6'6" and 220 lbs., will not be easily moved off the puck. Even at thirty-eight years of age, I feel he will fit in very well in what we should assume will be limited minutes. Then again, who can really say for sure considering Coach's incessant line changes. I digress. Arnott's play, and that of his new mates will dictate that. For now, Jason Arnott instantly improves the back lines.
If you are one of the three or so people who actually follow my stuff, you know then, Saturday's game against the Leafs was one I have been eagerly anticipating. Hello Colton Orr. It was good seeing you again. On January 22nd, I wrote... THIS..! Last night's Rangers/Leafs game from Madison Square Garden featured a fight, a what? - between Colton Orr and Mike Rupp. Check it out.
Orr contributed 3:29 minutes of ice-time. Rupp contributed 2:08 minutes. Orr bested Rupp in hits by a 1-0 margin. Yeah, what does that prove? Well, certainly not the main point I've been tyring to drive home. But, like the tape says..., Colton Orr is in his contract year. Yes, he suffered a concussion problem recently. But he looks okay to me now. Lets bring him back. Lets make Colton Orr a member of the Rangers again. He'd be perfect for this team. The league's cap number is shrinking next season. But I'm sure "we" can make him fit and correct the mistake of not signing him in the first place... Then again, why wait? A short season sometimes warrants a different approach as it relates to a team like the Rangers. Continue being a good GM, and keep seeking periphery parts that will improve the club short term. Sometimes it is okay to instigate a trade. So here is the bottom line - who would you rather have... Mike Rupp or Colton Orr?
The Rangers have assembled all the skilled players they possibly can in order to score against the Western Conference. The Rangers will not be acquiring another. But this season is only going to be about getting out of the rough and tumble Eastern Conference first, and then secondly, coming out on top alive. In this conference physicallity matters, and the Rangers need more of it in order to improve upon last season. Jason Arnott knows how to win. He is a very good acquisition. Colton Orr would be another.
And yes, I'm being totally fan-sensible about this.
Mike.BTB
Showing posts with label Jason Arnott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jason Arnott. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Friday, December 31, 2010
N.J. Devils ~ Don't THRASH the Past
NEW JERSEY DEVILS: If you're going to the game this afternoon, take a second and LOOK UP!
The Devils host the Atlanta Thrashers later this afternoon to finish their abysmal 2010 portion of the schedule in which they could only manage twenty points. They have literally crash landed into last place in all the National Hockey League. Even after the Devils released John MacLean from his duties and brought back Jacques LeMaire to see if he can correct what is wrong with this team, they have not yet shown an indication they will be relinquishing their last place status any time soon.
The New Year doesn't seem any more promising than the last three months. I don't have the foggiest clue how to fix the Devils. I'm not so sure it's fixable because this is part of the natural downward progression of a DYNASTY.
The next great night in Devils' history will be when they raise John MacLean's jersey to the rafters.
But the Laws of Diminished Returns are dusting off the snow from their skates and are knocking at the Devil's Door. The LAST great night in this Devils' Era may very well be the night they retire Martin Brodeur's number and raise his jersey aloft with those of Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko and their three Stanley Cup Championship Banners.
The Last Great Days of Devils' Hockey will be what you can make out of watching Marty play out the season (or two) in the final days of his career as he tacks on perhaps a few more wins and shutouts along the way to finishing as the Best Ever in those respective categories.
We are watching the sad final gasps of a glorious Devilish Era coming to a most certain end.
Patrick Elias will be left behind to witness and suffer through the final crumbling of the Devils much like (METS Reference..) Jerry Koosman was left behind to pitch when the lights literally went out on the N.Y. Mets back in the Black-Out of 1977 after Tom Seaver was traded; ALONE.
There is no escaping the Salary 'Chuk HELL the Devs now find themselves in. And there are no new "Lil Demons" coming up through the system. That's the Devils' present.
In the near future, there is no last hurrah for Marty, Langenbrunner, Elias and LeMaire. There will be no second shot at being a hero for Jason Arnott. Zach Parise? Sorry Bud...bad timing.
If you're going to the game this afternoon and find yourself getting "THRASHED" by Atlanta, look up, think back, and be grateful for a GREAT Run!
