Hate for the 2012 Winter Classic

Boys and girls across Canada and the northern US grow up shoveling off snow from frozen lakes and playing hockey every night until the sun sets. That is why the yearly outdoor NHL game is a perfect idea...it is the closest the players will ever come to going back to simpler times.

For the past 4 years the NHL Winter Classic has provided not only the players but the fans the opportunity to go back to their childhood. They might not be played on random lakes in the middle of the wilderness, but they are played in some pretty cool locales. first it was Ralph Willard Stadium in Buffalo. Then Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Heinz Field. It has all been perfect..until now.

See, this year, they decided to not only go to Philadelphia for Ranger v Flyers. It is a match-up that was going to happen at some time (after all, New York-Philly is one of the fiercest rivalries in sports), but one that just pisses me off. In almost every other sport, I would value this is an awesome match-up, but when you are a Devils fan, this game just doesn't do it for you. I don't want either team to win - I want them all to get a 24-hour bug and not be able to play.

I know I am off my rocker in suggesting that the match-up should be any different. It will be great for tv ratings and really, it is a match-up of top 5 teams. It should be great, but really...Flyers-Rangers?? They aren't even the biggest rivals. Maybe twenty years ago, but now? Nah, I'm pretty certain both Flyers and Rangers fans would rather beat the Devils.

The reason? It's because the Devils have been the alpha dog for the past 15 years. Since the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, the Devils have made the playoffs for 14 of 16 seasons with 9 division titles and 3 Stanley Cups. The Flyers have made the playoffs 15 times with 2 Stanley Cup losses and the Rangers have made the playoffs only 8 times. During that stretch, the Devils played the Flyers 4 times in the playoffs and the Rangers thrice. Meanwhile, the Flyers and Rangers have played only twice in the playoffs.

So the Devils have not only played the Flyers and Rangers more times in the playoffs, but they have been the most successful of the three. They need to be in the Winter Classic. But here is the problem - they are the New Jersey Devils, the team that killed the NHL, the team with less than 30 years of history, the team that no one wants to watch.

It's the reason why the Devils have been on NBC 0 times over the past three years while the Rangers and Flyers have combined to be on NBC 24 times. It's no different on Versus - the Devils have averaged 6.3 appearances over the past three seasons compared to 12 for the Rangers and 9.3 for the Flyers. The national media and the NHL hates the Devils. Last year might have been a down year, but the Devils are a playoff team again this year and would have been a great participant.

When the Winter Classic inevitably moves to Yankee Stadium in a year or two, I expect the Devils to be involved. It is only right (and it is much better than having to go to the city of Philadelphia to breath the air). As for this year, I will not watch a single second of the game and hope that it not only rains but that the ice conditions are terrible. Oh, and maybe the Philly fans will throw crap on the ice. That would be amazing and terrible at the same time.

Monday Morning Brain Dump

Another great sports weekend has passed and instead of having a longish entry about something that has got my attention, I am going to post another list of my random thoughts. Sometimes I really feel like I should be on Twitter as most of my thoughts are no longer than 140 characters long. However, I'm fairly certain that would be a disaster, so I am going to continue with the list format. Hope there is something in there for ya.

• Let's start off with the biggest game of the weekend - defending Patriot League champions Bucknell @ Minnesota. The Bison have three really big non-conference games this year: Minnesota, Vanderbilt and Syracuse. Out of the three, this was certainly the most winnable game, but you never know what will happen in the first game of the season - either team could lay an egg. After 34 minutes, it was looking like Minnesota was going to be that team as they trailed the Bison by 7. Even after a 6-0 run over the next 2 minutes, the Bison still led by 1 with 3:28 left. I'm not sure what happened over the remaining time, but the Gophers outscored the Bison 20-7 to walk away with a 12 point home win. How does one team score 20 points in three and a half minutes? Man, what a choke job by the Bison. I had really hoped we could get the win. Ok, I know that is obvious, but besides getting a road win against a major conference team, I was just hoping to see them bounce back from their crushing loss to UConn last March.
  
  I didn't get to see any highlights, but in looking at the box score, a two things are apparent. First, they have no depth. Their starting five looks very strong, but after that, there is not much to be said. My boy Timmy says that sophomore Ryan Hill might be a nice surprise after coming off an injury, but I legitimately have never heard of 5 of the 6 guys on the bench. Second, Muscala, who shot 2-10 from the field, can still get his points and rebounds (12/11) even on off nights. I think he will definitely win the league POY award.
  
  
• On to my other alma mater, UW, who started the season as usual, with two cupcakes at home. Their non-conference schedule always amazes. Besides heavyweights georgia St and Florida Atlantic, the Huskies have Portland, St Louis, Houston Baptist (!), UC-Santa Barbara, South Dakota St and Cal St Northridge on the schedule. Ok, ok, they also have Marquette and Duke, but still...
  
  The boys escaped against FAU with a 6 point win. It wasn't impressive, but they got the job done. I think this is definitely going to be an up and down year. They definitely have tons of talent, but in losing Isaiah and MBA, they lost a lot of leadership. I think all the talent will take a while to gel and I think it will take awhile to find out who the alpha-dog is (my guess: Terrence Ross). They should enter league play 9-2 but we will definitely find out more about the team in the two losses than in any of the wins. One thing I do know: they will again be a super fun team to watch.
  
  
• Ok, on to baseball, where rumors are swirling that Jose Reyes is ready to sign with the Miami Marlins (no, that is not a typo. They changed their name, team colors and logo. I know teal and black might be early 90's, but I don't think this is any better...) for what some are saying will be a 3 year, $60 million contract. It would obviously be sad to see Reyes go to a division foe, but I think the writing is on the wall. If he really wanted to stay in NY, he could have done so. He had every opportunity to negotiate during the season (even if Sandy said he wasn't going to), but maintained that he wanted to test the Free Agent markets. Look, I get it - some people want to see if they are missing anything. Reyes has been in the Mets system since he was 17 - he liked it, but maybe there is another city that is even better. I get that, but at the same time, we all know it comes down to money with these guys, so it often seems shallow. I fully expect him to be someplace else and hope that at the very least if the Marlins do become a player in the division (um, hello...the division could be ridiculously difficult with a few moves by Flordia and Washington) that they can continue to afford their players and not have Fire Sale #3.
  
  
• The Georgia Bulldogs continued their resurgence with a 45-7 win over Auburn on Saturday. With a 6-1 conference record, they are one win against Kentucky from making the SEC title game...a huge turn around after starting 0-2. (enter commentary about how they missed playing LSU, Alabama, Arkansas this year) An amazing stat I saw during the game: the Eastern division was 5-15 against the Western division this year, with all 5 wins coming against the two Mississippi schools. With the win, Georgia gave the East it's first non-Mississippi win this year.
  
  
• The last few weeks of the college football season should be amazing. Right now, it is looking like a LSU-Oklahoma st showdown is on the horizon, but both teams still have HUGE games in front of them. For LSU, it's 6th ranked Arkansas in two weeks and then the SEC title game a week later. For OK St, it's their cross-state rival OU. If either should slip, Alabama and Oregon will be waiting. Oregon again looks nearly impossible to stop on offense, but as with all rivalry games, they need to not overlook OSU in a few weeks.
  
  
• I got to watch the entire Devils game on Saturday. After going down 2-0 in the first, they battled back to win 3-2 in shootout. I was super stoked to see them for the first time this year. The big takeaways - they still have NO scoring, even with Parise back, AND they turn the puck over WAY too much. I was honestly shocked over the number of times they made an errant pass in their own zone, only to have it stolen by the Caps. That is not the way to win games. I'm hoping it was just the rookies reaction to playing their first home-and-home series (and thus, being a little fatigued).
  
  
• I picked up Reggie Bush in fantasy this week and joked with a buddy that I hoped I was getting the Kardashian Bump. He had no idea what I was talking about (good for him - he apparently is not a terrible person like me who knows this sort of shit) and so I reminded him of the list: Kim dates Reggie - he wins a Super Bowl. Khloe marries Lamar Odom - he wins the NBA Title. Kim dates Miles Austin - he has the season of this life (ok, I looked up the dates and really they dated in the 2010 offseason after his big year, but who cares..). Kim dates and marries Kris Humphries - he goes from 4.5/3.7 over his first 6 years to 10/11 last year. Finally, rumors are spreading that Kim and Reggie were seen together before the divorce and over the past three weeks, Reggie had back to back 100 yard games and then 2 td's yesterday. I 100% believe in this. Date a Kardashian and excel at sports.
  
  
• Finally, a word on US Soccer. I am trying to give Klinsmann a long leash...I really am. I love that he is trying new guys out and I REALLY love all of the big name friendlies that he is booking. At some point though, the team has to start looking better and finishing chances. I am curious about his love for Kyle Beckerman and Orozco Fiscal, neither who I think should be playing. I just don't get why Michael Bradley isn't playing and I don't know why Mo Edu looks so bad. We have talented guys in the center of the pitch - Bradley, Edu, Jermaine Jones - but none seem to be getting a solid shot. I know Klinsmann knows more than me, but I think this has to change.
  
