Yes, for the first time all season, the Devils (formerly known as the Woeful Devils or last in the league Devils) have won as many games as they lost (of course this doesn't apply to games lost in OT because they still received a point which is kind of dumb and then there's the whole shootout thing which is another piece of crap itself).
And since the retardation of the system actually favors my team here, I'm going to say they are at .500 and be done with it. suck it.
At any rate, the Devils have been playing amazing. My 2 favorite Devils, Travis Zajac (2 PP goals, GWG) and Mattias Tedenby (2A, +3), came up huge in the last 2 games, both must-wins for the team. Actually, they’re all must-wins, but I’m just saying… Plus, Tedenby drew the penalty which lead to the game-tying goal at Atlanta. In both games, they came back from 2-1 to win in overtime. In the past, I would have expected them to blow both games, generally by tying it up first and then letting it slip away, but this time was different. Watching them, you could tell there was no way they were letting those crucial wins slip away from them.
They have played with the intensity and drive that you absolutely need heading into the playoffs. Assuming they can actually make it in, which is not so far-fetched anymore, they would be devastating. I don’t think there’s any team that would want to play them, much like the homos, er, flyers last year. They snuck in on the last day, ended up losing in the Cup finals. If the Devils make it, I think they could easily win it all. The last few years, I’ve always felt like they had the team to win it all, that they could win it all. Honestly, the fan in me probably deluded myself enough to see past their flaws. But this year (literally this year because they’ve only played this way since early January), I really feel like the eastern conference is theirs. Once again, assuming they can make it to the playoffs.
Tedenby was recently paired up with Jacob Josefson, a center from Sweden who was drafted with the intention of having them play on a line together and David Clarkson. I love this line. I wish it happened sooner and I hope they keep clicking (both Clarkson and Josefson had 1g, 1a against the Isles on Saturday, the one where Tedenby had 2a). Speaking of Swedes, I don't even want to punch Henrik Tallinder anymore.
They will have a huge game against the rags on the next-to-last game of the season which could be the deciding factor. I don’t think I could describe the elation if that win is the one to get them in. As a bonus, if that happens, chances are the rags will not make it.
But even if they don’t make it, they have made hockey fun again. Even in the past few seasons when they have done very well in the regular season, it hasn’t felt like this. Although that might be a result of their recent playoff struggles. Maybe I was used to a certain level of success, such that I wouldn’t get excited until they reached the next level, only they never got there. Watching them bottom out, though, has changed a lot. Watching them play with that fire lately, watching them play like they don’t want to make excuses about bad breaks or injuries or whatever, watching them want to win… just awesome.
The only down-side is that I think I was too optimistic with most of my over/unders from a few weeks ago and will probably end up losing all of those. I guess this proves I don't know dick, although that is still more than ESPN's Scott Burnside, or Douchy McDickface, as he's known in and around Newark. Newark, DE, that is. I can't even tell you what they think of him in Newark, NJ because Schmick's blog would be removed by the internet police.
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