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1-I have no idea if any of you are with me...but as this game dragged on into the third period and as Devils looked extremely mediocre this evening...I was thinking-LARRY ROBINSON. I wonder if Lou was thinking the same thing? 2-Congrats to Marty on win # 400...even if it took almost as long for him to get it as it did for Gary Carter to get his 300th home run. 3-They looked awful tonight and got a win---versus looking very good a few nights ago in Montreal where they got a loss. 4-They'll beat Tampa Bay next. 5-I still hate watching the Devils in white on the road. 6-Yes, the Center Ice TV picture was inconsistent tonight. 7-Congrats again to Marty. 8-For my money Luongo is the best goaltender in the NHL.

Jeez...I don't know if I can believe this report. You mean he's coming back? Ya don't say? Hmmm.

Anytime D-R...keep it all in perspective buddy.

Aww DP...he's just blowin' off some steam..many of these guys are...me included sometimes!

That's automatic.

I wonder how many of you guys were around watching Devils hockey back in the lean years...back when we had Hannu Kamppuri in net? At the age of 41, I can understand where many are coming from being stressed out and feeling as though the season is lost and that this Devils squad has no shot. When I was younger (and I'm still young BTW!) I would get all bent out of shape as well...and disgusted, and I'd break golf clubs, and punch a hole int he wall...would any of you care to gues how many remotes I have destryoed throughout the years watching Devils hockey? The season is not lost, we are still the defending Stanley Cup Champions, AND, if Marty is as good as all of you say he is...how can you rule any Devils defense of their title completely out at this juncture? Also, I don't buy for a second that Scott Stevens will not be back for the post-season. I believe he will be - and I think Lamoriello knows this...but with his being the most conservative and most tigh-lipped organization perhaps in sports history - he won't let on for anyone. As I posted earlier, I really am starting to feel good about the way they seem to be coming together. The playoffs is an entirely different balgame folks...come on, I have mentioned how impressed I have been with the caliber of people on this site...so I know I am stating something you all realize already. In their last defense of a cup title, remember now, the Devils had a terrific regular season...they rolled into the playoffs and Kevin Weekes shut em down and they lost in the first round. This year they have had injuries, lost their best defenseman, struggled on the PP...yet they are still a force to be reckoned with as they get closer to the end of the year. Let them get completely healthy, get Stevens back, allow Kozlov to find his legs, let Hrdina feel the real opportunity to win his first Cup...their mindset will be fresh and I believe they'll rise to the occassion and get their confidence up to the point where that Devils swagger will re-emerge. Their is tremendous character in that locker room folks...remember now, we know what it takes to win. Alfredsson has already stated that the Senators will win the cup this season. Good. Deal with that pressure Danny once everyone's record goes back to 0-0. Esche and Phialdelphia? Meet this years JS Giguere...with the way ABC's Steve Levy and everyone else is fawning over this guy. Toronto? They aren't beating us 4 times in 7 games - sorry. Tampa Bay? They'll find out real fast that the regular season isn't the post-season. Besides, playing from in front is easy right now...prove to me you can get it done at money time. Boston? They better hope they don't match up with us I'll tell you that. The Islanders? DiPietro versus Broduer? No. The Canadiens? I think tonight Montreal played the best that they can play...the Devils not nearlyas well as they are capable. The Devils best hockey is still in front of them I believe...thats bad news for the rest of the Eastern Conferance. Stevens is coming back. Langenbrunner is waking up. Gionta and Friesen will be heard from. Gomez will come up big. Kozlov will score some big goals in the post-season watch. Nieds will feel some relief when the Captain gets back...that'll make him even more of a force. Brylin, Stevenson, the beat goes on guys. Many of you act like we're some sort of a long shot here! Been watching to much of ESPN and their drones who want ANY team on the universe to win the Cup - as long as its not ours. Bottom line in my mind: Devils are still the team to beat in the East.

Yeah I know, but it was stoppable, he had a good look at the play in front of him and I think he should have made the play.

