The Sheldon Brookbank experiment is about to begin. We’re just minutes away from face-off and yeah, I may be blowing this well out of proportion, but I cannot help but take an opportunity to bitch about something other than the offense and our inconsistency in net. Congrats, Mr. Brookbank, you have been dubbed my whipping boy of the week.
Between eating pizza, swigging Pepsi and cracking jokes with my buddy Andy, I’ll keep a running blog about the agony that it currently is to be a New Jersey Devils fan.
7:01 – Players wives and girlfriends are shown collecting canned food from fans and I realize that I am much hungrier than I had originally thought. Steve Cangialosi just said the last time the devils won back to back was a month ago… well what better place than at home?
7:06 – Stan Fischler said that moving Brookbank to the wing is a great idea. He also said he [Sheldon] will score a goal tonight and “you can put that in your Brookbank.” He is so senile, it is not even funny.
7:08 – Game on as Madden wins the face-off.
7:10 – Hell of a shift from Langenbrunner. Two shots on goal and good positioning. Zajac misses a yawning net as Vokoun was out of position and I renew my “trade him now” talk with Andy. He corrects me and says it was Parise. Whoops.
7:12 – Madden line back out there… we hold off on the Brookbank experiment beginning, for now.
7:13 – Add another tally for the David Clarkson wrap-around try tally. 1 so far tonight,
7:15 – Andy reminds me we’re stuck with both Mike Mottau and Brookbank for next year… I scramble to find the Jack Daniels to add to the Pepsi…
7:16 – Brookbank makes his forward debut. 6 minutes in the game. And he’s off 30 seconds. Result of the shit: 1 hit. Pandolfo promptly hits the post on a rush lead by Madden.
7:17 – Doc reminds us of the 5 pints of blood Richard Zednik lost last year, and I begin to hope that the pizza place we ordered from doesn’t put too much tomato sauce on our pizza... is that wrong?
7:18 – Devils powerplay coming, Zajac did well, took that slash from Nathan Horton like a champ. I also just realized I should be doing a countdown clock of the period rather than a tally on the actual time of day… so switching now
11:50 left – Doc’s John Madden [football announcer, not the player] moment #1 – “you can pass the puck faster than you can skate with it.” 30 seconds of power play are over with decent action.
11:22 – Parise misses on a good chance on a rush, Elias promptly shoots right into the pads of Vokoun to stop play. I’m guessing his thinking was “why make him [Vokoun] work too hard, plenty of game to go.”
1052 - Zuburs misses a back hander on a rebound wide of the net, Gionta follows up with a shot off the skate of the goalie. More to come in a few…
1015 - PP over, solid effort, but no goals. And once again we’re beginning to wonder why David Clarkson is on the powerplay other than sheer frustration.
955 – Chico shows us how close Zubrus’ shot was to being in about 2 feet of open net. He credits “bad luck” to being why he only has 2 goals on the year. I could think of a few other reasons besides that.
930 – Madden decides to pass to a well covered Elias on a 2 on 1 rush rather than shoot. Andy: “They pass too much.” Chico: “devils with good puck possession” Me: [smacks forehead]
850 – Florida with their best chance of the night so far, they hit netting… above the glass.
755 – Doc reminds the audience that it has been over a decade that the devils have lost a season series to the panthers. With this being the first time that Marty has missed more than 6 games in a season to injury, does anyone else feel slightly concerned that this might be the one we drop one to the cats? Anyone?
740 – Brookbank with an attempted shot, too bad he hits all 3 panthers who were RIGHT in front of him. Andy: “poor Bergfors.” I agree. It must suck to be the poor soul who is saddled with playing on the line with Rupp and the lab rat. People complain he isn’t living up to hype… when you play with this line, would you be able to play up to form???
600 - Parise steals the puck from Nathan Horton and rushes on what looks like a 2 on 1, then he realizes Horton went right to the bench to replace his broken stick. Horton lines him up for a big hit, Parise juke moves him and just misses beating Vokoun.
537 - Shift 3 for Brookbank’s line. Only shots are on Clemmy, who’s in start number 3 in a row, nothing on Vokoun.