Somehow, from parts out west, you guys moved into the most populous and crowded metropolitan area in the country and built an Empire that for the last twenty+ years, Be-Deviled everyone.
Hell never had it so Good.
Mike.BTB
The New Year doesn't seem any more promising than the last three months. I don't have the foggiest clue how to fix the Devils. I'm not so sure it's fixable because this is part of the natural downward progression of a DYNASTY.
The next great night in Devils' history will be when they raise John MacLean's jersey to the rafters.
But the Laws of Diminished Returns are dusting off the snow from their skates and are knocking at the Devil's Door. The LAST great night in this Devils' Era may very well be the night they retire Martin Brodeur's number and raise his jersey aloft with those of Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko and their three Stanley Cup Championship Banners.
The Last Great Days of Devils' Hockey will be what you can make out of watching Marty play out the season (or two) in the final days of his career as he tacks on perhaps a few more wins and shutouts along the way to finishing as the Best Ever in those respective categories.
We are watching the sad final gasps of a glorious Devilish Era coming to a most certain end.
Patrick Elias will be left behind to witness and suffer through the final crumbling of the Devils much like (METS Reference..) Jerry Koosman was left behind to pitch when the lights literally went out on the N.Y. Mets back in the Black-Out of 1977 after Tom Seaver was traded; ALONE.
There is no escaping the Salary 'Chuk HELL the Devs now find themselves in. And there are no new "Lil Demons" coming up through the system. That's the Devils' present.
In the near future, there is no last hurrah for Marty, Langenbrunner, Elias and LeMaire. There will be no second shot at being a hero for Jason Arnott. Zach Parise? Sorry Bud...bad timing.
If you're going to the game this afternoon and find yourself getting "THRASHED" by Atlanta, look up, think back, and be grateful for a GREAT Run!
Somehow, from parts out west, you guys moved into the most populous and crowded metropolitan area in the country and built an Empire that for the last twenty+ years, Be-Deviled everyone.
Hell never had it so Good.
Mike.BTB
Thursday, December 23, 2010
N.J. Devils ~ Coach John MacLean Fired by Devils
NEW JERSEY DEVILS: Former Devils' Great, Rookie NHL Coach John MacLean Gets Fired By Big Lou.
Lou Lamoriello: Outside of coaching changes, there's nothing else he can do to save his team from the Salary Cap Hell he put them in.
Coming into this season, most Hockey fans and experts were pretty much all sold on the notion the N.J. Devils would boast an above-average offense but that their defense would not meet the standards set by teams of their "trapping" and "post-trap" past. But the Devilish irony that has repeatedly jabbed at New Jersey with a pitchfork this season is the complete opposite of what anyone expected.
While the low defensive expectations have indeed been unceremoniously met this season, the Devils scoring has been down-right malignant. In a situation one can only ponder logically by setting all common sense aside, the New Jersey Devils are dead-last in all the National Hockey League in goals scored.
There are ten teams in the League that have surrendered 100+ goals this season. And while the Devils are one of those teams with 103 GA, they aren't the worst of the lot which is no consolation...(I know). That distinction is shared by Tampa Bay and Anaheim with 111 goals against.
What is alarmingly bedeviling though, is their paltry fifty-nine goals-for. That goal total is dead last in the League; eight goals worse than the N.Y. Islanders. On a team with Ilya Kovalchuk, Jason Arnott, Patrick Elias, S. Gionta, Travis Zajac, and guys like Rolston and Langenbrunner being enough to round out three quality lines, what they have combined to offer as support for their new Coach was nothing short of putrid.
The Team-First Philosophy of interchangeable players, all abiding by a system with no room for individuals is all but gone from an organization that worked incredibly hard for over two decades now, with limited means and less than sold-out games, to become one of the League's most consistently successful franchises.
Not only is the woeful play a radical departure from what used to be known as Devil's Hockey, the zeal with-which the organization insisted on signing Ilya Kovalchuk was very strange to all Hockey minded on-lookers. With a fistful of money, they abandoned their own edicts like drunken sailors on shore-leave.
