The (ex)Devils did it: Injuries to Martin and Pandolfo

This season is turning into a devil of an adventure for returning coach Jacques Lemaire as he is now missing 2 of his top 3 players in Paul Martin and Patrik Elias. Martin had his left forearm broken when he was hit by a shot from Pittsburgh winger (and ex-Devil) Bill Guerin in the Devils impressive 4-1 win against the defending Stanley Cup champions this past Saturday night. In the same game, rejuvenated Devil veteran checking winger Jay Pandolfo was smashed into the boards from behind by Pittsburgh 4th liner (and ex-Devil) Mike Rupp. The illegal hit resulted in Pandolfo separating/dislocating his shoulder. Both are out 4-6 weeks. Ironies abound when one thinks of the damage the ex-Devils accomplished in one game. And I didn't think I could dislike Bill Guerin anymore than I already do.

Patrik Elias has been out from the start of the season with hip/groin complications and his 4-6 week expected return time has already passed. There are some rumblings that Elias may start practice next week, but I'll believe that when I see it. This Elias injury situation is starting to feel like the season when Scott Stevens' mysterious flu-like ilness turned into a career ending concussion. I pray not since no Elias means no playoffs.

Martin is the team leader in TOI (Time On Ice) for Devils' defenseman and is clearly their best defender. With all deference to Zach Parise, Elias is their most gifted and important forward. His scoring and leadership are missed and Devil line combinations are scrambled without him.

The 13 year Devil veteran, Jay Pandolfo, was playing as well as ever leading the Devils on the penalty kill and in his important role as a defensive forward matching up against the other teams best players.

So with a scary-bad loss to Buffalo last night at The Rock, 4-1, where the Devils seemly looked lost without Martin on defense and were definitely a step slow, Coach Lemaire has his work cut out for him. Tonight the Devils face a powerful Bruins team in Boston and Lemaire has rightly decided to rest Martin Brodeur. New Devil goaltender Yann Danis will get his first start as a Devil. The Devils are a historical team best 5-0 start on the road this year. Lemaire will have to work some magic tonight with his backup goalie and an inexperienced defender in Mark Fraser in the lineup to continue the road unbeaten streak.

If some young players (forwards and defenders) don't step up and if Lemaire can't juggle those lines around into some goals, November might turn into a devil of a month. However, I'm betting on Jacques. If anyone can get a team to win under these circumstances, it is Mr. Lemaire.

Devils Start Season 0-2. Time to Panic?

The NJ Devils have started this season uncharacteristically with 2 loses to arch-rivals Flyers and Rangers. The Philadelphia Flyer game was a total fiasco with all-time leading goaltender, Martin Broduer, seeming to be doing his best impersonation of a bull-fighter saying ole’ to the puck as it went by him into the net 5 times. The Devils looked every bit of a team in transition with a new coach, Jacques Lemaire, 5 rookies and several more new faces such as defenseman Cory Murphy and veteran Rob Niedermayer.

The Devils put on a relatively better performance against the Rangers last night at the Rock, coming up short, 3-2, with once again, a “bad” goal let in by Marty. Panic is spreading through the world of Devils’ fans leading to suggestions of replacing the coach, mixing the lines up as well as bringing back Brendan Shanahan, who was released by the Devils for simply being too old to play on the top line anymore.

Q: So is it really time to panic?

A: I say not!

What I’ve seen from the Devils in the first 2 games is about what I would expect. Lemaire is trying to change the way former coach Sutter ran the team in some subtle, but difficult-to-learn new ways. He is changing the break-out of the defensive zone and is trying to get the defenders more involved in the offense. Last year, Devil defenders put in a paltry 19 goals for the entire season. That won’t win you a Stanley Cup and will likely find you out after playoff round one, exactly as happened to the Devils. In addition the Devils find themselves without arguably their best player and all-time leading scorer, Patrik Elias, for a few more weeks.

While an 0-2 record looks very bad, the Ranger game came down to Broduer letting in a softie, a 4th line which took 2 penalties in the 1st period and some officiating that didn’t go the Devils’ way. Change those 3 negatives or add a little puck luck and you’d have seen the Devils standing at 1-1.

