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on November 11, when Minnesota comes to town, what do we do to Zach?


snartly

  

102 members have voted

  1. 1. What should we do when Parise comes back to Jersey

    • Boo at him every time he touches the puck
    • applaud him before the game for all of his work for the devils
    • Chant "Kovy's better"


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Not to mention Zach probably pulled the wool over Marty and Sal's eyes too, when they were both calling trying to get him to stay and both seemed optomistic that he was. They could have been blowing smoke publicly too but there was really no benefit for them to do so if they had an idea Zach was going to be gone in a day or two. I'm sure the guys in his locker room were real thrilled to hear him talking about playing with his buddy Suter as opposed to them, his friends in the red and white for years.

Of course you'll never get anything publicly out of them other than a few feisty tweets from Marty's kids. I don't think it's a coincidence you haven't heard one peep out of any player since Zach walked, it's total lockdown mode.

Or maybe Sal kept quiet when asked about Zach and only choosing to say that he "was too closet to the situation to comment" because Zach had told him he was leaning to go home to his family in Minny. That is very probable when you think about it.

Total lockdown mode? Come on now. Reporters don't call players up in the summer usually for some quotes. It's not something that's done often. On the surface it also doesn't seem like any of the beat writers have any close relationship with the players at all for that to happen. The only guy who might is TG, and he has been out of commission for the last week.

I doubt any of the players were really convincing him to stay either. Most players respect the decision and process since they have all gone through it. Being in contact doesn't mean pleading to stay.

Edited by devilsrule33
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I would react the same way I do when Kyle Brodziak plays the puck...

I wouldn't cheer or boo. He was a great Devil, he spurned us...but not for the Rags or Flyers. He went out west, he went home for a ton of money. This is not a Gomez/Holik thing

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I'm with Rowdy, dr33, '7', etc.

He didn't sign with the Rangers. He didn't sign with the Flyers. He didn't even stay in the division. Hell, he didn't even stay in the conference.

Sure, he said "We" a couple times while still under contract. Big whoop. And he said "Don't worry" one time. I'm not even sure what that means, but they're both a pretty far cry from "I pinky swear that I'll be a Devil for life." "We" and "Don't worry" carry a lot less weight than hiring a team of agents and going to July 1, IMO, so anyone who was blindsided by this was trying way too hard to convince themselves that Zach would stay.

In this era of professional sports, the second someone hires an agent we fans have to start mentally preparing ourselves for their departure. It sucks, but it's just the nature of being a sports fan now. If they end up staying, then great. It makes you appreciate the player all the more for it (like Elias). But if they leave, at least you're a little more prepared for the reality of it. Just a suggestion, take it or leave it.

In the end, Zach is worth nothing remotely close to the contract he got, so I'm glad he's gone in that respect. I've been fearful for the last couple years of the notion of locking Zach up to some long term, big money deal because the writing is on the wall. He's a small guy and plays a style that absorbs a ton of punishment. When injuries and/or age bring on a decline in his skills, he'll be Jay Pandolfo. I loved Pando, but not for $7.5M/year.

We're better off.

Best of luck to Zach out west. He gave us some good memories and no real great ones.

Now back to your regularly scheduled venting ...

Edited by DaneykoIsGod
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I'm with Rowdy, dr33, '7', etc.

He didn't sign with the Rangers. He didn't sign with the Flyers. He didn't even stay in the division. Hell, he didn't even stay in the conference.

Sure, he said "We" a couple times while still under contract. Big whoop. And he said "Don't worry" one time. I'm not even sure what that means, but they're both a pretty far cry from "I pinky swear that I'll be a Devil for life." "We" and "Don't worry" carry a lot less weight than hiring a team of agents and going to July 1, IMO, so anyone who was blindsided by this was trying way too hard to convince themselves that Zach would stay.

In this era of professional sports, the second someone hires an agent we fans have to start mentally preparing ourselves for their departure. It sucks, but it's just the nature of being a sports fan now. If they end up staying, then great. It makes you appreciate the player all the more for it (like Elias). But if they leave, at least you're a little more prepared for the reality of it. Just a suggestion, take it or leave it.

In the end, Zach is worth nothing remotely close to the contract he got, so I'm glad he's gone in that respect. I've been fearful for the last couple years of the notion of locking Zach up to some long term, big money deal because the writing is on the wall. He's a small guy and plays a style that absorbs a ton of punishment. When injuries and/or age bring on a decline in his skills, he'll be Jay Pandolfo. I loved Pando, but not for $7.5M/year.

We're better off.

