Tue 6 Nov 2007
My apologies to those who swung by 2MA land looking for a livecap of tonight’s game. But after hearing the final score (5-0 Penguins), do you really want to know the messy details?
I didn’t think so.
It’s been a long time since the team played so badly that I could honestly say I was embarrassed to be a Devils fan, but this game did it. There is no other way to put tonight’s loss - it was just plain EMBARRASSING. Eight shots in the last two periods? Four goals in the last three games, and one in the last two? Waiving Richard Matvichuk and playing Sheldon Brookbank? Clearly this is a team in disarray.
I’ve always been confident that this Devils team will always be good. I’m not nearly as confident right now. I want to believe this team can get better, but the defense quite frankly sucks. When your second defensive pairing is Oduya and Mottau, there’s a problem. The offense will come around - we’ve seen flashes of it in the 6-5 Atlanta game and the Halloween 6-1 drubbing of Tampa - but the defense, as currently constituted, simply cannot get the job done.
There’s one other thing about this team that scares me. This Devils team has no heart. None. They are an engine without a sparkplug. Whether you like him or not (and I’m assuming 99.9% of those reading are of the latter), Sean Avery makes the Rangers better by…well, by being Sean Avery. We don’t have that. We have a team comprised of some big guys who can hit but not often enough, guys who can fight but not well enough, and guys who can inspire but do nothing inspiring enough.
So what to do? Well, I don’t have that answer. But leaving tonight’s game, I saw a man who should. Y’see, to avoid the crush of dejected Devils fans heading down the escalator, I took the stairs. As we hit the Suite Level 1 area, who should burst through the doors along with a small posse of men in suits but Mr. Lou himself. He didn’t look too happy, to say the very least.
It’s funny, but seeing Lou visibly annoyed made me calmer. I believe Lou will make everything all right. I believe that this team will ultimately pull together, or will get the parts needed to not suck anymore. Or at least the Kool-Aid tells me so.
So while I down another pitcher of water and artificial sweeteners, I have only one request of the Devils: Stop sucking. Please.
PATRICIA SAYS: Hey guys, sorry for no live-cap last night. I was severely under the weather, I didn’t even catch the game myself…which, apparently, was a good thing. We’ll be back for live-cap goodness on Thursday!
November 6th, 2007 at 1:25 am
Just simply ugly..the only thing that made me feel better was watching my wife’s Ducks lose 5-0 at home the same exact way.
November 6th, 2007 at 6:50 am
Elias for Hossa or Redden
November 6th, 2007 at 7:23 am
I didn’t see one guy on the ice playing for new jersey last night. Maybe they thought the games was at CAA.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:46 am
There were plenty of times I was embarassed by the team two years ago (though things turned out fine in the end that year).
Actually I feel better after this game than some of those games, because Sutter’s definitely not taking any crap from these clowns. He pulled his version of a bag skate, the bike run tee hee.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:11 am
I hope the Devils finally move to far away western Canada, so I dont have to go to bed so PISSED OFF after every game. And to make matters worse the rangers are playing the way we did back in the “DAY”, giving up 0 goals and scoring 1 or 2 just enough to win, oh and uh they are not playing the trap,for some reason they call it the 1-2-2, and thats much different than the trap to rag’s fans … B.S.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:13 am
it was disgusting..especially loosing to the pens cause i’m sick of hearing crosby this crosby that. just ew…we seriously need whitey back..hey dano..wanna come outta retirement?
November 6th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Forget Dano, we need Stevens to clean up the mess on D…
November 6th, 2007 at 8:22 am
We just aren’t a good team. Pat I like your idea, Elias for Hossa, we need scoring. Elias has lost something, he’s not playing well at all. A trade needs to happen. We don’t have a leader and I said it from the beginning, our D isn’t that good. We need to go back to the style of play we used to play. This just isn’t working out for us.
I don’t mind losing, I understand we’re going to lose games. That’s fine. But show up to play and I’m fine with the loss. But don’t show up like they did last night, and that’s when I get pissed. I give credit to Pit, they’re a good team, but they’re not better than we are. We can beat them, but we’ve got to start showing up ready to play.
