GDT: Rangers vs. Devils

[Jimmy Leeds]

Walking out after Game 6 in '94 was truly painful, it doesn't compare to a regular season game.

This was a tough one, IMO, because of the HBO show. That show will only create even more Rag fans, young influential ones too.

[95Crash]

I'm sick and tired of these games myself, they're 2-11 in the games I've attended at the Rock, and the Ranger fans are getting worse every year. That said, I won't sell tickets unless I know Devil fans are using them, ergo I don't sell them for profit. I don't see the Ranger games as a cash grab the way too many do.

I feel your pain, brother.

[MantaRay]

Walking out after Game 6 in '94 was truly painful, it doesn't compare to a regular season game.

THAT must have been brutal.

[nmigliore]

This was a frustrating loss. Devils played well, but the difference was clearly the goalies; Marty wasn't good while Lundqvist was outstanding. I hate to rag on Marty but I'm hoping we see more Moose; it's no secret he's outplayed Marty for 2 years and this season in particular the gap is widening.

Edited December 21, 2011 by nmigliore

[Devil Dan 56]

Ok..

1) The Devils dominated the Rangers for about 7 years in the late 90's early 2000's. Hockey runs in cycles. The tables were bound to turn. For all we know, in 5 years the Devils will dominate the Rangers again for a while.

2) Brodeur is in the twilight of a great career. Every single athlete slows down at the end. If people feel the need to crap on him as he closes out his career, I guess that's their right. He came into this season with every intention of building on the second half of last year. He has notoriously been a slow starter his whole career but this year he is clearly having problems finding a rhythm. He isn't having a good year, he's definitely hurt (he said himself the shoulder will never be 100%), and Deboer is trying to let him play out of it. Marty said he won't need to be told when it's time to hang them up, so he knows the time is near. You can either enjoy the last few months of an absolute living legend, or you can call him terrible and wish him failure.

3) Moose would have needed a shutout to win that game last night. The offense couldn't capitalize on a lot of chances. I don't know why people are so sure that Moose could have done that. He's a good goalie, but he is 38 and has never been able to carry the starter's role on a team. It's more than likely after 10 straight games people will just be complaining about him, too. Moose has let in his share of softies(Boston, Winnipeg). The real issue is the defense in front of the goalies. Moose is just used to that chaos. He played for some bad Pittsburgh and Vancouver teams, and then backed the friggin' Thrashers.

4) To whoever it was who said that Marty should retire so Kinkaid can back up Moose, I'm glad you don't work for the Devils. Kinkaid has exactly zero NHL experience, is currently being outplayed by Frazee in Albany and has a 3.00 GAA and .900 save % at the moment. I like him too and I see potential, but let's not go crazy.

5) The Rangers are a good team. Throw whatever stats you want at us, but they win like the Devils used to. Good goaltending, opportunistic goal scoring, patience and counter-attack. The Devils still haven't settled into their new system just yet.

5) Final point.... this loss in NO WAY erases the fact the Devils are playing better. The had won 4 straight before last night, and have won 6 of the last 8.

[Mitico12]

Yeah -- that WAS!

At first he was all laughing and Chico-ish he was so cheerful saying it... but when that "li'l bitch" popped out almost under his breath like that ... I dont think he was kidding so much

Ummm, at what point in the game did this happen? I watched it and didn't hear that...that would be funny if someone had it recorded...

[Chuck the Duck]

THAT must have been brutal.

NOTHING, and I mean nothing in the history of my life watching any sort of sports, has hurt more than that game (and I'm a Yankees fan who watched Boston come back from down 3 games to win that series on 2004). I was 16 at the time, and I can still remember feeling the pit in the bottom of my stomach after that loss. Being up 2-0 in the game and then having Messier single handedly destroy us made it even worse.

