Devils Trade Arnott to Washington

Last summer, the Devils went back to the well and brought back another veteran who helped them win, literally, a Stanley Cup.

As every Devils fan recalls, Arnott was forever immortalized when he buried a cross ice feed from Patrik Elias behind Ed Belfour to clinch the Devils’ second Stanley Cup in franchise history in double overtime.

The hopes at the beginning of the season were that Arnott would be the staple for the 2nd line and be able to get the offense to move in the right direction. For the first half, that’s exactly what he was doing, leading the team in goals for nearly the first 3 months.

But with the change in command [Lemaire taking over for MacLean], Arnott’s play began to drop off considerably. In fact, Arnott had slipped to centering the third line, and was consistently held off the scoring sheet. Fans even noted that it was almost impossible if Arnott was playing unless he was called for a penalty, fanning on a shot from the point on the power play, or getting a rare point on a goal.

There were continuous questions if the Devils were going to move Arnott, or if Arnott would ask them to move him leading up to Monday’s deadline.

Recently, Arnott openly stated if he could be moved to a team in the playoffs, he would accept the trade. He would refuse, however, to be moved to a team that is fighting to earn its spot because if he would be making a lateral move and would prefer to stay with the Devils.

Today, just at the Trading Deadline, the Devils abided by wishes of their former hero and were able to move him to a team in the thick of the playoff race.

Washington proved to be the best, and possibly only, suitors for the 36 year old veteran center. In return, the Devils got a larger, younger, and quite frankly a better center in at least terms of face-off percentage and a draft pick.

Dave Steckel is an average center overall, but is great on the penalty kill, and late game situations, including winning clutch face-offs. He also is willing to get into the dirty areas and create traffic. His major drawback, according to scouts and observers, is the face he does not use his side to his advantage nor to his benefit. He will fit in easily on the Devils bottom two lines, and with a price tag only $1.1 million over the next two seasons, is a low-risk, decent reward player.

Along with Steckel, the Devils received the Capitals’ 2nd round pick in the 2012 draft.

Steckel will be in the Devils’ line-up Wednesday night and will be wearing Arnott’s old #25.

The quest for the post season resumes with the Devils being 9 points out with 20 to play.

Game 5: "...If we win one tomorrow, that's what's called a winning streak"

They came out flat in the first, and Washington capitalized, with no pun intended.

They put forth a much better effort in the 2nd and Brian Rolston got them within a goal, but bad penalties, or should I say bad calls, hurt momentum.

In the 3rd, they had their best period of the season. Marty got nailed for a high sticking call while he was trying to bat the puck out of the air, moments after Bryce Salvador also took a penalty. The team endured a furry of Washington shots while on the 5 on 3 and killed off the first one. Then faced a similar number of shots and chances, and managed to kill off the remaining time on Brodeur’s penalty. However, moments following the end of an impressive penalty kill, they took a too many men penalty.

Yet again, penalties are becoming way too much of a problem. How many time do we expect our PKers to be able to stay out on the ice and face an offense of Washington’s caliber without at least giving them some kind of a lead? This team is in desperate need of discipline. Which leads me to point #2…

Johnny Oduya needs to step up his game. For someone who just earned a rather large contract extension, he has been playing very sloppy hockey. He has taken at least 1 penalty in each of the Devils’ first 6 games. 2 of those were hooking and 2 holding calls. Those are lazy penalties to take and set the team back, granted tonight’s was a blatant phantom penalty. He also has been playing very sloppy defense. He has been caught out of position many times, a handful of which have been taken advantage of by the opposing teams and resulted in goals.

The Zubrus-Bergfors-Clarkson line has a lot of potential. They are the ones who should be the second unit, let the Neidermayer line be the checking line and give ZBC some more ice time. The only downside is Clarkson is the only one with a goal. But, if they can gel, the over time, they could become effective. Their effort on the game tying goal is prime evidence. Their passing was crisp, their puck control was solid, and their shooting was actually on target.

Dainius Zubrus and Andy Greene remain the only bright spots on the second power play unit. If you watched the game at all tonight, you saw why. They’re the only two who can try to set things up while the other 3 pieces, which seem to change nightly, try to find space but cant seem to find it. They are also the only ones who tried to register a shot. Moving Clarkson off the first unit, in my eyes, was a mistake and hopefully will be rectified by Friday night.

Zach Parise has to be the most unlucky person in the NHL right now. Back to back games he has had wide open looks at almost open nets and either the goalie or a defenseman have gotten just enough of the puck to prevent a goal. Vokun did it, then Theodore and Poti tonight. Then again, in overtime first post, then glove on the goal line, then by a defender.

Luckily for us, he scored in the shootout, along with Langenbrunner, to get us a win.

