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Columnist Terry Frei of the Denver Post writes in his most recent column that a Devils early exit would be good for the league. Here is the note in his story:

* The New Jersey Devils are ousted early. That not only would increase Toronto or Ottawa's chances of making the Finals, but it would prevent the Devils from, in effect, slipping the Finals a lingering dose of tranquilizers.

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New Jersey's style is boreing for opposing teams. Most of us don't realize it till we are the ones fighting the trap like the 2nd period today. Would it be good for hockey in general if New Jersey didn't win the cup.....probably. Do I give a damn about hockey in general.....no. Bring on the Cup :)

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Don't forget the photo caption "Martin Brodeur led the Devils to the Cup last year. This year, leading them to the golf course would be appreciated."

As a Devil fan I am sick and tired of ESPN bashing the Devils. Does anyone remember the constant Ray Borque promos during the 2001 cup coverage? Not one Devil feature. I guess they are upset that Lamarillo limits ESPN access to the Devils players. And that the Devils beat their Disney team last year.

Also sick and tired of the accusation that the Devils play a boring game. Lemaire left a long time ago. The Devils will out chance and out shoot their opponents almost every game. The Devils rarely trap in neutral zone. They now seem to force the turn over in their defensive zone, thus trapping the opposition while quickly breaking out using their speed to gain the advantage. The only sportscasters that speak favorably about the Devils out side of Fox Sports are Barry Melrose and Don Cherry.

Sorry for the rant but I just had to say something. I wish Fox sports would cover the Cup finals or I could receive the CBC for the finals.

Link to Article http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2004...erry&id=1775666

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Rob- I feel exactly the same way! The Devils get MANY more chances per game than most teams- luckily for the rest of the league they have trouble finishing. And their transition game is one of the best- and exciting! Sometimes I think these people don't actually watch the Devils- just regurgitate others thoughts!

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New Jersey's style is boreing for opposing teams. Most of us don't realize it till we are the ones fighting the trap like the 2nd period today. Would it be good for hockey in general if New Jersey didn't win the cup.....probably. Do I give a damn about hockey in general.....no. Bring on the Cup :)

While I appreciate the attempt at diplomacy (why waste it though? Next time give it a try with your fellow posters instead of some buttlick Avs beat reporter who doesn't even read this forum)

But I digress - my point is actually: I found the second period the most entertaining of the day.

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It's hard to shake the "boring" rap. It's true. During the season they can put you to sleep. But that's where it ends. The Devils surprise everyone in the playoffs, because they can explode!! All of a sudden this boring team is showing speed and abandon that teams dont see during the year. They have the ability to show extreme desire to win to those paying attention. I dont remember one dull moment last yer against Ottawa. And that's what beat them.

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Boring for opposing teams? Who cares! Jason, I'm not surprised you're defending this trash by reading into it what isn't there, but the fact is, the Devils generate more shots on goal than most teams, and this year have played more up and down hockey than in years past. And they still won the Jennings and set a record for fewest goals against.

I guess the Colorado or Ottawa way is the right way to build a team. Be horribly awful for 5 years, get a lot of 1st overall picks, and play an uptempo style. 25 teams in the NHL can't do that, so they have to build the Devils' way.

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And if you look at The Hockey News profile of Cup winners, the Devils 2000 Cup winning team had the 2nd best offense in the NHL and only the 7th best defense. Meanwhile, the Dallas team that had won the year before them had the 8th best offense and the best defense. But I'll bet you if you ask people which team was the more defensively oriented team, they will immediately start bashing the Devils and their 'trap' and ignore the facts.

I hate these ignorant idiots.

:puke::puke::puke:

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Also, who holds the current highest total goals-scored in a season?

The 2001 NJ Devils with 295. The 2002 Red Wings are the only team to come close with a far-higher payroll and a 20-goal lower total.

Nobody's come close since.

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I think most of you miss the big picture. In terms of how society in the USA views sports, the Devils ARE a boring team, winning games with defense. As Devil fans, we don't care how we win, as long as we do. Networks, who have ratings to get, hate us because the way we play can be very, very boring which makes for terrible entertainment. True, in 2001 we scored boatloads of goals, but as my waistline and hairline clearly show this isn't 2001. It amuses me when Devil fans get upset over this percieved snub - let me use this for an example. If you were watching DC United play Tampa Bay in soccer on TV and you were a casual fan (not a devoted soccer fan who understands and appreciates a good defense), would you rather see a 1-0 game or a 5-4 game? A true hockey fan understands the defensive dominence that the Devils can display, but true hockey fans in the US of A are few and far between and, like it or not, the networks and newspapers will support teams that have a better chance of draggin casual fans to the sport; the Devils, IMHO, do not do this, they would repel the casual fan who is watching looking for excitement and a reason to watch. They are in the business of making money and putting the most entertaining team on for the masses to watch; if you are a real hockey fan, get Center Ice!

Do I agree with what the columnist says? No. But I understand it.

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Nah SC, I really disagree. Sure, the Devils don't play a high-wire game, but they have a lot of exciting players. Elias, Gomez, Friesen, Gionta, Madden. Boring is the 94-97 era Devils. A lot of North American, up-and-down players.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you the Devils are more exciting than the Avs or Ottawa, but I'm not going to say that they are any more boring or exciting than any other team in the playoffs.

The Devils-Ducks final was better than the Avs-Devils final by a longshot. And that Avs-Devils final had a good bit of offense. It was just not well-played hockey.

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Tri, I respect your opinion but I stick by my statement. In terms of what networks are looking for in entertainment I think the Devils would be far down on the list for the executives for the reasons I've stated. I don't think we are any more exciting then the Sens, Bruins or Lightning, but whatever meager human interest stories the networks could have choked out of us they did last year. I would be surprised if anyone other then a Devil fan would want to see us in the SCF again.

Edited by SC Devs Fan
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And I remember in 2000, the last thing anyone wanted was NJ in the Finals because they were supposed to be 'boring' and people STILL thought they couldn't score. The second best offense in the NHL and they couldn't score??? I'm sorry, but these people just didn't pay attention. I don't care what people say about NJ now, because even when they HAD the offense, people still said they didn't. People who were supposed to know. Basically, these people are IDIOTS. They will ALWAYS be idiots. And the so-called casual fan will never really care about the sport anyway. So I don't care about them.

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