Fridays's news got me thinking...differently...about my Devils fandom. Let me put this out there - I am NOT thinking of jumping ship or even dropping my season tickets - but for the first time in my time as Devils fan (which dates back to somewhere between 1987 and 1995), the Devils have pretty much hit rock bottom.
After Lou Lamoriello took over as GM (among other roles) in the summer of 1987, the Devils made the playoffs for the first time in their history (which dates back to the 1982-83 season) in 1988, after which the Devils had only missed twice before the summer of 2011. They've missed the playoffs 3 times in 4 seasons since then, with the chance of making it 4 in 5 if they can't turn things around in the next 3 1/2 months. I never knew the days of struggle. And I really didn't know much of the Devils life before their first Stanley Cup. This is foreign territory to me.
For the first time since I was even aware of the New Jersey Devils, people are saying that Lou Lamoriello's time has come and gone. He's a Hall of Fame GM whose time to leave was maybe as much as 10 years ago. So there's the potential for a new era in my Devils fandom. For the first time since I became a full-on Devils fan, Martin Brodeur isn't with the club, which is certainly a new era in my Devils fandom.
And another first in my time...and maybe it will never be publically admitted...it's time for rebuilding the franchise in New Jersey. We got new owners in 2013. Lou's closer to the end than the beginning. And one thing we've learned by the firing of a bad coach was that there's a lot of player problems too (too old, young kids not developing, lost talent).
It's definitely a crossroads for my Devils fandom. Time for the team to take this coaching change, and maybe this season, and turn the corner.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Say it ain't so, Marty
You are now a St. Louis Blue. I don't really know how to feel about this. There is a small part of me happy for you because you seem to have gotten what you wanted...another game to test out that competitive fire. A chance at going for 700 wins.
But Marty, you have committed treason. Okay, treason in a hockey sense (nobody will actually die because of this and no government is being overthrown). I won't use the word "traitor"...that one is reserved for you if you join the Rags. But this still isn't right. Seeing you play in an NHL game for anyone besides the New Jersey Devils is a betrayal.
It hurts me to say this, Marty, but I've thought you should hang up your goalie pads and mask since last season ended. You received a nice sendoff from Devils fans, many of whom knew it was your last game as a New Jersey Devil, even if we were a bit unsure exactly what was going on. But you didn't end last season well. Your skills diminished late in the season. It started with that outdoor game. Why tarnish your career stat sheet after 21 years by sticking a team that isn't the New Jersey Devils on it, if just for a few games? Why risk a little bit of ego trying to play when you just might not have it anymore?
But on Saturday afternoon, I'm going to head out to Long Island to see this act of treason in person. Maybe it's like wanting to slow down as you pass an accident scene. Maybe there's some unfinished business on my end because there is some on your end. And maybe it's to raise a charge of "TreasoNJ" (a bad attempt to blend the word "treason" with "NJ") in person. I don't know. But I have to go see it.
Why all this over Brodeur? He's the Franchise. Now in another uniform.
Say it ain't so, Marty.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
But Marty, you have committed treason. Okay, treason in a hockey sense (nobody will actually die because of this and no government is being overthrown). I won't use the word "traitor"...that one is reserved for you if you join the Rags. But this still isn't right. Seeing you play in an NHL game for anyone besides the New Jersey Devils is a betrayal.
It hurts me to say this, Marty, but I've thought you should hang up your goalie pads and mask since last season ended. You received a nice sendoff from Devils fans, many of whom knew it was your last game as a New Jersey Devil, even if we were a bit unsure exactly what was going on. But you didn't end last season well. Your skills diminished late in the season. It started with that outdoor game. Why tarnish your career stat sheet after 21 years by sticking a team that isn't the New Jersey Devils on it, if just for a few games? Why risk a little bit of ego trying to play when you just might not have it anymore?
