And here we go…part two!

PATRICIA: Okay fellas, let’s get the show on the road again. What is the most anticipated non-Gomez match up this season?

DARREN: February 8, 2008. Anaheim makes a trip to New Jersey and if Scott Niedermayer decides to play this season, this will be the first time back in NJ since he left in 2005.

JOE: December 18th, 2007, Devils hit Vancouver. The Brodeur/Luongo cage match! LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW!

Alright, alright, - I’ll admit it… I have a soft spot for Vancouver, too, not to mention it’ll be the first time in about six years that the Devils will venture to Van-City. It will feature the two goaltenders that rival as the best in the game. It’s a showdown the hockey world wanted last season but couldn’t get thanks to those dolts at the NHL Scheduling Office. I’m anticipating it to be one of the most exciting games of the season.

JOSH: It seems almost impossible not to name the home opener against Ottawa on Saturday, October 27th. There will be games with more drama and more influence on the standings, but there will never be another first game at The Rock. My heart is racing just writing about it.

TONY: Sunday April 6, 2008, the LAST game of the season. Yep. Nothing a Devils fan enjoys more than just enjoying the last day before heading into playoff mode. Oh, but the never-ending Devil Doubts have gone into effect. After the team on the other side of the river, well, were on the other side of the river, have reloaded and brought out the heavy artillery, the race to play in April has gotten that much closer. Although this Devils fan hopes for an Atlantic Division title once again, it would be interesting if we had to fight for it. Maybe this last game decides the fate of one team. Maybe not. Nevertheless, last game will be interesting.

PATRICIA: I’m going to totally cheat and pick more than one game here. In fact, I’m going with nine of ‘em: October 4^th through October 25^th. The boys open with a near-month long road trip, and while these nine games won’t necessarily make or break the season, they will certainly set the tone. Surely we do not want to see the Devils don a losing record before even opening the Prudential Center, do we?

That’s what I thought.

Let’s get serious. We’ve grown more than accustomed to expecting nothing less than the best here in New Jersey. So, what will be the make-or-break factor for the Devils success?

DARREN: Dainius Zubrus is a solid player and was a major contributor to Buffalo’s offense but he does not bring the same kind of play making abilities to the table that Scott Gomez brought to the Devils. What the boys need is a player that can feed the puck to Elias and Gionta the same way that Scott Gomez has done in the past. Travis Zajac may be the guy for this job but he only averaged 15 minutes of ice time per game last season. I’m not sold on Zajac as a #1 center just yet. Injuries are a key point in any team’s success and if the pre-season is any indication, this could be a long season in that category. At the end of the day,there are a lot of new faces in the locker room and the Devils need to be allowed time to build chemistry with each other.

JOE: Karel Rachunek. If he shows up every game and plays to his full potential, the Devils will have a solid defensive corps all the way through. Problem is, Rachunek isn’t known for doing this.

JOSH: It seems like the things that all teams have to contend with in order to be successful – injuries, extended road trips, the loss and addition of players – are amplified for the Devils this year. Most teams lost zero to one player to serious injury early in the pre-season; the Devils lost four: Langenbrunner, White, Weekes, and Janssen. Most teams play at most a five-game road trip; the Devils start their season with nine. Most teams lose a handful of players; few lose their #1 offensive and defensive guys on the same day.

That said, the greater the adversity, the sweeter the victory. It is a lot to overcome (and that’s making no mention of a new head coach or top players coming off down years), but if the Devils manage to pull together and get past all of the roadblocks, I see no reason why this team can’t be very successful in the end.

TONY: Coaching. Brent Sutter needs to step up. This isn’t Red Deer anymore, Brent. If he can duplicate the results he found with his Rebels, we should be fine. Otherwise, well…you know.

PATRICIA: This is surely not a team equipped to win the Stanley Cup, but as we have seen in past seasons, it doesn’t take a team chock full of talent (*cough*2001*cough*) to actually bring that glorious silver home.

My point?

Who knows! The season will unfold as it unfolds. This team will be successful if they work their respective butts off, and that’s the bottom line.

Time to assess stuff. Who better to start with than Mr. Vezina himself?

Oh, and Weekes, too.

DARREN: I know Patricia loved Scott Clemmensen but I think the addition of Kevin Weekes gives the Devils a strong goaltending duo, something they haven’t had in quite a few years. I’m not sure if Claude Julien didn’t believe in Scott Clemmensen’s abilities or what, but the fact remains that Marty played far too many games last season.

Hopefully Weekes will stay healthy and lighten Marty’s work load this season. I know Marty would love to play every game if he could but he needs to take some breaks and be ready to go when the playoffs come around.

JOE: It’s the best goaltender in the world, and now he has a better backup. Marty will be rested more during the regular season. Do I really need to say anything else?

