The Curious Case of Scott Neidermayer

The Devils have announced that they will be retiring Scott Neidermayer’s number 27 sometime during this season (rumors suggest it will be December 16). He is one of my favorite players all time, if not THE favorite. It goes without saying that in my biased view, his number should be hanging from the rafters, never to be worn by the likes of the Mottaus or Tallacksons ever again.

Neidermayer was one of the most gifted skaters ever to play in the NHL. I wish that I could do anything half as well as he can skate. Hell, I wish I could walk half as well as he skates. Alas, my destiny is to constantly walk into things while he smoothly skates the periphery of the ice in around 4 seconds. But I digress.

In parts of 13 seasons with the Devils (and parts of 5 with the Mightiful Disney Ducks of Anaheim) he played in 1465 regular season and playoff games, amassing 838 points (197g, 641a). He was a key figure in all 3 of the Devils Stanley Cup championships (as well as the Conn Smythe award winner for the Ducks’ championship season in 2006-07). He finally won the Norris Trophy for best defenseman in 2003-04 (the only Devil ever to win the award). He is also the only player EVER to win every major North American and international championship: Memorial Cup, World Cup, Stanley Cup (4x) and gold medals in the World Junior Championship, IIHF World Championship and the Olympics (2x). So it’s safe to say he’s awesome. No brainer to retire his number, right, seeing how he will be remembered and everything he brought to the franchise for the equivalent of both my elementary and high school careers? He made Colin White look good for years. That has to count for something, right? Right?

Well, believe it or not, there is a lot of anger about this floating around the internet. What, anger and jealousy on the internet you say? Never. Well, maybe just this once (and by once I mean, 900 trillionth time).

The Devils beat the Ducks for the Stanley Cup in June of 2003. Playing on the Ducks’ third line was Scott’s brother, Rob. While winning the Cup is the ultimate prize in hockey and what every little kid hopes to do, it was clearly bittersweet for Scott. It was obvious that he wanted to share that joy with his brother and that it was hard for him to shake his hand afterwards. That was the moment I knew he would leave the Devils if LL couldn’t find a way to get Rob on the team. I believe he had tried to trade for him in the past, but was never able to bring him over. And seeing all of this, then Ducks’ GM Brian Burke overpaid Rob to stay in Anaheim. And so when Scott reached unrestricted free agency after the 2003-04 season, he left to play on the same team as his brother, eventually passing him the Stanley Cup in 2007. In fact, he left money on the table to do this (I think it worked out to a little more than $4 million).

I never blamed him for doing this. I got it. I still get it. He left a huge hole on the Devils’ blue line and in their leadership. He will never be replaced because there is nobody quite like him. But so it goes and like I said, I get it. But there seems to be a surprisingly large contingent of folks on the interwebs that believe he should piss off and his number should either never be retired or, at the very least, should be pushed off until after Brodeur and Elias retire first. It’s hard to understand that kind of bitterness, especially in light of what he did and the circumstances around him leaving. But then maybe I’m a little more rational than most people.

The Red Sox have 3 criteria for retiring a player’s number: 1) election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, 2) at least 10 years played with the Red Sox and 3) finish his career with the club. The Devils have no criteria that I know of for retiring a player’s number. Should there be a reason to withhold this honor from a player who so clearly deserves it? Should there be criteria that MUST always be met?

Anyway, I’m interested in what other people think about this. Not so much the specifics of Scott Neidermayer, but the number retirement in general. Should spitefulness win out in the end as we forget about a player’s complete body of work just because he didn’t spend his entire career with your team? Can the business side of things and the personal side of things be viewed from a rational perspective that includes both? Can’t we all just get along?

Thursday Brain Dump

Ok, I'm back and have a lot on my mind. Let's not waste any time and get straight to it.

