Weekly Flashback: 1994

[This is the first of multiple trash talking posts I'm making as League Manager of my Fantasy Hockey League with a crop of hockey friends and family, Enjoy!]

Why are we looking back nearly 20 years, you ask?

Well, last year, the Rangers came within two games of making it back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since their 54-year-drought ending Cup win. So, rather than hoist a "NYC Area's Second Best" banner, let's give the Rangers fans out there something to look back on:

The Last Time the Rangers Won the Cup…

-Brazil won the World Cup
-Cowboys beat the Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII – the last of 4 straight appearances by the Bills
-Rockets beat the Knicks in 7 games

The Good Parts:
-Schindler’s List won the Oscar for Best Picture
-The following movies came out: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Blank Check, D2: The Mighty Ducks are Back, Major League II, Speed, The Lion King, Blown Away, Little Big League, Forest Gump, Angels in the Outfield, True Lies, The Mask, Clear & Present Danger, Pulp Fiction, Little Giants, The Shawshank Redemption, Dumb & Dumber
- Woodstock was revived with Woodstock ‘94
- Green Day released ‘Dookie’
- Nirvana’s ‘Unplugged in NY’ came out
- Soundgarden released ‘Superunknown’
- Aerosmith released ‘Get a Grip’
- 'All That!' and 'Ahh! Real Monsters' make their debuts on Nickelodeon.


And Now The Bad:
- Kurt Cobain offed himself [or Courtney Love killed him, whichever way you prefer]
- John Candy died of a massive heart attack
- Richard Nixon died.
- ‘Dinosaurs’, ‘Tale Spin’ and ‘Saved by the Bell: The College Years’ were cancelled… okay, maybe that last one was a gift from god and should be placed in the “good” list.
- Cesar Romero died, he was the original Joker.
- Dakota Fanning was born.
- Baseball went on strike, and that pretty much killed the Montreal Expos

Oh and if you needed any more of a reason why 1994 sucked...

...Justin Bieber was born... nuff said.

Devils Cap Off Perfect Week with OT Win

The long layoff for the NHL ended last Saturday night as 24 teams kicked off their respective seasons.

New Jersey, fresh off their run to the Stanley Cup Finals, began their quest to repeat their Eastern Conference Championship run by squaring off against Atlantic Divisional rival, New York Islanders.

Travis Zajac got the scoring going after burying a beautiful crossing feed from Ilya Kovalchuk and David Clarkson sucked the life out of the crowd at Nassau Coliseum with his goal moments after Travis Hamonic leveled the two teams at 1 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the 3^rd period. Martin Brodeur stopped 18 of 19 shots for his first win of the season.

Three days later, the Devils Squared off against the Philadelphia Flyers who were playing their third game in four days. Having lost to Pittsburgh at home and then falling to Buffalo on the road, the Flyers were desperate for a victory. Unfortunately for them, they got off on the absolute wrong foot as Travis Zajac again ignited the scoring, netting his second of the season just 67 seconds into the game. Clarkson, too, would get his second of the year on the power play with 25 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.

Kovalchuk would add a short handed, penalty shot goal in the third as the Devils continued their domination of Flyers’ goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov dating back to last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup where the Devils made the Russian keeper look amateurish.

Brodeur stopped all 24 Flyers shots he faced for his second win and 120^th shutout of his career, 10 of which coming against the Flyers.

The shutout streak would continue into Friday night where the Devils would play host to the Washington Capitals. Stephen Gionta would finish a Jacob Josefson attempt to net his first of the season and only his second career regular season goal. Patrik Elias would register his 897^th point of his career when he pushed home a rebound off a Marek Zidlicky shot and a Clarkson deflection on the power play late in the 2^nd period.

The Devils’ discipline came apart nearly entirely during the third period as they took 5 consecutive penalties including three within seconds of each other. Washington seized the opportunity by scoring once on the power play [Mike Ribeiro] and then again as their final advantage expired [Mike Green].

Their gifts from the Devils would cease there as New Jersey came out a different team in the overtime period, bombarding Michal Neuvirth with 7 shots before Kovalchuk wristed a tight angle attempt top shelf to win the game for the Devils with just 20 seconds remaining in the extra frame.

Their 3-0 start is the best the Devils have had since the 2002-2003 season in which they went on to win the Stanley Cup in 6 games against the Dallas Stars.

Fast Start Imperative in Shortened Season

Only 20 minutes into this young season, for two teams its quite obvious their mantra: Score early, score often.

Both the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins ran up multi-goal leads in their respective season openers.

While it is extremely early in their respective games and the season, its quite obvious how much emphasis has been placed on them to have solid starts to this abbreviated season.