Enough of the gloom and doom and the sky is falling scenarios. Yeah, I know all about we haven't beaten a playoff team since the ice age...however, I'm encouraged by the way the team has been playing. I get the feeling that they are rounding into playoff form...they are playing a much tighter/crisper brand of hockey...defensively I believe they have made huge strides since lets say 10-15 games ago. Injuries have hurt, players have missed time, no Stevens...but as they close the season, get healthier and hopefully get Stevens back I like their chances in the post-season. Call me crazy but I think the Devils will be a bitch to play once the playoffs begin. Oh yeah...HORENDOUS goal that Marty allowed to make it 2-0. Devils played well for the most part tonight...both games against the Habs for that matter...puck hasn't bounced their way lately...but it will.

You've been born again Hard with that last post Sweet!

MIS-TREATED" IN ARBITRATION? Come again?

As the Flyers are just about doen taking care of business against the Rangers this afternoon...and as Bobby Holik will again miss the post-season for the 2nd consecutive season - the Rangers, their 7th straight non-playoff season... Knowing what he does now...considering the disgust we KNOW he feels, based on the fact that the Devils won a Stanley Cup without him last year...with all of the zoo-like features that is NY Rangers hockey... If Holik could re-do it all...would he have resigned with the team he never should have left to begin with? I have no reseervations by the way letting anyone know that the Rangers struuggles and Holik's absence from the post-season two years in a row makes me giddy inside...warm...like butterflies...it's so pretty!

Not Legendery??? The only Public Address announcer in Devils franchise history! Just another piece of the fabric when you're talking "Devils Tradition".

By Jim Kelley ESPN.com As usual in sports, when something ugly happens, the shouting eventually dies down, the pointing fingers are put away and the media turns its attention to the next big thing. That would certainly appear to be the case regarding the Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore incident. What had quickly risen to the level of an international debate, the result of the well-known Bertuzzi sucker-punching Moore and bull-riding him into the ice where he suffered two broken vertebrae in his neck, has given way to the more mundane things that are supposedly not part of the NHL's game. Things like St. Louis' Chris Pronger kicking and cutting Calgary's Ville Nieminen on Sunday night (a one-game suspension) and like Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff on Monday charging Toronto forward Joe Nieuwendyk with being "gutless" for a caught-on-tape head slam that left a prone and helmet-less Chris Drury with a concussion (no suspension). Dryden said the hit on Steve Moore "almost was like someone being hunted down." In some ways it's to be expected. The NHL has thrown the proverbial blanket over the Bertuzzi affair, and understandably so, given that a) it's a definite black mark on the game; and B) if you want something to go away, the quickest way to make it happen is to stop talking about it; and c) because with the possibility of both civil and criminal charges in its future, a certain amount of silence is both the wise and prudent thing to do. But at some point this matter will -- actually must -- pass from the hands of crime investigators, judges and lawyers and back to the administrators of the game itself. When it does, Ken Dryden is asking that hockey have a plan. And that is no small thing. Dryden is not only a vice chairman with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment in Toronto, but also a lawyer, a social commentator, a former NHL goaltender, a hockey administrator, a former Youth Commissioner for the Province of Ontario, a prolific author and a man who moves comfortably and ably on both sides of the US-Canadian border. While he is a Canadian by birth, Dryden is also a graduate of Cornell University (the same upstate New York school that produced NHL commissioner Gary Bettman). He understands both the physical border that separates Canada and the Unites States and the cultural one that often confuses people on either side. Dryden is also a hero in Canada for his exploits in goal with the Montreal Canadiens, but he's almost as well known in the U.S. for his work as a TV analyst (he was on the broadcast of the "Miracle on Ice" game at the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid) and his definitive book about hockey in Canada, "The Game." With that kind of background, Dryden brings a perspective about both the business and the emotion of hockey that is too often lost both within the game and especially on the American public. And Dryden is calling for change. Though he declined to be interviewed for this column (a team spokesman said he was preparing an in-depth response about the state of hockey Wednesday and would bring it forth at an appropriate time), Dryden may have already lit a fuse that could very well spark some controversy and, perhaps, bring forth change. In a measured yet passionate response to the criticism leveled at the game from points all over the globe, Dryden took to the airwaves of the Canadian Broadcasting Company recently and sketched out some thoughts that should cause hockey to at least look at itself in a way other than the usual state of denial. He offered a well-reasoned explanation of a game in trouble, one in which he sees players being in danger for their health, well being and perhaps even their very lives. Most importantly, he did not sugarcoat it. "I think, at the very least, what we need to do is take a good, big look at the whole of the game," he said. "I think that in the NHL we've done a lousy job in terms of approaching things in this sort of a way. We think the only issue is the CBA (the soon-to-expire collective bargaining agreement between the players association and the league), but there is a much bigger issue than that and that has to do with the nature of the game, and surely we have a responsibility to the game and not just the way it's played at the NHL level." Dryden said his lasting impression of the Bertuzzi was both the ferocity of the attack and, ultimately, the unfairness of it. "I guess what was most lasting to me is the image of the moment," he said. "Really, it's almost like someone being hunted down, and I thought how uncomfortable an image that was. You could see Steve Moore, who wasn't expecting anything to happen and who had no reason to expect anything to happen, and you could see Todd Bertuzzi coming in from behind. & It was a little like a National Geographic Special, like watching the lion and the antelope and how unfair it was & the position that Steve Moore was in and that he had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next." Dryden has some experience in these matters. He once headed a panel and authored a report regarding a similar incident where players attacked an on-ice official in a minor-level hockey game. In the report Dryden made mention of what he called a "stupid point" and how four people in that incident reached one and the result was hideous violence that few people saw coming. "I think we've all got one (a stupid point)," he said, "and we all reach it lots of times, and I think part of the question is, 'What things end up generating a stupid point a little bit sooner?' I think part of it is that kind of mentality, the understanding that we have of getting even. We all feel it at times and we all want to do it, but the question is how do we do it? "Most of the time, we do it in pretty constructive ways. The way we always hear about it as kids and we did it as kids is we get even on the scoreboard. We did it in that way, but we've changed what 'get even' means now and it often isn't even getting even yourself. We've got people who are pretty much expert at getting even and we've got them on each team. And when something happens, then it becomes their job to go out and 'get even' and even when it's kind of manufactured, a little bit unreal. It used to be when something was a good hit, a clean hit or an accidental hit that it was, well, mostly good for you. Yeah, you would find a way of getting even in a certain sort of way, but there was a little bit of respect for the fact that in fact you got the upper hand at that particular moment. Now whether it's accidental or something happened in the past or whatever it is, there is a need to get even.