• Let's start with talking about the Mets. First on the docket - RA Dickey. He was an amazing story last year as he went 11-9 for the Mets with a 2.84 ERA. In the off-season they rewarded him with a 2 year $6.5 million contract (with a club option in 2013 for $5 million). We all knew he wouldn't be able to repeat last year, but still expected good things from him. At first he looked like a disaster as he sat at 1-5 with a 5.07 ERA as of May 14. Since then he is 7-6 with a 3.13 ERA, which is much more inline with a normal bump from last year. He will certainly end the year with a losing record, but I don't think there is one Mets fan who loves him any less. In Dickey We Trust.
• The Mets called up two new arms as of September 1. The first, Chris Schwinden gets his first major league action against the Braves on Thursday. The second, Josh Stinson has been lights out through his first 4 games, having not given up any runs in 5 2/3 innings. It is hard to tell whether he will be a long-term part of this team but so far so good. (Of course, we need to remember that Pedro Beato gave up 0 runs in his first 18 2/3 innings before being hammered for 12 runs in his next 7 2/3.) Let's hope for similar success from Schwinden.
• Finally, let's talk some Lucas Duda. He now has 17 doubles, 9 HR and 46 RBI in 86 games...extrapolate that to 150 games and it comes to 15 HR, 30 doubles and 80 RBI. Now take it a step further and take the 76 games after being re-called on June 10 and it would extrapolate to 18 HR, 33doubles and 91 RBI. I know that might be a little high, but even 80 RBI would be awesome when combined with what Wright and Davis could contribute (I'm not even mentioning Bay in this sentence).
  