The Devil's way was to develop a self-reliant, self-sustaining farm system, so as to seamlessly fit these players on the Big Lines and then make savvy trades at the dead-line. Unless Ilya's signing is explained to me a different way, I can only surmise the Devils lusted for Kovalchuk, there-by clouding their better sense. The temptation of "scoring" can be DEVILISH....right fellas? They knowingly came into the season compromised on defense. But they, you nor I ever anticipated this offense featuring Kovalchuk would be pathetically worse. In a very unDevil-like transaction they bought into the STAR System. After 33 games the gamble has been a complete and utter failure. And this afternoon, after only 59 goals and 20 team points good enough only for Last Place.... it cost their rookie Coach his job.
John MacLean was relieved of his Head Coaching duties this afternoon by Big Lou Lamoriello in a move widely anticipated. Not so long ago, Big Lou placed the onus on his star players to get the Devils out of their malaise. When it was evident they were no closer to solving the team's problems, Coach John MacLean too, failed to continually find things to tell the media. He literally ran out of words to say as he could no longer provide answers for them outside of, "I don't know."
For that; for a woefully underachieving roster with star players missing in action, and for the sake of loosening an increasingly tightening grip on last place that needed to be immediately addressed, John MacLean, a former Devil Great himself, had to be removed. He was after-all a rookie Coach. The position was tenuous to begin with.
Former two-time Devil Coach and Stanley Cup Champion Jacques LeMaire was named interim Coach for New Jersey.
You'll never go wrong hiring Jacques to coach your team. He's a flat out winner. But this appointment hints, to me, of something much darker and dire. This points to something at the very foundation the Devil's Rock is built on....Lou Lamoriello himself.
He is arguably the best Sports Executive in the Metropolitan area. But there is no ignoring an increasingly glaring problem. The salary cap has perplexed even the best executives in Sports and Lou is no exception. Lou has struggled with the salary cap repeatedly in the past and this Kovalchuk contract will be an albatross for years to come. The farm system has hit a lull in productivity and things aren't as interchangeable as they used to be for Big Lou.
The task Jacques LeMaire has ahead of him pales in comparison to what big Lou has to deal with. Jacques gets to do what he does best. Somehow he and Devil Veteran Colin White have to find a way to get Andy Greene, Henrik Tallinder, Volchenkov and Anssi Salmela to play a style of defense that will get the offensive "stars" out of their funk and away from other responsibilities and there-by sparking transition in an offensive direction.
Yea....easy right?
Will this move be enough to dramatically save the Devils season that is more than one-third of the way over? I doubt it. It's not like Big Lou hasn't fired a coach before. As a matter of fact he's more known for it. But this may be more than just paint chipping off the walls and a broken window or two. And we haven't even touch the Brodeur situation either....have we?
We just might be in the earliest days of the Fall of the Devil's Empire.
Mike.BTB
Lou Lamoriello: Outside of coaching changes, there's nothing else he can do to save his team from the Salary Cap Hell he put them in.
Coming into this season, most Hockey fans and experts were pretty much all sold on the notion the N.J. Devils would boast an above-average offense but that their defense would not meet the standards set by teams of their "trapping" and "post-trap" past. But the Devilish irony that has repeatedly jabbed at New Jersey with a pitchfork this season is the complete opposite of what anyone expected.
While the low defensive expectations have indeed been unceremoniously met this season, the Devils scoring has been down-right malignant. In a situation one can only ponder logically by setting all common sense aside, the New Jersey Devils are dead-last in all the National Hockey League in goals scored.
There are ten teams in the League that have surrendered 100+ goals this season. And while the Devils are one of those teams with 103 GA, they aren't the worst of the lot which is no consolation...(I know). That distinction is shared by Tampa Bay and Anaheim with 111 goals against.
What is alarmingly bedeviling though, is their paltry fifty-nine goals-for. That goal total is dead last in the League; eight goals worse than the N.Y. Islanders. On a team with Ilya Kovalchuk, Jason Arnott, Patrick Elias, S. Gionta, Travis Zajac, and guys like Rolston and Langenbrunner being enough to round out three quality lines, what they have combined to offer as support for their new Coach was nothing short of putrid.
The Team-First Philosophy of interchangeable players, all abiding by a system with no room for individuals is all but gone from an organization that worked incredibly hard for over two decades now, with limited means and less than sold-out games, to become one of the League's most consistently successful franchises.