  Luckily, we play in a weak confederation, so if his system does need a few years to implement, we shouldn't be hurt too much. Look at our initial qualifying group - Guatemala, Jamaica and Antigua & Barbuda. I'm sorry, but I could coach them two a second place finish in order to advance to the Hex. This should give plenty of time to experiment with the newly found players (aka Germericans) Timmy Chandler, Jermaine Jones, Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams and Alfredo Morales. I have not lost hope.

Ok, on last note- congrats to my boy Irish Mike for his country's 4-0 win against Estonia on Friday. Here's hoping to another great result on Tuesday.

Speak of the Devils, Vol 2

One of the major drawbacks to living in Seattle is that I no longer get to watch my Devils on a regular basis. If there was one thing I can say about my early 20's living in Vernon, it was that I did not miss a game (I once canceled a date to watch Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, a decision that was and still is entirely defensible). It is still a bit strange to have hockey only on the periphery. That being the case, i have decided to ask my boys Martin and Duker to fill me in with who they are feeling towards the team. In my second installment of Running with the Devils, I had them tackle the surprises and disappointments as well their overall feeling towards the team after 12 games. So let's get to it.


1. Adam Henrique had a really nice game the other day. If he was to stay with Parise and Kovy all season long, what would his final numbers look like?

I am glad to see Henrique doing well. I think that he will be more of an offensive center, one who will hopefully compliment Kovy well. I think that he, like JJ, can be a two way, defensively responsible player, although he will bring more scoring than JJ. I can totally see him taking a seat in the 2nd line center slot when all is said and done. Not to take anything away from JJ, who will also be very good, although possibly in a different role. Henrique had a chance to step up and that's exactly what he's doing. On a related note, I don't like saying or typing JJ, so I'm going to stop that now.

I think a full season on the first line will put Henrique at around 40-45 points. I think Larsson will finish with around 18-20 points and I will be happy with that.


2. I imagine Zajac will be the first line center once he returns. Do we have a date for that yet?

I think I saw Zajac has begun light skating but nothing serious. he'll return when he does and not a moment before.


3. What was wrong with Kovy the other night?
4. What did you think of the Jets jerseys having seen them for an entire game?

Kovy did something to his hamstring I think. Probably won't play tomorrow. I missed the last few games so I can't comment firsthand, just what I read on Fire and Ice. Also applies to the Jets' uniforms.


5. Do you find it weird that alphabetically, we are first in the Atlantic Division?
[No comments from either. I just think it's weird that our name starts with N and yet is first alphabetically. The chances of that have to be slim, right? (wait, I'm the statistician here)


6. Do you feel any better/worse about the team than you did two weeks ago?

I think that Devils are playing Devils hockey, which is to say they are somewhat inconsistent. They are either really good and maybe just missing some chances or dealing with bad breaks, or they just don't show up for periods at a time. Unfortunately, this is basically a microcosm of their existence the last 7 years and will lead to another 7 game, first round exit. We'll have to see if DeBoer can get more out of them.


7. How did Marty look in his two games back?
[No answer]


Duker then asks the next two questions:
8. Would you trade Parise (provided re-signing looks grim) for either Schneider or J. Bernier? Goalie acquisition has to be a top priority. I feel both goalies will be moved due to high value and in Schneider's case to silence a goalie debate.

If it comes down to trading Parise, which it hopefully will not, we need at least 1 first round pick in 2012. That is my top requirement. I would say load the deal with picks and high level prospects (first round picks from 2009-2011). I don't think the Canucks have cap room to pick up Parise, even as a rental because I don't think the Devils will want to bring back salary if they're forced to trade Parise. The Kings are pretty tight up there, too. I think that the Devils, though, feel very good about their [goalkeeping] prospects going forward (Kinkaid, Clermont and future #1 Scott Wedgewood - it seems like they want him to be the guy) which will probably keep them from trading to one of those 2 teams, especially if the first round pick they get in return is late round in this supposedly stacked draft. Like I said last week, I think that teams can win without an amazing goalie at this point. The goalie has to be amazing at times to be sure, but doesn't have to be a first ballot Hall of Famer to help carry the team, especially if it's Parise's (or Kovy's) team. That said, I don't want to think about Parise getting traded anymore.


9. Was Larsson really the need of the Devils draft? I know he's logging big minutes and starting to get some points but if you looked the Devils prospect needs maybe it was more scoring, I doubt they would have drafted Scheiflele, but at the least Couturier would have helped.

I still think that Strome or Couturier would have been awesome additions to the Devils. That said, I would not change the pick at all. Offense will come from Larsson (or from any defensemen that can actually make good tape-to-tape passes) even if it's not reflected in his point totals. I think he will mean more to the team down the line than either of those 2 players. I actually praise Allah every day for bringing Adam Larsson into my life.



If you have read any of Martin's stuff in the past, you know that he tends to ramble, often skipping from topic to topic. Here are some of his random thoughts:

-I'm still down on Clarkson. He may be raising his stock right now, showing 25 goal potential. I say trade him and hope that the gm only looks at the box score and not footage of him trying to skate. It's kind of painful to see him being a top 2 RW on the team. I think that's one place this team is sneaky weak. Everyone always cites weakness throughout the team but I really feel like D is covered now and center isn't as bad as people think. We kind of have a logjam at LW sometimes, but we mostly have junk and spare parts on the right side which is really making it hard to ice an awesome line. It's more like having an awesome pair + 1. Palmeiri, Clarkson and Sykora (although I might not be giving Peter enough credit...jury is still out) are all 3rd line wings playing more than they should. Zubrus is the only RW I think belongs in the top 6, and that's only compared to the rest of the team. He's just not going to score a lot and he ends up playing center periodically. So yeah, we need more on the right.

-I would really like to see Tedenby playing with Josefson when he returns. I would also like to see them get more minutes. He's really good but is under-utilized right now, possibly because he weighs less than my lunch.

-Alex Urbom - 11 games, 5 assists, +1. He's the quietly good Devils D prospect (behind Larsson and Merrill). He's also 6'4". I'm really excited about the Devils defense in the next few years. I think that Jon Merrill will leave Michigan after this season and play in about 6 games in Albany.

Speak of the Devils

I don't get to watch the Devils on tv, so I asked my boys Jay and Roby there thoughts on the team so far. I hope to make this a semi-regular feature (for all those who care to read this sort of stuff).

1. Are we officially ready to move on without Marty? In the past three years, (not including this year), Brodeur replacements have gone 50-33-4 with a 2.38 goals against while Marty has gone 87-60-12 with a 2.34 goals against. First, Clemmensen 3 years ago and now Hedberg this year and last, make me wonder if it is time for another direction (that being said, I know Hedberg isn't a long term answer)

I think that we are ready to move on from the Brodeur era. For a long time, it seems to me, the fans and team were looking for the next monster goalie that was going to carry the team for the next 15 years. I think this line of thought was erroneous. Obviously we can't rely on Hedberg much longer than this year or the next but the new NHL seems to rely on goalies who are good, that can turn it on when needed, but not necessarily great. There are a few young guys in the system that show some promise but we don't need them to be Brodeur 2.0. We need them to be good (not great) every day because the team that will be built around them will function in a different way.

I think that the team's defense will look much different over the next few years. Adam Larsson, Jon Merrill and Alex Urbom will create a really good blue line, hopefully for years to come. The team has had some really good forechecking moments this year, which comes from Pete DeBoer. There will be some more offensive kind of hockey in NJ, although it will never be confused with the Pens or Caps. Change will happen such that the team can move on without Brodeur, just not in the way people originally envisioned.

2. Thoughts so far on Adam Larrson? I see that he has 0 points through 7 games but I also see that he has the second highest minutes on the team (only behind Kovy).

Larsson is getting a lot of trust with his minutes. I like the way he has been playing and I'm pretty confident the points will come over time. His game will also get better with more confidence, which again, will come over time.

3. Elias has started out nicely. Can he be a 30-35 goal guy this year?

Sure. That will depend on who he plays with. 25-30 might be a little more reasonable, although 30+ is not out of the question.

4. Is Parise the answer at Center? How good does the Kovy-Parise-Palmieri line look?

The Parise-Kovy-RW x line looks good. Lots of energy. Kovy missed a fairly open shot last night. (By the way, I'm getting too old to stay up for an entire west coast game). Maybe Parise at center will last a while, maybe not. I think a secret issue is that the team sucks at RW. Zubrus, Palmieri, Sykora and Clarkson as the top 4 RWs do not inspire confidence. I like Zubrus, but he's also played center sporadicly. I don't think Sykora really brings anything to the team at this time. Clarkson falls down a lot and that sucks. Palmieri is somewhat invisible. One main difference between Kovy and Joe Thornton is that Palmieri has 2 assists playing with Kovy while he would probably have 4 goals and 4 assists playing with Thornton. Too bad.

5. Who has been the biggest surprise so far? biggest disappointment?

The centers have been a disappointment. No Zajac. No Josefson. Henrique hasn't played in 3 games (he looked good last night, though).