• Moving on, this just in: Doug Fister loves being out of Seattle. Ok, I didnt really talk to him, but I assume such. Let's go over the numbers. In Seattle he had a very solid 3.33 ERA, but only got 2.33 runs of support when he started (1.8 if you exclude the 13-3 win over Oakland in April). This led to a 3-12 record. Since coming to Detroit he has a 2.64 era and has received 4.3 runs in support. This has led to a 4-1 record.
• I listened to an ESPN podcast with Taylor Twellman and J-Will's favorite, Alexi Lalas. Twellman made an interesting suggestion - play both Donovan and Dempsey up top. His reasoning - we have enough depth at midfield with Bradley, Jones, Edu, Holden, Torres and even Shea AND we already play them there late in games when we need goals. To him, they should just play there all game since Altidore is not ready to be a loan forward yet. I have to say - somehow I have never thought about this, but really, really like it.
• I did not get to see the US game versus Belgium, but was very happy with what I saw against Costa Rica in the first half. In reading most of the reports, journalists seem to be giving Klinnsman a pass as he looks for new players to play an important role in the team. We know about Dempsey, Donovan, Bradley and the rest, but I am hearing that Brek Shea, Timmy Chandler and Jose Torres were the most promising. I am not a huge Shea fan (well, because I think he is a punk with a horse haircut), but if he can put it all together, he is going to have a great career.
• Reports out of Mexico have former US Bob Bradley interviewing for the vacant Santos Laguna head coaching position. Am I the only one who is shocked by this turn of events? I mean, I understand the interest in the Egypt job, but how the hell does he have any respect in Mexico? I know the US team had some success against the Mexicans during his tenure, but this is the US we are talking about. I guarantee no one has any respect for American soccer minds - certainly not enough to trust them as to be their manager. Respect to the owner if he does hire him and props to Bradley if he takes the challenge.
• By now, you have probably seen the new Maryland football unis. If not, here are some pics...anyways, I might be in the minority, but I really like them. The thing I don't get is why Maryland is sooo proud of there flag. I honestly have never seen one state use there flag more as a symbol than Maryland. can someone help me understand...?
• Justin Verlander won his 22nd game on Wednesday. He has at least three starts left (4 depending on whether they need him to pitch on the final day of the season) meaning that he could easily get to 25 wins on the year (remaining schedule: at CHW, at OAK, vs BAL). Twenty-five wins would be the most since Bob Welch (27) for oakland in 1990. Since then, Randy Johnson('02) and John Smoltz ('96) are the only guys with 24. (more on Smoltz below)
• Any one else excited to have Strasburg back? Ok, maybe I'm not excited for this season - they really had no reason to bring him back - but I am stoked for next year
• Reading Don Banks bold predictions piece from SI, I learned that the Atlanta Falcons have never had back-to-back playoff appearances. That is a really really interesting stat and one that likely will come to an end this year.
• For the 3rd time in the last 4 co-ed soccer games, I got accused of diving. It really pisses me off. I mean, I'm 31 with a kid, playing in an over-30 league where half of the guys are lucky to be able to run around...why would I intentionally want to fall down and get rubber pellets in my shorts? Anyways...I figure there are three possible things going on here: 1. I am diving but just don't realize it. 2. I am a pussy who is just falling over at the slightest contact. 3. The other team is a bunch of idiots who don't know anything. Fuck off if you think #1 or #2 are the case.
• I listened to Grantland podcast with Jonah Keri and he said that Ryan Howard's contract extension doesn't kick in until NEXT year. Sure enough, he is right (never had any doubt in my mind)...Howard will get $20m in 2012 and 2013 and then $25 from 2014-2016. I know the guy is a home run and RBI machine, but wow that is a huge contract for a guy who hasn't hit over .280 in 5 years and has averaged 180 strikeouts during that same period. With the rest of the offense crumbling around him, his contract might become an albatross pretty soon.
• I really love what Steve Sarkisian is doing with this Huskies team. Good piece by Steve Kelly on how he is purposefully using the media to call out his team's lack of effort against Eastern.
• Speaking of the Huskies, I am very very excited for the game against Hawai'i this weekend. I really love watching the Warriors fling the ball around on offense, but am very scared of what they might do to the Huskies this weekend. I mean, the Huskies gave up 475 yards passing against a lower division team last week...and while Hawai'i QB Byran Moniz only threw for 178 yards last week against Colorado, he was the nations leading QB last year with a whopping 5040 yards and 39 TD's.
• I won't be able to watch the Huskies game because I'll be at Qwest for what should be the MLS match of the week between the boys in rave and Real Salt Lake. RSL is currently below us in the standings, but even with the season long loss of Javier Morales, I think they are one of the most talented teams in the league. What I am interested in seeing is how the Sounders respond to having 11 days without a game, 5 of which were spent without practice. Long-term having the guys have a vacation was the smart thing to do both mentally and physically, but I have a feeling it might make them ripe for the picking on Saturday.
• Speaking of the Sounders, four stories are worth mentioning. First, Roger Levesque cut his hair. This is hardly a style blog, but Roger cutting his hair needs to be reported on. Second, our newest striker, 24 year old former US U-20 player Sammy Ochoa is in camp training with the guys. I don't know what he will be able to contribute this year or moving forward, but it is nice to see that they did at least sign someone who may or may not be able to score goals. Third, James Riley had a 7v7 youth tournament and both Jeff Parke and Mauro Rosales showed up to support him and sign some autographs. Great job by both of those guys considering it was the day after a game. Finally, Terry Boss suffered a concussion while playing for Puerto Rico (yes, he plays for Puerto Rico - google for more info) and his season looks to be in jeopardy.
• Not sure if anyone saw, but Andy Roddick recently lashed out at Chris Fowler and tennis commentators in general (check out 2:17 of the clip). I have long been a Roddick guy, but it definitely came off as sour grapes. I have read that he is a good guy who just got caught up in the moment (hell, he didn't even shower before doing the interview), but come on man, you can't have such thin skin. The worst part was that he directed it towards Fowler, who I think is the man. Maybe it's just because he has the dream job (tennis, college football, soccer analyst), but Fowler can do no wrong in my book.
• Reports out of St Louis indicate that Albert Pujols turned down a 9-yr, $195 million contract last winter as he was searching for a 10-yr, $230 million contract instead. This is simply amazing to me and one of the reasons why I respected what Jared Weaver did a few weeks ago. I understand that Pujols is more valuable and deserves more than Joe Mauer for what he has done over the past decade, but the amount given for someone who is successful in 1 out of every 3 attempts is astonishing.
  