On the positive side, we can realistically believe that Broduer will simply start being Brodeur again. We also can be very happy with the way free agent acquisition Rob Niedermayer has been playing. He looks like he’s going to help the team immensely this year. Add Elias back, figure out a workable 4th line, get the defenders on the attack, and have last years 45 goal scorer, Zach Parise, bury the biscuit a few times and I think you’ll see the Devils start to play descent hockey.

In the Devils’ own Atlantic division we can say the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins, the Flyers, and even the Rangers all seem to be improved. The real question at this point is whether Jacques Lemaire can work this Devils team into a Stanley Cup contender. The thought of whether the Devils can be that good this year brings much more a sense of panic to me that the worry over an 0-2 start.

Are the NJ Devils better this year?

The Devils face the Islanders tonight at the Rock in their 5th and last preseason game of the year. The Devils stand at a 3W-1L record with their greatly revised roster from the 2008-2009 season. So the question all Devils' fans want to know is whether this year's team will be better than last year's team. The best way to answer this is to look at the goalies, the forward and defensive lines and see what has changed.

2008-2009 Forward Lines:

Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner

Elias-Zubrus-Gionta

Pandolfo-Madden-Shanahan

Rupp-Rolston- Clarkson

Mike Rupp, Brian Gionta and John Madden all gone to free agency and will be replaced by veteran, Rob Niedermayer (younger brother of legendary ex-Devil Scott), and rookie NHLers Rod Pelley and Niklas Bergfors.

2000-2010 Forward Lines:

Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner

Rolston-Zubrus-Clarkson

Bergfors-Elias-Shanahan

Pandolfo-Pelley-Niedermayer

With newly acquired enforcer Andrew Peters playing when necessary in Pelley’s spot

I do believe that when you analyze the rosters player by player, last year’s roster has overall better talent. However, in the NHL, sometimes the sum of the parts is greater than the individual pieces. I do believe that this is the case here. Bergfors is not the player Gionta is yet. Neither is Pelley or Rob Niedermayer measuring them against Madden. And Elias is a top Left Wing, but this lineup will have him playing center as it stands right now.

The plus factors here are:

1. The movement of Brian Rolston to 2^nd line left wing and having him play for his favorite coach, Jacques Lemaire. Look for him to have a major rebound year.

2. Providing skilled players in Bergfors and Shanahan for Elias to play with and reversing that, providing 2 skilled veterans for promising rookie scorer Bergfors to play with

3. The increase in size that Niedermayer brings over Madden, who played very well at times, but was no longer a defensive match for the top play-makers in the league.

4. The positioning of David Clarkson on a scoring line where we’ll see him blossom this year into a top 6 power forward.

5. Finally, the dismantling of the Devils' infamous checking line and rolling 4 lines that can be offensively productive.

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2008-2009 Defensive Lines:

Martin-Oduya

White-Mottau

Salvador-Greene/Havelid

Havelid returned to Europe (thankfully) and is replaced by the signing of free agent Cory Murphy

2009-2010 Defensive Lines:

Martin-Oduya

White-Mottau

Salvador-Murphy/Greene

If you read my September 18^th blog, you’ll know that I think Murphy is a very good addition to a young Devils’ defense that finished 4^th in the entire NHL last year in goals against average. Murphy is leading the Devil’s in this preseason with a +4 as well as having scored 3 points in 3 games. He’s going to help the Devils defensively and on the power play. The defense with an increase in playing time together and the addition of Murphy will be improved for sure.

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2008-2009 Goalies:

Brodeur

Weekes

Clemmensen

Clemmensen who played valiantly during Brodeur’s prolonged injury absence signed as a free agent with Florida, Kevin Weekes was not re-signed and add in Yann Danis signed as a free agent from the Islanders.

2008-2009 Goalies:

Brodeur

Danis

The Devils last year had no confidence in Kevin Weekes and that is why Scott Clemmensen was brought in when Marty was injured. He played extremely well (some say with divine intervention) but was then sent down to the Devils’ farm team leaving Weekes as the backup and Marty to play essentially every game down the stretch.

I believe this year will be different. Danis looks like the real deal so we’ll look for the Devils to have enough confidence in him to play him 15 games, leaving Brodeur rested to continue as one of the league‘s top net-minders. All in all, an overall slight positive over last year.