Hopefully, the New Jersey Devils are taking note while they wait for their clash with the New York Islanders later tonight.

The Devils, who many predict to miss or just squeak into the post season, are relatively intact from last year’s team minus Alexi Ponikarovski and Zach Parise. Both played critical roles in their run to the Eastern Conference Championship and while neither will be easy to replace, the Devils seek to show the League they are more than just a one-man team.

Tonight, they need to jump on a weaker opponent in the Islanders, a team they have struggled with, especially at Nassau Coliseum, in recent years.

One thing that will certainly interesting to watch will be the Devils’ new power-play attack, introduced by Assistant Coach Matt Shaw. Said Head Coach Peter DeBoer of the new system, “We’re going to be shooting more and looking for that perfect look less.”

Last season, the Islanders were one of the least penalized teams in the league, being shorthanded only 236 times, only 11 ahead of San Jose’s league best 225. Their penalty kill percentage, however, was a botton-10 low 80.5%.

Hopefully, the Devils, who drew around the league average of 267 penalties last year,  will be able to convert on both even strength and the advance tonight to start their season off on the right foot.

Adam Larsson, Krys Barch and Peter Harrold will be tonight’s scratches while Mattias Tedenby will get another chance to prove he’s NHL ready and will start on the 2^nd line with Patrik Elias and David Clarkson.

Devils' Details - 1/17

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Zajac Re-signs

For the first time in a long while, the New Jersey Devils locked up a potential free agency before the season started.

On January 16^th, first-line center Travis Zajac signed an 8-year deal worth $46 million. Zajac, who was set to become a free agent on July 5^th [moved up from July 1^st due to the event we will not name] signed the first max contract allowable for teams to retain their own free agent under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Critics are quick to question the Zajac contract citing his career numbers not being as impressive as other who are in the same pay grade, but Zajac’s talents extend beyond the scope of just points. He’s one of, if not the, best centers in the Devils’ lineup, he’s excellent in both ends of the ice and Zajac is an excellent leader even though he does not garner a letter on his sweater.

Expect Zajac to produce around 35 points this year with at least 10 goals.

Captain Salvador

On Thursday, Bryce Salvador was named the 10^th captain in Devils’ history.

This came as a surprise for many, thinking either Patrik Elias would get a second shot at the “C” which was stripped from him by Brent Sutter or Ilya Kovalchuk would get a crack to be the captain of a second team. 

This, however, is a solid reward from a player who showed extreme loyalty to the team where he made a name for himself.

Playing for the St. Louis Blues, Salvador was a bottom pairing defender. At the 2008 trading deadline, the Devils acquired Salvador in exchange for Cam Janssen.

Since his arrival, Salvador had progressively improved his way of play on the blue line for the Devils until 2010-2011 season where he had to sit out with post-concussion syndrome. There were extreme fears Salvador’s career would be over as a result of PCS, but Bryce persevered and returned to form during the regular season, then exceeded them becoming an offensive surprise from the blue line during the playoffs most prominently during the second round matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Hitting the free agent market on July 1^st of 2012, Salvador could have easily taken his talents to a handful of other teams and been a steady point in their defensive corps. He instead, however, waited for the Devils to deal with the Zach Parise soap opera and signed the day before Parise jumped ship to head home to Minnesota.

Salvador’s deal secured him to be part of the organization for the next 3 seasons. Now, those 3 years, he’ll be the Devils leader both in public and behind closed doors, as was the case apparently for a while prior.

Matteau Impresses

In June, the Devils made a surprise move in the eyes of critics by drafting Stefan Matteau, a grinding forward from the US Under-20 national team.

Fans, for one, were shocked because Matteau’s father is the same Matteau who is part of Devils’ infamy.

Even after being dropped from the eventual gold medal winning Under-20 team, Matteau refocused and was the only Devils’ junior player invited to camp.

Since his arrival, Matteau has done nothing but impress his future teammates with his focus, drive and overall on-ice play. He even managed to pull off a feat his father had done prior and score on Brodeur during the inter-squad scrimmage earlier this week.

As of Thursday, Matteau was still in contention for a spot on the Devils’ 23-man roster. Should he survive the final cuts on Friday, he could still be tested out for the 6 game maximum before being returned to his junior team.

The future of camp-invitee Matt Darche with the Devils rests entirely on their decision of Matteau. Should Matteau stick beyond the 6 games, Darche would more than likely not be offered a contract at least at the NHL level. A two-way deal is not out of the realm of possibility however, he is 36 and do the Devils need yet another over-30 forward with plenty of youth ready for shots?

Welcome Back

It's been a long freaking off season.

Parise put his best diva routine combined with deception on par with a Las Vegas magician. The NHL-NHLPA reenacted their high school drama queen days, and Ilya Kovalchuk was a pawn of the KHL pretending to be an actual hockey league people care about.