  
• OK, now I want to spend a little time looking at some stats for two different Hall of Fame worthy pitchers. First, I noticed that John Smoltz will be eligible for the Hall in 2014. In my opinion, he has to be a first ballot guy. Sure he only had 210 wins, but he is the only guy with 200 wins and 150 saves. He sat out the entire 2000 season with arm injury and then from 2002-2004 he averaged 48 saves. If you turn his 4 years of relief duty into time as a starter and have him average 15 wins a season, that brings him to 270 wins. That is not quite the magical 300 number, but good enough considering his strikeout rate. If you assume he never got hurt, its 285 wins then. The crazy thing is that in 1996 he was the BEST starter and then he transformed himself into the best reliever from 2002-2004. No one, not even Dennis Eckersley cane ever say he was the best starting and relief pitcher during his career. When he jumped back into being a starter, he went 44-24 from 2005-2007 as a 38 year old. Simply put, he has one one of the most deserving Hall of Fame credentials.
• When you look at baseball reference, you see that they compare Smoltz to Curt Schilling, who will be an interesting decision in 2012. Schilling only has only 216 wins and never won a Cy Young. However, he was the best player on 2 World Series winning teams including the one that brought Boston the title in 2003. Need I say more than 'bloody sock'? Given that this was the steroid era and numbers don't mean as much as they once did, shouldn't something as subjective as his leadership be enough? For me, I think it does. For the voters, I'm less convinced. [An aside - Schilling he did have three 20 win seasons and struck out 300 batters thrice.]

Hang in There With Me

We dropped The Incident off for her first two days of pre-school yesterday and today. I had no idea preparing for hew first day would take so much time, but couple with The Wife starting school again, i haven't had much time to blog recently. But don't worry, I'll be back within a day or two - just because I haven't written doesn't mean I haven't been paying attention.

I know about the Marlyand uni's and about former Mariners pitcher Doug Fister. I also know about the US National team and of course our favorite pirate, Roger Levesque getting a haircut. I'll be back to discuss them shortly, so hang in there with me.

SEC's Most Hated Team

It's official - the SEC's most hated team is officially the Georgia Bulldogs.

For the past five years, all the talk in college football was how the Boise St Broncos should be given a fair shot to play for the national title. After all, they have a five year record of 63-3 including 4 undefeated regular seasons. Simply put, they have been the most successful program over the past five years. The rub however, is that conference of theirs. Critics railed on the Broncos, noting that they wouldn't even go .500 in the SEC, which has claimed the past 4 national champions. No matter what colors they wear, fans of the SEC HATED the idea that little Boise St deserved a shot. Finally the day had come when Boise St traveled down South to take on a big boy from the SEC, the Georgia Bulldogs. After Georgie sent them home with their tails between their legs they would never have to deal with Boise again.

Well, funny thing happened. The Broncos came down to Georgia and put it to the Dawgs 35-21. This will only add fuel to the fire. Fans from around the country will now point to this win if (more likely, when) Boise St goes undefeated this year. SEC fans are feeling sick right now.

But here's the rub: I'm a Dawgs fan, but this team isn't very good. They are merely a .500 team with an above average QB whose reputation proceeds them. Critics started to talk themselves into the Dawgs making run simply because of their easy schedule and their decade long success. Credit to Boise for coming down to SEC country and winning, but a true test would have been Alabama or LSU. Hopefully we can all see that come this January.