418 – Salvador takes a stick to the face from Dvorak, draws another power play.
337 – And the viewing public realized that profile shots of Zubrus is not kind to him… his nose is touching his visor, literally. Maybe it being uncomfortable for him could be a reason he can’t hit the net? Well, it’s a better excuse than bad luck.
231 – Oduya puts the puck on a silver platter and leaves it for Bret McLean. Who promptly goes the length of the ice and if not for a nifty glove save by Clemmy, the Devils would be trailing. Chico declares the save the best of the period. Power play over, 0 for 2
116 - Colin White goes for hooking Gregory Campbell.
End of first – Bran “I don’t hate Florida as much as I hate Toronto… yet” McCabe dumps the puck to kill the period. Had to take a shot at him too, nothing like a guy crying in Toronto that he wants to be traded to the Islanders then accepts a trade to Florida, death’s waiting room.
Stat of the period:
- 5 saves for Clemmensen. 2 of which were shorthanded.
- 10 missed shots for the Devils
During the replays with Daneyko:
- They show the matchup between Bouwmeester and Parise. His freaking stick is as long as Parise is tall.
- Claude Lemieux is playing hockey in China right now. That’s right, china.
- Devils missed shots are coming because they’re shooting high on Vokoun who normally is a butterfly goalie. Time to change that idea, maybe?
Moments before 2nd period faceoff – some guy behind doc and Chico is wearing a Gomez jersey and I suddenly have an urge to shoot the TV.
Reminder: 33 seconds of pp to kill off, thank you Mr. White.
1929 – Devils kill the penalty allowing only 1 shot. I also just realized that not once during the first did I hear the traditional “Rangers suck” chant.
1758 – Clemmy stops first shot of period, weak off the shot from Zednik. We also learn that Brett McLean is married to Chico’s niece, useless information to kill time.
1740 – Bergfors makes a few nice moves to keep possession down low in the zone and make something happen. He looks to the slot for a forward to pass to, sees Brookbank and elects to hold the puck to allow a line change. I love it. The kid would rather change lines than risk a turnover.
1608 – Clemmy with two nice kick saves since the defense decided to watch rather than play. Cough Mottau cough cough.
1445 – First “Rangers suck!!” chant. Crowd starting to finally show signs of life a period and a quarter later.
1439 – Gionta finally goes to the net and takes a hit… too bad it was after the whistle and he tripped over Vokoun. If the Devils are going to get something done this season, this is the line they need to create that spark. It is really that simple.
1356 – Madden takes a puck to the body and is slow to get up. Crap... Further review shows it hits him in the leg right on the pants. Good thing they’re padded.
1326 – Brookbank’s line logs a shot on net. Brookbank decides to actually get into the game and tries to fight Stephen Weiss. It doesn’t work because the refs are already there. Commercial!
1313 - ELIAS SCORES!! Hell of a no look pass from Zubrus to Gionta right on the tape to Elias who actually dekes Vokoun and HITS the net. 1-0 Devils.
1226 - Super Jay hits the outside of the net, again. Now that man has bad luck.
1030-950 – It looks like a freaking power play out there. What line you ask. Lab Rat and Co. Also, Mike Mottau refuses to use his body to clear the bodies from in front of the net... is it too late to trade him for Ken Klee? Or how about a traffic cone? Please?
635 – Back to typing after a pizza break. Chico begins commenting on Larry Brook’s article from today’s NY Post article saying Elias should be traded. Stoppage in play after Stephen Weiss falls on the back of Jason Cullimore’s leg. The fall looked similar to the way Kimo von Olehoffen fell on Carson Plamer’s leg in the 2005 AFC Wild Card Game.
630 – Holik and Rolston back by mid December, Chico speculates. Greene shortly after. Doc says there is a glimmer of hope for the current limited roster so they know how much longer they need to hold down the fort for. Andy: “Cause Holik is going to help sooo much.” We both speculate his return will knock Brookbank out of the lineup. Cough thank god cough cough.
435 - Gionta to Parise, Parise from the corner looking for Zuburs right in front of the net, and he never even saw it.
354 – Parise gets tangled up just in time to miss a pass from Paul Martin right in front of the net.
