Before I start… for everyone I keep bumping into telling me stuff about this here… please keep it up… I am a complete whore and will totally pander to my audience… even if they sit in the wrong corner of the building

Anyway… just a reminder to those who don’t remember my CRASHER line days….I don’t do shootouts… I don’t acknowledge them… I am only grateful that they get me to my car faster… so I saw and left a bit annoyed at 3-3 tie, and I usually get to my car in enough time to hear the winner of the skills competition… so keep that in mind here (and yes I know he scored in the shootout.. I’m still blasting him tonight :p)

– Was a strange night for me… since I’ve been a fan of this team since 1993… I’ve really only, truly known ONE top goalie on this team and it’s #30 (on his back and please NO MORE on the mask)… and it’s going to be BIZARRE for a while to accept the AGE OF WEEKES… I don’t know how anyone else feels about this
– My pre-game laps are taking a life of their own now.. a dead arena got me 14 laps (yes that’s 3 1/2 miles folks)… and now people are getting into it… least the staff is… hey there was more staff then fans there… a few of them almost joined me… and the highlight (well besides the new cigar girl who replaces… well my favorite… who 14 times asked me if I wanted a cigar, not seeing how counter-productive that is to 14 laps around the concourse!)…. was also the City Girll people seeing me at about lap 12 and yelling YOU NEED THIS and throwing me a soda like a marathon runner… that’s just awesome stuff!

now.. on to the game stuffs…

– Pandolfo-Madden-Elias… oddly enough I tried this combo in NHL 09 this morning not knowing… and hell it worked there too…Elias has taken a step back yes… but he can hang with these guys and adds enough offense to make these guys dangerous again (hence the Pando goal.. more on that to come)
– Tampa is a BAD team folks… with all the offense.. LAST on the pp?? Wow the coaching of Melrose… cmon he took the job so he can pat young boys in the fanny (I even heard he’s so scared of Newark he moved the team outside the city… man up you greasy-goat-lover…. I annoyed two old people dropping Farooq-Bombs about Melrose… ah well!!)… and not to mention it would have been NICE to see the Devils D get more invovled since Tampa’s idea of defense is THROW ALL FIVE GUYS AROUND THE GOALIE AND HOPE ONE OF THEM GETS IT…Melrose may not make it till new year.. so we need to play them soon and often!! (I feel bad for Mike Smith… he deserves better then this group of stiffs in front of him!)
– God Jamie Langnebrunner was BAD tonight (yes he scored in the non-hockey part of the hockey game…. that’s as effective being a rookie and scoring a goal in Sutter’s eyes)… I think I even began calling his shot the LOGO-BUSTER… but it never actually got over the pads…
– Vrana: 7:31, Bergfors: 4:20… Langenbrunner: 21:10.. Least Elias, Madden, Salvador, Mottau and Oduya earned their obsence ice times tonight, Oduy in particular… he was the only D with some drive tonight (Salvador was good… the ppg by St Louis was being Langenbrunner was the Rated R-Tard who couldn’t cover EITHER point or get back to help in front)
– David Clarkson’s goal very well could be THE most important goal scored by a Devil this year… you can see it on the bench… you could feel it in the crowd… it kinda gave you the feeling.. YES WEEKES WE CAN!!!!
– Elias with a BEAUTY on the power play too… that was old school 2000 looking Elias there… we need more please Patrik!!!
– Pandolfo’s goal while HUGE was a comedy of defensive errors we are so used to seeing out of Brookbank (can we get Mark Fraser the hell up here please??)
– Colin White is our top offensive defenseman… like REALLY…oy!
– Gionta and Zubrus… were the awesome again tonight…TRADE THEM RIGHT NOW 1111!!!1111!!!! (yes that IS sarcasm :p)
– Kevin Weekes was again a hundred stars tonight the one thing we need not worry about on this team is goaltending (well until Clemmensen plays a game… but knowing this team Weekes will play every second till number 30 takes his cast off and leaves 209!)
– Crowd was kinda sterile tonight… but I guess we are getting used to #1 being #1
– all in all a gutty gritty effort to get to the skills competition… but here comes Detroit now… oy vey!!!