Not only is the woeful play a radical departure from what used to be known as Devil's Hockey, the zeal with-which the organization insisted on signing Ilya Kovalchuk was very strange to all Hockey minded on-lookers. With a fistful of money, they abandoned their own edicts like drunken sailors on shore-leave.
The Devil's way was to develop a self-reliant, self-sustaining farm system, so as to seamlessly fit these players on the Big Lines and then make savvy trades at the dead-line. Unless Ilya's signing is explained to me a different way, I can only surmise the Devils lusted for Kovalchuk, there-by clouding their better sense. The temptation of "scoring" can be DEVILISH....right fellas? They knowingly came into the season compromised on defense. But they, you nor I ever anticipated this offense featuring Kovalchuk would be pathetically worse. In a very unDevil-like transaction they bought into the STAR System. After 33 games the gamble has been a complete and utter failure. And this afternoon, after only 59 goals and 20 team points good enough only for Last Place.... it cost their rookie Coach his job.
For that; for a woefully underachieving roster with star players missing in action, and for the sake of loosening an increasingly tightening grip on last place that needed to be immediately addressed, John MacLean, a former Devil Great himself, had to be removed. He was after-all a rookie Coach. The position was tenuous to begin with.
Former two-time Devil Coach and Stanley Cup Champion Jacques LeMaire was named interim Coach for New Jersey.
You'll never go wrong hiring Jacques to coach your team. He's a flat out winner. But this appointment hints, to me, of something much darker and dire. This points to something at the very foundation the Devil's Rock is built on....Lou Lamoriello himself.
He is arguably the best Sports Executive in the Metropolitan area. But there is no ignoring an increasingly glaring problem. The salary cap has perplexed even the best executives in Sports and Lou is no exception. Lou has struggled with the salary cap repeatedly in the past and this Kovalchuk contract will be an albatross for years to come. The farm system has hit a lull in productivity and things aren't as interchangeable as they used to be for Big Lou.
The task Jacques LeMaire has ahead of him pales in comparison to what big Lou has to deal with. Jacques gets to do what he does best. Somehow he and Devil Veteran Colin White have to find a way to get Andy Greene, Henrik Tallinder, Volchenkov and Anssi Salmela to play a style of defense that will get the offensive "stars" out of their funk and away from other responsibilities and there-by sparking transition in an offensive direction.
Yea....easy right?
Will this move be enough to dramatically save the Devils season that is more than one-third of the way over? I doubt it. It's not like Big Lou hasn't fired a coach before. As a matter of fact he's more known for it. But this may be more than just paint chipping off the walls and a broken window or two. And we haven't even touch the Brodeur situation either....have we?
We just might be in the earliest days of the Fall of the Devil's Empire.
Mike.BTB
Friday, November 05, 2010
NYR vs NJD ~ Battle of the Hudson, Pt. 2
The Rock; Newark ~ Pregame, NYR vs NJD
The Battle of the Hudson resumes tonight as the New York Rangers cross the river to take on the New Jersey Devils in Newark tonight.
Martin Brodeur will not be playing tonight due to a sore shoulder after taking a puck to his arm earlier this week. And Ryan Callahan of the Blueshirts will also be a scratch for this evening's game, as he got a little banged up last night versus Philadelphia.
It's awfully hard to knock the Rangers right now considering the players we have sitting out with injuries; namely Gaborik, Prospol and Drury. The Rangers have been caught in a win two; lose two; win; lose..cycle lately. That's to be expected. With little to no depth to work with at the moment, the Blueshirts are just trying to maintain pace. They're doing a commendable job too.
It's just that we have no room for error even when we are at full strength. It's the same old story with us. We lack size and we have no qualified sniper on the wing. Torts has been riding our top line of Callahan, Anisimov and Dubinsky hard. Then again he hasn't really had a choice. All three of them are responding to Torts' "demands" they be the core and play as such.
The Rangers played impressively against the Leafs beginning this last stretch of games. Then got trashed by the Thrashers; played an excellent game against the Bruins; lost a tough, hard fought game against the Hurricanes and squeezed in another victory in there against Chicago.
Last night however, what was clearly evident against the Flyers in Philly was what has been our plight for eons upon eons....our lack of size. That's a conversation in Rangers' philosophy and not for right now.
