The following casual conversation took place between myself and a good friend, Steve Saal, in between our bickering over whose team will do better, Devils or Rangers, when a general discussion of the state of the NHL broke out:
Steve: The enforcement in the NHL is such a joke that I don’t judge anyone.
Me: Yeah, inconsistencies are pathetic
Steve: and Chara not being disciplined is basically contrary to everything in our entire society
Me: He needed to get a game or two because he was not aware of where he was on the ice.
No question he needed to get a game or two.
Steve: Hell, more than that. We'll throw people in jail for doing things that are illegal, and, while you would never foresee a specific type of injury from the action, you'd be responsible for it nonetheless. But we won’t suspend a hockey player
Me: very very good way to look at it
Steve: There's a guy up in Boston facing man slaughter charges, and deservedly so, because, in a dispute, he threw a glass. the glass bounced awkwardly, shattered, stabbed, and killed a young guy from long island who was in no way connected to the confrontation. Did he ever think he was going to slice someone's artery and kill them when he threw that glass? Of course not, but it was still illegal and stupid and he deserves to be held accountable.
Me: You know what I think, and it’s very narrow sighted, I think his [Commissioner Gary Bettman] contract extension has a big role in Chara not getting anything.
Steve: Chara illegally finished a check towards the boards. Normally, nothing comes of it, but it was illegal and the crazy results are his responsibility.
Steve: [In response to my comment] Maybe.
Steve: To me, there's no difference in those two examples, Chara, and that bar incident.
They are unlawful, overt and intentional acts that unfortunately resulted in something catastrophic that no one would ever predict.
If we were out on the street and were fighting, and I moderately pushed you and you stumbled, nothing happens. If I moderately push you and don’t see the pole I push your head into --> ASSAULT. That's life.
The law sees the intent of the act, and the injury. Intent to cause the injury is an escalating issue but not determinative.
Sorry, been fighting with people on this all week. It gets me annoyed.
For whatever reason, in sports, intent to cause the injury somehow got into the punishment process.
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Showing posts with label Montreal Canadiens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montreal Canadiens. Show all posts
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Game 54 - Pregame Write Up
If you’re a Devils fan, you’re trying to look for the positives in anything regarding the team, especially in a point-counterpoint system.
Point: The Devils are on pace for X number of points for the season.
Counterpoint: They’re only 16 back of the 8th and final playoff spot.
Point: Brodeur went down hurt, again, on Sunday
Counterpoint: Hedberg is coming off 2 periods of relief where his only blemish deflected off Kovalchuk.
Etc.
When the Devils take to the ice Tuesday night, it will be in a critical game for their playoff lives.
Yes, it is true that from here on out, every game is considered critical, however, this game and two more within the next 12 days, come against the team holding on [more like clinging] to the coveted 8th spot.
If the Devils win all 3 in regulation, they can trim the gap by 6 points without taking into account any of the games in between. Overtime wins earns them a 3 point advantage on their proverbial rabbits. Anything less will severly hurt their chances. The thought alone of the magnitude of these games could drive any person understandably to near panic.
Luckily for us, the players’ current mindset is one at a time, and they leave the insanity and madness to the fans.
Since the All Star Break, the Devils have amassed a 3-0-1 record, earning 7 out of a possible 8 points with the only loss coming to Florida in overtime last Friday night.
If you’re a fan who enjoys trying to find trends or patterns in a season and believes they’ll be repeated, you’ll be happy to note that the last time the Panthers stopped a potential Devils’ winning streak, they did so in overtime and gave the Devils enough motivation to then turn around and rattle off 4 straight wins.
On Sunday, New Jersey took another step towards repeating the past by jumping out to an early lead against the Montreal Canadiens, and then playing terrific shut-down defense following Brodeur’s injury en route to a 4-1 victory. The Devils were rewarded for their effort by climbing in the standings to 13th place, tied with Ottawa and 7 points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs follow play Monday night.
Carolina enters Tuesday’s contest winning 5 games out of their last 10, including their overtime win against the struggling Atlanta Thrashers which halted a 2 game skid. Eric Cole netted the game winner after Carolina had a horrendous defensive third period in which they squandered two leads.
Recent head to head history gives the edge to Carolina as they have had the better of the two clubs including a memorable come from behind victory in Game 7, in Newark, during the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarter Finals where the Devils blew a late 3rd period lead of their own, and the surrendered the game winner with under 2 minutes to go in regulation.
