You know what? I think Rangers fans are scared.

A mere two days away from the puck hitting the ice stateside for the first time this season and those Rag loving Wall Street types are torpedoing our economy into oblivion with the hope that maybe, just maybe, the entire country will dissolve in time to put off the hockey season, and as a result their inevitable demise. It’s gotta be that. Or the Russians.. Hmm.

Well I will not be deterred! It’s Devils season preview time baby!

Three days to go before the New (Old) and Improved New Jersey Devils hit the ice against the New York Islanders at the Rock. If you’re like me, you’ve read the 645 other season previews out there who are writing off the Devils as an aging group running an outdated system.

I say eff that.

Marty

Yes Brodeur is a year older. Of course we’ll need to address this in the coming years but I for one am not gonna even pay a passing thought to this considering he won the Vezina for oh, the 4th time in 6 years. Next topic.

The new old guys

I’m actually extremely excited to see what this offense can do this year. On paper I see it as a solid blend of experience and youth, speed and size. I think that in the second year of Sutter’s reign, the boys will come out with a lot more confidence and gusto working in his system that will produce a noticeable increase in goals with the addition of Rolston and Holik.

The retooled front lines could also fall completely flat, but after several lean offensive years and two years of epic collapses from my beloved Mets, I’m prepared to handle everything short of the top three lines tearing up their contracts on the ice and signing with the Rangers, Flyers and Islanders, respectively.

Oduya’s army

Oh the defense.. You know, I’ve got no idea on this one. They were so befuddling last year I’m not going to even try. Maybe someone taught Johnny Oduya to skate backwards. Maybe Paul Martin will step up and show the offensive prowess we saw glimpses off last year. Maybe Annsi Salmela will become the next Scott Niedermayer and alleviate the need for me to start calling him salmonella by mid-November.

Anything’s possible, I suppose. If I were a betting man though, I’d be placing my chips on the guy in net and the offense carrying this team forward.

The Tykes

Speaking of Salmela, the potential youth influx certainly bears watching. I think Lou and Brent made the right choices on Vrana and Salmela for opening night, but I’d also like to see what Matt Halischuk and Niklas Bergfors can do at some point in the season. Who knows, maybe if they take Matt Corrente off suicide watch after his miserable pre-season performance he could even make an appearance. Definitely a wait-and-see approach with the new guys though.

All-in-all, I’m optimistic. If the D steps it up I think we’re a cup contender. If not, we could at least make up for a terrible showing last year by beating up on the Rangers and Islanders in the season series. Friday night’s a great time to start. Go Devils!

P.S. Church claps all around to the Rags fans who will undoubtedly point out that they scraped by with a pair of victories against a Tampa Bay Lightning team that had played together for all of 35 minutes before the first game. Kudos.

It’s been a pretty stellar pre-season for the Devils thus far, despite a 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals last night at Prudential Center.

The Red ‘n Black roster, consisting mostly of Lowell regulars and a few main-stays, handled the competition pretty well. Considering that competition consisted of guys like Alex Ovechkin, Niklas Backstrom, and Michael Nylander — I’m alright with the loss.

Washington was able to grab a 3-0 lead in the third period, but the Devs were resilient, adding two late tallies thanks to Zach Parise and a Petr Vrana deflection. Kevin Weekes went the distance for New Jersey.

The next tour of duty for the Devils will find them in the Nassau Mausoleum tomorrow night for a 7:00pm faceoff. The contest will be the only home pre-season matchup for the New York Islanders. I’ll be in attendance, Section 325 / Row A for those 2ManAdvantage fans on Long Island

Martin Brodeur is expected to play the full contest tomorrow night.

Ahh, pre-season. Music to any starved hockey fan’s ears. Well, the Devils provided some relief by releasing their 2008-2009 Pre-Season Schedule which looks a little something like this…

…four games at The Rock is tantalizing, however I’m a little disappointed that there aren’t any games scheduled for Bridgeport, CT or at Sovereign Bank Arena.

The real fun gets under way October 10th from Prudential Center with the New York Islanders coming to town.

EDIT: My apologies for the absolutely horrid quality of the image.  Gotta love Photobucket.

Start up your countdown calendars, folks.  We’re exactly 85 days away from the Devils home opener 2008-09.

It’s been confirmed that the Devils will open play next season with a division matchup against the New York Islanders on Friday, October 10th, 2008.  I guess they took pity on us for giving us a red-hot Ottawa team to open the Rock last year, so they went the complete opposite this year.  I’ll take it!

The full schedule doesn’t get released until tomorrow, but other little tidbits are coming out as we speak.  Following the Devils home opener, the boys will travel to Pittsburgh to partake in their opening night festivities the following evening, October 11th.  The Red N’ Black will also be the road team for Dallas’ annual New Year’s Eve matchup on December 31st.

Remember, the schedule changes go into effect this year - only six games each against division opponents (down from eight); the same 40 games against non-division conference opponents, and 18 against the other conference - one either home or away against each team; three of those teams will be played both home and away.  The Devils three home-and-away Western Conference opponents will be Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the full schedule.  And maybe even charts!  Or, y’know, some sort of lame graphic.  We’ll see.