I think he's by far the best of the three area NY-Metro clubs - and one of the best in the NHL...what you thinks?

I apologize if this was a topic covered previously...however I would like to get some opinions on the NHL teams wearing their dark suits at home this year. I personally still haven't gotten used to it - nor do I like it. I realize that this was the way things were from 1971 prior...still the same I like the Devs and all teams in white at home...anyone know if this policy will be in place next year as well?

Portland Devils Houston Devils Las Vegas Devils Hamilton Devils Brooklyn Devils Stamford Devils Jacksonville Devils...it really doesn't matter much to me. I would hate to see the franchise move anywhere else from the Garden State...however, after over twenty years of investing my emotions and money into this club...my allegiance will stay with them no matter where they may end up going. Thank goodness for DirecTV and the center ice package! P.S. Rangers suck.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks! P.S. Thank you by the way for not informing me of any Rangers fan sites...like who cares anyway? Are they still in the NHL by the way? I can't stop. How do you suppose Bobby Holik is enjoying life outside of checking his bank account every now and then?

Eldon I grew up in Yonkers, NY...the same hometown as Hirsch! For the younger Devils fans who never got a chance to hear him...he was amazing. I know Carl Infantino who produced many of those Devilscasts that hirsch used to do - he agrees the guy was awesome. Do you remember when he would high five that security guard by the lower press box where he and Fred Shero used to do the games? Also, do you recall...I believe it was in year three...the Devils fell behind the Rangers at the Meadowlands by a 5-0 score. The Jersey Boys came all the way back - tied it at 5-5...then won the game on a goal by I believe Mel Bridgeman with under a minute to play? On the game winning goal, Hirsch actually fell down and lost it to the point where you couldn't understand what he was saying!!!! Yes I listen quite a bit on NHL.com and sometimes I get the broadcast on 770 on a clear night here. Bring back Larry Hirsch!

No question that Marty is an elite netminder...on the other hand I do believe he has been outplayed many times in the last few weeks...Esche did today to the Devils what Marty needed to do to Philadelphia...would the Ducks have gone to the finals last season with Marty??? Put Marty on Florida and put Luongo here and...see the possibilities are many!