6. Thoughts on the team's future after 7 games?

Not a Cup champion right now, but they can play. They are a good team and I think will make the playoffs. Depends on how much they want it. Depends on injuries and what happens when Zajac, Josefson and Brodeur come back.


[In a later email, Jay sent me this link on their prospects. I must say I am excited to someday see Josefson, Larsson and Merril play. Very excited. Also glad to hear that there might be some young talent that will be ready to contribute in a year or two. Developing goalies isn't something the organization has had to do in 15 years]

Random Friday Thoughts

Even though most, if not all, of my attention has gone to the Soudners this week I still have been following the goings on elsewhere in the world of sports. So as I often do, I present a random brain dump of thoughts - this time to help you procrastinate as you look forward to the weekend.

• Terrell Owens retired yesterday...wait, he didn't? It was all just a joke? Either way I don't care. In fact, I think it is really pathetic. His entire career he was a ME-first guy who always loved the media spotlight. That is fine when you're catching 10 touchdowns a year, but now that you can't find a team to play with, it is straight up pathetic. Here's hoping he just goes away.
• Speaking of guys who can't stay out of the spotlight, Brett Favre continues to do everything humanly possible to kill any good will left towards him. In talking about Aaron Rodgers winning the Super Bowl last year, Favre said "I'm going to be honest, I was not surprised. The biggest surprise to me would be that he didn't do it sooner." Listen, I get it. Brett is bitter. He gave a lot of great years to that organization and when they drafted Rodgers he was hurt. It happens anytime someone is brought in as your successor. It is human nature. But to makes these comments after being retired is pathetic (wow, using it to describe both Owens and Favre - who would have thought that 5 years ago?). Brett, just go away, please.
• Donovan McNabb hasn't been terrible this year (save week 1 where he went 7-15 for 39 yards), but it is clearly obvious that it is time for him to be benched for first round draft pick Christian Ponder. I have nothing against Donovan - in fact, I would rather have him as my teams QB than a handful of other guys, but when you're team is sitting at 0-4 AND you have a highly drafted rookie on the bench, you need to pull the trigger. There is no difference in finishing 4-12 with Ponder and 4-12 with McNabb, so why not get the rookie some experience.
• Indy is also sitting at 0-4 and could realistically win only 2-3 games this year if Manning doesn't come back. An interesting subplot is what the team does if they are 2-11 and Manning is ready to come back. I know Manning is the franchise, but if you're management, don't you have to think seriously about keeping him off the field and making a run for Andre Luck? I know it seems weird, but let's all remember where the Packers are now with Rodgers instead of Favre.
• Zach Parise was just named the Devils captain. It was the right move for numerous reasons, but it definitely was a gamble. Parise signed a 1-year deal to stay with the Devils and if the team sucks and they are unable to re-sign him to a long-term deal during the year, they will need to seriously think about trading him. That will not be an easy thing for fans to handle. I mean, you put all this money into Kovy and yet Zach is the best player on the team. You need to find a way to keep him in Jersey (here's hoping wearing the C goes long way)
• Speaking of the NHL, the Devils favorite opponent, Sean Avery just got released and is going over to Europe. The guy sucks so it shouldn't be a big deal, but I think all Devils' fans are smiling this morning. He just seemed to get under Brodeur's skin like no one else. It will be good to have him gone.
• Now that the Yanks are done, I can focus on hating the Rangers. Man I hate John Tortorella. And Lundqvist. And all their other trolls.
• Robin Ventura was just named manager of the Chicago White Sox. Read it here first: this is going to end badly.
• Apparently TCU is now close to joining the Big 12. I think it is a really smart move for them as it re-ignites some of the old school Southwest Conference rivalries with Texas, Tech and Baylor. However, it definitely sucks for the Big East, who continues to get stood up on the dance floor. Their courtship of the Frogs was smart from a competition standpoint, but having a team from Dallas in a conference with the word 'East' in it's named always seemed weird. This is more fitting (especially if they can get SMU to join with them)
• Can the Matthew Stafford - Calvin Johnson connection last all season? Johnson has 8 td's through 4 games, which puts him on pace for 32 for the season. Obviously that won't happen. If I'm a Johnson owner, I think about selling while his value is amazingly high. If he finished with 15 td's that would be a tremendous year, but it also means he finishes with 7 td's over his last 12 games. Not terrible by any stretch, but definitely below his current form. Trade while high. (oh, and who knows if Stafford can stay healthy for the rest of the season?)
• Thanks to Twitter, athletes no longer have to be robots who never say anything interesting. In fact, a lot of athletes are now starting to say dumb things and get (rightly or wrongly) criticized for it. Currently, their is a lot of chatter going on in Sounders circles for what Daniel Hernandez, apparently still bitter over losing to the Sounders twice this year, had to say. "Congrats to Seattle Sounders for winning the StarFire Open, and doing it on the road at CenturtyLink Field!" In a vacuum, it was a funny statement. The fact is that we did have all 4 games at home, 3 of which were at Starfire. But considering his recent history with the club, fans are not happy. My one plea to them - please keep his personal life out of it. Argue with him over his comment, but keep his family out of it.
• Wait, Vancouver just beat RSL 3-0? And they had 20k+ fans on a night when the Canucks starting their season? Not bad. Not good for RSL though who look locked in to the 3 seed. I'm not convinced that having home field advantage means anything for the Sounders, but recent from definitely seems to give us an advantage.
• I've said it before and I'll say it again, Doug Fister has to be the happiest man in baseball. No way he pitches an elimination game for the Mariners' over the course of a decade if he doesn't get traded. Gutsy (hate using that word in relation to sports) job last night by the youngster against the Yanks hitters.
• I think ESPN handled the Hank Williams Jr situation appropriately. I don't want to delve into politics, but comparing Obama to Hitler is indefensible. (I was not and still am not a George W Bush fan, but I also took offense to all those Lyndon LaRouche people comparing him to Hitler). Kudos to ESPN for taking a stand and letting everyone know that this type of ignorant rhetoric will not be tolerated.
• Speaking of ESPN, has anyone watched Dan LeBetard's new show? I haven't seen it, but actually enjoy listening to the Podcast. I'm not sure it is entirely different from PTI and Around the Horn, but the subtleties make it fun to listen to.
  
• USA-Honduras on Saturday. Another chance to see how well Klinsmann new system is progressing. It is a game we should win, but more important to me right now is seeing something new, something exciting from the team.

OK, I think that's it for now. Enjoy the weekend.

Wonderful!

It is being confirmed that the 2012 Winter Classic will be Flyers v Rangers. Wonderful! I was just saying the other day that I don't get to watch these two shitty teams enough on NBC and Versus. Thank goodness the league no longer is focusing solely on the Devils, a team that has more playoffs appearances (19) and more Stanley Cups (3) in the past 21 years than both of those teams. Seriously, it's about damn time.

In unrelated, I'm not effing bitter about the effing Flyers and Rangers news, the Devs are going to retire Scott Niedermayer's number on Dec 16. In my opinion, this is well-deserved and entirely appropriate. I am not one of the fans that tell him eff off because he played his last 5 years in Anaheim. Those fans are complete idiots and need to have their head examined. Come on, he went to Anaheim to play with his brother....not the Rangers, not the Flyers, not the Isles, not the Bruins. Stupid Anaheim - 3000 miles and one conference away. He is 3rd in all time games played for the club, is one of 5 players to have won all 3 Cups with the team and has long been a model citizen on and off the ice. Five years as a Duck does not make him anything less than a Devil. In fact, when he goes into the Hockey Hall in a few years, he is going to be wearing red. So get over it.

For more info on Nieds big night, including quotes from Lou, check out the Fire and Ice blog.

Devils 2011 Top Prospects

My boy JWM alerted me to the following list, taken from Hockey's Future. It's never too early to get excited at the next wave of red and black.

1. (NR) Adam Larsson, D, 9.0C
Drafted 1st round, 4th overall, 2011

Larsson not surprisingly makes his debut at the top of the list after being selected by the Devils in the first round this past summer, giving the organization by far and away its most talented prospect since Zach Parise was drafted in 2003. Larsson just completed his second full season in the Swedish Elite League with Skelleftea, logging major minutes in all situations and contributing at both ends of the rink. He had a goal and eight assists in 37 games and was also a force for Team Sweden at the U-20 World Junior Championship recording four points in six games.

Simply put, there aren't many weaknesses in Larsson's game at all. He is a calm and poised workhorse who excels at both ends of the rink. Playing against men in the SEL for the past two seasons will undoubtedly help him adjust quickly to the NHL game, something that will happen sooner rather than later. He is already signed, sealed, and delivered and will compete for a roster spot in New Jersey this fall. For a team that has lacked an impact top pairing defenseman since the days of Scott Niedermayer and Scott Stevens, Larsson is exactly what the doctor ordered.