This Devils team, however, is much different than the one the Hurricanes embarrassed in 2009. First, they have Ilya Kovalchuk who is finally settling in and finding his groove with the team he has been with for just over a year, and will be with for the next 14. Kovalchuk had two goals on Sunday, added an assist on Friday and has been on fire offensively as of late. He also has been contributing regularly on defense, including some aggressive back checking against Florida.
Dainius Zubrus has also been a bright spot for the Devils’ offense as he netted his 10th Sunday afternoon.
The climb is steep, the task feels almost impossible, but the Devils need to remain focused on just one game at a time.
A team that once seemed destined for the first overall pick in the draft has now given itself a new lease on life, and its fans a reason to have some grounded hope that the season can be saved, and the playoffs, just maybe, with some luck and some favorable breaks, could be made.
One way or another, if the Devils team which has emerged recently continues to come out for the remaining 29 games, fans can be guaranteed it will be one hell of a ride to the finish line.
Point: The Devils are on pace for X number of points for the season.
Counterpoint: They’re only 16 back of the 8th and final playoff spot.
Point: Brodeur went down hurt, again, on Sunday
Counterpoint: Hedberg is coming off 2 periods of relief where his only blemish deflected off Kovalchuk.
Etc.
When the Devils take to the ice Tuesday night, it will be in a critical game for their playoff lives.
Yes, it is true that from here on out, every game is considered critical, however, this game and two more within the next 12 days, come against the team holding on [more like clinging] to the coveted 8th spot.
If the Devils win all 3 in regulation, they can trim the gap by 6 points without taking into account any of the games in between. Overtime wins earns them a 3 point advantage on their proverbial rabbits. Anything less will severly hurt their chances. The thought alone of the magnitude of these games could drive any person understandably to near panic.
Luckily for us, the players’ current mindset is one at a time, and they leave the insanity and madness to the fans.
Since the All Star Break, the Devils have amassed a 3-0-1 record, earning 7 out of a possible 8 points with the only loss coming to Florida in overtime last Friday night.
If you’re a fan who enjoys trying to find trends or patterns in a season and believes they’ll be repeated, you’ll be happy to note that the last time the Panthers stopped a potential Devils’ winning streak, they did so in overtime and gave the Devils enough motivation to then turn around and rattle off 4 straight wins.
On Sunday, New Jersey took another step towards repeating the past by jumping out to an early lead against the Montreal Canadiens, and then playing terrific shut-down defense following Brodeur’s injury en route to a 4-1 victory. The Devils were rewarded for their effort by climbing in the standings to 13th place, tied with Ottawa and 7 points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs follow play Monday night.
Carolina enters Tuesday’s contest winning 5 games out of their last 10, including their overtime win against the struggling Atlanta Thrashers which halted a 2 game skid. Eric Cole netted the game winner after Carolina had a horrendous defensive third period in which they squandered two leads.
Recent head to head history gives the edge to Carolina as they have had the better of the two clubs including a memorable come from behind victory in Game 7, in Newark, during the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarter Finals where the Devils blew a late 3rd period lead of their own, and the surrendered the game winner with under 2 minutes to go in regulation.
This Devils team, however, is much different than the one the Hurricanes embarrassed in 2009. First, they have Ilya Kovalchuk who is finally settling in and finding his groove with the team he has been with for just over a year, and will be with for the next 14. Kovalchuk had two goals on Sunday, added an assist on Friday and has been on fire offensively as of late. He also has been contributing regularly on defense, including some aggressive back checking against Florida.
Dainius Zubrus has also been a bright spot for the Devils’ offense as he netted his 10th Sunday afternoon.
The climb is steep, the task feels almost impossible, but the Devils need to remain focused on just one game at a time.
A team that once seemed destined for the first overall pick in the draft has now given itself a new lease on life, and its fans a reason to have some grounded hope that the season can be saved, and the playoffs, just maybe, with some luck and some favorable breaks, could be made.
One way or another, if the Devils team which has emerged recently continues to come out for the remaining 29 games, fans can be guaranteed it will be one hell of a ride to the finish line.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Cammalleri to Montreal
Former Calgary and Los Angeles forward Mike Cammalleri has reportedly signed with Montreal.
The deal is 5 years long, $6 million per.