I was there last night. It turned brutal in the third. These Staten Island meatheads are all puffed up about about their start this year. We all know that the Rags usually fade as the season wears on, but their team is pretty good. I hate to say it, but they took the Devils model and have used it better than us over the past 10 years (it also helps that they have had much better draft picks over that time). That being said, they are not much better than the Devils. The Devils controlled most of the play, got a ton of chances but, as usually, they missed the net or the Queen stoned them. His save on Henrique was unreal and completed changed the game. Plus, not having Elias really hurt as you could see Zajac was tiring as the game went along and it made the third line much weaker.

I love Marty, but he absolutely cost us this game. Letting that puck get through his arm for the second goal was brutal, and everyone in the league knows to shoot high glove on a breakaway/2 on 1, as he always puts his right knee down and doesn't have the reaction time to get the glove up and make the save. I can live with the third goal as it was a 2 on 1, but there is no way they should have scored the second one.

As far as our fans go, its plain embarrassing. There just aren't enough true/diehard fans of this team to fill the building consistently (apparently, they only come out during jersey retirement nights and the 3rd and 4th round of the playoffs), leading to scenarios where it is easy for a Rags fan to pickup a ticket at face value. Not to mention all of the people who will sell their tickets on StubHub making a big profit over what they paid. I have no problem with anyone selling their tickets, but it just means a few more seats going to Rangers fans. The worst thing for me was seeing a couple (2 maybe 3) Rangers fans sitting in the "supporters section" last night. That is an absolute joke! If you own those tickets and sold them to anyone besides a person you knew to be a Devils fan, you should give up your tickets right now.

After the Rags scored their second goal, the teenage kid (probably 17 or 18) sitting in front of me got out his iphone and tried to record the bunch of us Devils fans sitting in the row behind. Apparently, my hand had an involuntary reaction and slapped the iphone 3 rows down the aisle completely shattering the glass front. The kid was pissed, but I told him, if he wasn't an azz, it wouldn't have happened and that I never gave him permission to film me. He cried all of the way out of the arena.

[Steven M.]

After the Rags scored their second goal, the teenage kid (probably 17 or 18) sitting in front of me got out his iphone and tried to record the bunch of us Devils fans sitting in the row behind. Apparently, my hand had an involuntary reaction and slapped the iphone 3 rows down the aisle completely shattering the glass front. The kid was pissed, but I told him, if he wasn't an azz, it wouldn't have happened and that I never gave him permission to film me. He cried all of the way out of the arena.

Thank you for making my day, hahaha that's hilarious, wow

[Marv4Life]

There just aren't enough true/diehard fans of this team to fill the building consistently (apparently, they only come out during jersey retirement nights and the 3rd and 4th round of the playoffs),

They've sold out every playoff game since 2007--all 1st rounders--and half of their home games 2 years ago were either sellouts or close to 'em. Yeah idiot fans selling them to Blueskirts don't help, but the main problem is the organization finds way to keep their own fanbase out of the building. Plus the team just isn't that good. Fix those 2 issues and you'll definitely get better crowds.

And what you did to the Blueskirt was hilarious. Props.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Marv4Life

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

I was too young for the 94 series to really hit me (in fact the excitement of it made me a fan), but I was at game 6 in 2001 finals v. the Avalanche (when the Devils could have clinched). That was probably the toughest loss I can recall attending.

[DaneykoIsGod]

After the Rags scored their second goal, the teenage kid (probably 17 or 18) sitting in front of me got out his iphone and tried to record the bunch of us Devils fans sitting in the row behind. Apparently, my hand had an involuntary reaction and slapped the iphone 3 rows down the aisle completely shattering the glass front. The kid was pissed, but I told him, if he wasn't an azz, it wouldn't have happened and that I never gave him permission to film me. He cried all of the way out of the arena.

Priceless.

[DevsMan84]

They've sold out every playoff game since 2007--all 1st rounders--and half of their home games 2 years ago were either sellouts or close to 'em. Yeah idiot fans selling them to Blueskirts don't help, but the main problem is the organization finds way to keep their own fanbase out of the building. Plus the team just isn't that good. Fix those 2 issues and you'll definitely get better crowds.