2. (1) Jon Merrill, D, 8.0C
Drafted 2nd round, 38th overall, 2010

If not for Larsson, Merrill would have likely been the top dog again amongst the Devils prospects. He had a fantastic freshman year at the University of Michigan, picking things up very quickly and put up tremendous numbers along with receiving numerous accolades and award nominations at the end of the season. Merrill played on the top pairing, recording seven goals and 18 assists in 42 games and also stood out for the American entry at the U-20 World Junior Championship, earning a bronze medal while putting up five points in six games.

The Devils appear to have pulled off a major heist by getting Merrill in the second round of the 2010 draft. He has a sensational package of skills, great size, and showed the ability to quarterback the Wolverines powerplay with relative ease. With a glaring lack of puck-moving defenseman on the roster right now, the temptation to turn Merrill pro might have crossed the Devils mind. However the right choice was to keep him at the University of Michigan for at least one more season, with an eye towards possibly turning pro in 2012-13.

3. (3) Jacob Josefson, C, 7.5B
Drafted 1st round, 20th overall, 2009

Josefson's fine showing to close the last quarter of the NHL regular season kept him at his previous ranking. A thumb injury took him out of action for a couple of months early in the season, but after a brief stint in the AHL he was re-called to New Jersey. Then-Head Coach Jacques Lemaire quickly took a liking to the cerebral Swedish pivot and used him as a lineup regular down the stretch. In 28 NHL games, he recorded three goals and seven assists.

Playing with composure beyond his years, Josefson looks poised to take the next step in his development as a full time NHLer with New Jersey this season. More or less locked into the top-nine, the sublimely skilled two-way center will eventually settle into a top-six role in the future. The team actually now might get a glimpse of what Josefson can do in the top six earlier than they expected with the recent off-season injury suffered by Travis Zajac that will sideline him for at least the first month and half of the season.

4. (2) Mattias Tedenby, LW, 8.0C
Drafted 1st round, 25th overall, 2008

The fact the prospect with arguably the most natural skill of all the Devils prospects dropped two spots in the rankings is just one example of how much the overall talent pool of the organization has improved. Tedenby initially had trouble cracking the lineup on a regular basis after Lemaire took over for the fired John MacLean, but by the end of the year he had earned the trust of Lemaire and showed great improvement in his play away from the puck. In 58 NHL games, Tedenby scored eight goals and 14 assists and finished the year playing for the Swedish National Team at the World Championships where he put up a goal and two assists in a dozen games.

Tedenby was given significant minutes by MacLean, but he had to earn his ice-time under Lemaire, which in the long run is going to benefit him significantly. Quick, flashy and oozing high-end skill, Tedenby needs to play with players that can compliment his dynamic offensive ability. Just like his fellow countryman Josefson, Tedenby slots into the top-nine this season, but it likely won't be long until he's playing in the top-six. With Ilya Kovalchuk and potentially Zach Parise ahead of him long-term at left-wing though, Tedenby's future may lie at right-wing.

5. (4) Alexander Urbom, D, 7.5C
Drafted 3rd round, 73rd overall, 2009

In another organization, it's quite possible that Urbom would be at the top of the defense prospect chain. He was once the top rated defender in the Devils organization, but the addition of Merrill in 2010 and now Larsson has relegated him to the third best blueliner, but still in the top five overall. Urbom started the year in New Jersey, but spent the majority of the season playing big minutes and honing his overall skills in the AHL with Albany. He led all Albany defenseman in scoring with 23 points in 72 games.

Perhaps expectations where a little too high for Urbom coming into the season, but it was a good year of development for the towering Swedish defenseman in the AHL. There doesn't appear to be much room for him at the NHL level this year, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. He is physically ready for the NHL and has a good offensive bent to his game, but he is still a little raw defensively. Another year in the AHL definitely won't hurt him. By 2012-13, he should be ready to challenge for a full-time NHL job and long-term he should slot in a solid two-way second-pairing rearguard.

6. (8) Nick Palmieri, RW, 7.0B
Drafted 3rd round, 79th overall, 2007

It was a slow start for Palmieri this season in Albany, but once he was re-called to New Jersey at the end of December when Jacques Lemaire took over, his game took off. He played with Kovalchuk and Zajac for most of his time up with the big club and proved to be a nice complimentary player on that line. He used his big body well to create room for himself and provided a good presence in front of the net. He scored six goals and five assists in 26 games with Albany and nine goals and eight assists in 43 games with New Jersey.

After he was re-called to New Jersey, Palmieri was used in a role much better suited to his skills. Blessed with great size and good hands, it looks as though Palmieri has figured things out at the NHL level, and should only get better with more experience. He's likely not ever going to be a star or a first line talent, but he's living up to his potential as a top-six power-forward and will be given every opportunity to pick up right where he left off last season.

7. (6) Adam Henrique, C, 6.5B
Drafted 3rd round, 82nd overall, 2008

After a standout junior career, Adam Henrique made a smooth and effortless transition to the pro game. Early injuries to the big club forced him into a more prominent role in Albany and he thrived when given the extra responsibilities. He played on the top line (both on the wing and at center), and finished the year with an impressive 25 goal, 25 assist season in 73 games.

There's not much left for Henrique to prove at the AHL level. The only problem is that there might not be room for him in New Jersey with the way the depth chart looks at this point in time. However Zajac's injury could possibly open up a chance for him to start the season with the big club. It definitely won't hurt him if he has to spend more time on the farm, but his mature and elite two-way play will force New Jersey's hand sooner rather than later. He oozes character and intangible qualities that can't be taught and will likely get a chance to play in New Jersey at some point this year and be a lineup regular in 2012-13.

Random Thoughts..

The Wife and Kid were out of town this weekend, so I spent most of my time doing things that can't get done when they are around...you know, cleaning the grill, painting a room, cleaning the garage, and of course playing video games. It was a great weekend - one with a lot of sports news. I don't have a long post in me, but rather a lot of random thoughts. As always, let's get to it:

• I can't believe that the Yankees sat back at the trading deadline and didn't upgrade their pitching. Now I know that Bartolo Colon is a surprising 8-6, Freddy Garcia is a surprising 10-7 and Ivan Nova is a surprising 9-4, but I don't think any other GM would feel comfortable knowing that two of them will have to pitch games 3-4, following a would-be Game 2 start by AJ Burnett.
• I think I like Nicki Minaj
• Sounders had a stinker at Houston on Saturday. I am going to chalk it up as 'one of those games' even though they have now lost 3 in row in all competitions. If they fail to advance in CONCACAF Champions League after playing San Francisco of Panama on Wednesday then I might be more worried. But for now, it is only one MLS loss in the last 10. Oh, wait, I just saw that they have to travel to KC over the weekend. They are 2-0 on the road against KC in their history, but KC is undefeated in their new palace. Should be a test of our resolve.
• My men's soccer team played one of the four Emerald City Supporters' teams on Sunday. We walked away with a 1-0 win even though we played the last 15 minutes with only 9 men. After the match, I talked to not only the current president of the ECS, but also the founder. They were really nice dudes and it mae me happy when I learned that I had been a Sounders supporter for longer than the president. Anyways, the guy offers me a cigarette no more than 10 minutes after the game. How did he not die?
• Somebody tell him who the eff I is
• Does anyone care about the X Games still? Is it me or is ESPN putting a lot less into coverage. BTW- this is the 17th edition. Man I am getting old.
• Gotta give ESPN some credit for the amount of soccer they are showing on Sportscenter. I'm still not sold that all the anchors are taking it seriously, but in the last two week I have seen Copa America highlights, Man United-Barca highlights and something like a 5-minute piece on Bob Bradley's firing. We're getting there people.
• Sounders might have lost, but wow did it feel good watching Portland throw away a 2-0 home lead against the worst team in the league. Goals in the 71st and 81st minutes gave Toronto FD a wonder-tie.
• I know the Mets finished their 7 game road trip with a 5-2 record [UPDATE - I was wrong, it was actually 6-4], but I can't help but feel like we missed a golden opportunity in 3-0 and 3-2 losses to Washington. I don't expect them to score 8 runs every night, but those were both winnable games if the offense had shown up.
• The Devils agreed to a 1-year, $6 million contract with Zach Parise on Friday. It is good news for the coming year, but I can't help but wonder what is holding up the long-term contract. I mean, with the gift the Islanders gave us in taking Rolston and his $4 million contract off our hands, they probably have somewhere around $7.5-$8 million in cap space. I have a feeling Lou is trying to lowball him because of his injury last year and the deal was made so Zach can show the team what he has. If that is the case and Parise returns to his normal form, Lou HAS to pay up. The precedent is there in what he did for Kovy and the fact is that Parise is more valuable to this franchise.
• Thanks to my boys Irish Mike and D-Lib (not to mention an empty house for 5 days), I have been playing a lot more of FIFA soccer over the past few days. I have now taken my Northhampton Town FC team from Division 3 to Division in two season and now have my eye on the EPL.
• I learned a great trick for getting oil based paint off your hands - olive oil and salt. Worked like a charm.
• Good drama in the Detroit-Anaheim game. Carlos Guillen hit a home run off of Jered Weaver, admired his shot and threw the bat. Weaver didn't like it, threw (at the head nonetheless) at the next batter and got tossed. In the 8th inning, with the score 3-0, Eric Aybar laid down a bunt in the midst of a Justin Verlander no-hit bid. He got on by error and two batters later, Macier Izturis broke up the no-no. After the game, Verlander was asked if he was surprised or upset by the bunt. He said that there were arguments both ways, but from a pitchers standpoint, it's called bush league. Now I have opined on this in the past so my feelings are well know, but let me say them again: in the words of Herm Edwards, "You Play to Win the Game!" The score was 3-0 at the time, not 8-0. If Anaheim could get two runners on, then they could tie with a home run. They are fighting with Texas for the AL West crown and all games, including those in late July count towards the final standing. Aybar doesn't owe Verland anything - he is there to play the game. In my mind, bunting is absolutely legit in a 3-0 game.
• So Plaxico Burress, after not having played in a competitive NFL game since 2008 is going to get $3 million to play for the Jets? Am I missing something? I mean, do they really think he is the same player after having been in jail? Add in a short pre-season and there is no way he gets more than 600 yards this season.
• The Red Bulls went over to England to compete in the Emirates Cup this weekend. They beat PSG and then tied Arsenal. It was a nice accomplishment, but I can't help think that they continue to have their priorities all mixed up. I mean, here is a team that in 16 years has never won a trophy. I get that with Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez they want to become a global brand, but wouldn't it be better done if they were to win the CONCACAF Champions League and play competitively against the like of Barcelona and Santos? Winning the US Open Cup would not only get them into the competition next year, but it would give the beleaguered fan base a trophy to carry around. Yet instead, they fielded a C-team in the Open Cup and flew overseas in the middle of the MLS season to play in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal. I get the Henry connection, but it seems sill to me.
  