Best of luck to Zach out west. He gave us some good memories and no real great ones.

Now back to your regularly scheduled venting ...

A non confrontational way of having a different view, that's not allowed :P

The only premise I'll argue is that hiring an agent does not equate to being gone. 99% of players have agents, including the ones who stay. Admittedly, when Zach hired Arnott as his agent, I had no idea of him being a part of a Toronto company with Meehan involved until maybe a week or two before FA. At the time, it was just 'one' agent with a loose tie to the Devils. If I'd known Meehan was involved I probably would have had more of a doom and gloom feel.

Edited by NJDevs4978
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I'm with Rowdy, dr33, '7', etc.

...

Now back to your regularly scheduled venting ...

Thank you for stating your opinion but not acting like everyone who disagrees with you is an idiot. The board is more fun when people are just giving opinions and not acting like they're smarter than everyone else.

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A non confrontational way of having a different view, that's not allowed :P

The only premise I'll argue is that hiring an agent does not equate to being gone. 99% of players have agents, including the ones who stay. Admittedly, when Zach hired Arnott as his agent, I had no idea of him being a part of a Toronto company with Meehan involved until maybe a week or two before FA. At the time, it was just 'one' agent with a loose tie to the Devils. If I'd known Meehan was involved I probably would have had more of a doom and gloom feel.

That's fair. And I probably overstated the agent part. For some reason, this whole 2011-12 season I've been reluctant about Zach. My fiancee wanted a jersey, and when she mentioned maybe getting PARISE #9 on it I told her to wait until this summer. With every goal he scored, I told myself, "I've gotta enjoy it while I can, this might be my last chance." By the same token, every time he took a weak wrister from more than 10' out, got knocked down by someone bigger, got outskated by someone faster, I told myself, "I wouldn't miss this."

Maybe it was the new agent that did it. Maybe not. Maybe I was just numb from all the pain of seeing guys like Nieds, Gomer, and Raf wearing different sweaters, and telling myself I won't get fooled again. Maybe I'm just tired of mourning the loss of an athlete, and having people tell me, "Dude, stop pissing on that jersey, it's just a game."

Of all the player defections we've endured, Gomez still stung the most. It was just a pure cash grab from our biggest rivals. Zach said "No way" about the Rangers, kept his word on it, turned down more money from the Flyers, turned down Sid and the Pens, and ultimately went home. I couldn't hate Rafalski for going home. Why would I hate Zach for it?

To each their own, but I just built up such an indifference to him that I don't care to boo him. The Rangers, meanwhile, suck, have always sucked, and will forever continue to define the word "suck".

Good luck, Zach. Eat sh!t, Messier.

Edited by DaneykoIsGod
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Of all the player defections we've endured, Gomez still stung the most. It was just a pure cash grab from our biggest rivals. Zach said "No way" about the Rangers, kept his word on it, turned down more money from the Flyers, turned down Sid and the Pens, and ultimately went home. I couldn't hate Rafalski for going home. Why would I hate Zach for it?

Of course I hated Gomez going to a rival, but all season I felt like there was no way he was re-signing here. On the other hand, Zach was feeding us lines about wanting to re-sign here. Maybe I'm a sucker for believing him, but he kept giving me hope, while it was clear Gomez was leaving.

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Holik going to the Rangers was far worse than Gomez going to the Rangers, or at least it felt that way at the time. Partly because he had a rare skill set (big body who played physical and scored 25+ goals a year) but also because him going to the Rangers felt more like a 'fvck you Lou' move, especially after how annoyed he got during arbitration and after it came out that we actually offered Holik $8-8.5 million per year and he went to the Rangers for $500k more just to stick it to Lou.

Plus Gomez going to the Rangers provided the classic NJDevs 'I told you so' of all time when SatansDevils had been screaming for weeks he'd never go there and he talked to his buddies lol.

Edited by NJDevs4978
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Of all the player defections we've endured, Gomez still stung the most. It was just a pure cash grab from our biggest rivals. Zach said "No way" about the Rangers, kept his word on it, turned down more money from the Flyers, turned down Sid and the Pens, and ultimately went home. I couldn't hate Rafalski for going home. Why would I hate Zach for it?

Actually, Gomer really didn't bother me that much. Neither did Holik. I think because the offers were so ridiculous for both of them...I never thought they would live up to their deals. I was never nervous about the fact that they were going to the Rangers. I actually found Gomer's press conference laughable, in that everyone involved came off as though they assumed Gomer was just automatically going to become a more productive player because he was signing with the Rangers.

