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First Round: The Florida Panthers


Steven M.

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I've seen a fair share of Panthers hockey this year... It really is like everyone says, if you shutdown that top line then life will be much easier. Other guys to look out for are players like Kopecky, Goc, Bergenheim.They have a pretty active defense as far as offensive skill. Madden has played well for them. I think one thing we won't have to deal with, which a lot of times can frustrate the hell out of all of us, is on the PK they aren't as aggressive as an NYR, PHI, or PIT. How many times on the PP have we just been overwhelmed and not been able to set up? I don't think we'll have to deal with that one in this series. As far as Clemmensen's record against us, I wouldn't buy into that, I know it's easy to say that and say wow, but half our players nowadays don't even have any connection to him, he's just another goalie. It's not like he's got some mental edge on them.

EDIT: missed a word... d'oh

Edited by DevilsFanSteve30
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The fact is if people were ranking playoff teams Florida would be ranked 16th 95% of the time. They have a -24 goal differential in the worst division in the league.

If you have any sort of hope of this team making a legitimate deep playoff run, then the Devils have to wrap this series up in 5 games or less. If they struggle in this series, they are not a good team. Simple as that.

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If you have any sort of hope of this team making a legitimate deep playoff run, then the Devils have to wrap this series up in 5 games or less. If they struggle in this series, they are not a good team. Simple as that.

Eh, it could easily be a six-game series, especially since they have the Clemmensen factor and we've had trouble shutting down one great line this year - not just against the Panthers, we had trouble against the Lightning's top line as well as the Tavares line on LI. Seven would be troubling (especially with seven being on the road), but after four years of not winning a single round at the Rock I just want to see them win at least one playoff series this year, and not embarass themselves in the second round. They have every chance to at least do that, and if they don't then there'll be hell to pay. No excuses not to at least do that, with our deepest team in years.

And if we do get past the first round, the draw could get very interesting since the Caps and Senators have a winning record against the Bruins and Rangers this year.

Edited by NJDevs4978
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The fact is if people were ranking playoff teams Florida would be ranked 16th 95% of the time. They have a -24 goal differential in the worst division in the league.

If you have any sort of hope of this team making a legitimate deep playoff run, then the Devils have to wrap this series up in 5 games or less. If they struggle in this series, they are not a good team. Simple as that.

If the Devils win the series, I won't care that much about how they accomplished it.

Remember when the Penguins won their first Cup? The Devils were their first round opponent, and took them to seven games. The Devils weren't even a .500 team that season (32-33-15)...the Penguins had won the Patrick Division (albeit with just 88 points). When the Penguins won their second Cup, they were taken to seven games again in the first round, this time by the Capitals (who actually had a far superior regular season record to the Penguins that season).

Not saying the Devils are on their way to a Cup win, just that there's not much correlation between how a team fares in a first round series win to how they'll do beyond.

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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I wonder why they're waiting the extra day to start the playoffs. O well I hope they start on Wednesday as well.

I am just hoping because if it's on Thursday, the two friends I was going to take cannot go... I'd have to find a few other people to drag along or something.

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You guys keep saying Clemmensen, but nobody has confirmed he will start over Theodore. It's possible that we'll see Clemmensen given Clemmensen's strong record against the Devils, but Theodore is their official starting goalie until the Panthers say otherwise.

If I'm the Panthers, I start Clemmensen. He's got insight into the Devils shooting tendencies, he's been very solid recently, he has something to prove against his former team and he's done well against N.J. since he left. I think it's pretty much a no-brainer. But I hope I'm wrong.

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If I'm the Panthers, I start Clemmensen. He's got insight into the Devils shooting tendencies, he's been very solid recently, he has something to prove against his former team and he's done well against N.J. since he left. I think it's pretty much a no-brainer. But I hope I'm wrong.