Forget the Cup Finals, Let's Talk Devils

The Stanley Cup Finals might be in full swing, but my boys JWM and Duker can't help but think about the NHL Draft (ok, ok, really they are obsessed). In the coming weeks, they will be joining me to do our first JerseySounder mock NHL draft (apparently this is what happens when your team misses the playoffs for the first time in 15 years). Prior to that we wanted to take the opportunity to talk about the Devils and their needs. The conversation was free-flowing over email. I threw some comments in here and there, but mostly this is all JWM and Duker.

Where do the Devils have the greatest need? Is it first line center? Is it a #1 defenseman? Is it the heir apparent to Marty? Hopefully Marty can last another year or two (that aside from the fact there aren't any goaltenders that rank in the top 20 of the 2011 draft - If need be a replacement to Marty can be found after the first round). Travis Zajac can return to form if and when Zach Parise returns to his left wing the chemistry those two have is much better than the Zajac-Kovalchuk combo. So that leaves us looking at #1 defensemen Lou has had a good stretch of turning lemons into lemonade but expecting Andy Greene to be elite may be a bridge to far (yes that was two cliches one sentence). So there's the lock if Adam Larsson is available - Lou sprints to the podium shout Larson's name and drops the mic on the ground like the end of a Chris Rock HBO special. But what about the second tier d-men Ryan Murphy and Dougie Hamilton should they be drafted before a Sean Couturier or a Gabriel Landeskog? The Devils need at D should be weighted accordingly for this draft.

Let's assume that Parise is on the team long-term...

My biggest problem with the Devils' personnel has been the need to identify a role for a particular player based on 1 skill. I think that the idea of a shut-down line is dead
and gone unless that line can score 10-15 goals apiece. A guy like Mike Green on D is a liability despite the offense he brings (I have to admit, this is a major letdown. I have had him on my fantasy team recently and love Green. When the media was considering whether to trade Brodeur, the Caps came up as a possibility and I would have jumped at it). They need to buck the trend of 1 dimensional players. I loved John Madden (me too) but his kind is simply less valuable anymore. Ryan Kesler is the Canucks' MVP because he's amazing on both ends of the ice. He was always a strong defensive forward and now he puts up a ton of points as well. Same thing for Datsyuk in Detroit.

Picking 4th carries a lot of expectations with it, not falling on your ass being one of them. I think the best way to hit a home run with the pick (or at least a triple depending on your view of the talent in the draft) is to find the best all around player. And for what it's worth, I think the Devils really need that player to be a defenseman, particularly one named Adam Larsson. For years they have been relying on a ragtag corps of defenders who are mostly adequate and sometimes really good (does anyone else remember Jonny Oduya's up-ice rushes?). Andy Greene is not a true number 1 defenseman, nor does he even belong on the top pairing. But we have come to rely on him to do this even when it's simply not in his wheelhouse. Neither was Paul Martin. There have been a lot of very polished lemons the last few years, but lemons nonetheless. Mike Mottau was decent but he's still just Mike Mottau at the end of the day.

I still think we have some surprising depth at forward, which is not to say that Couturier, Ryan Strome or Jonathan Huberdeau wouldn't be great assets, but I just think that good, big, defensemen that can provide offense and defense while not making you nervous every time they're on the ice are pretty rare in the NHL. I think Larsson will fit that bill better than anyone available and any team that passes on him is missing something special.

We are in agreement that Adam Larsson is the homerun draft pick the Devils need. However, Larsson is a solid top three draft projection as just submitted by International Scouting Services (ISS).

My question now would be, what will the Devils do if Larsson is drafted prior to their fourth pick? (yes, that is the question. If Larsson is so amazing, then why would he be still available?) In most drafts there usually is a best overall defenseman, then a top offensive defenseman, and a top defensive defenseman. Murphy is your top offensive d-man and Hamilton is the top defensive d-man. Where should the team go?

Murphy's only downside is his size 5'10", however Jon Merrill is 6'3" so a Devils top D-pair
of Merrill and Murphy in 3 years would be pretty awesome. I'm not sold on Hamilton only because I don't want waste a #4 pick on a wrecking ball. So if Larson is drafted it comes down to a choice of Murphy vs. forwards Couturier, Landeskog, Mika Zibanejad, and Strome. It seems Murphy is pick the Devils will make with Larsson gone.

That's surprising to me since the weeks prior to writing this I was pushing hard for Couturier.

I would be very disappointed if they chose Zibanejad at 4. He might end up being top 10 worthy, but not top 5. (plus, I would have a terrible time with his name. If he does go to NJ, then I would have to nickname him Zibby)

The more I think about it, the more I've convinced myself that Larsson could be available at 4 (by the way, I loved your suggestion for Lou's selection, only it needs to be tinged with Chappelle: "we, the people of the Devils delegation, select with the 4th pick, the rza, the
gza, ol dirty bastard and Adam Larsson. out, bitches." Then drop the mic at Gary Bettman's
feet and walk away). (I think I prefer Lou asking Bettman if he has to choke a bitch)


Ok,ok, so what about trading down if Larsson is gone? Some one would want one of those Forwards, right?
I think there could be some really good value at D in the 10-15 range, but I'm not sure if it's worth trading down from #4 to get it, unless we could end up with a second first round pick. Nathan Beaulieu and Jamieson Oleksiak will probably both end up as mid-first round picks that turn out to be good pros. Maybe a ceiling of B, which isn't really saying much, but those are still the guys you win cups with.


I don't think it is that much of a stretch to assume Larsson could fall to the Devils. The Oilers are taking Ryan Nugent Hopkins (RNH) with the first pick to boost Taylor Hall's production. The Avalanche traded one of their better offensive players (Chris Stewart) for Erik Johnson so they will probably use this draft to restore their front line, and the Panthers drafted a the #1 defenseman last year (Erik Gudbranson) and still have nothing in their forward corps. Considering those scenarios I could easily see Larson falling to the Devs.

However, I think it best to plan for a rainy day. My new fear with Couturier is that he may be another version of James Van Riemsdyk. That may not be that bad, but I would rather have the pick be less of a work in progress. I think Huberdeau, and RNH are the top two if Larson is taken Landeskog will fall leaving the Devils with an interesting choice. Why not take Murphy if the defense is a glaring hole that needs to be fixed?

My concern with Oleksak was his numbers weren't that impressive at Northeastern especially when you compare him to fellow NCAA freshman defenseman Jon Merrill.

Finally my last argument for Murphy as plan B for the #4 pick is here at the 3:00 mark:


Ok, so Murphy looks pretty slick, but I go back to my concern from before: I don't think I
want a one dimensional player picked that high unless they are far and away better at that one thing than anybody else. Maybe Murphy falls into that category, maybe not. His size doesn't bother me, at all, just his ability to play defense. Don Cherry (I get CBC and refuse to watch hockey on versus, but I always wonder how much sway Cherry still holds. It's obvious you hold him in high esteem) kept saying he was really smart, so maybe that translates well to a good two-way game, but if he can only succeed by taking cues from his coach, how will he handle the Devils' coaching merry-go-round?

