Andrew Timoni
atimoni@vzw.blackberry.net

Autographs that I got from the team awards luncheon.

Andrew Timoni
atimoni@vzw.blackberry.net

Brodeur

Tonight is a huge night for the Devils and Martin Brodeur. They face off against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre in Montreal at 7pm. Marty has the opportunity to tie Patrick Roy's all time wins record at 551 with Roy in attendance.

I think the Devils will bring it tonight as they want to get the record chase over with and give Marty the big win in his home town.

I was 1/2 with predictions last night. Chicago let me down.

Tonight:

Islanders @ Boston
Rangers @ Flyers
Detroit @ St. Louis
Ottawa @ Pittsburgh
Atlanta @ Buffalo
Calgary @ Toronto
New Jersey @ Montreal
Carolina @ Washington
Tampa Bay @ Florida
Nashville @ Phoenix
Los Angeles @ San Jose

NHL.com has a great piece on Marty's life and his family:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=413768



Andrew Timoni
atimoni@vzw.blackberry.net

Devils 5 Coyotes 2

Now THAT is what I want to see. The Devils beating up on a team that is weak. Don't get me wrong, the Coyotes have a great coach and a good, young team but this year isn't theirs.

The Devils wasted no time in getting their first goal as Parise scored his 40th of the year just 18 seconds into the game.

It was college night at the Rock. This crowd was the smallest of the college nights but was still rowdy. We really gave it to Gretzky singing "It's a small world after all" and "Micky Mouse Club." I decided to make Scotty Upshall my enemy for the night as I despise anyone who has ever worn a Flyers uniform.

I like what the referees did. They let the players play. Not many penalties were called and there were two fights as the game became chippy.

Goal scorers:

Parise (40)
Madden (7)
Zubrus (14)
Elias (27)
Zajac (19)

Marty Brodeur now has 550 wins. He has the chance to tie Roy's record on Saturday in Montreal.

The Devils are now 20-5-0 in their last 25 games.

The Devils are 6-1-0 since Brodeur's return.

I was 5 for 13 with my picks last night. Not good.

For Tonight:

Columbus @ Chicago
Los Angeles @ Vancouver

Andrew Timoni
atimoni@vzw.blackberry.net

Thursday March 12

Well of course my predicted scores were wrong but I was 2 for 3 with winners.

Chicago and Ottawa won. The Ducks beat the Canucks though.

I'm not going to predict the scores, just the winners (in bold).

Boston @ Ottawa
Florida @ Buffalo
Phoenix @ New Jersey
Washington @ Philadelphia
Pittsburgh @ Columbus
Calgary @ Detroit
Tampa Bay @ Toronto
New York Islanders @ Montreal
N Y Rangers @ Nashville
San Jose @ St. Louis ( that's right I said it )
Carolina @ Dallas
Minnesota @ Colorado
Atlanta @ Edmonton

Mike Rupp will stay in the lineup tonight as Jay Pandolfo and Andy Greene are the scratches.

Line combos (guessing)

Patrik Elias-Brian Rolston-Brian Gionta
Zach Parise-Travis Zajac-Jamie Langenbrunner
Brendan Shanahan-Dainius Zubrus-David Clarkson
Mike Rupp-John Madden-Bobby Holik

Paul Martin-Johnny Oduya
Colin White-Mike Mottau
Niclas Havelid-Bryce Salvador

Martin Brodeur
Kevin Weekes

I'll be at the game tonight. I'll be at the Arena Lounge before and after the game. Send me an e-mail if you'd like to meet up!


Andrew Timoni
atimoni@vzw.blackberry.net

Devils 3 Flames 2

Why is it that the Devils can beat one of the better teams in the league, the Flames, as well as their previous victories over Boston and San Jose and get smashed by the Islanders twice in a row?!

I am quite sleepy so I am going to make my observations brief.

-Marty Brodeur said in an interview that he doesn't feel 100% healthy. Besides the clunker on Long Island, he looks fine.

-The Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner line still looks to be one of the most dangerous lines in the league. Zach Parise's goal summed up his work ethic.

-The Flames weren't at the top of their game. I thought Keenan threw in the towel by pulling Kiprosoff after the third Devils goal. McElhinney is 0-5-1 this year and had no business being in between the pipes when the Flames were only down by two goals with most of the third period to play.