And what you did to the Blueskirt was hilarious. Props.

Even when the team was good, they still played to less than full buildings. Examples are round 1 of the 2000 playoffs.

After the Rags scored their second goal, the teenage kid (probably 17 or 18) sitting in front of me got out his iphone and tried to record the bunch of us Devils fans sitting in the row behind. Apparently, my hand had an involuntary reaction and slapped the iphone 3 rows down the aisle completely shattering the glass front. The kid was pissed, but I told him, if he wasn't an azz, it wouldn't have happened and that I never gave him permission to film me. He cried all of the way out of the arena.

Haha I hope you then pulled out your cell phone and started to record him crying over his phone.

[Legion15]

As far as our fans go, its plain embarrassing. There just aren't enough true/diehard fans of this team to fill the building consistently (apparently, they only come out during jersey retirement nights and the 3rd and 4th round of the playoffs), leading to scenarios where it is easy for a Rags fan to pickup a ticket at face value. Not to mention all of the people who will sell their tickets on StubHub making a big profit over what they paid. I have no problem with anyone selling their tickets, but it just means a few more seats going to Rangers fans. The worst thing for me was seeing a couple (2 maybe 3) Rangers fans sitting in the "supporters section" last night. That is an absolute joke! If you own those tickets and sold them to anyone besides a person you knew to be a Devils fan, you should give up your tickets right now.

After the Rags scored their second goal, the teenage kid (probably 17 or 18) sitting in front of me got out his iphone and tried to record the bunch of us Devils fans sitting in the row behind. Apparently, my hand had an involuntary reaction and slapped the iphone 3 rows down the aisle completely shattering the glass front. The kid was pissed, but I told him, if he wasn't an azz, it wouldn't have happened and that I never gave him permission to film me. He cried all of the way out of the arena.

That's hilarious about the kid with the iPhone. Would have loved to have seen that. As far as the fans go, a lot of families can't/won't go during the week because of school nights, people not being able to get out of work on time to make the trip (I know they've been toying with 7:30 starts to deal with that) plus unless you drive in, you're at the mercy of the train schedule, which either gets you in way early or with 15 mins to spare to get to the arena door, get through the line and up to your seats. People probably don't want to deal with that more than a couple times a season. Plus, I don't blame those who don't want to go to Ranjerks or Flyers games. Pay all that money for good seats only to have some annoying obnoxious opposing fan behind you? It's worse if you bring kids or you bring a significant other. I brought my gf to the opener - not bringing her to another flyers or rangers game. Listening to the $h!t from those fans almost drove me to turn around and slap the women behind me. If they were men, i'd have thought harder about it but it was so hard to keep civil, i can only imagine if it was a drunk ranger fan. I'd rather go with her to a game where there is little to no chance of seeing opposing fans there and we can enjoy watching the game with our own kind, rooting for the same team, or at least neutral people there just to watch. Yeah we lack a hardcore fanbase, but what do you do that hasn't already been done? I suppose the economy has a lot to do with it, you gotta factor in travel, food/souvenirs at the game, etc. - plus there are still a lot of people afraid to go to Newark. And you do need to start cultivating young fans by interesting them to start playing hockey and encourage them to watch the pros and learn. Trying to convert other fans rarely ever works.

[sundstrom]

I was too young for the 94 series to really hit me (in fact the excitement of it made me a fan), but I was at game 6 in 2001 finals v. the Avalanche (when the Devils could have clinched). That was probably the toughest loss I can recall attending.

i was at both games.

94 was just utter shock because the devils were rolling along and then messier (kovalev doesn't get enough credit for that game - he was outstanding).

01 was absolute anger. they were primed, but gomez goal gets waved off and marty lets in foote's softy and the team quit. i was never more angry at this team than i was that night.