As for Zach, those who hate him for leaving will find reasons to do so. I can understand why...he was popular, he was productive, and it stings to see him go, but like you say, I didn't want him back at the price the Wild paid for him.

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As for Zach, those who hate him for leaving will find reasons to do so. I can understand why...he was popular, he was productive, and it stings to see him go, but like you say, I didn't want him back at the price the Wild paid for him.

I will cheer him as well, this was a silly contract and I am glad we didnt' try to match this.

Good Luck Zach, thanks for your efforts.

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I will cheer him as well, this was a silly contract and I am glad we didnt' try to match this.

Good Luck Zach, thanks for your efforts.

Didn't say I would cheer him. I'll probably be indifferent if I go to that game.

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The fans will boo, and that is there prerogative, but I am pretty sure that doesn't look good for the players on the team then. They know Parise isn't overrated, or Kovy isn't better. And they like and respect Zach as one of the hardest working players in the game. I'm sure they'd react more positively if fans cheered Zach.

But if fans are going to boo, at least come up with something creative to voice your displeasure.

I bet a lot of the players aren't too thrilled with Zach, either. I don't think they'd mind seeing him booed!

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Didn't say I would cheer him. I'll probably be indifferent if I go to that game.

My mistake. But I will still cheer him, he wore our colors with pride. I have no beef with his decision.

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haha It's funny seeing how different everyone reactions were to guys like Gomer and Holik leaving compared to Zach. It's such an individualized thing.

For me, seeing Martin leave for Pittsburgh stung more than seeing Parise go to Minny. But then again, I was a huge Martin fan, and to see him leave Jersey just to go to the most stacked team in the league -- which happened to be in our division -- pissed me off something fierce. If anything, I expected that if he left it'd be to go home like Zach did.

With Gomez, I think I talked myself into believing he'd actually stay. I mean, why else would he say "Save me a seat!" in the Prudential Center video thingy? :doh1::lol:

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Of course I hated Gomez going to a rival, but all season I felt like there was no way he was re-signing here. On the other hand, Zach was feeding us lines about wanting to re-sign here. Maybe I'm a sucker for believing him, but he kept giving me hope, while it was clear Gomez was leaving.

This is how I feel about Gomez as well. With Gomez, I felt there was literally 0 chance he was re-signing here. The main thing that stung about Gomez was where he went. He also decided within 5 minutes of FA opening it seemed and never gave me any thought that he was even considering signing here. Zach was a lot different. I personally felt that he was going to leave, but I had been preparing for it all year so I expected the worst. The only respite from Zach leaving is where. Gomez also wasn't a captain and we weren't 2 games from a cup when he bolted.

I rank the sting of guys leaving like this:

1. Niedermayer 2. Parise 3. Holik 4. Gomez

I only count those four because the other guys who have left, we mostly knew they were going and the consensus was that it wasn't a big deal. Madden was my favorite player when he was here, so that one stung personally, but I didn't hate the guy (nor do I) because it was an expected departure.

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haha It's funny seeing how different everyone reactions were to guys like Gomer and Holik leaving compared to Zach. It's such an individualized thing.

For me, seeing Martin leave for Pittsburgh stung more than seeing Parise go to Minny. But then again, I was a huge Martin fan, and to see him leave Jersey just to go to the most stacked team in the league -- which happened to be in our division -- pissed me off something fierce. If anything, I expected that if he left it'd be to go home like Zach did.

With Gomez, I think I talked myself into believing he'd actually stay. I mean, why else would he say "Save me a seat!" in the Prudential Center video thingy? :doh1::lol:

I felt the same about Martin as I did about Gomer and Holik. It's funny when you think about how quickly those contracts became bad ones for their employers.

I think Zach would've stung more if he took a lot less money to go to the Wild...his contract makes it a lot easier to let it go (for me anyway).

Niedermayer hurt a little, but that was one that just seemed like it was coming. With Zach, I thought it was 50-50. I never really read too much into anything he said.

I've been trying to think of the Devils I've been watching all of these years, and I think the only ones that could've left that REALLY would've bummed me out had they left in their Devil primes were Marty and Stevens. Daneyko leaving would've been weird, but I don't know if it would've hit me as hard. I remember being very upset and almost feeling sick when MacLean made his trade request known in a pre-game show. It's not like I just automatically expect that big names are going to leave, because big names stay here too...I guess I've seen this team (and other franchises) bounce back from losing key players...the Armageddon so many predict when a Parise-type leaves doesn't happen nearly as much as people think. Losing Reyes was supposed to kill the Mets...it hasn't.