A few other notes about the opening weekend in college football:

• A HUGE win by #4 LSU without their suspended QB over #3 Oregon. Sure the game was in their backyward, but Oregon was unstoppable last year
• So much for Notre Dame running the table like some critics predicted. Now I know this doesn't take them out of the BCS race - voters still swoon over the Irish and will put them in the top 10 if they win 9 games - but it sure doesn't help. Huge props to USF Head Coach Skip Holtz for going into South Bend and getting the win. I wonder how his dad is feeling tonight.
• UW got the win over defending FCS champion Eastern Washington, but I think the game definitely showed some areas that need improvement. Can you say defense? The Huskies gave up 504 total yards, of which 473 came in the air. Now last year they couldn't stop the run, so it was good to see that improve, but wow, the Eagles definitely put it to them. They were lucky to have escaped with a win. Keith Price may have only thrown for 102 yards, but overall I really liked what I saw from him. It may not have been impressive, but I am excited for where this team might be able to go.
• I LOVE watching Hawaii play
• Terrible loss by Oregon St to FCS team Sacramento St. These are the games you are supposed to win
• Congrats to Baylor with their upset win over TCU. This is a team I have been hoping would make some noise because, quite frankly, I would LOVE to see their green and gold playing in a bowl game
• All the talk about relocation is making my head spin. Now the latest reports are suggesting Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Texas and Texas Tech to the Pac 12. If the four schools stay put in the conference formerly known as the Big 12 then BYU might be the school to replace Texas A&M. Oh, and the Aggies to the SEC along with FSU may not be too far off. Just crazy stuff
• I can't believe that Greg Schiano has now been at Rutgers for 10 full years. He helped put the team on the map in 2006 with their 11-2 records but has since seen a slow decline (8-8, 8-5, 9-4 over the next three years). Last year they finished 4-8, the first losing season since 2004. This will be a key season for the Knights. You have to imagine he still has a long leash, but if they can't get to a bowl game, the pressure will start to mount. Now any rational observer would give him a long, long leash...I mean, Rutgers had NEVER been a contender before Schiano. He changed the culture and actually made it cool to support the Knights. Here's hoping 2010 was just a blip in the radar.
• Bucknell with a rare opening day win, 27-26 over Fordham. No analysis, just wanted to let everyone know

Good to have college football back.

Jersey Shore and Other Stuff

The most anticipated episode of the Jersey Shore aired right about the same time Hurricane Irene was pummeling New Jersey last week - I can't believe it was merely a coincidence. Anyways, I didn't get to see it, but got the impression from all those in FB land that the fight between Ronnie and Sitch was disappointed. I finally got to see it last night and I have to agree - it was a total letdown. However, even with that, I think this had to be one of the better episodes I have seen in a long time. How about a list to best break it down

• I can't even look at Jenny anymore. Besides being so skinny, she did something to her face and simply looks like Skeletor. What happened to the girl that we see on the credits? She has not only changed her looks, but she is no longer a praying mantis - she is clearly sanest woman in the house. You've changed J-Woww.
• Seeing Sitch in a neckbrace and sunglasses with a tear streaming down his face is one of the better reality moments of all time. I mean, it was classic.
• I can't believe we are STILL watching this whole Ronnie-Sammi thing. Look, I don't know how scripted this whole thing is, but assuming that it is a bit scripted, we must be really stupid. I mean, the fighting is so ridiculous. I am over it and have been for 2 seasons...I imagine that is how everyone else looks at it, and yet JS is enjoying some of its highest ratings ever. Ugghhh, stupid Americans.
• After they broke up again, Sammi put all the stuff that Ronnie gave her on his bed. He then proceeds to throw it away. What does Sammi do? She takes it out of the trash! That is just classic stuff right there. I mean, first off, she went dumpster diving. Second, how does that make her seem like a bigger person (like she claimed?) Let the stuff be in the trash - don't wimper back and get it! Come on, girl.
• I can't believe she is the only true Jersey girl on the show. I want to like you, I do...
• Vinnie and Paulie D remain my favorites. They alone are the reason I watch (well, this season at least since there are no flyover shots of the shore and boardwalk)
• The Deena/Sammi commercials keep on getting worse (and by that, I mean better)
• I enjoyed when Paulie almost got into a fight in the club and the guys were saying "you're in the streets of Florence" almost like they knew who they were (although I guess you have to sense something is up when you have a camera crew around you).
• Speaking of camera crew, was that the first time we saw them on Jersey Shore?
• I just don't get what Ronnie was thinking with the flowers. Seriously, how did you think that was going to be a good idea?
• Ok, I couldn't go through the whole list without actually talking about the fight...how fitting is it that Sitch (who by the way is coming off as a huge creep after endearing himself to some people with his appearances on ESPN and DWTS) got hurt by a wall? I mean, the guy is so fake that he couldn't even get knocked out by a real dude.
  