We couldn't really muster much against them last night because Philly pushed us out wide and didn't let us loiter around the slot much. Sometimes you can skate through and around their lumbering size. Last night they could not in a game I was hyped for and a game the team was said to be exceptionally geared up to play.
The Devils? Wow! They have more problems than a math book. Their defense is non-existent, they've wrestled with the Kovalchuk issue and Brodeur was off his game very early - even getting pulled from a game in the earliest days of this season. After taking a puck off the arm two games ago, he will sit tonight. Now the latest calamity to befall the Devils comes courtesy of Zach Parise. He'll be out for a reported three months with a bad knee. That's all they needed right now. However, they didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn but they did have a good game against Chicago, and like the Rangers, beat the defending Stanley Cup Champs in their last game.
The ONLY real positive news to come out of Newark so far this season was the Devils' announcement they will be retiring Scott Niedermayer's jersey and Number 27 sometime this season. I believe that is well deserved by the way.
Now more than ever Patrick Elias and Jason Arnott need to carry the load more than ever. They've been MIA throughout October. November has to be better for the both of them.
Kovalchuk? He's suffering from a bad start. He'll eventually score goals but the other guys need to show up right now. Like I said tonight they'll have to go it without Brodeur and Parise. Brodeur will be missing his first game this season after 14 games played. Johan Hedberg will get the start against the Rangers tonight.
Henri will be in net for the Blueshirts.
Game time is another 25 minutes away. Let's get it on...in this latest installment of the Battle of the Hudson.
The Rangers beat the Devils the last time these teams met. I look for them to repeat that feat and correct last night's sloppy, ugly loss against the Flyers with substantially better play tonight. With Callahan out of the line-up I'm hoping Tort's will shuffle the lines and pair AVERY together with more scoring potential for tonight. Regardless, I still think Avery is due for a very explosive night and he loves playing against the Devils...even though Marty is sitting this one out.
Game time is fifteen minutes away. Let's Get It ON! The latest installment of the Battle of the Hudson comes now.
SECOND PERIOD
Rangers 2
Devils 0
Lundqvist ~ 23 saves
Devils out shooting the Rangers:
THIRD PERIOD
The Battle of the Hudson resumes tonight as the New York Rangers cross the river to take on the New Jersey Devils in Newark tonight.
Martin Brodeur will not be playing tonight due to a sore shoulder after taking a puck to his arm earlier this week. And Ryan Callahan of the Blueshirts will also be a scratch for this evening's game, as he got a little banged up last night versus Philadelphia.
It's awfully hard to knock the Rangers right now considering the players we have sitting out with injuries; namely Gaborik, Prospol and Drury. The Rangers have been caught in a win two; lose two; win; lose..cycle lately. That's to be expected. With little to no depth to work with at the moment, the Blueshirts are just trying to maintain pace. They're doing a commendable job too.
It's just that we have no room for error even when we are at full strength. It's the same old story with us. We lack size and we have no qualified sniper on the wing. Torts has been riding our top line of Callahan, Anisimov and Dubinsky hard. Then again he hasn't really had a choice. All three of them are responding to Torts' "demands" they be the core and play as such.
The Rangers played impressively against the Leafs beginning this last stretch of games. Then got trashed by the Thrashers; played an excellent game against the Bruins; lost a tough, hard fought game against the Hurricanes and squeezed in another victory in there against Chicago.
Last night however, what was clearly evident against the Flyers in Philly was what has been our plight for eons upon eons....our lack of size. That's a conversation in Rangers' philosophy and not for right now.
We couldn't really muster much against them last night because Philly pushed us out wide and didn't let us loiter around the slot much. Sometimes you can skate through and around their lumbering size. Last night they could not in a game I was hyped for and a game the team was said to be exceptionally geared up to play.
The Devils? Wow! They have more problems than a math book. Their defense is non-existent, they've wrestled with the Kovalchuk issue and Brodeur was off his game very early - even getting pulled from a game in the earliest days of this season. After taking a puck off the arm two games ago, he will sit tonight. Now the latest calamity to befall the Devils comes courtesy of Zach Parise. He'll be out for a reported three months with a bad knee. That's all they needed right now. However, they didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn but they did have a good game against Chicago, and like the Rangers, beat the defending Stanley Cup Champs in their last game.