But on Saturday afternoon, I'm going to head out to Long Island to see this act of treason in person. Maybe it's like wanting to slow down as you pass an accident scene. Maybe there's some unfinished business on my end because there is some on your end. And maybe it's to raise a charge of "TreasoNJ" (a bad attempt to blend the word "treason" with "NJ") in person. I don't know. But I have to go see it.
Why all this over Brodeur? He's the Franchise. Now in another uniform.
Say it ain't so, Marty.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Maybe it's time for some changes
The Devils are off to a better start than last year (5-3-2, 12 points through 10 games, good for 3rd in the Metro division this year versus 1-5-4 for 6 points through 10 games last year). It's a pace for 98 points where 93 made the playoffs in the East last year (the Devils finished with 88). But there are still a lot of reasons the Devils need to make changes.
First, they're somewhere between measures for a .500 team ("NHL .500" is referred to as an average of 1 standings point per game, which the Devils are slightly above, at 1.2; in pure wins and losses, ".500" is wins in half of the games, which the Devils have exactly that). But the really need to be better. It's early in the season, so the standings are somewhat volatile right now. Three teams are only 2 points behind the Devils, and they're tied with another team at 12 points. And that's just in the division where only the top 3 teams make the playoffs. They're also a point out of first. 5-3-2 would be out of the playoffs if they were in the current Atlantic Division. I expect things to shuffle a bit this season. Status quo isn't going to be good enough.
The Devils wins were also bunched up (3) at the start of the season, and the team blew leads in 4 straight games (including an OT win) before winning without leading on Thursday night. Twice in 10 games things got bad enough where the goalie was replaced.
I've long been a critic of Peter DeBoer and his mis-management of the players he's given, from frequent chemistry-killing line changes (both in game and between games), not managing the young players well (example: Adam Larsson, Eric Gelinas, Jacob Josephson), as well as a lot of some basic hockey things that should be handled during practice (like passing that his team doesn't seem to grasp and penalty kill). He's also missed the playoffs in an un-Devil-like 2 seasons in a row (I almost consider the 2012 team, the only playoff appearance in 4 seasons, but the first under his watch, as a fluke), and there are a lot of these little things that could spell out a third.
Look at the last game, against Winnipeg on Thursday night. The team looked uncoordinated (not the first time in his term that I've noticed it) for most of the game. Sloppy passing, veteran defenseman getting beat. Things turned when Salvador was benched in the 3rd period. Salvador's skill level has been slipping for some time now, and maybe it's time for him to take a more regular seat (he can still be a presence in the clubhouse if that's where he gets praise) to allow more playing time for Eric Gelinas and Adam Larsson, or even allow another young defenseman from the Albany team get into the lineup.
Speaking of Albany, I went to see them play last Saturday night. The Albany team hasn't lost in regulation this season (6 wins and a shootout loss, which I think reads out to 6-0-0-1). They looked coordinated. There wasn't one dominant player that should get an immediate call up (though Boucher did because of injury, and one or two of the defenseman are on the "watch" list) like I noticed with both Merrill and Gelinas when I saw them play last year. Everybody playing was playing well. They didn't look tired in a back-to-back like their parent club did that same night.
There was even one point in the game where I saw Peter Harrold (the 7th defenseman in NJ for some time, now playing in Albany) keeping the puck in the zone, and I said to my friend that in NJ, that puck would have gotten out, even with the same Peter Harrold playing in the same spot. I meant it somewhat as a joke, but there's a lot of meaning behind it. I think the Albany team is a lot better coached than the NJ team is. Now the NJ team has a lot of veterans who should know how to play hockey, but the coach is there to make them play as a team and to keep them sharp and to keep them from tiring out with his management of ice time both during the game and practice, knowing the demands of the schedule. What do they work on in practice anyway? So many things I've seen in NJ that need a lot of practice.