• Kudos to MTV for promoting the hell out of a fight that barely even happened. I should be pissed, but hey, they did what they needed to do. The fight may have been a bust, but overall a great episode.
  

Ok, now on to the Mets...

• With the win last night, Miguel Batista won his 100th game. He is now 40 years old with a 100-112 lifetime record and is on his 11th major league team. Amazing that he lasted that long.
• Since returning from the DL, Wright is hitting .314 with 28 rbi in 37 games. That is a pace of 114 over the course of a full 162 game season. It is only 1/4 of the season, but bodes well for him moving forward.
• The deal to sell a minority share of the team is now off and some people are wondering how this will effect the re-signing of Reyes. Ultimately, I don't think it has anything to do with it as I'm convinced that Sandy Alderson is already set into a specific payroll for next year regardless of whether new funds were trickling in. It is going to be tough - as metsblog.com has pointed out, in Santana ($24m), Bay ($17m) and Wright ($15m) they already have $55 on their books for next year. Signing Reyes to a hometown discount of $15m for next year would bring the payroll to $70 meaning the rest of the team would operate on $30m-$40m. I know we have a lot of young players with nice contracts, but it will be tough to put together a competitive team considering our young pitching is still 1-2 years away from making it to the big leagues. Einhorn backing out of the deal will have nothing to do with whether Reyes re-signs...in fact, it will be the terrible contracts given to Santana (ok, not terrible at the time) and Bay that will go a long way in determing if he does come back.
  

Finally, I have been feeling a little bored with sports during the week recently...it almost certainly has to do with the fact that it is August and the Mets being 5 games under .500. While the weekday sports slate won't really be picking up until the NHL starts in a month or two, I am excited to have college and pro football to add to my weekend feast of EPL and MLS. Not sure I can find time for them all, but will certainly give it a shot.

Devils Summer Update, part 2

...And we're back with the dearly departed! And Brian Rolston, too!

So who has found greener pastures from last year? Well, coach Jacques Lemaire, for one. He immediately re-retired, opening the door for Peter DeBoer to eventually be hired, a process which was dragged out in typical LL style. He was fired as head coach of the Florida Panthers after last season. He is a little younger and demands hard work and discipline on every shift, which was lacking from this team last year. He is friends with former coach Brent Sutter, who was a really good coach who happened to be a whiny little homesick weiner with sand in his vagina. But probably the best coach this team has had in the post-Burns era. Fingers crossed that he can bring some stability to the bench and actually stick around for a few years. After watching him take a borderline pick up team in the Panthers to a 40 win level I think he’ll do some good things with a talented Devils team.

Also gone are long timers Colin White and Brian Rolston, 2 contract albatrosses who were always thought to be unmovable. White was bought out (leaving a cap hit of 2 million each of the next 2 years) and eventually signed with SJ. He was a mainstay on defense since 2000 although he was never the same after an eye injury a few years ago. Unfortunately, he was probably the team’s best defenseman last year, which really is indicative of how poorly the team played. His ceiling at this point is mediocrity. And then there’s the curious case of Brian Rolston who returned 3 years ago with many possibilities only to be hampered by injury and a lack of playing time with the right folks. He played well during the team’s amazing run last season alongside Elias and Zubrus, but it was too little too late and his massive cap hit made it so he still had to go. Granted, he had to go for a long time, but it wasn’t until this summer that LL conned the Islanders into taking him via trade, straight up for Trent Hunter (RW). Ironically, we needed to dump salary and they needed to collect salary so this actually worked out well for everyone. Granted, LL then proceeded to buy out Hunter (who I would have preferred over Boulton), who will now have a cap hit for the next 4 years (maybe 1 million or so). So to both: so long, thanks for the memories, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. But seriously, thanks for the memories.

