iamtheprodigy

It's okay as a Devils fan to root for the Isles to kick the Pens out of the playoffs, right?  Just for this round.

I would be doing this if I didn't happen to know an obnoxious Islanders fan. He ruined the team for me. Otherwise I like a good underdog story. The Islanders are pesky, but I hate them the least of our current division rivals.

Fleury is baaaaaaaad.

I don't feel like playing, but I just wanted to say that I enjoy sitting back and watching people screw up the formatting so that other people have to fix it.

I don't agree 100% with everything in the OP, but I much prefer this to the doom and gloom threads by a great margin. There are a few question marks about next year, such as whether Elias and Clarkson are re-signed, what happens with the back-up goalie position, etc., but I feel confident that Pete DeBoer and Lou will have us in the mix again and fighting for a playoff spot. I think we all have to start to accept that the playoffs will not be a guaranteed thing anymore. Red Wings fans might be learning that same lesson shortly. There just aren't powerhouse, playoffs-guaranteed-every-year teams like there used to be. A lot of the league's "elite" teams are clubs that were terrible 5 years ago and reaped the benefits of their high draft picks. The Devils used to be one of the special teams that always made it, but now that concept is fading away, and we will be in the middle of the struggle just like everyone else.

Well, I've never seen an NHL coach get kicked out of a game before. Rooney has no class. Throwing the coach out when there's 16 seconds left? Seriously? Obviously just an ego move for him. I don't care what Deboer said, he didn't throw anything on the ice or try to attack Rooney, so let him stand behind the bench and vent for the rest of the game.

To clarify, I am NOT saying that the Devils lost because of Rooney. I'm just saying that he's a terrible referee with no common sense. I don't think he has a personal vendetta against the Devils, I just think his incompetence in two big games for our team makes it seem that way.

And yeah, that game sucked. Oh well. I believe that the Devils will be right back in the mix next year. (Cue the doom and gloomers telling me that it will take 5+ seasons to recover from the loss of Parise)