Montreal may have overpaid a bit for the very offensive Cammalleri, but pair him with the newly acquired Gomez could provide the Habs with a very potent offensive threat.
Another rumor out of Montreal is that they are very interested in bringing in Devils' unrestricted free agent winger Brian Gionta. After acquiring Gomez, the Habs made it known they would love to reuinte two-thirds of EGG line in Montreal.
Could this be the start of a very speedy line?
The deal is 5 years long, $6 million per.
Montreal may have overpaid a bit for the very offensive Cammalleri, but pair him with the newly acquired Gomez could provide the Habs with a very potent offensive threat.
Another rumor out of Montreal is that they are very interested in bringing in Devils' unrestricted free agent winger Brian Gionta. After acquiring Gomez, the Habs made it known they would love to reuinte two-thirds of EGG line in Montreal.
Could this be the start of a very speedy line?
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Devils Red Hot Into Break
5 road wins in 6 games and a big win against Montreal at home has the Devils sitting atop the Atlantic Division after 5 straight wins, going into the All Star Break.
After dropping a Thursday night matchup at home against the Atlanta Thrashers, the devils seemed to be in an awful slump that was about to get worse. They had dropped 2 in a row; the first loss was a very flat performance against a middle-of-the-pack Carolina Hurricanes team which was followed by their third home shutout loss of the season against Atlanta, before embarking on a season long 6 game road trip.
In 10 days, the Devils would find themselves traveling across the country, into Canada, come back across the country, stop in Ohio, then Long Island, then close out the trip in Tennessee before returning to Newark to face the Canadians. Normally, one would expect mixed results with such an extensive trip over such a short period of times. But the Devils seemed to take the back to back losses as fuel for their opener in Los Angeles.
Kevin Weekes got the nod to open the road trip for the first time in 13 games. Play was about even throughout the first period, until the Devils broke through with a power play goal off the stick of Travis Zajac. Zajac would add a pair of assists before the night was out, Zach Parise added his 100th career goal and Derek Armstrong ruined Weekes’ shutout bit early in the 3rd period, as the Devils got their road trip off on the right foot with 5-1 victory.
Following the decisive victory over the Kings, The Devils suffered their only blemish of the road trip during their stopover in Anaheim. Facing a Ducks team who seemed to be weaker than ones in years past, the Devils jumped out to an early lead with a rare goal by Bobby Holik. Complacency cost them as the Ducks netted 2 goals before David Clarkson could muster up an answer. Chris Kunitz would give Anaheim all the offense they would need to ensure victory as the Devils were only able to get within one before the final horn. The 4-3 result felt eerily similar to the 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes nearly a week before.
One article of important news happened even before the opening faceoff as the Devils announced they had agreed to sign Brendan Shanahan for the remainder of the season. Shanahan indicated at this point in time that he was skating with the prospects at their practice facility in Newark’s Prudential Center and he had aspirations of joining the team while on the road trip.
Three losses in four games, and being 1 and 1 on a 6 game road trip could have indicated a start of a fall from grace, and an air of reality to a team who, by many opinions, had been over achieving following the loss of Martin Brodeur. Facing a potent offensive team in the Canucks did not make things any easier, however, they were without Roberto Luongo. The Devils did not hesitate to exploit that fact and took advantage of a flat start by the Canucks. Three first period goals helped the Devils hold off a late Vancouver flurry of goals as they won their only Canadian appearance on the trip, and their first win in Vancouver in over 10 years, 5-3.
A 2 of 3 start on a road trip suddenly had begun to erase the memory of losing 3 of 4 and further proved the old cliché of “what a difference a win can make.” The Devils’ next stop came in a bitterly cold Columbus on Friday night. The game took on a change of pace that the Devils as of late were not used to: a defensive struggle. In the previous three games, they had managed to net 13 goals, including 3 in the first period of the previous game against Vancouver alone. The Blue Jackets put on a display of trapping once they attained the lead in the 2nd period that would have made the Canadiens of the 1970’s proud. Steve Mason was working on his 6th shutout of the season until Travis Zajac intercepted a Columbus clearing pass before wiring it top shelf breaking the shutout and tying the game. Just over a minute later, John Madden added the game winner in controversial fashion. The net had been forced off its moorings as the puck crossed the goal line leading many, myself included, to believe that after review, the goal would not stand. It was upheld and the Devils escaped Ohio with another victory.