And in the tradition of saving the best for last, here are two of the most important details of this offseason.

First, or penultimately, Zach Parise re-signed with the Devils for 1 year, $6 million. He was a restricted FA who narrowly missed an arbitration hearing. Everyone involved (assuming all sound bytes and quotes to be true) wanted him locked into a long term deal. I don’t know exactly what happened, but they couldn’t agree to something in that vein, so they settled on the 1 year deal which will take him to Unrestricted free agency after next season. Speculative minds might say that the payment structure was not to Zach’s liking or maybe LL wanted him to take a bit more of a hometown discount for the long haul or maybe LL was worried about offering a 10 year deal in the wake of Zach’s knee surgery last season. Only a few people know where that gap was and none of them will talk about it until someone’s tell all autobiography in 20 years (yes, LL will still be alive in 20 years and will still be the GM). All I know is that I am happy he is still with the team, didn’t go to a messy arbitration hearing and can officially re-sign on January 1^st, 7 months before someone else gets a chance to overpay him. That said I am still a bit worried about the fact that it needed to get done a long time ago and it still really isn’t done.

And finally, the Devils said goodbye to Mike “Doc” Emrick this off season. He was the play by play announcer for the Devils for a long ass time (I don’t feel like finding the actual number of years right now) and was widely regarded as the best in hockey. Think I’m just being a homer? He has a weekly podcast on NHL.com and was the voice of NBC/Vs at the last few Olympics and Stanley Cup finals. He also did the game of the week on NBC/Vs for as many years as Vs has been Vs (rather than OLN and TNN before it). He officially retired from the grind of 80+ games a season and will instead focus just on the NBC/Vs games.

You might think it ridiculous to feel regret over this but that means you probably also don’t turn the volume off when Tim McCarver and Joe Buck do baseball games on Fox. I was a Devils fan living in Hartford, Boston and Atlanta for most of a decade. I used to listen to 50+ games a year on the internet radio in Hartford before buying the Center Ice cable package in Boston a few times. I streamed games online for years in Atlanta, except for the few times the Devils played the Thrashers and was able to watch them either live or at least on TV. When you follow a team over a long distance you become acutely aware of the importance of good broadcasters, especially on the radio. I watched a lot of hockey back in the day and saw a lot of broadcasters and suffered through most of them. Suffered to the point of turning off the sound on the TV, which really does a disservice to the game (the sounds of hockey are a beautiful melody). I can’t fully verbalize how much of a pleasure it was to hear Doc calling play by play for the Devils. So rather than babble anymore or ramble on, I’ll just post this link and let you watch for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz7p7HNUGAc

Doc was one of the greatest Devils to never skate and deserves to have a likeness hanging from the rafters, next to 3, 4 and [recently confirmed] 27. Next to 30 when he decides to call it a day. Doc was there for nearly all of the most cherished moments for both Devils fans and players and it would only be fitting to have his microphone up there with them.

Devils Summer Update, part 1

I know that everyone has been clamoring, in fact dying, to know about how a professional hockey team that is pretty universally hated by most fans of the sport spent its summer vacation. Well I am delighted to share with you some Devils updates. Again, because nothing is more exciting to casual or non-fans than reading about ice hockey in August. And since training camps open up in a mere 2+ weeks, let’s get started.