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And finally the year to year comparison would not be complete without mentioning the coaches. Out went Benedict Sutter and in comes Jacques Lemaire. Sutter was continually learning on the job and was out-coached both playoff series he was in. Lemaire may be one of the best coaches to ever coach in the NHL. This will be the biggest positive for the 2009-2010 Devils and as a result expect them to once again reach 100 points and make the playoffs. GM Lou Lamoriello's Devils have always been about "team." If this year's Devils are better than last years, that statement will have to be truer than ever.

Devils’ Defense Seems Set with Murphy

It is only one game into the Devils’ preseason, a 3-2 shoot out victory at home against the Rangers, and it seems the defensive lineup is set. The Devils, who typically carry 7 defensemen on the roster, will start the season with regulars from last season, Paul Martin, Johnny Oduya, Colin White, Mike Mottau, and Bryce Salvador. In addition, Andy Greene, who played 49 games in 2008-2009 is looking for more playing time. Greene is an adequate player who has excellent moments followed by poor decisions. His upside is limited but he is an adequate “7th” defender who can play on the power play.

The final position open on defense seems to belong to newcomer Cory Murphy, who played 6 season in Europe before coming here to play for Florida and Tampa Bay 2 years ago. Murphy signed a 2-way deal (allowing him to be moved to Lowell of the AHL without clearing waivers) with the Devils in July. It is no coincidence he is wearing #28 in training camp. It is a number worn by a player of similar height (small) and right-handed shot, Brian Rafalski. Rafalski was an all-star defender with Devils before signing with Detroit as a UFA a few years ago. Devils’ GM, Lou Lamoriello, loves to play the jersey number game with his players so when I saw 28 on Murphy, I thought immediately he was going to make the team. In overtime against the Rangers on Wednesday, it was Murphy who was on the ice as the lone defensmen on the Devils 4-3 power play. They didn’t score but Murphy surely looked like he belonged.

Some of the Devil’s faithful were hoping to see 21 year old Devils’ prospect Matt Corrente get a shot on defense. However it seems the Devils do not think he is ready. In fact it appears that 18 year old defensemen, Alexander Urbom has stolen the show in camp and won himself playing time against the Rangers and seems to be playing with the first squad in practice. He won’t make the team this year, but by the Devils giving him NHL time at camp and in preseason, clearly they think he will be the next defensive star for the Devils.

It was my analysis at the end of last season that the Devils needed a star/stud player on defense (sorry Paul Martin you are an excellent defender, but not a stud) to move to the next level. Corey Murphy is what the Devils have come up with to help their pp with a Right-handed shot. A poor man’s Brian Rafalski is not exactly what the Devils’ needed. However, in Devils’ land we say, “In Lou we trust.” No need to worry, the season hasn’t begun yet and Jacques will surely get us through anyway.

Devils’ Training Camp Opens with New Faces

With the start of a new hockey season upon us, we’ll let this simple Devils’ update be my start of the blogging season…

NJ Devils opened their training camp with 3 big forward positions to fill. The loss of Brian Gionta, John Madden, and Mike Rupp have created vacancies for some young players such as Nicholas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier and Rod Pelley.

In a surprise move the Devils have in camp heavyweight enforcer Andrew Peters (Buffalo). He was wearing #25 today in camp so I’ll guess will see this Donald Brashear antagonist is Devils’ red come October. He is not there to be sent to the AHL or for his gifted scoring touch.

Devils’ GM, Lou Lamoriello, has always been a fan of NHL heavyweights, and has now created an interesting situation since it looked like the loss of Mike Rupp (Free Agent to Pittsburgh) was going to be filled by the Devils’ own young tough-guy, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (PL3). Looks like there will be a fight for who is the Devils’ fighter.

For those of you who haven’t been following, the Devils’ backup goaltender this year will be Yann Danis (Islanders in 2008-2009)

And on a final note worth mentioning, Devils’ all-time leading scorer, Patrik Elias, is nursing an injured groin, which was operated on during the summer. New Devils’ head coach Jacques Lemaire had spoken about using Patrik at 2nd line center, but now it looks like he may not be ready for the team’s opener on October 3rd. If Elias’ injury turns out to be serious, look for another young player to make the squad and look for the Devils’ to struggle to score goals. More to come on this next blog!