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.