[devlman]

My quick thoughts on the game:

1. Marty didnt come up with the big saves. Yeah, it wasnt his fault we lost, and yeah, he wasnt terrible. But with the numbers hes posting this year, he is my scapegoat tonight. Moose needs to be our starter from now on. His numbers are FAR better, and our team plays better with him in goal. Cant argue with that

2. We are losing to the Rags way too much in recent years. I cant take that sh!t. Lundqvist is something like 21-5 against us all-time!!! This trend amplifies the scumbag rag fans that come to the Rock.

3. Our 4th line is so bad. We def missed Elias

4. Oates needs to go. The PP aint working as it should. Far too predictable.

Edited December 21, 2011 by devlman

[Marv4Life]

plus there are still a lot of people afraid to go to Newark.

I guess by that logic alot of people were afraid to go to the Meadowlands when we had a good team in the early/mid-2000s because it was much emptier than it is now. Plus it doesn't stop NYR fans from showing up. And are these same fans afraid to go the the South Bronx at night for Yankee games?

This excuse needs to stop. This isn't 1996.

Even when the team was good, they still played to less than full buildings. Examples are round 1 of the 2000 playoffs.

I think folks realized getting to the swamp over 40 times a year was a PITA for most of the state.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Marv4Life

[MantaRay]

Ok..

5) The Rangers are a good team. Throw whatever stats you want at us, but they win like the Devils used to. Good goaltending, opportunistic goal scoring, patience and counter-attack.

I was noticing the role reversal last year. The Rangers under Torts seem to play like the championship era Devils teams.

While the Devils struggle to try to mesh different types of players to find some kind of new identity.

[MadDog2020]

i was at both games.

94 was just utter shock because the devils were rolling along and then messier (kovalev doesn't get enough credit for that game - he was outstanding).

01 was absolute anger. they were primed, but gomez goal gets waved off and marty lets in foote's softy and the team quit. i was never more angry at this team than i was that night.

Right with ya Sundstrom, I don't think I've ever been angrier at a Devils team than I was after game 6 in 01. I still, to this day, cannot figure out how all the air went out after that Gomez goal got waved off. I felt physically ill walking out of the building that night.

[MantaRay]

I guess by that logic alot of people were afraid to go to the Meadowlands when we had a good team in the early/mid-2000s because it was much emptier than it is now. Plus it doesn't stop NYR fans from showing up. And are these same fans afraid to go the the South Bronx at night for Yankee games?

This excuse needs to stop. This isn't 1996.

Agreed, it is a weak excuse. The Rock is simply more accessible to Ranger fans now than the CAA was years ago.

[Chuck the Duck]

They've sold out every playoff game since 2007--all 1st rounders--and half of their home games 2 years ago were either sellouts or close to 'em. Yeah idiot fans selling them to Blueskirts don't help, but the main problem is the organization finds way to keep their own fanbase out of the building. Plus the team just isn't that good. Fix those 2 issues and you'll definitely get better crowds.

And what you did to the Blueskirt was hilarious. Props.

Believe it or not, but I don't think this team is that bad. Are they going to win the Cup...probably not. But they have good, yound, and talented players that provide promise for the future. They play hard every night, and with their aggressive forecheck, are more entertaining to watch than in years past. Their defense leaves something to be desired, and Marty is past his prime, but they are in every game and there has been a tremendous improvement over last year.

I got season tickets for the first time this year because of the $22/game deal in the balconies. Throughout my adult life, I used to buy a flex package and get 10-12 games in the past, plus all of the playoff games. While attendance 2 years ago seemed to be on the upswing, last year killed all of that momentum. They rarely get any walk-up sales pre-Christmas and, because the season ticket holders number around 12,000 (max), there are plenty of seats for opposing teams fans to buy up. It doesn't take very many people (like loud, drunk, and obnoxious New Yorkers) to make it seem like the away teams fans outnumber the home team in an arena. Classic example...Nordique Nation brought approximately 3000-4000 people to the final regular season game last season and completely dominated the arena. I just wish I could go to a Rags, Flyers, or Habs game at the Rock and not feel aggravated and, sometimes, defend our national anthem, a US soldier they honor on the screen, or the jersey I'm wearing.