Edmonton takes the Nugent-Hopkins to play with Hall. Incidentally, I wouldn't take him with the 1st pick, but that's me. I think the Avs will take Landeskog as a power winger to play alongside either Stastny or Duchene...that or they trade the pick to Ottawa so they can draft him. I do think the Avs will use their second pick (mid-first round) to grab a defenseman, though. I think Florida will just take the flashiest key dangling in front of them, which will probably be Huberdeau (probably not the worst thing in the world).

Last thought: Strome should go top 10, but top 5 is a stretch. One of the things that I caught that I really liked in his bio on Fire and Ice was that he played a lot of lacrosse growing up. It makes me think of Joe Nieuwendyk and Adam Oates, 2 amazing face-off guys, both of whom grew up playing a lot of lacrosse (coincidentally, against each other). The Devils have a need for consistent face-off wins.

So I think it's safe to say that we beat this topic to death and after all is said and done we agree the Devils not only should draft Adam Larsson but there is a high probability they will get him. Plan B seems up for debate but either way Devils will get an impact player.


Ok, I'm jumping in at the end after everything has been thoroughly dissected. I can't say that I know as much about the Devils team needs as you guys (not to mention I don't know squat about any of these guys), but I obviously think Larsson is the guy. When I think of the glory years, the obvious thing that comes to mind was our defense. We've lost so many guys over the years and finally when Lou realized we that the cupboard was bare, he decided to overpay for a few guys that didn't work out. We are entering a new phase in our history but instead of just relying on Parise and Kovy, we need to get back to basics and play some defense.

Interestingly enough, the last time we drafted in the top 10 was 1991 when they picked a slick skating defenseman out of Kamloops. He subsequently went on to a Hall of Fame career. It would be extremely premature to suggest Larsson is that type of talent, but it's interesting to note.

Aside from defense, I think goaltending is the area of highest importance. I don't want to say it's of highest need right now, because Marty still has a year or two, but I think it's important to decide on a succession plan. We can't be left without a plan when Marty rides off into the sunset. Ideally I would love to sign a veteran ala Hedburg for a year or two before handing over the reigns to someone green. I don't want to ever overpay for a free agent goalie, but at the same time, I'm not sure we want to kill some young kid because of all the expectations. we have all seen how Elway's, Marino's, Ripken's and Roy's replacements did. It's hard to replace a legend. This isn't the year to draft a goalie in the first round, but it might not be a terrible idea to take one in the 2nd or 3rd round and see what you got.

Hate the Rangers

A season of unexpected twists and turns is almost at an end. The Devils are not making the playoffs for the first time since 1996. On the second to last day of the season they had the opportunity to put a little misery on the Rangers - all they needed was to beat NY at MSG and hope that Carolina beat Tampa Bay. The Bluseshirts would then be joining the Devils on the outside looking in. It wouldn't replace the feeling of not making the playoffs, but damn it would have been a nice consolation prize. Well, Ilya Kovalchuk scored two goals in the first and the Devs led 2-1 with 40 minutes left. Then the shit hit the fan. John Tortorella must have really had an amazing intermission speech...the Rangers came out and scored 4 goals and won 5-2.

It was a fitting way to end the regular season of ups and downs. I won't be watching any playoff hockey unless the Flyers and Rangers both lose. I can handle nontraditional markets like Carolina or Tampa Bay. I can handle those stupid Penguins. But come on, in a crappy season there is no way Philly or New York can win. I mean it can't happen, right? Right? Ugggh. I hate the Rangers.

Devils State of the Union

I got this email from the Crappy One the other day...enjoy
**************

I think they're done. they looked pretty tired last night. they have to rely too much on the failure of too many other teams while winning all of their remaining games. it's been a fun ride the last 2+ months and hopefully they'll be able to pick it up again in the fall. they're currently tied for 24th in the league, which means that as long as they don't get hot again they should be in line for a top 7 pick at least. this draft isn't exactly stacked but they should get something decent that high. just depends on what they decide they need. honestly, I don't really know what that is.

the post-rolston devils should have a top 6 that looks like this:
kovy-zajac-parise
tedenby-josefson-(clarkson/elias)

tallinder and volchenkov will be around for a while on D. my man-crush, john merrill, probably won't be in the nhl for 3 more years. white will probably get another contract which would impact my hope that he leaves. urbom will hopefully be a regular next season. I'd like to see greene resigned, too. fayne will probably be around because he's cheap and has been really good for a rookie this year. and I'm sure taormina will get another shot, but I'm not sold on him yet. too little time before his injury.

I really think that nugent-hopkins will be an all-star, maybe along the lines of mikko koivu, where if he's not the best player on your team, you'll be fine. adam larsson would be the ideal pick for them, but having played their way out of a the top 2, there's no way that happens unless they trade up. doug hamilton is supposed to be a big stay at hom angry defensive defenseman, but I have a gut feeling that he will end up too much like colin white. white was good before the eye injury, but definitely not worth that high a draft pick. sean couturier is supposed to be a jordan staal type with more of a scoring punch, which make for an awesome 3rd line center on the devils, or a good second line center on most other teams. ryan murphy is a puck-moving defenseman. from what I've read on the TSN boards, ryan strome and jon huberdeau (both centers) will be the 2 players that, in 5 years, everyone will say should have gone top 3 (with larsson) rather than where ever they end up. there's actually a pretty sick strome goal somewhere online. if you watch any of the tsn ranking videos you should see it there.

larsson keeps getting compared to lidstrom and probably better than hedman. very good offensive upside, but not great. very smart defensive upside, but not great. that's what the devils really need and have totally missed since the real neidermeyer left: a top defenseman that does plays both ends at an A- level or above. I think greene can do that (paul martin, too, although expectations for him were way fucked) at a B level. tallinder was supposed to do this at a B level, but that was before I realized I hate him, which was before I realized that I don't hate him but might consider punching him in the nuts out of principal anyway. 6 B dmen would be great, but that ain't happening. they have always relied too heavily on dmen that were only good at one thing. offensive dmen aren't great in their own end, defensive dmen could't make an out-going pass to save his life. so the hybrid version is what they really need.

I haven't looked at any of the goalie rankings at all. I guess they need to look at taking a D or C first overall and see how things play out. they need to stay away from the whole undersized forward thing. as much as I like tedenby, he needs to add about 10 lbs of muscle and 10 lbs of fat because he was just getting thrown around like an over-used cliche (you thought I would say thrown around like a rag-doll, didn't you?). it's been a little better lately, but I still think he might need to spend a summer in the keith tkachuk workout school.

of course, there's the whole goalie issue, too. they have a few in the system that are kind of highly regarded, but I don't know that any of them have really shown anything to make people think they can be full-time top goalies in the nhl. of course, having someone like brodeur is (was) a luxury but you don't need a superstar goalie to win anymore. niemi won it last year, fleury won it the year before. fleury sucks. lundqvist will keep the [censored] rangers from winning because he eats up too much cap space, which is fantastic. they could spend half as much on someone else to give them 80% of what queen henrik does and use that extra 3+ million to buy some more goals. this isn't to say that the drury and gaborik contracts aren't total albatrosses for that team, but I don't think they take enough flack for mismanaging their salary cap. everyone was on the devils for their issues earlier but the only reason the rags iced a full team was by demoting redden to hartford. they overpaid gaborik (too injured), drury, redden, lundqvist and, in my opinion, staal. he will be good but shouldn't have gotten the contract he did quite so soon.

I'm done ranting. whatever train of thought I had derailed somewhere and then I started thinking about how the rangers go to [censored] and shit.

********

The Crappy One then goes on to list the top 30 skaters in this years draft but I am going to cut that and let you find it for yourself if you are interested

Life is good.

I don’t know the last time I’ve been this excited about sports. I mean, it’s been years. Recent playoff collapses by the Devils (including eliminations by the homos and the other homos) and the seemingly never-ending grind of a baseball season and that stupid super bowl where the 3rd string, out of work receiver caught a pass on his helmet after the 1 fucking time that Eli “not good enough to carry Peyton’s jock strap” manning doesn’t fall down under pressure. That one blew. The ridiculousness of the off-season Kovalchuk debacle was just miserable, too.

But right now... right now is different. Let’s recap:

1. The Devils are awesome. Fucking awesome, in fact. See below.

2. I usually get giddy once spring training is under way. What’s different this year is that I was really excited by the Red Sox off-season moves. The last time I was excited by their off-season was when they traded for Josh Beckett. I know the implications of that were trading away one of the best short-stops in the league, but I don’t think Hanley wins them the 2007 world Series (and the Mike Lowell as a salary-cutting throw in was fantastic as well, but less exciting at the time). Prior to trading for Adrian Gonzalez, I was really hoping they might be able to trade for Prince Fielder. But after reading up on Gonzalez, I couldn’t be happier that he’s with the Sox , likely for years to come. I think I’d much rather have him than Teixiera, although he’s nothing to slouch at. By the way, I’m really happy that he said he wouldn’t waive his no trade clause under any circumstances, essentially keeping the Yanks from signing Albert Pujols as their new first baseman (I suppose they could bring him and have them split time at first and DH, which would be pretty scary, actually…). You know what, forget I ever mentioned Teixiera and think about how great it is they still have AJ Burnett.