Lastly, Brodeur played another phenomenal game and kept us in it, even after our shaky first period. His performance, along with Clarkson’s and the aforementioned shootout takers, got us the win tonight.

Devils 2 (2) - Washington 2 (1)

3-2-0, 6 points

Next up: Atlanta on Friday.

The Kid Keeps Living up to the Name

And not in a good way.

Its not secret at this point that Sidney Crosby is becoming one of the biggest whiners in hockey. He cries when he doesn't get a penalty called against him [something which is rare since the NHL seems to tell its officials to give him the benefit of the doubt and have all calls go for him], he flops around trying to draw penalties, and he only goes after someone when their back is turned.

Want proof? Here's a video of the highlights from Sunday's game against the Capitals. Focus on the 37 second mark until the end.




Notice something mentioned in the first paragraph? How about the cross check after a simple shoulder bump. This isn't the first time Crosby didn't appreciate a little physicality of Ovechkin, and like a stubborn 5 year old who didn't get his afternoon cookie, throws a tantrum in a cheap way. For the next video, watch starting at the 2 minute mark on.



Yeah, Ovechkin may get the elbow up a little bit, so fine, check him back, don't throw a sissy little left hook into the guy's face with your glove still on. Man up, Sid, and drop them.

Personally, this is why I hope the Caps get another shot against the Penguins in the playoffs. It'd be really nice to see Ovechkin get under Cindy's skin for a whole series and maybe even produce some more hits like this one:

Draft Day 1

Thefourthperiod.com [one of the more credible rumor sites out there] is reporting that Olli Jokinen will be traded today before the first round of the NHL draft begins. They report suggests the key point in trading Jokinen is at least a first round draft pick, which Florida covets so that they may have a spot in the first round. Florida's 1st Round pick, which would have been 9th overall, was sent to the Nashville Predators as part of the Tomas Vokoun trade last summer.

Do not expect the Devils to be a player in Jokinen sweepstakes today unless GM Lou Lamoriello can convince the Panthers to take something other than a first round pick. First round picks are something that Lamoriello would love to horde like a squirrel to acorns. Lamoreillo has also told numerous media outlets that he would like to move up in the draft, and even would consider moving down for the right deal. A.K.A. - he'd do what any good GM would do on draft day. Again, don't count on the Devils landing Jokinen, the price tag is too high with no first round pick to work with on Florida's side.

Speaking of Tomas Vokoun, last night the Predators traded Chris Mason to St. Louis for a 4th round pick in this weekend's draft. This is the second time that the goaltender who started the season in net for the Predators has been shipped out the following summer. The move signals a full vote of confidence in Dan Ellis, who stepped up nicely when Mason showed his human side last season. The season prior, Mason platooned the Preds goaltending job with Vokoun and lead them to an incredible 51 win, 110 point season in only their 3rd season in the NHL. The Predators have not missed the playoffs since 2003-2004 [4 straight seasons], so there is some weight on Ellis' shoulders, but for a goalie who lead the league in save percentage last season and set the franchise record in shutouts with 6, it does not look like it will be a difficult task being the only go-to guy in net.

--2 PM Update--

Well here it is folks, my first Sabres post on the blog. Although it will come as no surprise to anyone in Buffalo, Max Afinogenov is being talked heavily by GM's at the NHL Draft in Ottawa. Hockeybuzz suggests that Washington and Chicago are the leading candidates. Now all you Buffalonians, do not get too excited when you read Chicago in there, because there is ZERO chance it will be for Calder winner Pat Kane, and that's an (e5). My guess is the deal will be centered around Patrick Sharp. The 26 year old center has a $3.9 million annual cap hit over the next 4 years [$15.9 mil/4 yr left on the current deal]. Max will be entering the final year of his contract, taking a cap hit of $3.5 million with him. If he goes to Washington, my guess is for prospects and picks. The move could also be an indicator that the Capitals are going to give up on re-signing Sergi Federov because the two have comparable contracts, but Max is 10 years younger and could still make an impact in a system that fits him. Could pairing up with Alex Ovechkin be that solution?

--5 PM EXCLUSIVE Update --

I have just received an exclusive tip from a Buffalo source about Maxim Afinogenov. The source has told me that the Sabres and the Florida Panthers are discussing a possible deal with Olli Jokinen being involved. My source has told me that the Sabres are offering Max and the 1st round, 26th overall pick in exchange for Jokinen and either prospects, picks, or both. the stumbling block right now is trying to figure out compensation for the extra $2 million plus in cap space that the Sabres will be taking on by acquiring Jokinen. Jokinen, 29, will be making $5.25 million next season and $5.5 million in 2009-2010, compared to Max's $3.5 million next season.

--7 PM Update--

Jokinen to Phoenix, Tanguay from Calgary to Montreal, Cammalleri from LA to Calgary