Last season, a trip to Long Island usually spelt a loss for the Devils. This season had been very different up to this point as the Devils were a perfect 2-0 against the Islanders. They arrived in Nassau winning 2 games in a row but facing a young goalie, the type of player this team typically struggles against. Yann Danis, however, showed his inexperience as Zajac and Parise teamed up to literally steal an early 1-0 lead while on the penalty kill. Zajac nearly added a second shorthanded goal moments later but was denied by Danis’ quick glove hand. Parise and Clarkson netted second period goals 3 minutes apart as they helped the Devils continue their hot streak winning 3-1, and their 4th game of the trip.
The final stop was Nashville against the 13th placed team from the Western Conference, the Predators. Shanahan donned a Devils jersey for the first time in over 17 years, starting on the 4th line along side Bobby Holik and Mike Rupp. It wasn’t until the 2nd period where Shanahan made his presence felt as he beat goalie Pekka Rinne low and to the glove side during a 5 on 3 power play. He nearly netted another power play goal moments later as he crashed the right side of the net, but Rinne was able to get part of his glove on it and turn the shot aside. Clarkson would score a goal moments later, and Parise would add an empty netter to clinch a 5 and 1 road trip for the Devils and a 3-1 victory in the Music City.
After a very successful 5 and 1 road trip, the Devils returned home for their final game before the All Star break. Their opponent, Canada’s pride and joy, the Montreal Canadiens. Midway through the first, after the Devils had just successfully killed their 20th out of 21 penalties, Partik Elias hit Paul Martin, who just left out of the penalty box, on a breakout pass as he deked Carey Price and scored on him 5 hole for the opening goal. Zajac, Oduya and Parise added goals while Elias got the empty netter as the Devils sealed off their hot streak going into the break. Carey Price, in his All Star game tune up, looked like a goalie who had been out of the game for a while.
The 5 wins in a row was the longest streak the Devils have had this season… Shanahan set an NHL record for the longest gap between regular-season games with one team. His last regular-season game with the Devils before tonight was 6,504 days ago [thank you Elias Sports Bureau and espn.com for that little tidbit]… Scott Clemmensen continues to build his resume for next summer’s free agency as he is finally been given the opportunity to showcase himself… Travis Zajac [35 points] continues to play completely out of his mind and just keeps making everyone scratch their head and wonder “where the hell was this last season but… oh wait, I don’t care because he’s completely dominating now.” Okay so maybe a slight exaggeration but it is phenomenal that he is producing at nearly as rapid of rate as team leaders Parise [53] and Elias [52]…At 29-15-3 the Devils enter the ASB in first place in the Atlantic Division and 3rd in the Eastern Conference… 145 goals for is tied for 7th in the NHL while their 118 goals against is 5th.
After dropping a Thursday night matchup at home against the Atlanta Thrashers, the devils seemed to be in an awful slump that was about to get worse. They had dropped 2 in a row; the first loss was a very flat performance against a middle-of-the-pack Carolina Hurricanes team which was followed by their third home shutout loss of the season against Atlanta, before embarking on a season long 6 game road trip.
In 10 days, the Devils would find themselves traveling across the country, into Canada, come back across the country, stop in Ohio, then Long Island, then close out the trip in Tennessee before returning to Newark to face the Canadians. Normally, one would expect mixed results with such an extensive trip over such a short period of times. But the Devils seemed to take the back to back losses as fuel for their opener in Los Angeles.
Kevin Weekes got the nod to open the road trip for the first time in 13 games. Play was about even throughout the first period, until the Devils broke through with a power play goal off the stick of Travis Zajac. Zajac would add a pair of assists before the night was out, Zach Parise added his 100th career goal and Derek Armstrong ruined Weekes’ shutout bit early in the 3rd period, as the Devils got their road trip off on the right foot with 5-1 victory.
Following the decisive victory over the Kings, The Devils suffered their only blemish of the road trip during their stopover in Anaheim. Facing a Ducks team who seemed to be weaker than ones in years past, the Devils jumped out to an early lead with a rare goal by Bobby Holik. Complacency cost them as the Ducks netted 2 goals before David Clarkson could muster up an answer. Chris Kunitz would give Anaheim all the offense they would need to ensure victory as the Devils were only able to get within one before the final horn. The 4-3 result felt eerily similar to the 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes nearly a week before.
