Perhaps THE league-wide storyline of the season thus far has unfolded between the pipes on Mulberry St in Newark, NJ.
Put yourself in this situation: The new NHL season is still in its infantry, less than a month old. Your team has high expectations going into said season and so far is playing well. Everything looks peachy.
Then it happens. On a seemingly harmless and routine play, your whole season changes completely. Your all-star goaltender is toppled on the ice, and you soon find you’ll be without him for at least the next FOUR months.
Shit.
What’s a team to do? The answer was obvious — call on your third-string minor league starter to handle the workload of a sure-fire hall of famer who is regarded as the best the league has ever seen.
Wait, what?!
That is exactly what Scott Clemmensen was called upon to do. Instead of curling into the fetal position on the shower floor of the teams locker room — rocking back and forth like a rape victim (which is exactly what I would have done) — the man from the hockey hotbed of Des Moines, Iowa rose to the occasion and embraced the challenge with open arms.
The league laughed. Rival fans laughed. Everyone gathered with open eyes to watch the public humiliation that was supposed to be the remainder of the New Jersey Devils season.
Fast forward. Sixteen weeks have passed — almost to the day. With the duo of Clemmensen and Kevin Weekes taking care of business, the New Jersey Devils are sitting comfortably atop the Atlantic Division. They own winning records against the leagues top teams in Boston and San Jose. The offense has compiled 31 more goals than the “offensive machine” across the Hudson, and Clemmensen boasts a .917 Save %, compared to “King” Henrik’s .913%. But Ranger-land is far too consumed in their own self-loathing to notice.
Call it a miracle, call it a team coming together, call it downright luck for four months. The one thing you cannot deny is that Scott Clemmensen has saved the season for the New Jersey Devils.
However, this story could have an almost tragic ending as Martin Brodeur is slated to return tomorrow night when the Devils host the Avalanche. The possibility is high that Scott Clemmensen will not be with us come March 4th. As much as it would hurt to see the man go, I can only say Thank You. If your fate does bring you to a different locker room next week, we wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors for the remainder of your NHL career. This whole season will be talked about for quite a long time and you, my friend, are a huge part of the reason why.
From the crew here at 2ManAdvantage.com, and on behalf of Devils fans across the Nation and around the globe, we thank you for everything. Thanks to you, we’ll never have to hear “You’re nothing without Brodeur” from another fan ever again.
The best part of the season is about to get underway, and I haven’t been this optimistic in years.
Let’s Go Devils!
No shortage of love for Kevin Weekes, either.
I know it may seem as if he was forgotten about in this article, but Weekesy came up huge when he was called upon and has had just as much to do with the teams position in the standings as Clemmensen has.
I bow to you both!!
standing o tomorrow at the rock with a nice “welcome back” chant. can’t wait.
The “Marty’s Better” chant will take on a whole different meaning tomorrow eve. Oh yes.
Martin is still the bestttttttt! SCOTT IS OK BUT HE IS MOSTLY DUMB! MARTIN WILL MAKE IT SO WE WIN THE STANLEY CUP!!!! GO DEVILS!!
I never thought Marty coming back would be bittersweet. Thanks for everything Clemmer.
Well said, sir. Clemmensen = savior. Hope he stays in the Devils locker room.
I feel the need to point out that the pro sports business sucks. Long gone are the days when a player would be with one team his entire career. Loyalty is a thing of the past. It’s no one’s fault really. It’s a combination of competing interests.
Players see the amount of money to be made in the industry. It is less obvious in the NHL than in baseball or football where large TV contracts and ad revenues bloat the bottom lines of the teams, but players should arguably have the ability to market their wares to the highest bidder. Free agency then bloated the salary costs of many teams.
The bloated salary line item necessitated the salary cap. With free agency, but without a cap, the largest market teams (I’m looking at you, Rangers and Wings) would simply buy the best talent available, creating a divide in the league of haves and have-nots. This makes for boring, repititious playoffs.
The salary cap requires teams, on occassion, to cut good quality workman-like players that the team would dearly love to keep. It’s too bad, but it’s the price we pay to ensure players aren’t treated like surfs owned by the team.
Take care Clemmers. I hope you get a big pay-day out of this adventure.
I’ve been looking forward to Marty coming back all season, and now that the moments here, I’m kinda sad. I’m going to the game tonight, and surely there will be ALOT of cheering and chants, but I think one should be for Clemmensen and Weekes. They truly saved this team.
I wish Scot Clemmensen SO much luck wherever he ends up. He’s proved he can kick ass, and I know he will no matter what team he’s on.