Yes its hockey time The first preseason game was yesterday and the Devils thrashed the Bruins 5-0. Lou has done it again with the offseason. Elias, White, Langenbrunner and Gomez are all re-signed. We'll see how Claude Julien does as the new coach this year. Last year, the first half was crap, the second half was fantastic as was the series against the Rangers. The changes I want to see for this year are that we don't play so poorly for a long stretch like the first half last year and that we don't play like absolute crap against the Islanders but that will be really hard with their new 70 million dollar goalie. We might not be able to beat them for the next 15 years. Prediction- Atlantic division champs and going deep into the playoffs
Devils got swept by the Rangers in a home and home series and they play against Philly today. It is preseason and it doesn't matter but I would like to see something out of these games to have something to look foward to.
There is some good news for the Devils. I just saw that Lou has traded Malakhov to San Jose. This is great since he makes about 3 million. We need this cap space to re-sign Gionta. He was our leading scorer last year and we need him back. Now if there only was a way to get rid of Moginly's salary which is still on the books. Here are all the details about the trade http://www.nhl.com/news/2006/10/282748.html The preseason has had some mixed results. The Devils recently beat the Flyers and the Capitals but lost to the Islanders. I don't know what to make of these results but I can't wait for the season to start. First game is at Carolina.
Gionta is signed!!!!!! http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html Great news. Our leading scorer from last year is back. LOU is GOD.
Paul Martin, Scott Clemensen and Erik Rasmussen are all resigned. Lou is really the best GM in the league. He may have made this mess but he got out of it and helped the cap situation. Can't wait for tommorrow. Have to show the Canes that last year was a fluke. Here is another article about all these new signings http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=179732&hubname=nhl
There's no better way to strat the season than with a drubbing of the defending champs. A very good game yesterday from the whole team. We got contributions from everybody. 2 goals for Parise and 1 each for Elias and Langenbrunner, 3 assists from Gionta and another shutout for Broduer. Lets see how they follow that up today at Dallas.
Yesterdays win against Toronto was just a great game. Coming back from 3 goals down in the third period and winning it in the shootout. The two big stars of yesterdays game was Gionta with a hat trick and John Madden with 2 and the winning goal in the shootout. A very good way to start the season on home ice and it probably being the last home opener at the Continental Airlines Arena. Two wins out of three is not a bad start to the season.
Yeah, Malkin is looking really great. But the Devils are not with these two straight losses. Getting drubbed by Ottowa and now this loss to Pittsburgh. They have to stop this losing streak before it gets too big.
4 in row and 6 out of the last seven. The Devils have really got their stuff together and are playing really good hockey. It's good to see that Elias got back on track yesterday against Florida as did the Devils powerplay. Brodeur is just great. He is playing amazing and saving our assaes with all these one goal/shootout games. Next game is the Rangers. Really need to win that one. It does bother me a lot that the only loss in the last seven was a drubbing by the Islanders. I mean how the hell can they play so well against the Devils in the past two seasons. This is the same team with a goalie with a 15 year contrtact who can't win a game. There are still 7 games left against them and the Devils better make the most of them.
Game 2 of the road trip tonight against Phoenix. Devils have bounced back preety well from that debacle against the Rangers. That game had the worst 90 seconds of hockey I can remeber. Beating Ottowa and Toronto after that was a good accomplishment. The second line of Parise-Langennbrunner and Zajac is playing incredible right now which is great because Gomez is injured and Elias is really struggling. Should beat Phoenix tonight, thhey really suck and there is big game against Anahiem coming up.
5 win in row following that ugly road trip. It seems like everybody is picking up their play especially Elias and as usual Matin Brodeur is standing on his head. With the way the Devils are playing, what's not to like
Nothing better than ending a 3 game losing streak by thrashing the Rangers. It really feels good to beat the Rangers especially after the other awful games against the Rangers. Hopefully all these goals in the last games will help the offense pick it up and play more consistently.
The Devils have finally playing with some consistency. It is great to beat the Islanders 2 games in a row. This play is mostly due to Martin Brodeur playing great and with Elias, Parise and Langenbrunner scoring with consistency. But still enough can't be said about how Brodeur is playing. He is probably the team MVP so far and should win the Vezina this year. The main thing for the Devils is staying healthy especially with the defensemen. Its great being first in the division at the halfway point.
Heading into the all-star break and I couldn't be happier with the postion that the Devils are in. A 13 point lead in the division, 2nd in the East and only 7 points behind Buffalo. Elias, Langennbrunner,Gionta and Brodeur have all been playing great. The surprises so far have been how well Parise, Zajac and Lukowich have benn playing. I don't know if Lou is looking to make any trades but I'm really happy with where the team is right now.
The Devils have been playing great since the all-star break. We're up to 80 points now and closing in on Buffalo fast. Last nights win against the Rangers was just a great game. It also showed why I love Cam Jansen so much. He may have little skill but his toughness is worth having him on the team. He has 0 points in his career but he has an astounding number of PIM.
For me, that was the game of the year. Just a fast paced, action packed game. There was a bit of everything in there and the nastiness that made this rivalry so special. Both goalies were on top of their game; unfortunate that Karel ********in Rachunek tipped it in the Parise shot. And I love Sean Avery. He gives the Rangers balls. And ya gotta love Marty. He plays with a bit of an edge too and wasn't surprised at all when he shoved Avery. I also really like Cam Janssen. That guy's a killer. Seems like the Rangers got the best of him last night though with Hollweg throwing a mean hit at him and Colton Orr getting the best of him in that fight, but he's a tough kid. And him threatening Henrik was great too. If the next matchup at the Garden could be half as fun as that, then I'm gonna start enjoying these home-and-home games.
I agree. It was a great game. Is it just me or is hockey exciting again. By next year, the 3 way rivalry will be in full swing again.
With how great a game last night was, I'm hoping tomorrow will be even better. I'm really looking foward to a Cam Jansen vs. Sean Avery showdown tomorrow night.
Seems like Janssen and Hollweg are the two to watch. I remember last season, Hollweg pretty much established himself on the Rangers as a feisty player. I think Janssen was called up so I didn't know much about him other than that he threw hard hits. Well the two got into a fight and Janssen was a killer. He absolutely destroyed Hollweg. The Orr/Janssen fight last night was good too. We'll see if Janssen or anyone else on the Devils will go after Henrik. A Brodeur/Hank showdown would be a dream though. Oooh boy.
WOW. What agreat game yesterday and a great comeback win for the Devils. Beating the Rangers like that is just spectacular. Breaking the Rangers hopes of getting into the playoffs is great. But on a different note, Brian Gionta can't get healthy soon enough. I love Brylin and all the other guys who played on the first line but this team is just different when the first line is broken up like that.
OMG!!!! Cam Jamssen scored No really Cam Janssen actually scored a goal. But we are still down 3-1 to the Caps. Hopefully this will spark something.
Let down game today with the loss to the Caps but we have another shot at them tomorrow in Washington.
Really dissapointing we did nothing at the deadline today especially considering the Isles picked up Ryan Smith and the Pens picked up some help today but it is understandable considering the cap situation. Hopefully Gionta will be healthy soon and we will continue to play well.