-Patrik Elias had a good game although he didn't score any goals. He needs to SHOOT. The thing holding him back is his linemates. It seems that Dainius Zubrus has played himself off of the first line in favor of Brian Rolston. Rolston had one of his best games of the season. Brian Gionta was a non-factor and needs to step up to give that line the punch it needs to be a good second scoring line.

-The Devils have Phoenix on Thursday, Montreal on Saturday, Chicago next Tuesday, Carolina next Wednesday, and the Minnesota Wild next Friday. I believe that Marty will tie the record against Montreal and beat it at home against Chicago on St. Patty's Day.

-Quote me, the Devils will win the Eastern Conference this year. They even have a shot at the President's Trophy. The Boston Bruins are 6 points up on the Devils right now while the Devils have two games in hand.

-The Devils only have three division games left. They will play at the Garden and in Philadelphia before the month is over and in Pittsburgh in April.

-Havelid played better tonight than on the Island on Saturday. He and Salvador will get used to playing on the same line and will become a force on the blue line. Havelid got his first point as a Devil tonight assisting on Brian Rolston's goal.

-Flames out shot the Devils 37-31.

-The refs need to PUT THE WHISTLES AWAY. There were penalties called every two minutes!!!!

-Goals:

Zach Parise (39)
Brian Rolston (13)
Jamie Langenbrunner (22)

The Devils record against division opponents is:

Rangers: 3-2-0
Islanders: 4-2-0
Flyers: 3-1-1
Penguins: 3-2-0

13-7-1 against the Atlantic (3 games left)

Canadiens 3-0-0
Sabres 1-2-0
Maple Leafs 1-0-2
Senators 3-0-0
Bruins 2-1-0

10-3-2 against the Northeast (5 games left)

Capitals 2-2-0
Panthers 3-1-0
Hurricanes 0-1-0
Thrashers 3-1-0
Lightning 3-0-0

11-5-0 against the Southeast (4 games left)

Red Wings 0-1-0
Blue Jackets 1-0-0
Blues 1-0-0
Predators 1-0-0
Oilers 0-1-0
Flames 1-0-0
Avalanche 1-0-0
Canucks 1-0-0
Stars 1-1-0
Ducks 0-1-0
Kings 1-0-0
Sharks 1-0-0

9-4-0 against the West (4 games left)


The Devils are 8-1 in games decided in the 5 minute overtime.
The Devils are 5-2 in shootouts.

Gary Bettman?

I don't understand why the commish gets booed when he appears in front of NHL fans. He fought hard against the players union to put this system in place.

The fans flipped when the NHL was changing uniform systems to the RBK Edge. Now, I, and most fans, wouldn't want to see the previous uniforms on the ice. The current problem is the price of the RBK Edge jerseys. The Premier jerseys cost slightly under 200$ on NHL.com but have steamed on numbers and names. They look TERRIBLE. You want the authentic? It's close to 400$. That has to change.

The best thing about Bettman is what he did to this leage to create competition. In the East, the #5 team has 79 points. The #10 team has 73. The West is even closer. The #5 team in the West has 76 points and the #13 team has 67 points.

Speaking of the standings... I thought I'd take a minute to show what my ideal playoff matchups would be... (this has nothing to do with the current standings)

Bruins vs. Canadiens
Devils vs. Rangers
Flyers vs. Penguins
Senators vs. Leafs
Caps vs. Pens

Wings vs. Hawks
Flames vs. Oilers
Sharks vs. Stars
Flames vs. Canucks
Blue Jackets vs. Wings


What to watch for Wednesday:

Bolts vs. Sens = nothing to see here
Prediction= Sens 5 Bolts 1

Hawks vs. Canes = The Canes are hot. The Hawks need to solidify their stance in the West. They need to go on a tear come playoff time. Havlat is playing his first full-ish season in a while and he is a fantastic player. They have some great young talent. Goaltending will be the only issue on this team.
Prediction= Hawks 4 Canes 3

Canucks vs. Ducks= The Ducks are slipping from the playoff picture and the Canucks are one of the hottest teams in the league right now. The Ducks can do some damage if they come together as a team. Not likely in this game.
Prediction= Canucks 4 Ducks 1




Andrew Timoni
atimoni@vzw.blackberry.net

Sean Avery

Putting my Devils fan anti-Ranger bias aside, I'm not going to bash Sean Avery. I have observed some of the things he has done in his career and have been disgusted with him at times. He came into the league in 2001 when he played 36 games with the Detroit Red Wings. He notched four points split evenly between goals and assists.