(and on a programming note… I do not go to home games on Football Sundays, my bartenders would find and hunt me down… so my next lovely thoughts will be for the Ranger game next week… and since I am whoring away again… anyone need a ticket for Nov 20 vs Florida?? I gots ones for sale!!!)

Zubbie’s scoring needs to occur more often when I’m less occupied. Never saw it, never even heard about it until just now, but here he go again! Zubbie’s keepin’ me honest.

Also, I’ll have you all know that I’m breaking away from TWO midterms to bring you this ZubbieCounter update, so y’all best…I don’t know, stare in awe at the godly scoring talent that is the Dainus-saur.

I’d love to post some sort of analysis on this game (sounds like a doozy, too, falling 6-5 in the shootout to the lowly Maple Leafs), but alas, I didn’t see more than ten seconds of the game total. They looked good in those ten seconds. Perhaps those were the only ten seconds that they looked good?

Hey i noticed no one else wrote something up.. must still be coming back… I see an open rush.. I’m pinching in (which is scary since I’m like… a GOALIE… but I’ve scored goals before :p)….so with that in mind… time to share some good joy from tonight…..

Things I noticed from this game:

– THIS is the Stars team I’ve seen all year on Center Ice not the one that showed up in MSG, bad goals, awful plays… and glad to see we pounded a team playing like shit like VEAL (again each game this more and more feels like the Devils of old)… Dallas is one of 5 or 6 teams I watch often on CI, if for their awesome announcers more then anything….
– Brendan Morrow lost his freaking mind in the 3rd period… and it’s only 3 weeks into the season
– watching Avery run like a scalded dog from a stickless Clarkson (who then blocked a shot too) was a classic throwback to Wil E Coyote and the Road Runner on ice.. hilarity!!!

– ANDY GREENE!!!!!! Told y’all last year was a fluke!!
– Jesus Christ the Zub-a-roonie was something to see!!!
– Marty, PLEASE save some of this for April and beyond!!!
– ANOTHER Clarkson sighting… nice shot.. shame most NHL goalies stop it… but I’ll take it!!
– ANDY GREENE!!!!!!!!!!!!
– Salvador beating the piss out of the guy who ran Martin (even though Martin bounced off)… this video to be youtubed later!! cool.gif
– Hard to pencil a Devil who looked BAD tonight

– one thing I did NOT like… why in a 5-0 bombing are you NOT playing Vrana more… I don’t wanna hear about defense and lessons to a kid… THIS IS THE EXACT TYPE OF GAME TO GET HIM MORE ICE TIME, and he only gets 10:50… WTF !??!?!!?!?

Comment away folks!!!

Second Intermission - A little better. Slow start once again, and another goal for the Rangers made it look bleak, but they came back strong late in the period. Madden’s goal was a thing of beauty for this team right now. Rugged, standing his ground in front of the net, digging the puck out of Lundqvist’s pads and putting them OVER Henrik. Novel idea, right, shooting HIGH on the guy with refrigerator doors for pads? It happened late enough in the period that hopefully it carries over into the third.

Voros’ goal pissed me off a little. Not the fact that he scored, but the way he reacted made me sick. He got jostled a little as he scored, and got up and got in Colin White’s face, then kind of backed off and raised his arms, but in a really aggressive, “F-you” kind of way. I wish Colin would have just decked him right there, but of course not.

Alot more offense later on, actual pressure and sustained offensive chances. To borrow a Doc-ism, the Unseen Hand certainly turned in the Devils’ favor starting around the halfway point in the second.

I may or may not be back with a game recap, as I should be in bed already. Regardless, if they keep playing like they did in the last few minutes of the second for the rest of the game, they’ve still got a chance.