[Matteau#32]

Re: Rangers fans invading our building. That sh!t's been going on since Day 1. Last night was nothing new. The only reason last night might've seemed a little worse to some is because the Rangers are looking like they could be a legitimate contender this year plus the national exposure they're getting from the 24/7 program. Their fans are all cocky right now, so it stings more when they beat us in our own building. It sucks, but if you're a real Devils fan you deal with it. All the more better it will be when we start beating their asses again. ... When that's going to be, who knows. But these are the times when the Devils players need to know they're fans still have their backs and are not staying home and letting those Rangers scum fill our seats.I'll ALWAYS go to these games, no matter how bad it is sometimes. It WILL get better. We saw it in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Rangers fans weren't saying Jack in our building back then.

Between Stubhub, EBay, and the team ticketexchanges it is very easy for opposing fans to get tickets. When the Habs and Leafs come to MSG, they probably have 5,000 fans in the building. Same for the Flyers, Devils, Islanders, Red Wings, and now Penguins.

I had tickets to last night's game but sold them to a guy with whom I ref because I have something to do tonight and going to the games Thursday and Friday. Bought the other 2 Rangers-Devils games from a Devils season ticket holder with whom I ref football. Difference is, when I do get tickets from a season ticket holder, I turn the obnoxiousness off. When I get a complaint from someone who sits with me at MSG about someone who was using my tickets, that person gets cut-off from me. Rangers fan or not. I try to be respectful of my friends sectionmates.

[Matteau#32]

It doesn't take very many people (like loud, drunk, and obnoxious New Yorkers) to make it seem like the away teams fans outnumber the home team in an arena.

New Yorkers like to rag on New Jersy folk. New Jersey folk like to complain about New Yorkers. Reality is, they are all the f'n same. My personal favorite is the NJ people making fun of SI and LI, the LI people making fun of SI and NJ, and the SI people making fun of LI and NJ. I always want to say, "STUPID, YOU ARE EXACTLY THE SAME!"

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Ok..

1) The Devils dominated the Rangers for about 7 years in the late 90's early 2000's. Hockey runs in cycles. The tables were bound to turn. For all we know, in 5 years the Devils will dominate the Rangers again for a while.

2) Brodeur is in the twilight of a great career. Every single athlete slows down at the end. If people feel the need to crap on him as he closes out his career, I guess that's their right. He came into this season with every intention of building on the second half of last year. He has notoriously been a slow starter his whole career but this year he is clearly having problems finding a rhythm. He isn't having a good year, he's definitely hurt (he said himself the shoulder will never be 100%), and Deboer is trying to let him play out of it. Marty said he won't need to be told when it's time to hang them up, so he knows the time is near. You can either enjoy the last few months of an absolute living legend, or you can call him terrible and wish him failure.

3) Moose would have needed a shutout to win that game last night. The offense couldn't capitalize on a lot of chances. I don't know why people are so sure that Moose could have done that. He's a good goalie, but he is 38 and has never been able to carry the starter's role on a team. It's more than likely after 10 straight games people will just be complaining about him, too. Moose has let in his share of softies(Boston, Winnipeg). The real issue is the defense in front of the goalies. Moose is just used to that chaos. He played for some bad Pittsburgh and Vancouver teams, and then backed the friggin' Thrashers.

4) To whoever it was who said that Marty should retire so Kinkaid can back up Moose, I'm glad you don't work for the Devils. Kinkaid has exactly zero NHL experience, is currently being outplayed by Frazee in Albany and has a 3.00 GAA and .900 save % at the moment. I like him too and I see potential, but let's not go crazy.

5) The Rangers are a good team. Throw whatever stats you want at us, but they win like the Devils used to. Good goaltending, opportunistic goal scoring, patience and counter-attack. The Devils still haven't settled into their new system just yet.

6) Final point.... this loss in NO WAY erases the fact the Devils are playing better. The had won 4 straight before last night, and have won 6 of the last 8.

1) Yeah, true...fun while that lasted, but no way that was going to go on forever.