But in just a few short days, the puck drops and story lines will again be about athletic competition rather than just social media posturing.

One thing that also happened over the off-season is Deviling the Details has moved here.

Gone are the old articles, the inaccurate scrolling header and a well made webpage. But here's what we can deal with for now.

New articles will be up shortly, but for now, welcome back.

Sykora & Henrique Making the Most of Second Chances

A preview of the new site coming later this week

Gene Hackman playing the role of fictional football coach Jimmy McGinty told his players in The Replacements, "you men are being given what a lot of people would die to have: a second chance." His speech was meant to instill confidence in his team as they came off a tough loss. It seems as though some of the Devils players have taken a similar message to heart during the early goings of this young NHL season.

Just over a month ago, two Devils were the spotlight of a Deviling the Details season preview article: Pete Sykora and Adam Henrique.

By now, everyone is well aware of Sykora’s improbable comeback. What goes unnoticed by those not watching the Devils is the overall emergence of his game on both sides of the puck.

Sykora’s impressive offensive performance during the preseason was what earned him a spot on the Devils’ roster. His defensive abilities have undoubtedly granted him a permanent spot on the active roster, even after the Devils fully heal as a team.

With Travis Zajac and Jacob Josefson still recovering from serious injuries, the Devils have desperately needed other players step up and role-players to expand their game further. Sykora is just one of the many players who have answered the call and have been such a vital part in the Devils’ early season success, a stark contrast to the team that took to the ice a year ago.

Sykora, a former two-time 30-plus goal scorer, hasn’t lit up the score sheet to the tune of even a 20-goal pace, but has three goals on the year. His goals, coincidentally, have all come off a set-play from an offensive zone faceoff where center Patrik Elias wins the draw back and Sykora one-times the feed to the right side of the net. Sykora has also added 6 assists to his points total over the first 18 games of the season.

A player who has been even more impressive for the Devils than Petr Sykora is Adam Henrique.

Earlier this season, Henrique was thrust into not just the starting roster, but the Devils’ top line when Josefson went down with a broken collarbone suffered in the 5th game of the season versus the San Jose Sharks.

While Henrique was sent down to Albany for what General Manager Lou Lamoriello called a better opportunity before the Devils’ weekend set with the Sharks and Penguins, he returned to the Devils following the training stint a different player.

Before his brief re-focusing stint, Henrique averaged a mere 12 minutes of ice time, and amassed no points during his first 3 games this season. Since then, he has averaged at least 5 minutes more of time, including significant time on both special teams units.

With that added ice time, Henrique has also given the Devils yet another offensive threat which comes as great relief while Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk find their scoring touches. Henrique registered his first NHL goal against the Philadelphia Flyers and then two nights later, registered his first multi-goal game including another first: his first game winning goal in a thrilling game against the Winnipeg Jets.

In his 12 games since being recalled from Albany, Henrique has put up 4 goals, 7 assists and is a plus-1. He also had an assist on Parise’s shorthanded goal against Buffalo last Wednesday, and has a pair of assists on the power play, including David Clarkson’s tally Saturday night which proved to be the game winner.

Henrique, as is the case with any player, is not subject to mistakes including some errant passes and defensive lapses. His other contributions, both on the attack as well as matching up defensively against some of the league’s best and holding his own, more than make up for the errors which the rookie has made.

As the Devils approach the end of the first quarter of the season, they’ll take the continued successes and contributions of Henrique and Sykora as they await Parise to hit his scoring stride coming off missing nearly an entire season.

Even after Travis Zajac returns to game-form, expect Henrique to be a major factor on the top two lines as long as he can keep up his solid performances. Sykora will also be a strong candidate to remain on the top two especially considering how he has returned to his old form with line mate and good friend, Patrik Elias.


Crosby Comes Back

Finally, on an unrelated hockey note, congrats to Sidney Crosby on his return Monday night. I mention this for two reasons, 1) concussions suck and as much as I can’t stand to hear about him day and night on various hockey programs, I love rooting against him and the Penguins and 2) shamelessly hoping that by accident people will search his name and come upon my blog. But folks, can we stop comparing this comeback to the one that happened over a decade ago?

Mario Lemieux’s return to hockey and the Pittsburg Penguins was truly monumental. For those not familiar, Lemieux retired from hockey in 1997 after undergoing numerous back surgeries, and four years after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in ’97, but three years later, Lemieux returned to the Penguins where he would play until the 2005-06 season. Lemieux used that last season to quite literally pass the torch of the Penguins to Crosby.

So before we bronze Crosby’s skates from Monday’s game, let’s remember people have suffered worse than a concussion and returned.

