mouse

Not to speak for anyone else, but I'm relieved for Weekes. I didn't see him playing again this year either way, since they called Clemmer up. I'm just glad he didn't need surgery.

I saw a Pens fan at work today, and I figured he was gonna talk trash, and the first thing he said was "the officials were crap." Even he was emabarrassed they got that much help. Don't get me wrong, we sh@t the bed again, and would have lost either way playing like that (especially Marty, I thought the forecheck looked better for a little bit), but the calls should be close to even. Officiating shouldn't matter at all, in the NHL surviving bad calls is a prereq for success, unless you have Crosby.

Hence a young player could help. They don't have the same type of nerves. Pelley might be a perfect fit -- he's been here before.

Because to break out of a losing streak, something needs to go right. To quote Doc and Chico, you need help from the unseen hand. When you're tight, nervous, and playing badly to begin with, little things breaking the other way compound the problem. The Devils are good enough to overcome botched calls when they're playing right. When they aren't, they need something to break their way. Last night, a couple things in a row didn't when it was still close (Dog hitting the post, the no call on the high stick, a soft roughing that led to the third gaol). Hopefully a bad Tampa team's what we need to get our confidence back so we can go back to overcoming the crap from the refs.

This is bad, but Marty's let in some soft ones and the officiating's been terrible. The Rags game was worse.

This is the worst officiating I've ever seen in my life.

The team's been fine tonight. Marty's the problem.

Please bench Marty

They're not even gonna review it? This is an embarrassment to the game of hockey.

Jesus Christ, attack the refs or the Penguins, not another DEVILS fan

+1 We need to overcome the bad officiating, which doesn't mean it hasn't blown.

See what happens if anybody touches Cindy though

The team has played all right. Marty's been the problem. He'll be fine.

Fvck

Mysterious lower body injury

I don'w want to jinx it, but it looks like their swagger's back.

Thank you Jesus

They gotta get in there for the rebounds, decent shot by Shanny

Forget the fact that Havelid has been lousy, has anybody else noticed that Salvador started playing his worst hockey since they paired up?

First one you can live with -- bad play by Havelid. Second? Inexcusable. Is it the injury?

All we need to do is finish 7-8. Is that mathematically possible now?

I'd like to see them switch Clarkson and Shannahan. Clarkie brings some toughness to that line, which they're lacking with Rolston. Dog and Rolston force Clarkson to actually play offense instead of just hitting everything in sight. Shanny's a good 4th liner, but not much else. Rupp should stay IMO, Pando's not skating that much better, and Rupp can at least hit. If the lines from practice stay intact, I'd like to see the 4th on the ice more. When he plays smart, Clarkie can be real valuable, I don't want to see him buried. He should be off the PP, but Sutter needs to make sure he gets decent ice time even strength.

I'm not sure I agree with that, but even if it is true, ZZPop's a better top line this year than EGG was that season. Gomez heated up in the playoffs, but Gio wasn't great after the injury. I don't think the people saying call up Clemmer are that stupid. Marty clearly shouldn't be replaced, but he could use a day off. More importantly, the team needs to be shaken up, and aside from the hangover game against Carolina, the team has absolutely brought it when they haven't played Marty. Not saying it has to be Clemmer, but playing him or Weekes for a game might not hurt. I'd like to see everybody get woken up a little before the games matter. Hopefully last night did it, but they could use a reminder of what they did to get here when Marty was hurt. This is no insult to Marty, but psychology for the rest of the team. On a less serious note, trade Zajac for Pepe, we need a spark

So, I've been as compulsively negative as anyone (just read my posts from the GDT last night). That said, this team is good. Part of the reason I'm so frustrated is we're better than that. Last year, I couldn't be THAT mad, cause we played over our heads for a couple months. We just came back down to earth. This year, we should go into every game expecting to win. Sure we're gonna lose some, but we can beat anyone in the league when we play our game. When the team survived without Marty, I was comparing Langs to Stevens. I never said he was as good, but holding the team together and eventually getting them to play like superstars was one of the best things I've ever seen a captain do. Now he has another chance to prove himself. If we can't right the ship, he's still a legit captain, but nothing special. If he can, and we go deep in the playoffs, he can be 1A to Stevens. I'd love to see him come out with fire in his eyes tomorrow and just take it to Pittsburgh. It was easier for Stevens to shake things up with a big hit, but if Langs gets that forecheck clicking and neutralizes Cindy and Malkin by keeping the puck in the offensive zone, that would go a long way toward getting our confidence back. After that, a couple of line changes (get Rolston on the wing, Holik back to center, maybe put Greene back in, cause Salvador doesn't seem comfortable with Havelid at all, and we need Salvador to hit when White's off the ice), and we have a legit shot at the cup. LGD

Forget calling up Clemmer, let's call back the other Scotty. If he was still there, Avery wouldve woken up this morning with a concussion.