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Paul Martin is not a bad contract for the Penguins, I'm tired of reading this. Yeah, his play fell off a bit this year, but he is still a very solid defenseman who plays capably in all 3 zones and has an excellent breakout pass. I'm not lamenting his loss at all - I think Tallinder is a much better value contract - but that contract isn't impeding the Pens.

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Paul Martin is not a bad contract for the Penguins, I'm tired of reading this. Yeah, his play fell off a bit this year, but he is still a very solid defenseman who plays capably in all 3 zones and has an excellent breakout pass. I'm not lamenting his loss at all - I think Tallinder is a much better value contract - but that contract isn't impeding the Pens.

It's not a good value. Didn't say it was impeding the Pens either.

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It's not a good value. Didn't say it was impeding the Pens either.

I think Martin's vastly overrated and overpaid, but his contract is not a bad value. He has only a limited no trade clause, and I think there are enough teams that would give the Penguins something valuable if they were going to trade for him. I could see a competitive team trading a low first round/high second round pick for him.

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Actually, Gomer really didn't bother me that much. Neither did Holik. I think because the offers were so ridiculous for both of them...I never thought they would live up to their deals. I was never nervous about the fact that they were going to the Rangers. I actually found Gomer's press conference laughable, in that everyone involved came off as though they assumed Gomer was just automatically going to become a more productive player because he was signing with the Rangers.

As for Zach, those who hate him for leaving will find reasons to do so. I can understand why...he was popular, he was productive, and it stings to see him go, but like you say, I didn't want him back at the price the Wild paid for him.

IIRC, Gomer and Drury arrived in the same offseason, and had a dual press conference. They flipped a puck for the #23 jersey....

:puke:

I will cheer him as well, this was a silly contract and I am glad we didnt' try to match this.

Good Luck Zach, thanks for your efforts.

Myself and about 17,000 others will be sure to drown out your applause with the most deafening chorus of boos The Rock has EVER seen!

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Soeaking of people we were shocked to see go, I remember being pretty blindsided by Gionta going to Montreal. I mentioned this somewhere on Page 2, but I see Parise as only a notch or two above Gio in terms of "shock value" and damage to the franchise. I'll leave the advanced sabermetrics to those far better at it, but a quick glace at the biggies show the following:

Gionta (not counting 01-02 when he played half in NJ, half in Albany)

6 seasons as a Devil

148 goals

153 Assists

301 Points

Parise (not counting 10-11 when he missed all but 13 games)

6 seasons as a Devil

194 goals

216 assists

410 points

Now, it's obvious Parise is a different caliber player than Gionta, but how much of one is he really? Is it that much different? When Gio left, there were some upset people but now that Zach's gone, the entire board is aflame with outrage. Is he really worht that much rage? How about this comparison:

Playoff Gionta (again, not counting 01-02)

67 games as a Devil

19 goals

21 assists

40 points

Playoff Parise

61 games played

21 goals

22 assists

43 points

Sure, it's a small sample size, but those stats are almost dead even, yet when Gio left there was suprise and hurt but now that Zach is gone, we have posters pissing on Parise jerseys. And yes, Parise was our captain but Gio wore the A. I guess it just goes to show how much he meant to us on an emotional level. We had man crushes on him and he broke up with us. That's fair! But when you look at it objectively, as many of my non-Devil fan friends have come up to me and said, it's not the worst thing in the world to happen to the organization. It sucks, no doubt about it, but it's something that can be overcome.

And one more thing. I firmly believe the fans can be as pissed off as they want about this. Nobody can or should tell you how to feel. You feel like booing him on the 11th, boo away. I just find the universal outrage absolutely fascinating. Maybe it's just the exposure of the internet or how easily it is to be caught up in the anger, but I've never seen Devil fan backlash like this before. This trumps the Gomez defection, which still remains, in my opinion, the biggest FU a player has ever done to this franchise.

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It's not a good value. Didn't say it was impeding the Pens either.

It is a decent value. Matt Carle just got 6 years/5.5 million per season. Paul Martin has 3 years left at 5M. Has he transformed magically into the 50 point defender people thought he might? No, but that's not what Pittsburgh was paying for. I know their fans are unhappy with him, but their fans are also dumb.

Re: Gionta - the writing was on the wall there. I don't think anyone thought he would stay, and I don't think Lou ever made an offer for him. NJ had Elias, Rolston, Parise, and Langenbrunner as top 4 wings, with Bergfors coming off a good season in the AHL and possibly able to contribute.

Edited by Triumph
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