JOSH: Marty Brodeur returns for another season. There, goaltending has been assessed.

Oh, so you want more? FINE. Kevin Weekes was an excellent pickup at a price and experience level that should, if nothing else, at least guilt the Devils into playing him slightly more often than Scott Clemmensen. I don’t really see a 62-20 split, and anyone who really thinks Marty is sitting that much is certifiably nuts. A 70-12 split should be suitable for all involved, except my heart come playoff time, but that’s another subject. Regardless, the Devils are always amongst the best in goaltending in the NHL year in and year out, and that won’t change until #30 hangs from the Prudential Center rafters.

TONY: What’s there to say? Brodeur is God. Weekes is better than Clemmensen. Congratulations Lou, our net is even more effective.

PATRICIA: Screw the other 29 teams – we still have the best goalie in the league, mmkay?

Alas, in my perfect world, Marty scales back the playing time a bit, lacing up the skates for a good 67 games this season, giving brand spanking new backup Kevin Weekes a solid 15 games himself.

I don’t mind Marty taking the brunt of a heavy work load, as I don’t see fatigue really playing a huge role in any sort of demise, but I don’t want to see any injuries knock Mr. Vezina out of the game. It should be noted that the 35-year-old netminder has dealt with a couple knee injuries over the past two seasons. Of course, it’s nothing to get all freaked out over at all, but it’s just something to keep in the back of the mind.

If Marty did happen to go down with a serious injury, though, we can at least take solace in the fact that Weekes is quite the capable goaltender. I like Weekes and all, but his best attribute is also his worst flaw: he’s a hot-and-cold goalie. Just as easily as he can turn it on and steal his fair share of games, he can fall into terrible stretches of mediocrity, and even sometimes awful-ocrity. Blah.

Working from the goal out, the D is next. How they gonna be?

DARREN: New Jersey hasn’t had a true #1 defenseman since the 2003-2004 season, but Black ‘n Red have been able to survive this and continue to play stingy defense. Even with the departure of Brian Rafalski, it’s likely they will be able to cope without him. Last year, New Jersey allowed just 193 goals in the regular season, placing them first in the Eastern Conference and tied for third in the NHL. This isn’t to say the Devils won’t miss Rafalski’s 55 points as well as his ability to quarterback the power play but he is replaceable. Paul Martin will likely become Jersey’s top-scoring and #1 overall defenseman in Rafalski’s absence. The Devils added some decent players to their defense roster and will also rely on improved play from younger defensemen such as Andy Greene and Johnny Oduya, who were both rookies last season.

JOE: My pairings:

White-Vishnevski
Greene-Martin
Rachunek-Matvichuk
7th: Oduya

White/Vishnevski: Huge. Plain and simple. If Colin White can keep his anger management problems in check, this is going to be a duo that will not let you into their zone without a few broken bones. Word of advice to the opposition: don’t pull an Eric Lindros.

Greene-Martin: This pair looks like they’ll be supplying most of the offense from the Devils blue line. Expect to see them on the power play, and expect Greene to do a lot of work on the penalty kill as well.

Rachunek-Matvichuk: A veteran combination with decent size, but they can be rather slow. Matvichuk has shown he is more than capable of blocking shots, which will come in handy on the PK.

Oduya: As mentioned earlier, I’d rather not see him in the starting lineup often, as my confidence is not exactly at its highpoint with this guy. I think a year in the minors would do wonders for the young Swede.

JOSH: Things are getting a little freaky in New Jersey. I have more faith in the Devils offense than I do in their defense. Seriously, this is weird. I’m expecting to look out my window and see hogs with wings streaking across the twilight sky. I’m a little scared, to be quite honest.

Paul Martin and Colin White are our top defensemen. We’re a long way from the days of Stevens/Daneyko/Niedermeyer. There are solid D-Men throughout the lineup: the aforementioned Vitaly Vishnevki and Andy Greene will be key components to the defensive corps, Johnny Oduya has a year of NHL experience under his belt, Richard Mativichuk’s salary cap injury shouldn’t be an issue this year. However, there isn’t a true difference-maker in the bunch. Colin White could be said difference-maker, but how long have we been waiting for that to happen?

TONY: The defense undoubtedly took a hit below the belt with the loss of Rafalski. The new defense however, will do their job. New boys like Vishnevski will come in and clean up after the mess we’ve made last season. Count on it.

PATRICIA: Ah, the million dollar question. Cha-ching…?

I’m quite interested (yet not so much excited) to see how the defense fares this season. My expectations remain low, as this looks to be one of the weakest blue lines in recent memory, but if one thing could possibly help, it’s that the rest of the Atlantic seems to sport similarly weak defense as well.