The article said it, no one on the team is the go to guy, no leader. I’m not sure if Jamie is that guy, and I think Colin is going to be out for a very long time, so he won’t be that guy, but we need to get someone that is that guy. Someone that stands up and says follow my lead in the locker room and on the ice. So far I’ve seen on one like that.
Lou needs to do something and something drastic soon. Sutter is the only one who’s safe.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:35 am
I dont know if Sutter’s safe, his system would work with the right talent……offensive talent, the kind of players we dont have, and won’t get cause those type of players command big contracts and eat up the cap….ie Elias/Zubrus
and Lou has never liked or signed offensive “stars”
we are in for a LONG season people, maybe we’ll get the first pick in next years draft…..it looks like its 1983 all over again.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:42 am
Eh, this team was bound for a crappy season…we’re so used to success that it’s actually quite shocking to see a BAD Devils team.
With that said, this team isn’t very good. There is talent, but not enough for an elite team. The goaltending is just fine, which is great, but from the goal out, it gets pretty bad. Clearly, replacing Rafalski with Rachunek was a terrible idea, and replacing Lukowich with Vishneski wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t an upgrade either. Oduya probably wouldn’t even make it into the top six on most teams, neither would Brookbank or Mottau for the most part. That leaves Martin and Greene, who both have made mistakes, but have been pretty much our best defensemen.
The offense is basically full of streaky players. Elias has completely lost it at this point and I really don’t expect much out of him anymore. Zubbie has disappointed me, so has Gionta. Parise, Madden, and Pandolfo are really the only forwards who have impressed me, offensively at least.
I really am beginning to lean towards the major shakeup idea, now. I fear White is out for the year, and I don’t know if Langenbrunner will really help the offense as much as they need it. Certainly an upgrade, of course, but maybe not enough.
Something needs to be done on defense, that’s for sure. Bergfors is still a prospect, so he has decent worth. I’d really begin to consider packaging him with a starting player for some sort of defensive help. We need it. Bad.
November 6th, 2007 at 8:54 am
Look at the teams doing good right now, Detroit, and the Senators…2 teams with real good offensive and defensive players, then look at Columbus and the Rags, they are playing our old system and suceeding, but we are LOST somewhere in between, it must be pissing off Marty …he’s being hung out every game, its just a matter of time before he pulls a muscle or something.
I wonder what Lou is thinking as he is seeing this happen, maybe he’s getting alzhimers or something. Another problem is the only good trade candidates are guys like Parise and Zajac, thats our future, and we cant trade them.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Well, I think everyone is fair game. We don’t know the locker room situation, either. I know Asham is already starting to speak up to the papers, which could very well get himself benched on Thursday (I hope not), but if other guys are giving Sutter and co trouble, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them as the first to go.
While I wouldn’t want to see him go, Gionta would get us something good in return. I’m not saying trade him, but it’s a name to throw out there.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:08 am
Gionta had his run with us…see ya, and anyone else can go, I dont care anymore.I want team wins, thats all
I dont think Elias will ever be traded, just look at all the pictures of him at the rock, it wouldn’t be good to see him in another uniform, but he isnt the Patrick we remember.
What did Asham say ???? I didnt hear or read anything (he has been the best signing this summer I think)
November 6th, 2007 at 9:14 am
http://www.nj.com/devils/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1194327364121420.xml&coll=1&thispage=1
Sutter has been saying he shouldn’t have given the boys a day off, Asham got a little annoyed by the comment and spoke up to the reporters.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Thanks for the link Patricia, Ashams comments were’t bad though, I dont think bad enough to cause a trade or benching, but when the teams lose, a lot of finger pointing starts….we’re just in a mess right now, and it’s amplified by the fact that the 3 teams around us are all improving and doing better than we are.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Oh no, Mike, I wasn’t expecting him to be traded or anything, but in the heat of the moment, he could possibly be benched. I doubt it, but with Sutter — you never know!
