Devil Dan 56

I'm 29. Sometimes I play video games after a long day of work. Sorry if some of us wanted to discuss NHL 11, which many of us will play, instead of moping about a team that didn't care enough to show up in the playoffs. Oh, and don't play the 'real fan' card here. This board is full of die hards. We have all summer to talk about how we can all magically fix this team.

That last quote seems to say (going from the translation) that the Devil's contract would override the one he supposedly signed. Possibly part of the new transfer agreement? Or maybe his new contract has an out clause?

Oh yeah, it definitely used to be Hughson. I remember what a big deal it was when they added play by play. Does anyone play the 2k series? Who are their announcers?

They use Gary Thorne and Bill Clement.

I doubt it would be a Devil. Maybe Miller. They haven't used a goalie since I think 1997 (Beezer). I wouldn't be shocked to see Kopitar.

I'd prefer if he called him 'unemployed'.

If Lou really means this, then I guess he is officially off of his rocker.

He tried to steal game 3. The team wasn't in the mood. He was playing his heart out in Game 4 until Philly (and the defense) finally got the best of him. If those aren't good enough, there's still a warrant out for him for stealing Game 5 last season. How soon some people forget the 40-something save 1-0 shutout.

I lost my appetite watching that team last night.

Any proof to the rumor that Josefsen signed an extension in Sweden?

Yeah. I didn't notice Pando on the ice at all this series...

Sutter was supposed to be that consistency, but he missed the moo-moo cows.

Yeah. Yann Danis clearly would have had the shutout in Games 1 and 4 so we could win those 1-0. He would have atleast made it so the team could win game 3 by a score of 2-1. And he CERTAINLY would have magically come up with a win tonight, when his offense got shut out. Yes, Marty is done and another goalie would have come up with the wins this series. Can you back this up with anything other than 'hey we got eliminated so Marty sucks'?

What this team really needed was a whiny captain who decided not to show up for the playoffs because the dinosaur coach made him take the airplane to Carolina when he would rather have been sitting at home and reading the funnies? Cause that's what we got from him.

Then why did you feel a need to make this troll-worthy thread? AGAIN... tell me what goalie would have won this series with an offense that would only put up 8 goals in 5 games?

Whats getting annoying is people who check the boxscore and decide that Brodeur has to go. Because clearly you didn't watch this series if you blame Marty. And yet we should keep Lemaire because, well, we replace the coach too often? Well thought out. Please, please, please tell me what goalie was going to pull 4 wins out of a team scoring 2 goals a game? Yeah, Clemmensen has really kept that magic going.

I'm pulling for underdogs!! Always a fun time. As long as it ain't Philly, Pitt or Vancouver.

The team was struggling before the trade, Oduya was injured for 15 of those games and had 4 points in 40 games, and Bergfors was having major problems scoring, too. Like I said, no one knew a 50 goal scorer would not help. In the rare occasions you can acquire a guy like Kovalchuk, you do it. It's a lose-lose situation, because if he DIDN'T go for Kovalchuk, everyone would bemoan the fact that the Devils never make the big move to put them over the top, like in 2008 and 2009 when we got Salvador and Havelid respectively. Kovy wants to win, he plays hard, and he's factored in on 6 of our 9 playoff goals. If instead of 2 goals and 4 assists, it was 4g and 2a, he'd be a hero.

Yup, and now what is Carolina doing? Management never announced a rebuild, but they are clearly trying to build a certain kind of team and at the same time remain competitive. In 2008, everyone flipped out when Lou didn't go for Hossa because the price was too high. This year, Lou felt the time had come to win and went for Kovy. Maybe he was right and Lemaire messed up, or maybe he misread the team. You have to give to get. Who is going to replace Stevens or Niedermayer? Getting a Stevens would be like getting Drew Doughty now. Since this team does not tank, as HellOnIce pointed out, you have to find shrewd ways to acquire players like that and still remain competitive. Niedermayer was a huge gamble. If Toronto was a little worse, we may have gotten Lindros in the draft that year. What if the Devils picked Pat Falloon instead of Nieds? Kurvers was a 50-point d-man. What if Niedermayer wasn't that good? I'm just saying, it took Lou 8 years to pull that team into a Cup team for the first time. He used the same core for the next 2 cups. Finding a new core can be difficult. I'm frustrated, too, but the man built one dynasty. That team is gone for the most part. He's attempting a second one before he retires. There will come a time when we have a run of the mill GM, and we'll have plenty of extreme ups and downs for everyone to enjoy like Carolina or Anaheim or Tampa or even better, Atlanta or the Islanders.

Doesn't matter how big the beard is if they don't show up for the game. I think Marty's trying to say luck has nothing to do with it. WE HAVE THE TOOLS!! WE HAVE THE TALENT!!

As CRASHER stated, Lou held out for Stevens in the Shanahan arbitration deal. He traded Kurvers to Toronto for what ended up being the 3rd overall pick in the draft that year, selecting Niedermayer. Lou also traded down in the 1990 draft, allowing the Flames to take Trevor Kidd so the Devils could take Brodeur later. Now, you say he hasn't put a cup contender together since Stevens and Nieds left. OK. So what you are asking is for a GM in the NHL, where there is now a salary cap, to somehow replace 2 Hall of Famers, and the heart and soul of the team (Daneyko) in 6 years, during which you lose an All-Star defenseman (Rafalski) and your top playmaking center (Gomez) because they wanted the big bucks. That's a tall order. Keep in mind during this time, he traded up to get Parise, made a blockbuster for Kovalchuk (which is the big move everyone says he doesn't have the guts to pull off, and in their 20/20 hindsight claim to be a bad move), traded a goon (Cam) for a steady stay-at-home defenseman (Salvador), signed Elias long-term in 06, signed one of the most coveted free agents on the market in 2008 (Rolston which admittedly hasn't panned out), plus drafted a bunch of defensemen who could be big parts of this team in the future (Burlon, Corrente, Eckford, Urbom, Gelinas) etc etc. Sure the formula hasn't produced another cup yet, but check out how some of the other cup winners since we won our cup are doing... Detroit and Pittsburgh look good, but how about Tampa, Carolina, and Anaheim? We are still in the middle of the smoothest rebuild you'll ever see. Lou thought this was the year, and he pulled the trigger. My guess is given the choice, he'd do it again. It sure worked out when he traded for Mogilny 10 years ago.

He should loan Niedermayer to some Russian team to prove that he's serious.

Me neither. Especially with Flyers fans in attendance. Plus, I got 80 bucks worth of food card to spend! Who wants a pretzel?!?

Yes. It was a free ride because Lou had nothing to do with getting Brodeur, Stevens, or Niedermayer...

All I ask is that they come out with some fire and passion. If they lose while playing their best, fine. But I can't take another half-hearted effort. Of course, if they play well, they should win no doubt.