He really made a name for himself when he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings. His antics and on-ice actions quickly scored Avery the most hated player award among the other players in the league.

His best season points-wise occurred in 2006/07 when he played 55 games with the Kings and 29 with the New York Rangers. He finished out the year with 18 goals and 30 assists. Avery introduced himself to the Devils-Rangers rivalry in that season as he became public enemy #1 in New Jersey with the stunts he pulled with Martin Brodeur. February 20th 2007 saw the Devils beat the Rangers 2-1. Avery rammed Brodeur and knocked his helmet off. Having had enough, Marty got up and shoved Avery. Avery shoved back and a brawl ensued.

The most popular of his antics came in the playoffs the following year. The Devils and Rangers faced eachother in the first round. In game three, the Rangers were on the power play. Avery stood facing Brodeur and waved his stick in the goaltender's face. The NHL was forced to make a provision to their rulebook because of this sequence.

The Dallas Stars signed Avery to a good deal this past offseason. I was surprised that such a classy organization would take a chance with a risky player such as Avery. I also was under the impression that the Rangers were going to do everything to keep him since he was instrumental to their recent success. Not long into his first year with the Stars, it all went south.

Avery dated actress Elisha Cuthbert, she was seen at many Ranger games. After that relationship ended, it was revealed that she had entered into a relationship with Calgary Flame's defenseman Dion Phaneuf. As Dallas visited Calgary, Sean invited the cameras over to make a comment including the phrase "sloppy seconds." The NHL would jump all over this. I believe they were so harsh to Avery because of two reasons. The first reason is that it was basically the last straw for him. He had been involved in so many circus act type situations and they had simply had enough with him. The second reason is that Elisha Cuthbert is a very popular actress who could speak on the NHL's behalf giving them better publicity. The NHL wouldn't want to drive away a fan like that.

Avery was basically kicked off of the Stars. The Manitoba Moose of the AHL refused to take him and his career was now in limbo. That is when all of the Avery to NYR rumors started. The Hartford Wolf Pack, Rangers AHL affiliate, decided to take him on. The Dallas Stars have no AHL team to assign Avery to so he was still Stars property. The Rangers picked up Avery close to this year's trade deadline as Dallas put him on waivers with the Rangers promising to sign him. New coach John Tortorella was not too thrilled with the acquisition. GM Glenn Sather is an Avery supporter and undoubtedly told Torts that his new job comes with the responsibility of molding Avery into a responsible hockey player.

Avery has had a career full of antics and embarassments, but I wish him the best of luck. Fellow Devils fans will flame me for this, but Avery has never had the intention of physically harming another player. He likes to get under the skin of his opponents and cause them to step out of character and he does a very good job at this.

Avery has played a few games with the Rangers since being signed and he has caused an immediate impact. The Hurricanes shut out the Rangers tonight but the Blueshirts had been on a winning streak before this. Even tonight, Avery took two bad penalties in the second period and responded by throwing the body around and creating room for his linemates and finishing up by playing a smart game.

It is going to take a lot for this player to fix his attitude issues, but it can be done. The right coach is in New York now to help this.

It surely will be interesting when the Devils visit the Garden in late March.

------------------------------------------------

In other news, the Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey has fired coach Guy Carbineau and has stepped behind the bench himself for the remainder of the campaign.

This is another case of a good coach getting the can because of off ice issues not related to him. There have been comments that he is too nice and not hard enough on the players. These players are paid professional atheletes and should not have to be looked after like high school kids. Some members of the Canadiens were involved in some off ice situations that brought a lot of bad publicity to the team and it surely translated to on ice play.

They have a team full of talented players that can compete for a division title if they had things in order. Unfortunately, a GM can't simply fire players so the coach always gets the can.

I felt the same way when the Rangers fired Tom Renney. Renney is a great coach that was dealing with high priced unmotivated players. GM Glen Sather is the one that needs to go. He has had a history of signing overhyped and overpriced players that handicap the Rangers financially. The Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, and Wade Redden signings have not yet paid off. This deadline, the Rangers traded Dawes, Prucha and Kalinin for Derek Morris. Morris is a defenseman who began his career in his prime and has had a downfall since. Sather traded home grown Rangers, Dawes and Prucha, for another 'big name' player. Nik Antropov wasn't a terrible aquisition because Sather didn't have to give up any roster players for him. Sather gave Renney defective tools. It's like smashing a television with a sledgehammer then saying "fix this or you're fired."