325 – Mike Frolik misses a chance to score his first NHL goal as Clemmy paddles the puck to the corner. Andy: “Its cause Marty isn’t playing, guys get their first NHL goal only against Marty.”
240 – Mike Mottau with a shift to forget, defensive zone turnover that nearly leads to a Panthers goal. Then an offensive turnover to kill an odd-man scoring chance. Ugh… a new net for him? Maybe? No takers? anyone? Seriously, if the Rangers of the early part of this decade cast him off, why the HELL would we get him, why?!
Period ends with Mottau turning the puck over, big freakin’ shocker. Devils 1 – Panthers 0.
During the final few minutes, I wonder if we needed to move a defenseman to the forward position so badly, why not use Paul Martin. Andy reminds me of the failed Niedermayer experiment, I then think about the fact if martin did move up, Brookbank would be back on defense and that thought scares me more than anything so I retract my statement.
During the intermission, the camera before cutting to commercial focuses on a girl between 10 and 13 licking the tips of her fingers in a back and forth motion. It is at this moment I realize I will never rub my nose or anything like that during a break in a hockey game because MSG will do everything in their power to make you look like a complete idiot. Andy concurs.
Stat of the period: Devils with 1 shot in the period. I didn’t believe it when Cangialosi said it, checked the official scoring summary, and yes, 1 shot on goal. I think that stat is slightly askew. Maybe the scorer wasn’t paying attention in favor of food like I did? I now think of Bob Uecker in Major League, “1 hit, that’s it? One goddamn hit?”
Doc and Chico kindly remind us that a 1 goal is not safe with the devils until the horn sounds. Madden moment #2 as they remind viewers of the .8 remaining goal by Ovechkin on Saturday night.
A weird angle shot of Bryce Salvador made him look almost a carbon copy of Tie Domi… creepy.
1840 – It is noted that Cullimore has not returned. My guess is he is on his way to the Carl Pavano MRI tube to get his knee examined. Parise takes a straight on shot to Vokoun to match the Devils’ total from the 2nd.
1645 - David Booth clipped the puck ever so slightly wide of the net as Clemmenson was sliding to the opposite side. Again, proving that there are much unluckier people than Dainius Zubrus.
1525-1450 – The Lab Rats have a good solid fore check, but prove why they are the 4th line by struggling mightily. I think I will keep that nick name for them, the Lab Rats. It works.
1411 - MARTIN wires a shot to the top left corner of the net! David Booth, having a period to forget, goes to block the shot and sides wide of blocking martins faked shot. 2-0 Devils.
1309 - MIGHTY MITE SCORES!!! Zubrus to Elias, draws the defender and Vokoun, to Gionta with a wide open net and he just taps it in. This line is actually building up some chemistry. What makes this play is Elias’ pass through the defender and around Vokoun. He’s often criticized, but Elias showing shades of brilliance out there.
1230 –Elias inadvertently high sticks a Panther.
Andy: So now that they’re clicking, where do we put Rolston when he comes back?
Me: The Lab Rat line, get rid of Brookbank.
Andy: That could help Bergfors out, a lot. We could put Holik there too, bump Rupp. Then trash Mottau and bring up Vrana for the extra skater.
1115 – Power play goal for Frolik. Bastard ended up getting the one he should’ve had before. Shot looks like it hit Campbell in the skate, but it just screened Clemmy. And now the worst lead in hockey is back, 2 goals.
155 – Clemmy makes a few nice saves in the crease. Camera shot from behind the net shows that he still has the number 40 painted on the back of his helmet… interesting…
43.1 seconds – SLIDING SAVE BY CLEMMENSEN ON RICHARD ZEDNEK. The kid is really making a case for him to keep the starting job in Marty’s absence by playing solid.
5.6 - Elias just misses an empty net from the blue line.
And that’s the game, Devils get to 20 points. First win in regulation since Marty went out hurt. Clemmensen’s record is 1 win above .500 for his career.
Zero points from the Lab Rats.
Stars of the game: #3 Zubrus, #2 Gionta, #1 Elias. Cheeko’s #4 star is Clemmensen.
Ah a win feels good. Now to go have a beer.
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