So I think it's time for some changes. DeBoer needs to go. I wonder if Rick Kowalsky would be the right guy to come in this season and replace DeBoer (or even next season as not to disrupt the success in Albany while using an interim coach in NJ). With more young players playing who played for Kowalsky in Albany (Gelinas, Boucher, Merrill, Larsson, Josephson and quite a few more in the pipeline), it might be better to have their coach come up too. I also think Salvador should remain on the bench in favor of Larsson and Gelinas. If Larsson proves to be a bust, there are more players in Albany that can make the move.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
First, they're somewhere between measures for a .500 team ("NHL .500" is referred to as an average of 1 standings point per game, which the Devils are slightly above, at 1.2; in pure wins and losses, ".500" is wins in half of the games, which the Devils have exactly that). But the really need to be better. It's early in the season, so the standings are somewhat volatile right now. Three teams are only 2 points behind the Devils, and they're tied with another team at 12 points. And that's just in the division where only the top 3 teams make the playoffs. They're also a point out of first. 5-3-2 would be out of the playoffs if they were in the current Atlantic Division. I expect things to shuffle a bit this season. Status quo isn't going to be good enough.
The Devils wins were also bunched up (3) at the start of the season, and the team blew leads in 4 straight games (including an OT win) before winning without leading on Thursday night. Twice in 10 games things got bad enough where the goalie was replaced.
I've long been a critic of Peter DeBoer and his mis-management of the players he's given, from frequent chemistry-killing line changes (both in game and between games), not managing the young players well (example: Adam Larsson, Eric Gelinas, Jacob Josephson), as well as a lot of some basic hockey things that should be handled during practice (like passing that his team doesn't seem to grasp and penalty kill). He's also missed the playoffs in an un-Devil-like 2 seasons in a row (I almost consider the 2012 team, the only playoff appearance in 4 seasons, but the first under his watch, as a fluke), and there are a lot of these little things that could spell out a third.
Look at the last game, against Winnipeg on Thursday night. The team looked uncoordinated (not the first time in his term that I've noticed it) for most of the game. Sloppy passing, veteran defenseman getting beat. Things turned when Salvador was benched in the 3rd period. Salvador's skill level has been slipping for some time now, and maybe it's time for him to take a more regular seat (he can still be a presence in the clubhouse if that's where he gets praise) to allow more playing time for Eric Gelinas and Adam Larsson, or even allow another young defenseman from the Albany team get into the lineup.
Speaking of Albany, I went to see them play last Saturday night. The Albany team hasn't lost in regulation this season (6 wins and a shootout loss, which I think reads out to 6-0-0-1). They looked coordinated. There wasn't one dominant player that should get an immediate call up (though Boucher did because of injury, and one or two of the defenseman are on the "watch" list) like I noticed with both Merrill and Gelinas when I saw them play last year. Everybody playing was playing well. They didn't look tired in a back-to-back like their parent club did that same night.
There was even one point in the game where I saw Peter Harrold (the 7th defenseman in NJ for some time, now playing in Albany) keeping the puck in the zone, and I said to my friend that in NJ, that puck would have gotten out, even with the same Peter Harrold playing in the same spot. I meant it somewhat as a joke, but there's a lot of meaning behind it. I think the Albany team is a lot better coached than the NJ team is. Now the NJ team has a lot of veterans who should know how to play hockey, but the coach is there to make them play as a team and to keep them sharp and to keep them from tiring out with his management of ice time both during the game and practice, knowing the demands of the schedule. What do they work on in practice anyway? So many things I've seen in NJ that need a lot of practice.
So I think it's time for some changes. DeBoer needs to go. I wonder if Rick Kowalsky would be the right guy to come in this season and replace DeBoer (or even next season as not to disrupt the success in Albany while using an interim coach in NJ). With more young players playing who played for Kowalsky in Albany (Gelinas, Boucher, Merrill, Larsson, Josephson and quite a few more in the pipeline), it might be better to have their coach come up too. I also think Salvador should remain on the bench in favor of Larsson and Gelinas. If Larsson proves to be a bust, there are more players in Albany that can make the move.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
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