The ONLY real positive news to come out of Newark so far this season was the Devils' announcement they will be retiring Scott Niedermayer's jersey and Number 27 sometime this season. I believe that is well deserved by the way.
Now more than ever Patrick Elias and Jason Arnott need to carry the load more than ever. They've been MIA throughout October. November has to be better for the both of them.
Kovalchuk? He's suffering from a bad start. He'll eventually score goals but the other guys need to show up right now. Like I said tonight they'll have to go it without Brodeur and Parise. Brodeur will be missing his first game this season after 14 games played. Johan Hedberg will get the start against the Rangers tonight.
Henri will be in net for the Blueshirts.
Game time is another 25 minutes away. Let's get it on...in this latest installment of the Battle of the Hudson.
The Rangers beat the Devils the last time these teams met. I look for them to repeat that feat and correct last night's sloppy, ugly loss against the Flyers with substantially better play tonight. With Callahan out of the line-up I'm hoping Tort's will shuffle the lines and pair AVERY together with more scoring potential for tonight. Regardless, I still think Avery is due for a very explosive night and he loves playing against the Devils...even though Marty is sitting this one out.
Game time is fifteen minutes away. Let's Get It ON! The latest installment of the Battle of the Hudson comes now.
NEW YOR RANGERS
vs.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Tonight at "The Rock"
Newark, New Jersey
FIRST PERIOD
Rangers 1
Devils 0
Goal: NYR, Dubinsky. Assist: Anisimov, Frolov
Brandon Dubinsky's 9th goal leads the team.
Newark, New Jersey
FIRST PERIOD
Rangers 1
Devils 0
Goal: NYR, Dubinsky. Assist: Anisimov, Frolov
Brandon Dubinsky's 9th goal leads the team.
SECOND PERIOD
Rangers 2
Devils 0
*Goal: NYR, Girardi (2). Assist: Anisimov, Dubinsky
*Power Play goal.
Lundqvist ~ 23 saves
Henrik Lundqvist is the best player on the ice so far.
Devils out shooting the Rangers:
NJD 23 Shots on Goal
NYR 12 Shots on Goal
***Dubinsky goal now being credited to Brian Boyle.
***Dubinsky goal now being credited to Brian Boyle.
THIRD PERIOD
Rangers 3
Devils 0
FINAL
Goal: NYR, Dubinsky (10th) - Shorthanded.
NJD - 5 Minute Major Penalty to Clarkson; Boarding on Brian Boyle;
NYR do not score.
POST GAME:
Rangers bounce back after last night's loss;
Devils fall deeper into their Hell.
A bedeviling season continues for the Newark Demons as Henrik Lundqvist shut out the rival Devils yet again. He stopped 33 shots to gain victory over the spiraling Jersey club and in doing so, corrected last night's loss to the Flyers.
Brandon Dubinsky was denied a Hat Trick. His 2nd period goal was later credited to Brian Boyle.
None-the-less, Brandon scored two goals tonight which gives him 10 for this young season. When the season began I stated he'd need to score at least 30 goals in order for the Rangers to be a playoff contender (along with Callahan). He may be coming into his own now. This season may be his coming out. He certainly seems to be responding to Tort's prodding.
I thought Torts would make an effort to put a better line around Avery as Callahan was a scratch.
It didn't work out that way. Avery played a quietly effective game. He's been quite the model citizen so far. I'm hoping Torts can open up his situation a bit. The guy is a good hockey player who I think is being underutilized. But that's just me.
It's a disturbing time across the river. Kovalchuk, Arnott, Elias,.....where are they? What the entire Metropolitan area Hockey fan wants to know is what happened to the Devils? Lundqvist was exceptional in goal tonight, but to a man, I'm sure the Devils are speechless, but would still muster words saying how Lundqvist is the least of their problems.
The Devils had better retire Niedermayer's jersey sooner than later so as to give their fans something to cheer about before it gets ugly out in Newark. Mayor Booker already has enough problems out there. Coach MacLean used his "pick on my Superstar" card way way early against Kovalchuk. What possible motivational technique can he employ now that will get his players' attention? He went for the Bazooka early and now he may be left holding only a sling shot.
Of course I know it's only November. It's the only thing the Devils have going for them at the present time. The situation is definitely a matter I'll be watching closely.
Mike.BTB
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