I’m really getting into the Youkilis, Pedroia, Gonzalez infield of the future (along with shortstop du jour). I’ve been high on Lester since his rookie year. I think Beckett and Ellsbury will both bounce back to some degree. Buccholz is proving that the team was right not to trade him for Victor Martinez. And oh yeah, in case you missed it, we signed that Carl Crawford fellow as well, which, if nothing else, is great because we don’t have to have him run on us anymore.

Anyway, I’m really happy with the team, even though we lost Martinez and his handshakes. Even with John Lackey and Dice-K. Even with the Varitek/Salty catching tandem. Yes, even with the soul-sucking at-bat of misery that is JD Drew.

Even after re-reading that last sentence, yes, I am still excited. I’m sure it will wane at some point, maybe around game #622, but right now… it’s all good.

3. Who’s going to fill out their Women’s NCAA tournament bracket? I’m not going to, but I do plan on amusing myself with plenty of jokes about said bracket and that’s really all that matters.

(Actually, the only turd in my punchbowl is the fact that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman just received a contract extension. Yes, I believe David Stern implanted him to ruin the league, consequently raising the NBA to the undisputed #3 sport. I truly hate that count chocula-looking bastard as he makes me hate the NHL, even though I love ice hockey)

Welcome home, excitement. I’m glad you and sports could finally meet up again and return to my life.

Holy Crap, the Devils are at .500

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.

Three-Pointer and the Foul!

Since I'm not a huge fan of having three small posts, here is one large post with three separate topics. It's not quite a five pack, more like a three-pointer. So let's get to it

• The next five games are going to ultimately define the Devils season. They currently sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, 8 points behind 8th place Buffalo (even on games played) and 10 points behind 7th place Ranger (with 3 games in hand). They are 20-2-2 in their last 24 games, yet I feel like they haven't gained much ground in the past week because teams above them having been winning. I see them still needing 24 points out of their final 17 games in order to have a legit shot at the playoffs (in doing so they also need the teams ahead of them to play losing hockey during this spell). The next five games are going to be crucial - not because they are playing teams that are on top of the standings, but rather they are playing teams they should beat. For a team that has been playing with nothing to lose, these games represent the first time when they do have something to lose. In the next five they get Ottawa twice (15th East), Atlanta twice (11th) and the hated Islanders (14th). They have to get 9 if not 10 points out of these 5 games because the schedule gets harder down the stretch with two against Boston (2nd) and Pittsburgh (4th) and one against Philly (1st), Washington (2nd) and the Rangers on the final day of the season. If they want to really make the playoffs, they need to get max points. It's as simple as that.
• We are witnessing one of the truly most remarkable NBA seasons of the past thirty years. Kevin Love, the 6'8" PF from the Minnesota Timberwolves, is having a record-breaking year. And while he has garnered some mainstream media attention, I'm not sure all America knows what he is going (credit playing in Minnesota and having to compete with Blake Griffin as large parts). So let's go over it: in 60 games this season Love has 55 double-doubles including a record-breaking 51 straight games. In that streak he has twelve 20/20 games and one 30/30 game (Nov 12 vs NY). His current average of 15.7 would be the highest in the league since Rodman in 1996-97 and he is the first person to have 20 points to go along with 15 boards since Moses Malone in 1982-83. He has been simply amazing, especially since he would not be considered one of the 6 most athletic guys on his own team, let alone the league. Instead he is using intelligence and savvy to pull down double-dogit boards every night, regardless of the opponent. Again, he has been simply amazing.
• Finally, let's talk a little wrestling again. As you know, The Rock returned to Raw a few weeks ago. He crushed John Cena and The Miz, prompting Cena to fire back using his old Dr of Thugonomics persona 'for one night only'. Last week, The Rock responded 'live' via satellite. As my boy Kevin Eck noted, the WWE is creating a sticky situation by having The Rock on tape while Cena shows up live every week. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence can see the hypocrisy in The Rock saying he is back and never leaving again...which makes me believe that they are actually doing this on purpose. And you know what, it is totally working. Last night you had Cena rap again and the crowd really seemed to be split between Cena and The Rock. By having them at each others throats rather than being buddy-buddy leading up to WM, they are creating major interest and intrigue. Personally, I am jacked to see what happens, especially now that The Miz finally has entered the fray by continuing to pummel a distracted Cena and by finally calling out The Rock. If I'm not wrong, I think I actually heard a pop for The Miz last night which is pretty unheard of. So far they are playing it perfect: keeping Cena and The Rock a part and at odds (thus making fans choose a side and then wait to see what happens) and having the wild card Miz (seemingly the heel of the three) now start to seem edgy and cool. I probably still can't justify the price of WM, but I certainly am going to enjoy the build-up to it...
• Oh wait, a 4th item - I totally forgot to mention the highlight of the night -Stone Cold Steve Austin came back and raised total hell. After Michael Cole announced that JBL would be the special guest ref in his match against Jerry Lawler, Austin stunned JBL and drank what appeared to be 12 beers. Then he poured two over Cole's head at the announcers table. When JBL finally got up in the ring, Austin offered him a beer and I assumed that for one night only JBL would revert back to his beer-drinking Bradshaw days, but instead, Austin stunned him and then had probably 12 more beers after that. It was classic Austin...and a classic reminder as to why he brought wrestling to such heights back when I was in college.
  

Devils Reality Check

You see, this is the problem with putting all your hope into what the Devils are trying to pull off. They put themselves in such a huge hole that they needed to be nearly perfect in order to get out of it. I have given the facts numerous times on JerseySounder - even though we were 16-1-2 in the previous 19, we still needed to go 16-6 in their last 22 to get to 88 points.

Against all odds, the Devils kept on winning and somehow made me think it was possible. I didn't want to believe that they could do it, but I did. And then it happened - the Lightning shut down the Devils offense and won 2-1. It was only one loss - normally not enough to cause panic, but again, when you have to be nearly perfect, one loss can hurt. Couple that with the fact that Carolina, Florida and Buffalo all won and it was enough to put a dent in my hopes. It was probably the reality check that I needed, I just wish it hasn't come so soon after I went all in.

Dr. StrangeMartin (or how I learned to stop looking to the top and rejoice at hitting the middle)

In light of the Devils' recent ass-kickery, I've been thinking about expectations. I normally hate placing expectations on anything, but it is a normal part of being a sports fan. Expectations are sometimes rewarding, sometimes painful, but always a part of it.

For the Devils, I always expect a playoff berth. For Kovy Kovalchuk, I expect 40 goals. For Marty Brodeur, I expect 40 wins. Needless to say, I have been extremely disappointed the last few months, hence the problem with placing expectations (although this could also be representative of my personal mantra "Aim Low," rather than being a true statistical norm). So after meeting disappointment head on, I changed my expectations. I began reading up on the big draft prospects for this year, with the expectation of a top 5 pick. I spent a lot of time thinking about the merits of taking a defenseman with the number 1 pick rather than a big-time playmaker IF they actually scored that pick, which seemed very possible until recently (by the way, I think it's to big a risk to take a defenseman with the top selection; the expectations are too high and just too much variability in the success of young d - but that's something for another post).

I was OK with this. I understood the team's needs as well as my fan needs for the future. With a plan in place, I was more than willing to sacrifice this season for the first pick in the draft, which was something this team has never had but could definitely use. But now the Devs have spent 2011 being the best team in the world. Yes, I used the words Best, World and Devils in the same sentence. The problem is that they dug themselves such a massive hole that even though they are 15-1-2 in their last 18 games (32 out of a possible 36 points), they are still sitting in 27th place in the league, 13th in the east. Is it realistic to think they could make the playoffs? Is it more realistic to think this amazing play has to end and they will be playing golf the day after the season ends?

I just don't know what to think. No, that's not really true. I think this is fucking amazing. I think that Kovy Kovalchuk is becoming everything we wanted him to be. The problem is that going forward, I don't know how to feel about it. I really was looking forward to jettisoning some trash contracts and picking up an NHL-ready teenager in the draft. The last thing I want is a mediocre draft pick and/or a first round playoff exit. That's how winning really equals losing. So I just don't know...

That said, I'd like to try to make some predictions about some of the players and team at large going forward. Probably the most entertaining way of doing this is in the form of over/unders. I'll set some and give my thoughts. Anyone else should comment and add to it, whether you agree or disagree. So in no particular order...

*The Devils have 23 games remaining. All offensive stats are shown as Goals/Assists/Points.

Ilya Kovy Kovalchuk
Current: 21/20/41
O/U: 35.5 goals
Prediction: Over (37 goals). He is an amazing goal-scorer. I don't think there is enough time left to reach 40, but with the way he's been playing, 15 goals in 23 games is NOT out of the question.

Patrik Elias
Current: 14/32/46
O/U: 20.5 goals, 47.5 assists
Prediction: Under on goals (20), over on assists (51). I'm not sure what finally clicked with the line of Elias, Rolston and Zubrus, but my god has it been freakishly good. Let's call them the B+ line.

