devspage

They were on the South Mt. schedule for practicing. I guess if they had had a good game they would have cancelled it? I brought this up in another thread, but it wasn't really related to the topic at hand so I'll do it here. I'm very fond of Burns and think he's the perfect coach for this team. But I hope he's trying to learn his players and how to get what from whom, cause it's certainly a big part of his job.

No, this wasn't particularly a shot at Stevens. We all know Sykora could have played and chose not to, because "he didn't have his speed." I know Stevens wasn't happy about it, and why should he have been? (There IS something specific that I'm thinking of but I can't figure out what context it was in.) Syk was wrong. Cause we needed his shot more than his speed. But I do think Stevens will appreciate this game. And he certainly knows Syk well enough to know how to play him. I'm still a big Sykora fan. I'm just looking at this logically. I expect Sykora to have a bad game. He is one of the most emotional players I've ever seen play the game. And coming back is gonna be pretty rough on him. He'll have some fans in the stands tho. So watch I'm wrong and he gets a hatty. I really wanna see Elias line against Syk's line. That would be sweet.

I was so busy being happy about it, that I didn't even consider the reasons for it. OK, so right now you've got Forsberg struggling. I don't think he's scored in a few games (but I'm not tied to the stats, so please don't shoot me if I'm wrong). Do you think the Avs fans are calling for Foppa to be traded like some Devils fans are through minimal games this year re: Elias or Nieds? I think we're WAY too quick to jump on guys who are struggling. Esp. when other parts of their game ARE working. Yes, we need Elias to score. And we'd love Nieds to score. Obviously, they know it, we know it, the guys who sweep up at CAA know it. But I'm not willing to give up key pieces of our unit, because of struggling. Right now, I'd say it's up to Burns to help the guys out who are struggling. As the coach, you figure out how to best work with your players (some want coddling, some need tough talk, some need -- hell I don't know I'm not the coach) and then you get the most out of them. We have a LOT of talent on this team. We have talent on our team capable of doing things that guys in the league aren't. And while it's not showing it offensively, it is showing defensively (I'll just call Edmonton an aberration for the moment).

Nope, there hasn't been anything like that. On the track that the media insists on using re: Sykora and Arnott. Did he not play great hockey for the Devils after they were traded last year? I think that's when any bad feelings would have surfaced. Did he not express happiness about getting his deal? He's struggling now. He's still double-teamed by teams and he hasn't figured his way out of it. (Although the best thing I've seen this year was him working with Berglund the other day.) Yes, it's up to him to do it. But no, I don't see anything like what the media and now Faceoff insists on focusing on.

Think Stevens wants a shot at Sykie? He was publicly upset with the Sykmeister's lack of heart after last year. This is gonna be good. I'm so glad I'm off.

I think Dopita's a little better than all three of those guys. And a couple more we have. I understand that he hasn't proven anything. That's why it would be a gamble. But we're nothing if not gamblers...

Yep, PK's got the right end of the hockey stick. He would be considerably better than Guolla. (Sorry Stevie, I like ya, but we got enough fourth-liners).

Hmmm, that is an intriguing possibility. I think his rep is that of a bit of a headcase. But if he's on waivers, it might be a good op. He's one of those guys that I've always expected more from than he's produced. Maybe it was the sit-u-a-tion.

Schwab playing twice a week is HIGHLY unlikely. Esp. since Marty's been playing pretty well. No, there's no clause in the contract... it's the way Devils hockey works. Three games in the week. I seriously doubt Schwab gets two starts. And frankly, I prefer it that way.

So you guys want Schwab starting twice next week? That doesn't make a lot of sense either.

It's not going to be Tuesday on two days' rest. There's a back-to-back Friday-Saturday with the Habs, obviously it will be then.

I don't think most people think "all is wonderful in Devils land." Speaking for me, and I think what most do think is just that we want to support the team that's on the ice. There are quite a few teams with less than what we have. We've been pretty spoiled by what we have been and gotten in recent years. It doesn't mean we don't realize that a big body, a net crasher, a sniper wouldn't be a great and wonderful thing embraced by us for the team. It just means that we're not gonna chock the season up as a big suck, because we don't have every last thing we need. We got a lot of talent here. If our talent here got some goals, their confidence would grow as well.

We are certainly capable of coming back from a two-goal deficit. Gotta work it tho. I see Gomez and Elias were on the ice with Nieuwy for the second. Were lines changed or was it a bad line change?

The Rats have two power-play goals tonight. Things that make you go... figures!

Danton looks like he's crying in his.

I feel for ya. That was my life as a Devils fan for EIGHT years -- in fact, I didn't have computer until the last two so it was considerably worse than that. You can always catch the complete recap on devils-list@badweb.com or it'll be put up next week at the Crasher Line Devils Recaps. (This one will be late though, I gotta work until 2 before I do it.)

Hahaha!!!

As always Bill, thanks for the info... and the hard work and sharing!!

We have some serious trade bait -- Gionta, Danton, Berglund. A couple of these could be packaged for some size. They all have something special to offer, but that's why they all have trade value as well.

I just watched Jackie Brown. Man, Jackson can recite those Tarantino lines like nobody's f'n bizness!!!!

I am ROARING over this. Really great, T. And not only that but it really is the best way to explain it.

I'm thinking the Devils offense gets it going today too. I see five goals for us, cause when we've gotten it going this year, it's been five... They're not gonna get as many. Also, after the way he was playing against Philly and crashing the net, I think it's Nieds' day. It was similar to the way Jamie played very well in Buffalo and then came home and helped down the Hawks.

Positive thinking!!! We don't know how the universe works... I don't want to be self-defeating. I have this cockamamie theory that maybe what we do as fans DOES influence the outcome of games. Who can tell? Here are my big examples: In 2000, we won the Cup because sentiment was in our favor after Sykora got roasted. But in 2001, it looked like we were gonna win but didn't cause the sentiment was bogged down in Bourque-ese. Did the Yankes lose last year because peoples Yankee hatred finally outweigh the spirit of Yankee fans countrywide? And did the Yankees last that long -- extend the series by two games in the Bronx -- because the New Yorkers wanted it soooooo badly? It seemed pretty magical. In fact, they lost the series, but I will never forget those two games. I mean, obviously teams gotta go out and there and do the job. But maybe the vibes sent one way or the other help push it over the edge. I know it's nuts, but we don't know how the universe works...

They're a great team. I think it's so great that Jamie's fit in so well as part of Line Maddenbrunner, though. Cause unfortunately Joey won't be playing much longer and it's GREAT to have Jamie ensconsed on one kickass line!

The biggest most glaring hole being the statement that Sykora is showing "speed he never showed on the Devils." Hmmmm... me thinketh there's something wrong with that comment. About 10 things wrong with it actually. If he was back with the Devils he would suddenly show it? He saved all his speed to be a Ducky?