November 6th, 2007 at 9:28 am
I think Sutter has done all he can do with this team, the next move is Lou’s.
Whether a trade or what-ever,(coaching change oh no way !!)
I’m sure Jeff Vanderbeek isn’t to happy with the crappy product and half filled seats at his awesome new arena.
November 6th, 2007 at 10:04 am
That’s the thing I wonder when Vanderbeek is going to step in and say something. The last thing NJ and the Devils need is for us to be basement dwellers and lose a ton of cash that they were banking on receiving. We don’t draw until after Xmas as it is, but if we suck, no one’s going to go. I still think Hoboken would have been a better place for the Rock.
I do think Sutter is safe, why? Because Lou has had an itchy trigger finger and has fired guys left and right over the last few years. No “good” coach would want to come into this situation with Lou looking over their shoulder all the time.
In terms of trades. I think we need to solidify our D first and foremost. Karl Rachunek isn’t good. Brookbank won some award as the best defenseman some place, so I’d like to see him pan out. Motteu isn’t bad, but isn’t great. You guys hate Johhny O for some reason, but I like him, I think he plays a solid game. Makes some mistakes, but I think there are more positives than there are negatives. PM and AG are right now, just ok and that’s what hurts. PM tried to be Neids last night but was shooting wide.
The O: For some reason we used to have 4 lines, now we have 3 lines. Elias is lost because he’s looking for someone to feed him the puck like Gomer used to. No one is there. I still think it should be Elias and Gio on the same line maybe put Zubris on the line and Clarkson with Parise and Zajak. We’re not getting any traffic infront of the net. Having two big guys on two separate lines, and have them stand infront of the net, might help Zajak/Parise, Gio/Elias cycle the puck and put it on net. Then let DC or DZ knock home rebounds. We’re not getting the bounces, but we’re also not in position to get bounces.
Then we got Maddog, Pando and Asham on the 3rd line, I like that. And Sarge, Rupp, Pelly on the 4th. Rupp has got to start playing much better. As does Pelly, but if we can solidify those lines, let those guys play with each other for a good amount of games (10) build up some comrodery (sp?) I think we have a chance.
We still need to up our D, but I think if we can play together on O, we should be alright. Just need bounces going our way.
November 6th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Let’s bag the season and draft Taveras
November 6th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Tavares isn’t available until next season, unless they change the rules.
November 6th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I think we all overestimate Lou’s ability to build a team, lets face it, we were bad for years, stockpiled a lot of first round picks, got lucky with picking Marty, and now after all the years of success we got low draft picks and its starting to show, you need to throw in some good signings here or there to keep that quality of players here, plus I said it before, and I’ll say it again, losing one player after another with NOTHING in return really hurts us.
I hope Vanderbeek pushes Lou a little and say’s “Lets keep some of the fan favorites before they walk”, and “Lets get some exciting offensive players that all the fans will like”
November 6th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
i think there’s only four players that they shouldn’t trade..parise, zajac, greene and martin cause that right there is the future. anybody else, i say trade..whoever the hell you need to, maybe not clarkson either.
November 7th, 2007 at 8:00 am
In practice Sutter laid it in to them and he let them really know he is pissed. I would like to see the outcome of the upcoming games.
November 7th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Well you can’t beat a dead horse, if they don’t respond (and they might rebel)this could be the start of the end for players, or coaches ????
Its not if we win or lose against the Flyers, it’s if we “show up to play”.
Big Game thats all I’ll say
November 8th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Good and Bad Point: David Clarkson is the heart of this team, or at least as close as anyone comes to it. This 5-0 loss was obviously horrible, but so far this season, Clarkson is one of the few bright spots. Not afraid to drop the gloves, and flashes of his offensive capabilities; he is one of only a handful that have been skating hard, 110%, every shift. Now if only the rest of the team would catch up….
November 8th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
I’m watching replays of the Devils games they’re showing today in tribute to Scott Stevens…..wow we were good back then, and the fans were into the games big time, those were the days !!!!!!!!!!!!!!