I hate to compare the Devils to the Rangers like everyone else does, but look at the home grown players on the Devils' roster. Elias, Gionta, Parise, Zajac, Rolston, Madden, Pandolfo, Rupp, Clarkson, Martin, Greene, White, Brodeur, and others. Although Oduya was a Capitals draft pick, he was signed to New Jersey before entering the NHL and can be considered a Devils lifer so far. Compare the success of the Devils and the Rangers and these points are no coincidence.

I hope Renney and Carbo get good jobs because they deserve it. It's hard to argue with the Renney firing now since Tortorella is a terrific coach, however. But, time will tell to see if this pays off.









Andrew Timoni
atimoni@vzw.blackberry.net

Messy Trip To The Island

Saturday was round two for me out on Long Island. Amy and I visited the Nassau Coliseum on February 21st to see the Islanders pound the Devils 4-0. It was a shame that the Devils weren't able to get a goal considering there was more red and black in the stands than anything else.

The game on March 7th would be no different. The Islanders jumped out to a 3-0 lead quick in the first period as Martin Brodeur finally came back down to Earth. The closest the Devils came to the Islanders that day was when they were down 3-1 and 4-2. The Islanders won 7-3. Gionta, Langenbrunner, and Elias scored for the Devils. Sean Bergenheim got the hat trick for the Islanders. Bergenheim's third goal came with .7 seconds remaining in the third when Kevin Weekes, the second Devils goaltender of the day, was pulled for an extra skater.

The Coliseum: DUMP

I am not trying to anger Islander's fans with this statement. The team and the fans out on Long Island need a new arena and FAST. THe Islanders have an exciting young squad that is beginning to show their stuff with noted vetarans being out of the lineup. The Lighthouse project has Hempstead-Uniondale taxpayers displaying mixed feelings. They need to realize that Charles Wang, owner of the team, has offered to front the entire project on his dime. I think the location of the arena also hurts the attendance figures. Driving from Montclair, NJ to Uniondale, NY should take an hour. No more, no less.

It ends up taking a little less than two hours to get to the arena due to traffic on the LIE and the Meadowbrook Parkway. Long Islanders have to go through this every day. The Arena should be closer to the city, possibly right by Citi Field. That is probably not an reaslitic dream but something has to be done. The Nassau Coliseum has very good accessable parking. The concourse is very thin and very hard to walk through when there is a large crowd. There aren't many food and drink options in the arena either. I can't imagine what it is like when there are eight thousand Ranger fans and eight thousand Islander fans trying to get by eachother in the hallway. Devil fans get along well with Islander fans and I was not heckled once in either trip to the Island. There are two men's bathrooms and two women's bathrooms (that I saw). It can almost take an entire intermission to get to the bathroom and back to your seat.

The best thing about the arena is the sightlines to the ice. The first time, I sat two rows from the top in section 305. Every seat has a great view of the ice. The problem with the upper sections is that you cannot see the other side of the arena or the jumbo scoreboard. There is a large bannister with very small tv's with bad picture quality on them. The second visit saw me sitting in section 202. The 200's in the Coliseum is the equivalent to the upper half of the lower section of the Prudential Center; pretty close to the ice. You can see the entire arena and the ice at a great view from these seats.

The seats themselves have wooden arm rests that don't budge. The seats are made out of some kind of outdated fabric that was not comfortable in the least. At least fans can still tailgate outside which is a really fun time. It is something we Devil fans are not allowed to do at the Rock.

The Islanders have an exciting young team that can only get better as the years go on. I won't say they'll be a playoff team next year, but they may contend for the 8 spot and give their rivals a hard time.


Next Devils Game:

Tuesday March 10, 2009
Prudential Center, Newark NJ

Calgary Flames (39-21-6)
@
New Jersey Devils (42-20-3)

This is not going to be an easy game for the Devils. The Flames were the most successful team at the trade deadling acquiring Olli Jokinen and Jordan Leopold.

Niclas Havelid had a rough game in his debut against the Islanders. One cannot blame him, however, as the whole team was off. He will get a chance in front of the home crowd to prove himself to be a good addition for the playoff run.