This team has built a characteristic as a club that does well - and perhaps exceeds expectations whenever there is not much expected of them. I'll admit like some have, that at times I feel like the team won't be able to go very far in the post-season once that rolls around in a few weeks. On the other hand I also like to thin that this Devils team still hasn't played their best hockey yet this season...that's still ahead. I believe this too. Yes, Boston, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Toronto...they all made significant player acquisitions during the trade period - however I caution against many thinking that witth all the moves they made that they'll be able to gell as quickly as their fans would hope for. The Devils have the experience, the grit, the character to do some major things come post-season time. Marty in nets, Stevens back, Madden with better hockey on the horizon...Langenbrunner will crank it up...don't forget that Friesen is a post-season warrior - lets hope that warms him up some. And if Stevens gets back he should be fresh and ready to rumble...who knows, the concission he suffered could be a huge blessing in disguise that nobody has thought about? Kozlove & Hrdina haven't ever won a cup...Gomez keeps getting better - Elias...I could go on and on. Obviously they cannot take any more injury hits to their defens - in fact if I'm Burns I think about keeping Rafalski out for the next couple of games to give his leg added time to heal. I do worry about Hale in a big way..he looks terrified on the ice...Martin just the opposite. The more I do, when the dust settles & the smoke clears, I always seem to come back around the the thought that the Devils are STILL the team to beat in the East.

Yes, Emmrick did two seasons of Devils games back in the 80's - one season his color man was Frank Mahovolich. Emmrick was doing Devils games when the team beat the Oilers the first time the two teams met after the Mickey Mouse comment by Gretzky. He then went back to doing the Flyers games and jumped back to the good guys after Thorne left.

I'd like to introduce myself, my name is Dino Costa, and I am a sports talk radio host currently located in Jacksonville, Florida. I have been a lifelong Devils fan from all the way back to the initial 1982-83 season. I have seen it all thankfully - and I am a frequent observer of this website. I decided to join the party just tonight if that is okay? In this my first post, I'd like to ask the particpants here to comment on Devils radio voice John Hennessy. Your views on his game call would be appreciated. To give you my own observations on a few of the guys who have called Devils hockey on the radio the first two decades here they are: LARRY HIRSCH- The "Master Blaster"...still the best radio hockey broadcaster I have ever heard. Nobody can bring a game to life with the passion, energy and detail of Hirsch. It is a crime this guy is not still doing games on the NHL level. Last heard with the TB Lightning and dispatched when Bill Davidson bought the team several years ago. If Lou Lams reads this board I'd like to nominate Hirsch as the next Devils gamecaster. MIKE MILLER- A terrific guy, but a very average radio call. I thought his call of the Devils winning their first ever Cup was way over the top...much too scripted, and he had a chance at redemption on the Arnott overtime Cup winner in 2000...if not for his voice breaking apart it would have been pretty good. Always reminded me more of a horse racing track announcer than a hockey p-b-p person. Great guy though and thankfully he beat cancer. Currently the GM of the Toledo Storm in the ECHL. DALE ARNOLD- A Lou Lamoriello favorite...now the TV voice of Bruins hockey as well as a regular sports talk host himself on WEEI in Boston. Only called Devils games for two seasons...he was the radio voice for the Devs when John MacClean scored against Pang in the old Chicago Stadium to vault the Red & Green into the post-season for the very first time. Interstingly, although you have all probably heard Gary Thorne's call of that dramatic moment many times - I have yet to hear any radio call of that goal. if anyone has it, i'd love to hear it! Overall I thought Arnold was so-so on the radio...a much better TV call. CHRIS MOORE- I actually got used to his game calls although he was employing a much more television oriented call on radio than most when doing the Devs games...teamed with Rangers public relations director larry Brooks for a few seasons in the booth...fired by Lamoriello...went on to do the Panthers during their run to the Cup finals...now with ESPN Radio. Scale of 1-10 I give him a 5. Television? Doc Emmrick is outstanding...but in his first tour of duty with the Devils back in their 2nd and 3rd season he was not a popular guy with the fans believe it or not. Steve Albert? Please! Gary Thorne? Very solid, very sound...but his biggest mistake to me is making every play sound like sudden death. I am enthused over the amount of very well schooled hockey aficionados on this site as well - most of you guys know your puck without question. I hope I'm welcome to participate...please feel free to check out my program website at www.dinocostashow.com Thanks for reading...hope you have some thoughts of your own! DC