Of course, this all may be thrown out the window if it turns out that Anger’s eye is worse off than let on by Louie Lams, leading to a potential trade later down the line. Having cap room for once is fun.

Without an offense, it’s kind of hard to win games. Let’s talk ’bout those guys.

DARREN: The loss of Gomez would hurt the Devils no matter where he wound up going, but the fact that Gomez signed with the division rival Rangers makes his leaving that much harder. Last season, Jamie Langenbrunner had the highest point total of his career as he put up 60 pointsin 82 games but he will miss the beginning part of the season due to surgery to fix a groin problem few knew he had last season. This is a huge hole the Devils need to fill. John Madden needs to fix his game in a hurry. While he is one of the league best penalty killers, Madden had only 32 points last season — his lowest total since the 2001-02 season. I look for Gionta, Elias, and Parise to carry this team offensively this season.

JOE: The new-look Devils will have a lot to be proud of if all goes according to plan this season. For the first time in as long as I can remember, the New Jersey Devils will be able to roll four, yes FOUR effective lines. If I could step into Brent Sutter’s shoes October 4th in Tampa (he hasn’t returned my calls…yet.) my lines would look something like this:

Elias – Zubrus - Gionta
Parise – Zajac – Langenbrunner
Pandolfo – Madden – Clarkson
Brylin – Rupp – Asham

Elias/Zubrus/Gionta: The Devils top line has a great balance of skill, speed, and size. It’s a bona fide scoring threat on paper, which I’m hoping translates just as nicely on the ice, and more importantly, the score sheet.

Parise/Zajac/Langenbrunner: See 2006-2007 season.

Pandolfo/Madden/Clarkson: This line will more than likely be used as a shut-down line, but by moving Brylin down to the fourth line and putting Clarkson in the lineup, the line now has a bit of an offensive upside, while still being able to play sound defensively. If Madden learns how to hit the net, this line will surprise a lot of people on the score sheet.

Brylin/Rupp/Asham: A scrappy checking line with some underrated players. Brylin has been known to score some eye-popping goals in his career, and Mike Rupp is a big guy who has great hands in close. Asham compliments this trio very well with his feisty play.

JOSH: With Coach Sutter’s proclamation that the checking line is overrated, the Devils likely won’t line match themselves into oblivion. Adding the hulking Dainius Zubrus to the top line should give both Patty Elias and Brian Gionta room to breathe and a chance at regaining their form that seemed lost last year. And of course there’s still Parise/Zajac/Langenbrunner, last year’s only real offensive bright spot. With Langs on the shelf for probably the first two months of the season, David Clarkson or perhaps Sergei Brylin should serve as an effective stopgap until his return.

Either way, I’m not particularly worried just yet.

TONY: Offense is something we rarely see here in Jersey. Normally known as a defensive team, scoring is secondhand to staying close. This year, however, it changes like a baby’s diaper.

Elias creates plays. Zubrus has a nasty wrist. Gionta is a scoring midget of wonder. As I go on, it seems as if I make Zubrus to be better than he is, but I think Dainius will make a huge difference for this squad. Late comebacks, be gone! We plan to hand the work over to the defense with under five to play.

Parise is hungry for that silver trophy. Zajac follows. These two on the same line? Simply irresistible. With Langenbrunner out, some balance is needed.

PATRICIA: Losing a play making genius in Scott Gomez hurts, fo’ sho’. However, the greedy lil’ bastard refused to shoot the puck more often than not, so it’s not like we’re missing out on the amazing offensive capabilities of one Scott Reginald Gomez.

Okay, I made that part up.

I just really hope Dainius Zubrus is not the second coming of Viktor Kozlov, because, well, that would amazingly suck. I don’t think that’s the case, thankfully, but I shall remain cautious until he puts a few biscuits in the oven.

Mmm…biscuits…

Anyway, we do have some offensive potential with the likes of Brian Gionta, Zach Parise, and Travis Zajac, so that’s always nice. It would also be nice if Patty Elias would snap out of whatever has been buggin’ him for the past year, but I’m not holding my breath on that one. Seriously. Mr. Elias, we need you. Get your head out of your butt and do your darn job! Thank you.

Let’s close this out with a bang. The Rock is slated to open its doors pretty damn soon. Oh happy day. How many games will the Devils sell out at the Prudential Center this season?

DARREN: 30.
JOE: 15.
JOSH: 20.
TONY: 10.
PATRICIA: 21.

HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYED OUR SUPER FANTASTIC AWESOMELY AMAZING SEASON PREVIEW! THE 2007-08 SEASON GETS UNDERWAY THURSDAY IN TAMPA BAY. PUCK WILL DROP AT 7:30 PM ET, AND YOU BETTER BELIEVE WE’LL BE LIVE-CAPPING OUR LITTLE BUTTS OFF!