Devils Struggle in Season Debut vs Flyers

Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds Scores his 3rd period goal against the New Jersey Devils [Yahoo Sports/AP Photos]

The past summer, there was hope in Newark. Fans were ready for the season to start as soon as the NHL Entry draft was over. There was immediate hope in the form of 18-year-old Swedish defenseman Adam Larsson.

Of course, the season couldn’t have started then, especially before free-agency began. Weeks later, the Devils roster had undergone some minimal changes, but most importantly, they retained left winger, and “face of the franchise” Zach Parise. Parise and the Devils avoided arbitration in early August by signing a 1-year, $6.5 million contract. An injury to Travis Zajac opened the door for the return Petr Sykora and for Adam Henrique to crack the Opening Night roster. After an outstanding camp, Larsson played himself into the line-up becoming the youngest Devil to dress on Opening Night since the aforementioned Sykora nearly 15 years ago.

The 2011-2012 season was supposed to start off with a bang.

After touching tribute for the NHL players, both current and former, who were tragically lost this past summer, and thunderous ovation for an Army Staff Sergeant repelling to the ice from the rafters above center ice prior to the ovation, the Devils fans reached a fever pitch.

The two teams met each other with equal force, trading opportunities early. Even when the Devils took the season’s first penalty, the fans willed them through the kill with chants and applause.

The turning point, however, seemed to come when following the Devils first power play of the season. After generating numerous chances, the Flyers killed off the penalty and turned up the pressure on the Devils’ defense to the extent of forcing the Devils to taking a bad icing penalty just past the midway point of the period. With very tired legs, the Devils were on their heels following the icing and Philadelphia was opportunistic.

Claude Giroux scored off a one-timer feed from James Van Riemsdyk after the Flyers made the Devils scramble during a well played cycle.

The play was pretty even during the second period as the teams battled one another and traded opportunities. The Devils power-play, however, was disastrous at best, during the period failing to convert and only registering a single shot over 2 power plays.

The wheels came off the Devils, however, during the third period.

An Ilya Kovalchuk turnover early in the final frame led to a 3-on-2 which Matt Read finished off for his first career NHL goal. Brodeur nearly made the save, however, he was unable to squeeze his arm enough as the puck squirted through and tumbled over the goal line.

Just two minutes later, Wayne Simmonds, one of the pieces of the Mike Richards trade with Los Angeles, buried an Andrej Mezaros rebound which Brodeur could not corral and neither defenders, Bryce Salvador or Anton Volchenkov, could clear the rebound nor put a body on Simmonds.

The beaten down Devils then allowed their discipline to leave the building before the mass exodus of fans began. David Clarkson took an unsportsmanlike conduct, then immediately began chirping at nearly all of the Flyers on the ice for his next shift. After not finding a sparring partner, he squared off Simmonds and proceeded to receive all of the pent-up anger Simmonds had from his bitter, and unwanted divorce from the Kings in the form of fists to the face.

Clarkson was then shown the door for his antics and given an early shower and an instigator.

The instigator was served by Eric Boulton who then gave himself the remainder of the game off by tripping Pronger immediately following his release from Clarkson’s penalty and was also assessed a misconduct.

The Devils were given one last chance to jump back into the game when Danny Briere took a tripping penalty in the defensive zone. Kovalchuk, however, could register the closest chance of a goal by firing a one-timer just wide left of the goal with Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov sliding right, cross crease.

Both teams failed to convert on their power play opportunities, eight for the Flyers, five for the Devils but the Devils suffered the most from their man-advantage futility.

Devils [0-1-0] remain home for their next game, Monday vs. Carolina at 1 pm, while the Flyers [2-0-0] head to Philadelphia for their Home Opener on Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks.

NOTES: Adam Larsson played extremely well for an 18-year-old rookie. He made a few mistakes, but was more impressive than some of his veteran teammates. He was not afraid to shoot on the power play [which many on the team seemed to be] and was also very aware of his teammates when generating plays…Zach Parise played with a lot of heart but didn’t produce in his debut as Devils’ captain. But, many fans are willing to give him at least one more shot before they cast him down the path of ex-captain Jamie Langenbrunner. [Oh come on, that was a little funny]…Danius Zubrus played for only the second time after missing all but 1 of the preseason games with a lower-body injury. Zubrus, who got married over the summer, looked a little out of sorts out there. No word yet if he’s falling victim of the married-and-then-suck curse or if he sustained the lower-body injury on his honeymoon…Jaromir Jagr failed to register a point during his second game in the NHL in over 3 years. He could still be feeling the lingering effects of his bitter divorce from his mullet...The Flyers earned their first shutout of the year after not having a single one last season.