MantaRay

During the 2001 SC playoffs Holik seemed to be always "indirectly" targeting Arnott and the A-line for their carefree and complacent attitude in the first round against Carolina, and every other series that went beyond a sweep.

Get Real, Where did you find out about the Stevens/A-Line bickering? I thought it was Holik vs Arnott? I also agree with the article in regard to Sykie and his raise. I remember reading on this site last season about Sykie being all about the money and chiding Elias. He always seemed to be ill in more games last season than what I remember from previous seasons as well. I also agree about Marty, he doesn't have to play every game. I love Marty, but Schwab better get to start at least one game this weekend!

I can't help but think Dopita would have better chemistry with Elias than Gomez & Friesen seem to have. It can' t hurt to give him a tryout, especially with Pando & Guolla out.

Kariya is an invitation to losing. I am sure his acquisition would make the Devils as successful as Anaheim. We would lose far much than we would gain to acquire him. He is not worth trading any of our players and with his contract is another liablility. We don't need an overpaid speed midget.

Bergy should play tonight, if Gomez can't play.

We are not trading any defensemen.

Is the father American? One would assume that his "father" is also his future agent and has lost some sort of "leverage" by alledged diaster. His son should take up knitting, checkers or baseball, something less demanding if he is that distaught. The league in turn should sue the heck out of the family for bringing this frivilous lawsuit.

Actually, if take in consideration games played, points and winning Pct, we are the 4th best team in the NHL. Marleau has been a disappointment for the Sharks because he can't finish. I would rather have Fredrik Modin, the guy has a canon if you recall the all-star game and is a responsible defensive player.

Acctutally, Devils are 9th in the league. But this season has gone off to a strange start... Minnesota first? Pittsburg 4th? Tampa 6th? Colorado 12? with healthy Forsberg? It is too early in the season to put standings into arguement. Wait till Feburary Actutally, Devils are 9th in the league. But this season has gone off to a strange start...

Excellent point, Chort. The only teams willing to do that is a team that is out of the playoffs around the trade deadline and the player is a UFA. My concern is your trading away a proven playoff performer in Nieds going into the playoffs. It doesn't make sense. We need Niedermayer for the playoffs, he plays big in big games.

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/nj8.html The Mad Dog

Niedermayer will not be traded, it really too silly to consider. The old sports axiom rings true: Defense wins championships. Lou has put together the NHL's best defensive unit. It is the strength of our team, it was what won the Cup's for us in 95 & 00. Why would you tear apart the strength of your team when it is the envy of 29 other teams? If we trade Nieds are we going to play Albelin in the 6th spot? Is that what you consider "improving the team"? We are 7-2 with the without a powerplay. Not a bad position to be in, especially since we have Elias, Nieuwendyk, Gomez, Tivo, and Rafalski. Its just a matter of time before they start to click or Burns will employ a better strategy. Why force a stupid trade when we don't have to. Geez, we are a bloddy top 5 team in the NHL. Look around the league is the grass that much greener for other teams? (or the ice that much whiter).

Interesting stats on the Maddenbrunner line from TFP article: Langenbrunner responded by getting his first two points of the year, Steve Guolla, filling in for Madden

(N)(N)Єverson will never write anything positive. He is bitter about covering the Devils and it shows. Lou must have snubbed him at one point because he certainly has it out for Lou on a personal level. If anything its a good laugh and his articles are better than nothing.

My whole grip is why couldn' t Lou package Zyzuin & Salommsson for a decent player we COULD use? Losing both for nothing is inexcusable. This guys were bargining chips for March!!!

Break-up the Pando-Langer-Madden line its unfair to the rest of the league. Madden-Langenbrunner have played great together

I like Bauman, he's get's the otherwise apathetic crowd going.

I think this also has more to do with the recession of the past two years that is catching up to everyone. Attendance seems to be down everywhere if you read the box scores.

What I look forward to in Newark is the easy transportation to the arena, via the PATH or NJTransit trains. I live 10 minutes away, yet because I got rid of my car, I have to go into NYC to get a bus to come back to NJ and the CAA.

I was wondering why the original piece was taken off over the summer. http://thefourthperiod.com/nj7.html Vindication: Over the summer, I reported in a piece that Bobby Holik turned down two other offers before signing with the Ranger$. I was forced to retract the story because Holik and his agent claimed it never happened. This week, Larry Brooks (the NHL Writers Association president) reiterated what I had written in his column this week in the New York Post and was a bit more demonstrative about it:

Smith made a lot of dumb moves which made his exit quick. Now he is just pointing fingers to get a new GM job.