Just cause I was bored,

only Parise, Elias, Zajac, Zubrus, Clarkson, Salvador and Greene are still on the team since Clemmensen played his last season in New Jersey in 08-09

Edited by Satans Hockey
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Florida fans are tossing the word "payback" around for the 2000 playoffs. :giggle:

That's sad on their part. It was 12 years ago, Marty and Patty are the only guys left. And Madden is on their team now. So payback. Right. :P

Edited by MadDog2020
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Clemmensen's better than Damian Rhodes, Kevin Weekes, Robert Esche and Brian Boucher, all of whom have beaten us in the playoffs. He's especially better against the Devils and has a major chip on his shoulder after we didn't play him for years and then threw him out after he finally proved himself for us.

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I know someone did this earlier, but I'll give it a shot.

Arena Conflicts:

Florida - Rammstein concert Friday Apr 20

New Jersey - Nets games Saturday Apr 14, Monday Apr 16, Wednesday Apr 18

My best guess for the schedule (even though we keep hearing a Thursday start):

Wed 4/11 at Fla

Fri 4/13 at Fla

Sun 4/15 at NJ

Tue 4/17 at NJ

Thu 4/19 at Fla

Sat 4/21 at NJ

Tue 4/23 at Fla

If it's a Thursday start, it pushes the whole series back by 2 days due to arena conflicts, and wouldn't end until Thu 4/25 at the latest (unless they schedule back-to-back games late in the series).

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Clemmensen's better than Damian Rhodes, Kevin Weekes, Robert Esche and Brian Boucher, all of whom have beaten us in the playoffs. He's especially better against the Devils and has a major chip on his shoulder after we didn't play him for years and then threw him out after he finally proved himself for us.

The chip of not being played couldn't have been too bad, since he came back to our minor league team AFTER we didn't play him.(And after he couldn't crack the Maple Leafs!) The reason he didn't get played in his first stint with the Devils may have been because he was terrible... 13 games in 05-06 with a 3.35gaa and a .881%, 6 games in 06-07 with a 3.15gaa and a .889% before he went to Toronto.

Then he had one good half season as a Devil, the end of which was less than impressive. He was losing starts to Kevin Weekes by the time Marty came back. And he didn't get 'thrown out'. He left because Lou wasn't going to give him big money to be a back up. His numbers is Florida are nothing special, either.

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I know someone did this earlier, but I'll give it a shot.

Arena Conflicts:

Florida - Rammstein concert Friday Apr 20

New Jersey - Nets games Saturday Apr 14, Monday Apr 16, Wednesday Apr 18

My best guess for the schedule (even though we keep hearing a Thursday start):

Wed 4/11 at Fla

Fri 4/13 at Fla

Sun 4/15 at NJ

Tue 4/17 at NJ

Thu 4/19 at Fla

Sat 4/21 at NJ

Tue 4/23 at Fla

If it's a Thursday start, it pushes the whole series back by 2 days due to arena conflicts, and wouldn't end until Thu 4/25 at the latest (unless they schedule back-to-back games late in the series).

This makes a lot more sense then starting on Thursday but we will find out in less the 40mins.

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I'm not saying the Devils were wrong not to play him, I'm saying he probably thinks we stunted his career by making him a four-games a year backup. Remember his 'I don't feel like I'm in the NHL' interview?

I meant him getting thrown out as in being sent back to the minors that season AFTER winning 25 games and being a big part of winning the division. And he's got a .910+ save percentage every year since going to Florida with 20+ starts a year, that's not terrible.

You can dismiss it all you want, he's played spectacular against us in his starts since leaving. I'm not saying we can't beat him, I'm saying we haven't gotten to him yet and that's not insignificant.

Edited by NJDevs4978
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Just cause I was bored,

only Parise, Elias, Zajac, Zubrus, Clarkson, Salvador and Greene are still on the team since Clemmensen played his last season in New Jersey in 08-09

Thanks for that, I was going to go back and pull that too. I understand Clemmensen has played well against us, and played well in general, but to think he has some insider knowledge or something is a little silly. New personnel and an entirely new system. I wouldn't put any stock into it.

, he has been playing well and will be a good test for our guys.
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