Last season was a disaster. They traded a 2^nd round pick and a highly regarded prospect (Matt Halischuk) for Jason Arnott, who they eventually traded for a lower second round pick (2012) and more parts to clog the bottom 6 forwards. Zach Parise was lost to injury after 12 games. Coach Lt. John MacLean of the NYPD (yippee kai yay) was fired about half way through the season, or approximately 30 games after he lost control of the team. One would think that the man who singlehandedly defeated a bunch of euro-trash thieves would be able to hold the respect of the team he coached, but I guess it wasn’t to be. A new (old) coach was brought in and the team was revived until they crapped back out, but not before playing themselves out of both the playoffs and the running for the top pick of the entry draft. They played their kids to great effect (developmentally anyway). They traded a supposedly whiny captain in Jamie Langenbrunner for “essentially a 2^nd round pick (2011)” which then turned out to be actually a 3^rd round pick. But wait, then they won the draft lottery and wound up picking 4^th and stole the guy I thought they had missed out on by not picking 1^st: defenseman Adam Larsson from the Swedish Elite League.

And then some really important stuff happened to the roster, some good, some otherwise. I honestly don’t think anything bad happened to the roster. So what happened, exactly?

First, the team re-signed their 2 top free agents: Andy Greene (D) and Johan Hedberg (G). Both were important signings and good in the sense that they didn’t overpay for any of the junk or really shiny junk on the free agent market. That said, they still overpaid for Greene. His cap hit is reasonable for what other free agents were getting, but had he been signed a week before the UFA market opened, he probably would have taken 500k-1M less/year than he got. For better or worse, he is one of the team’s better defensemen and will be with them for a few more years as he enters his prime. Hopefully his prime is something in the 30-40 point range of a few years ago rather than being akin to last year’s debacle.

Fearing a low level of sack on the team, LL brought in free agents Cam Janssen and Eric Boulton. Both are expected to play 4^th line, energy kind of minutes. Throw the body, start a few fires in someone’s kitchen; you know, the usual. I feel like having both (alongside David Clarkson) is somewhat unnecessary, but I’m barely qualified to spout off on a blog on the interwebs, let alone really be a gm.

The last 2 new additions to the team are a little more speculative: defenseman Adam Larsson and forward Adam Henrique (2008 draft pick). Both are expected to get long looks in training camp but neither have any guarantee of making the big team. Henrique proved quite capable of playing without Taylor Hall last year in Albany (25g 25a in 72 games), playing both left wing and center. He probably has a better chance of making the team (as a center rather than wing) than does Larsson because of the team’s crazy depth at defense, especially with the prospects. He’s young and he might need some time in the AHL to adjust. That said he still has a chance and should see some time in New Jersey this year.

So let’s talk about the defense. There are 4 vets who will likely be guaranteed spots in the lineup, health permitting: Andy Greene, Anton Volchenkov, Henrik Tallinder and Bryce Salvador. Salvador’s ability remains to be seen as he missed all of last season with a concussion sustained the previous year. He was always a good second pair shutdown kind of guy; whether he can return to that after missing such an extended period because his brain was retarded remains to be seen. If he is healthy enough to play regularly, though, that leaves 4 spots for the kids, a list which likely includes Adam Larsson, Mark Fayne, Matt Taormina, Matt Corrente and Mark Fraser (with Brandon Burlon and Alex Urbom likely spending the year in Albany). In my eyes, that list will mostly narrow to the first three. Corrente could see some time on D or as a 4^th line wing but I think his ship has sailed. He’s still young so he might still develop into a useful piece, but I think he has still fallen pretty far down on the depth chart. As for Fraser, he’s about as useful as Corrente, but won’t be playing unless there are a slew of injuries like last year. He’s a good AHL defenseman (maybe?) but not good enough for the NHL, at least not the way this roster exists. I’m sure he would be the best defenseman on Edmonton.

I think that the 5^th slot is Fayne’s to lose. He played very well as a rookie call up last year and now has some experience on his side. Taormina was impressive (3g 2a in 17 games) until he broke something and missed the rest of the season. He made the team last year as an undrafted FA out of college because of a great training camp, so maybe with his body healed he can make it again. I think that last regular spot really comes down to him and Larsson. I honestly hope that Larsson starts the season in Albany because he will get more playing time and more big minutes. Let the 7^th spot go to Fraser or Corrente while Larsson gets 20+ minutes a night and continues developing into the future first pair stud he can be.

OK, take a breather...