MSG and FOX have some voids to fill, they should show some afternoon Rats and Wolfpack games. I watch the Titans on CN8, but we don't get them that often in Hoboken (Cablevision).

I think of the Wild as sort of the Devils of the West. Same system, coaching and philosophy. Jacque still has it. They are almost like a brother franchise to New Jersey. The Av's on the other hand are going to disappoint this year. They are not as deep and too dependant on Roy to save their bacon game in and game out.

Look at what Lemaire & Risebrough have done building a legit franchise...with less than a $75 million dollar payroll. Minnesota is on the right track. Young, talented and disciplined. Manny Fernandez is 5-0 this year!!!

http://nypost.com/sports/rangers/49794.htm HOLIK HIGHEST-PAID FOLLOWER IN HISTORY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 27, 2002 -- TORONTO - Bobby Holik says he wants to fit in with the Rangers, yet that's the last thing the organization should want from the centerman who spent the last decade tormenting the Blueshirts by exploiting every one of the franchise's psychological and physical infirmities. The Rangers don't need Holik to fit in and be a good soldier; a corporal marching lock step with a platoon on its way to a massacre. They need No. 16 to be a general, to lead and establish an example and attitude for a team that doesn't seem to have a clue how to succeed. Holik wasn't drafted by the Rangers. He volunteered for active duty. He wasn't a free agent who received a wild, Quintallian unsolicited offer that could not be refused. The fact is, Holik pursued the Rangers even more aggressively than the team pursued him on July 1. The Maple Leafs made Holik a five-year offer of $41 million. The Devils countered with a five-year offer worth $41.25 million, a sure indication of just how desperate Lou Lamoriello really was to retain his cornerstone pivot. It was at this point that Holik instructed his agent, Mike Gillis, to phone Glen Sather and tell the GM that the center would sign with the Rangers if they offered $45M over five years - not a penny less. Sather obliged. Holik signed. I'm as confused as anyone with the way in which Bryan Trottier has misused Holik. It doesn't make the slightest bit of sense to have Holik on the roster and not match him every game against the opposition's top center. Really; if the Rangers were not going to use Holik in this way, there was no reason whatsoever to sign him at any price, let alone $9M a year. In more than a quarter of a century of reporting on this sport, I'm not sure that I've ever quite seen anything like this. It is the Red Sox signing Mariano Rivera as a free agent in 1999 and using him in long relief; nothing less absurd than that. Still, this does not exonerate Holik for his contributions to the disastrous opening two weeks. Not only has he been anything but menacing, he's appeared timid. His decision-making has been dreadful on both sides of the puck. He's getting pushed around. He appears ill at ease both in and out of uniform. He won't speak out for fear of offending his teammates and employers. He's being a good soldier. He's not being a leader. His passivity is unattractive and unacceptable. Holik is a bright man who surely understood the difference in culture between Paterson Plank Road and Broadway. He knew what the Rangers represented. He chose to come, anyway; chose to leave the gulag for the bright lights. Holik says he's trying to fit in. Problem is, it seems he already has. He's a Ranger. It's what he wanted. Isn't it? * The Blues, who'd reached their payroll limit, are able to spend an additional $2.6M on Martin Rucinsky and Tom Barrasso because of the approximately $4.75M in insurance rebate they'll receive on the injured Chris Pronger's $9.5M contract. The decision to sign Barrasso, meanwhile, was a severe setback for Byron Dafoe, whose agent, Bryant McBride, had been conducting negotiations with St. Louis GM Larry Pleau. With the Blues out of the picture, Dafoe's only hope for employment might rest with Atlanta, an organization that's never shown much interest in its goaltending, but might now that management jobs are clearly in jeopardy. Meanwhile, we're told that Nashville coach Barry Trotz, also an endangered species, has informed his Predators that every one of them is available for trade. Maybe the Rangers could get David Legwand and then use him on the fourth line. * OK, so the NHL is not directly responsible for paying the deferred money owed former Sabres. We get that. And it is true that more than five years ago the league, disturbed by the proliferation of deferred-money deals, attempted to implement a mechanism that would have fully guaranteed such contracts against employer's financial setbacks. But it's just as true that the league did so unilaterally by board resolution, an act prohibited by the CBA. Faced with that situation, the NHLPA had no choice but to file a grievance. The league then withdrew its plan. It has not since been resurrected. And the PA continues to monitor the unfortunate situation in Buffalo. * Finally, it's a toss-up as who's more unpopular at the Garden - Sather, Trottier, Jim Dolan . . . or the new PA man.