One article of important news happened even before the opening faceoff as the Devils announced they had agreed to sign Brendan Shanahan for the remainder of the season. Shanahan indicated at this point in time that he was skating with the prospects at their practice facility in Newark’s Prudential Center and he had aspirations of joining the team while on the road trip.
Three losses in four games, and being 1 and 1 on a 6 game road trip could have indicated a start of a fall from grace, and an air of reality to a team who, by many opinions, had been over achieving following the loss of Martin Brodeur. Facing a potent offensive team in the Canucks did not make things any easier, however, they were without Roberto Luongo. The Devils did not hesitate to exploit that fact and took advantage of a flat start by the Canucks. Three first period goals helped the Devils hold off a late Vancouver flurry of goals as they won their only Canadian appearance on the trip, and their first win in Vancouver in over 10 years, 5-3.
A 2 of 3 start on a road trip suddenly had begun to erase the memory of losing 3 of 4 and further proved the old cliché of “what a difference a win can make.” The Devils’ next stop came in a bitterly cold Columbus on Friday night. The game took on a change of pace that the Devils as of late were not used to: a defensive struggle. In the previous three games, they had managed to net 13 goals, including 3 in the first period of the previous game against Vancouver alone. The Blue Jackets put on a display of trapping once they attained the lead in the 2nd period that would have made the Canadiens of the 1970’s proud. Steve Mason was working on his 6th shutout of the season until Travis Zajac intercepted a Columbus clearing pass before wiring it top shelf breaking the shutout and tying the game. Just over a minute later, John Madden added the game winner in controversial fashion. The net had been forced off its moorings as the puck crossed the goal line leading many, myself included, to believe that after review, the goal would not stand. It was upheld and the Devils escaped Ohio with another victory.
Last season, a trip to Long Island usually spelt a loss for the Devils. This season had been very different up to this point as the Devils were a perfect 2-0 against the Islanders. They arrived in Nassau winning 2 games in a row but facing a young goalie, the type of player this team typically struggles against. Yann Danis, however, showed his inexperience as Zajac and Parise teamed up to literally steal an early 1-0 lead while on the penalty kill. Zajac nearly added a second shorthanded goal moments later but was denied by Danis’ quick glove hand. Parise and Clarkson netted second period goals 3 minutes apart as they helped the Devils continue their hot streak winning 3-1, and their 4th game of the trip.
The final stop was Nashville against the 13th placed team from the Western Conference, the Predators. Shanahan donned a Devils jersey for the first time in over 17 years, starting on the 4th line along side Bobby Holik and Mike Rupp. It wasn’t until the 2nd period where Shanahan made his presence felt as he beat goalie Pekka Rinne low and to the glove side during a 5 on 3 power play. He nearly netted another power play goal moments later as he crashed the right side of the net, but Rinne was able to get part of his glove on it and turn the shot aside. Clarkson would score a goal moments later, and Parise would add an empty netter to clinch a 5 and 1 road trip for the Devils and a 3-1 victory in the Music City.
After a very successful 5 and 1 road trip, the Devils returned home for their final game before the All Star break. Their opponent, Canada’s pride and joy, the Montreal Canadiens. Midway through the first, after the Devils had just successfully killed their 20th out of 21 penalties, Partik Elias hit Paul Martin, who just left out of the penalty box, on a breakout pass as he deked Carey Price and scored on him 5 hole for the opening goal. Zajac, Oduya and Parise added goals while Elias got the empty netter as the Devils sealed off their hot streak going into the break. Carey Price, in his All Star game tune up, looked like a goalie who had been out of the game for a while.
The 5 wins in a row was the longest streak the Devils have had this season… Shanahan set an NHL record for the longest gap between regular-season games with one team. His last regular-season game with the Devils before tonight was 6,504 days ago [thank you Elias Sports Bureau and espn.com for that little tidbit]… Scott Clemmensen continues to build his resume for next summer’s free agency as he is finally been given the opportunity to showcase himself… Travis Zajac [35 points] continues to play completely out of his mind and just keeps making everyone scratch their head and wonder “where the hell was this last season but… oh wait, I don’t care because he’s completely dominating now.” Okay so maybe a slight exaggeration but it is phenomenal that he is producing at nearly as rapid of rate as team leaders Parise [53] and Elias [52]…At 29-15-3 the Devils enter the ASB in first place in the Atlantic Division and 3rd in the Eastern Conference… 145 goals for is tied for 7th in the NHL while their 118 goals against is 5th.
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