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NHL player poll


Z-Man

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It's an insider article, but here's the snipet that stood out for me.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nhl/insider/news/story?id=6155751

4. If you knew you were getting traded, what would be the team you'd least like to be traded to? Why?

Tied with 25 percent of the vote were "any team not in the playoffs" and the Edmonton Oilers, because "they're the least likely to win the Cup," "they're in last place," and "they always seem to be rebuilding." Other answers: Atlanta, "because it's not a hockey market" and "they have no fans," New Jersey, "because I've heard horror stories about how things are done there," the Islanders, "because it's Long Island," Toronto, "because of the media scrutiny," Columbus and Calgary.

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I wonder which ex-Devil is spreading rumours of "how it's done here". :D

Also, it would be interesting to see how many players mentioned New Jersey (we only have one quote in this article). And if it's because of the state itself, because of Lou's defensive style and discipline, or just because we are a non-playoff team at the moment? I wonder if NJ was often mentioned by players in the years past in this context.

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It's kind of ironic that NJ always gets low ranks in players' polls of place to play yet when one of our D-Men or forwards is set to go UFA or are considered as possible trade bait teams and the media get aped up over them. Yeah, I guess no one wnats to play for a club that constantly develops and produces strong talent.

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This is no surprise at all, and the Devils way of doing things are not for players who are not serious about hockey.

Selanne had a chance to come to NJ at the trade deadline in 2003 in exchange for Gomez and he refused to waive his NTC cause he didn't want to play for the Devils at the time. He could have won a cup but instead had to wait 4 more years to win one in Anaheim. He would have been a rental anyways since his contract was expiring at the end of that year.

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It's kind of ironic that NJ always gets low ranks in players' polls of place to play yet when one of our D-Men or forwards is set to go UFA or are considered as possible trade bait teams and the media get aped up over them. Yeah, I guess no one wnats to play for a club that constantly develops and produces strong talent.

Well the sytle of play the Devils use is not for everyone. Several players in the past left the Devils and have had better careers than when they were with the Devils. The ones who have worse tend to be the exception or they are already over the hill when they leave. I read an article once where a scout from another team said they love the players coming from NJ because they tend to be complete players and know how to play all sides of the puck and are not one-dimensional.

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This is no surprise at all, and the Devils way of doing things are not for players who are not serious about hockey.

....and hasn't made it past the second round of the playoffs SINCE that 2003 Cup Run.... if you want to be a hard-ass organization like this one IS, and you DON'T win....people are certainly NOT gonna wanna play there.....it's not that complex......

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I see Deron Quint, Esa Tikkanen and Neal Broten were polled.

Don't forget Mike Jefferdanton and Sean Burke.

Quint later gave Lou credit for helping him to straighten himself out.

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....and hasn't made it past the second round of the playoffs SINCE that 2003 Cup Run.... if you want to be a hard-ass organization like this one IS, and you DON'T win....people are certainly NOT gonna wanna play there.....it's not that complex......

Yet the Rangers and Colorado and LA have no problems getting players, yet they haven't won anything either in the last 7 years. However what those organizations have are players who do not have to play to a certain system and can do whatever the hell they want. Plus being in bigger markets than us and you cannot deny it, we are not a big market, just located in the shadow of a big market.

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....and hasn't made it past the second round of the playoffs SINCE that 2003 Cup Run.... if you want to be a hard-ass organization like this one IS, and you DON'T win....people are certainly NOT gonna wanna play there.....it's not that complex......

it's true - the devils have had a lot of trouble signing free agents the past few years, and especially acquiring guys who've been here before.

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Lou might run a tight ship but most Ex-Devils rave about playing here. I guess it might be tied into winning and all the coaching changes.

But its ESPN, so take it with a grain of salt. And at least it wasnt an attendance issue lol.

Edited by devlman
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Guys, relax - it's just some players' opinion, we don't even know how big of a percentage it is.

The fact that we rarely sign the biggest UFA available is because: 1) Lou has a concept of building a TEAM and not just signing whoever is out there (like that guy across the river), 2) Even when trying to sign a UFA, Lou won't always give him the insane amount of money the guy commands.

I don't believe this "nobody wants to come to New Jersey" thing at all. It's about the money. If the GM doesn't offer you as much cash as the other one, you're not a charity - you'll probably take more money to play elsewhere. When he does offer big bucks (or at least something reasonable), players come - see: Volchenkov, Kovalchuk, Zubrus.

The history of players coming back only strengthens the point that this organisation is run in a very smart way - if it was awful here, players would only run away and never look back, definitely not coming back.

....and hasn't made it past the second round of the playoffs SINCE that 2003 Cup Run.... if you want to be a hard-ass organization like this one IS, and you DON'T win....people are certainly NOT gonna wanna play there.....it's not that complex......

We are still one of the very few clubs that have made the playoffs in every single post-lockout season. I know we demand more, but the current season shows you just how little it takes for a team to completely fall apart. We lost a lot of good players in the last few years and yet we're still in the playoffs every time. Who else can say that about his team?

Edited by Revan
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Fact of the matter is, every free agent we sign always demand a NTC. That and overpaying them are the only way we can get players here.

Players demand a NTC to sign with the Devils because they love New Jersey so much that they never want to leave. Obviously.

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