Wed 25 Jul 2007
Words my father once spoke…except my name is Tony. Anyway, let’s cut to the chase. So it seems our very own Louie Lams has signed a few D-men in hopes to strengthen solidify secure err-umm actually, I don’t know what he’s trying to do! Throughout the free agency mayhem and the numerous transactions occurring each day, there are a pair of large-hearted fellows who have yet to be offered a contract. ::sigh:: Poor guys. We’ll get back to them in just a moment….
In the meantime, let’s take a look at who Lou did manage to squeeze out of the free agency lemon.
Karel Rachunek, Vitaly Vishnevski, Kevin Weekes, Dainius Zubrus, Ian Moran, Jean-Luc-Long-Name, Noah Clarke. He also re-signed Cam Janssen, Grant Marshall, and brought up Mr. Olivier Magnan, who in case you didn’t know, was our 6th choice, 148th overall back in the ‘06 draft. What is with all the veteran D-men?!?! Where is our youth?! We went all the way to Germany to get a 30 year-old guy whose salary is probably going to be less than the cost of his last name being stitched to the back of his jersey.
The heart of this NJD team lies in the twin cities of Minnesota. Yes. I said it. The re-signing of Zach Parise and Paul Martin are essential in order to mold this team into a championship caliber team once again. Martin, a young defenseman who filled and excelled in a D spot during the 2006 Olympics in Torino, will without a doubt rise in performance in near future years. And how bout Zach attack?! One look at the display of hockey that Zach Parise pumped out during the ‘07 playoffs and anyone could see that only a fool would let him go. Quite frankly, in my honest opinion, we will one day see the number 9 being raised to the rafters of Prudential Center. We may even see a small crescent resting upon his shoulder. Bottom line, get them here. Bring em home Lou!
Regardless of what Lou did, or didn’t do, or almost did, ::cough:: Souray ::cough:: despite this year’s lack of “je ne sais quoi” that he has shown in previous years, the same old shenanigans come down to the same thing Devils fans all over have been saying for years…In Lou We Trust.
July 25th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
You nailed it right on the head.
Martin and Parise definitely need to be retained or it could be a glum year. I’m very confident they will be, but with each passing day that it doesn’t happen, I panic a little more.
Hopefully I can get back to a full-night’s sleep soon.
July 26th, 2007 at 3:10 am
You missed a drop out of that lemon…..Viuhkola.
Great site folks. Happy to sign on.
July 26th, 2007 at 4:55 am
As successful as Lou is, he needs to realize that some players have long memories, and are not as likely as Brodeur and Elias to show loyalty to the team later, when they reach UFA status. If these negotiations leave a bad taste in their mouths, Parise and Martin may high-tail it out of town first chance they get. Gomez and Niedermayer both had a history of contentious contract talks with Lou, and look what happened with them. Hopefully, Zach and Paul won’t end up that way, and Lou can go a long way towards preventing that by showing them the same loyalty he demands of everyone in the organization. C’mon Lou, get ‘em signed!!
July 26th, 2007 at 7:04 am
I think Zack’s a great player. But I’m not thrilled with Martin. Yes we should resign him for the next year or two, but I wouldn’t sign him for too much. I think we’ll be disappointed.
The article was right on though. These older no name vets aren’t what we’re looking for or need. Lou and the Devils pride themselves on “home grown talent”, which we do have. That’s why all these defensemen signings puzzle me. Its not like we need some vets in the locker room for an influx of rookies. Sure these signings could be for training camp, but at the same time, I think we need to solidify that D sooner rather than later so they can fuction as a unit.
I do trust Lou, hell since 94 we’ve been contenders each year. But he does make business decisions over hockey decisions some times.
July 26th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Your J-L-G-P face is quite hypnotic. A bit frightening, really.