Brian Rolston
Current: 10/12/22
Dainius Zubrus
Current: 13/11/24

O/U: 21.5 goals each
Prediction: Under for both. Maybe 19 goals for Rolston and 20 goals for Zubrus? Maybe the other way around? Playing together, they should both finish at around the same totals. Realistically, they just aren't big time goal scorers and 9-12 goals for either one of them in the next 23 games might be a little much to ask.

Mattias Tedenby
Current: 7/7/14
O/U: 11.5 goals, 14.5 assists
Prediction: Over on goals (12) and under on assists (11). I think he can create enough offense on his own, but I don't think his line mates will do enough to significantly bump his assists. Plus, he's only been getting 3rd/4th line minutes, to say nothing of the stupid number of healthy scratches from coach turdbag. On another note, Tedenby has now made me question my next choice of jerseys. I was going to get a Travis Zajac jersey at some point, but crap is this kid fun to watch. Amazing hands and he's stupidly quick. Of course he's about 80 pounds soaking wet so he gets tossed around like a rag doll, but still. Put him on the Keith Tkachuk off-season work out plan and he'll be all set.

Nick Palmieri (?)
Current: 5/3/8
O/U: 9.5 goals, 10,000 fans that actually know who he is
Prediction: Over on goals (10) because he's been consistently playing with Kovy. He will get some scraps. Under on the number of fans. Seriously, who is this guy and why is he playing on the first line?

Martin Brodeur
Current: 13-19-2, 4 SO
O/U: 22.5 wins
Prediction: Over (25 wins).

Johan Hedberg
Current: 10-10-2, 1 SO
O/U: 15.5 wins
Prediction: I'm going to go with the under (14 wins).

Brodeur is getting healthy and should be back for the next game. IF he stays healthy then he should be getting 15-19 of the remaining starts. In order for Moose to hit the over he would need to start at least 6 more games AND win them all. Possible, but I would say unlikely. By the way, Hedberg has been awesome during their stretch. If Brodeur wasn't Brodeur, there would be a legitimate goalie controversy here.

Andy Greene
Current: 3/16/19
O/U: 4.5 goals, 21.5 assists
Prediction: Under on both (4 goals, 19 assists). He's been somewhat of a disappointment as he was supposed to be the main puck-moving defenseman in his UFA-to-be contract year.
O/U #2: $9 million/3 year contract in the off season.
Prediction: Take the over on the money. He should be putting up 30-35 or assists each season and he's competent defensively. Somebody will pay him $3 million a year based on what he should do rather than what he's done in his contract year. I'm not sure who and I'm not sure if it's a good deal. See: Finger, Jeff.

Travis Zajac
Current: 9/25/34
O/U: 13.5 goals, 34.5 assists
Prediction: Over on both (15 goals, 36 assists). He's playing with Kovy and that Nick guy, with first line and special teams minutes. I'm more sold on his ability to hit the assists mark, but I'm going to throw caution to the wind and say he can put up 6 goals in the next 23 games. Keep in mind that if Parise comes back, that can only help his case.

Zach Parise
Current: 12 games played, 3/3/6
O/U: 15.5 games played.
Prediction: Under. Note this is only for the regular season. They won't rush him back but if they are in serious contention for the playoffs then they will want to try to get him in a few games to get back in shape. Or, they start losing a few and just shut him down.
O/U #2: $50 million/8 year contract with the Devils in the off season.
Prediction: That's a little more than $6 million/year. I'm not sure Lou will be able to do a super long term deal, but the cap hit seems right and the overall dollars seem right, so I think it will get done. He has to be happy with how the team has recovered these last 6 weeks, even if they miss the playoffs, and he wants to play for a winner. Otherwise he could go to the Island for whatever retarded amount of money Chuck Wang would offer. Plus, Lou will offer him the C, a no-movement clause and at least 6 of the Devils Dancers or whatever they're called.

White/Salmela/Volchenkov
5/4/6 assists = 15 total
O/U: 18.5 assists combined
Prediction: Under (18). Let's not fool ourselves. They are who we thought the were.

Devils
25-30-4, 54 pts
GF: 128
GA: 161
Diff: -33
Currently 27th in the league.

O/U: 87.5 points.
Prediction: Over (88 points). That would be 34 of a possible 46 points. The way they've been playing, 17 wins out of 23 games is an easy bet. Can they really keep it up at that pace, though? I don't know. Would 88 be enough to squeak in to 8th place? Only time will tell.

This is Getting Ridiculous

This is starting to get ridiculous. Two more games, two more Devils wins. On January 9 the Devils sat in dead last with a 10-29-2 record, 27 points out of a playoff spot and headed straight for the 1st pick in the draft. Fast forward 42 days and they now sit only 10 points out of the playoffs thanks to a 15-1-2 tear in the past 18 games. Right now they can't lose. I simply have no words to describe it. It is simply amazing - I honestly believe that they can come all the way back to make the playoffs. I mean, how can they not, right? 15-1-2 isn't a fluke...

Now that we are making a run towards the playoffs, I will be interested to see if we make any trades to improve the team. Back in December, we were at a point where I was calling for all of the veterans to be traded. I said that we needed to reload and get younger. Now I imagine that Lou will need to strongly consider whether to upgrade the team and take a shot at the playoffs. The trade deadline is 9 days away so there's not much time. He is going to have to go with his guts. After all, it is entirely possible they he makes a trade and then the team goes back to sucking.

Normally I am able to think objectively. Sure they are hot right now, but what was wrong with them during the first 43 games? Is 18 amazing games enough to erase a terrible 43? Any other time I would ask for Lou to hold back...but something about 15-1-2 has got me thinking. I mean, Zach Parise is due back in March. Can you imagine how dangerous they will be if they continue their hot streak AND get their best player back? They can certainly make some noise if they finish in the 8 spot.

I can't believe I am saying this (after all, I am the one reminding Seahawks fans how the division title and playoff cost them 17 spots in the draft), but I want them to make the playoffs. I want them to make a trade before the deadline. I want them to mortgage the future for a run now. It's almost too perfect of a ride right now.

I'm ALL In Again

Sports fans are an interesting breed because they are nothing like the athletes that they support. Besides winning, we feel that loyalty is the most important thing. We honestly believe that we would not take the millions of dollars thrown at us if we were able to swtich roles. And in the face of certain disappointment we are always believing that something good is about to happen.

When I was younger I would let a Mets or Devils loss ruin my week. I put so much energy and passion into supporting them, that when they lost it felt like I had lost (of course it didn't help that I had to listen to idiot Yankees and Rangers fans over the years). As I have gotten older, I have started to take a more realistic approach to how I support my teams. I still will watch every game I can. I still will spend countless hours emerged in any information about them. But the hope that I once had has steadily decreased. First there was the epic Mets collapse in 2007 and the follow-up collapse in 2008. Add in 5 straight first round playoff exits by the Devils, a 12 win season by the Nets and some pretty terrible UW football teams and the undying faith in my teams was seemingly gone.

Then out of nowhere, I seemingly have found my sports faith again. I have really tried to stay way from the recent Devils hot streak. They dug such a deep hole that it was seemingly impossible for them to make the playoffs. I have written about the sheer madness of it a few times; each time hoping that I could convince my heart that they had no shot. But just when I think they can't do it anymore, BOOOM, they win another game. Thursday it was an OT win against Toronto. Last night, a win over San Jose. Their recent record now stands at 12-1-2 in their last 15 and they suddenly sit 12 points out of 8th place. I can';t stand it anymore. I AM ALL IN on the Devils right now. I know it is going to lead to inevitable disappointment because their margin of error. Simply put, they can't lose any games from now on. They need to play their best hockey and keep on winning every 3 out of 4 games. It's probably still impossible, but I'm tired of thinking. It's time to believe again.

Speaking of believing, can we talk about the Bucknell Bison? Coming into the season, I had a feeling that they would contend for the Patriot League crown, but seeing that I never get to watch any games, I just assumed that the experts would be right. American, and not Bucknell, would be going to the NCAA tournament. We had our magic in 2005 and 2006. Sure, we could continue to have a winning records in the league, but winning the league would need to wait. Luckily, no one told that to Mike Muscala, Daryl Shazier, Joe Willman, Bryson Johnson and the rest of the Bison. After a home win against American on Wednesday, I AM ALL IN on the Bison. To regular readers of the blog, this shouldn't come as a surprise - I have had crazy Muscala Love all season. The difference now is that I am not in any way scared of the Patriot League tournament. You see, the cruel thing about one-bid leagues is that the best team in the regular season is never assured a spot in the big dance. They need to remain focused and brush aside those pesky upset artists in the first rounds and then beat the second best team in the final for probably the third time. One slip up and you're done. Even if the BIson win their last 5 games to move them to 22-8 (13-1 conference), if they lose to colgate or Holy Cross or some other shit scholl, they're done. Season over. Luckily, I can sit here today and say with absolute certainty, that I have complete faith that they will get the job done. Disappointment be damned. Faith, I'm back and I'm hitching a trailer.