Oh…and SHOOT HIGH!

First Intermission - That was not the start I expected. All the talk of not being a doormat, remembering what happened last year, getting revenge - what did it bring? Five shots on goal, six tops? Whatever the final tally, there was a gigantic stretch of time in the middle when they couldn’t get a single shot on Lundqvist. There’s just no excuse, not in the first game against a team you could only beat twice in thirteen games last year. This is supposed to be a statement, and right now, it isn’t one.

I wish I knew what was up with Marty in Ranger games, but he seems good for one major gaffe against them every other game or so. Yes, the puck was deflected by Oduya, but it’s like football - if you can get your hand on it, you can catch it. Methinks Marty was thinking too far ahead in the play - who he was going to get it to on the breakout, perhaps - and forgot to actually catch the thing.

All that said, it’s still only 1-0. The Devils have been in this situation twice this year, and twice they’ve come back from it, so there’s every reason to believe they will do it again. See you during the second intermission.

Pre-game - My original goal tonight was to do the first LiveCap of ‘08-’09, but I just got a phone call telling me to be in work at 5 AM tomorrow. So, since I’ll likely be in bed before the end of this evening’s game, please watch this space for between-period updates, opinions, and so on and so forth. I’ll update at least after the first and hopefully after the second as well. Enjoy the game and LET’S GO DEVILS!

TSN is reporting that Rangers 2007 first round pick Alexei Cherepanov has died after collapsing on the bench towards the end of a game with Russian team Omsk of the Kontenential Hockey League in Russia. He was 19 years old.

Everyone here at 2 Man Advantage send our condolences to Cherepanov’s family, friends, fans, and teammates. He may have been drafted by the Rangers, but he was a member of a much larger hockey family that transcends fan/team affiliation. The hockey world lost one hell of a young player this afternoon.

Okay gang, this is it. In a mere six hours, the puck drops on the 2008-’09 season. Myself and Joe will both be in attendance tonight, as will various other bloggers from the Devils blogosphere.

What does this mean? Meet-up, of course. First intermission, by the giant hockey puck from last year’s opening night - across from the Fire Lounge on the grand concourse, near the memorabilia auction. Myself and Joe will be there, Schnookie and Pookie from Interchangeable Parts will be there, maybe even John from In Lou We Trust. A true Devils bloggers powwow indeed.

I’ll even bring stickers.

So please, if you’re at the game tonight, come by and say howdy. We’d love to see everyone! Don’t forget to print your Ramos shutdown post for Joe to autograph!

Hope to see everyone at the game, and stay tuned here late tonight/early tomorrow for a wrap-up of all things opening night!

I’d like to thank everyone who dropped by and hung around for the Live-Cap of the Devils/Rangers game a few nights ago.  As you may have noticed, we’re toying with something new as far as the structure of our Live-Cap is concerned.

Frankly, the maiden voyage has generated some mixed reviews.  It mainly breaks down like this:

But on a serious note…

- Those of you that attended and interacted in the Live-Cap had fun with it and seem to be giving it a thumbs up.

- Readers who checked it out after everything was wrapped up (I happen to fall into this category) are generating the more negative responses.

There are also plenty of readers I’ve spoken to that need to see some more of it before they can form an opinion.

This being the case, I wanted to let all of our readers & fans know that we truly appreciate your feedback on the matter and we assure you that we are listening to your advice and we will be trying different approaches, set-ups, and structures for our Live-Caps for the remainder of the pre-season.  We would love it if as many of you as possible could get involved and be a part of the process.

More or less, we’d like to use the comment-thread for this post as a braindump for you and ourselves to share ideas and explore some possible improvements.  So get to typing!!

I’d also like to point out that there is not necessarily a definite change taking place to the Live-Cap structure.  It’s very possible that we could end up using the original format, thus wasting our time after all. ;)  Hey, change isn’t always a bad thing.  Just ask Larry Robinson.

Thanks again for getting involved, 2MA loves you!