2) He hasn't always been a slow starter, though I do remember some slow ones here and there. I said it in another thread...I can handle that he's not what he was, and what he is right now doesn't diminish anything he did before. I just don't ever want it to get ugly or to feel sad watching him. Right now it's admittedly tough to enjoy watching him, though he has had some old-style Marty saves here and there.

3) In the grand scheme of things, I don't know how much of a difference Moose could've had made...the Devils clearly have a lot of trouble getting pucks past Lundqvist, and that's not only anything new, but has nothing to do with the goaltender (our goaltender, anyway). I think what it comes down to is that we have one goalie putting up numbers that are decent in this era, and one putting up numbers that were decent in 1988. Moose isn't perfect and definitely isn't going down as some kind of great, but he's better right now...not by leaps and bounds, but better enough to get the higher percentage of playing time.

4) Agreed, what a joke that was. But sadly some "fans" are going to post nonsense like that.

5) Guess it depends who you listen to. The sabermetricians will tell you no, they're playing over their heads, while others who see their record and goal differential will tell you otherwise. I have to admit, I've been so focused on the what the Devils are doing I'm not paying much attention to the Rangers these days.

6) This is why I'm not overreacting to this one. I think the fact that it was the Rangers is making it harder for some, and I hate everything about the Rangers, but overall I thought the Devils played pretty well against them, regardless of what the score said. I guess I'm just not in sh!t-fit-throwing mode today.

[Chuck the Duck]

New Yorkers like to rag on New Jersy folk. New Jersey folk like to complain about New Yorkers. Reality is, they are all the f'n same. My personal favorite is the NJ people making fun of SI and LI, the LI people making fun of SI and NJ, and the SI people making fun of LI and NJ. I always want to say, "STUPID, YOU ARE EXACTLY THE SAME!"

I hate to tell you this, but we are NOT the same. I know how to pronounce the English language correctly, especially words that end in er. I know that it should be a crime to drive less than 80 mph in the left lane of a major NJ highway, especially in the spring/summer/fall. I know that 90% of the "characters" on Jersey Shore come from NY. I know what a Wawa is (for my South Jersey friends). I know that LI traffic on a Tuesday makes the GSP on a Sunday night in July look like an open highway in Montana. I know that Cornell and Columbia wish they were Princeton. I know that 80% of NYC looks like Newark, and has about the same crime rate, but New Yorkers will never admit it.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. The only reason people from NY are the same as those from NJ is because 1/2 of Staten Island is moving to places like Jackson, NJ to get out of NYC. Obviously what I said here is based strictly off of sterotypes, but we all know that most sterotypes contains a 1/2 truth.

[ScoreMoreThan3]

Seriously I just posted this on my Facebook wall so all the idiot Ranger fans would learn a thing or two. fvcking morons.

Marty...

Most regular season wins: 631

Most shutouts: 116

Most Career Saves: 28443

Most shutouts, regular season & playoffs combined: 139

Most overtime wins: 45

Most consecutive 30-win seasons: 12

Most consecutive 35-win seasons: 11

Most 40-win seasons: 8

Youngest goalie to reach 300, 400, and 500 career wins

Only goalie to reach 600 career wins

Most games played by an NHL goaltender: 1132

Most total minutes played by an NHL goaltender 66,636

Only NHL goalie to score a game-winning goal

Most career goals by a goaltender, including playoffs - 2 (tied with Ron Hextall)

Most regular season losses (reached during the 2011–12 season)

[edit]Regular season

Most wins in a single season (48, in 2006–07)

Most minutes played in a single season (4697, in 2006–07)

[edit]Playoffs

These statistics are accurate as of the end of the 2010 NHL Playoffs.

Most shutouts in a playoff (7, in 2002–03)

Most shutouts in a Stanley Cup final (3, in 2002–03; tied with Toronto Maple Leafs' Frank McCool)

2nd place: 99 Wins

3rd goaltender to win the Stanley Cup with a Game-7 shutout in 2002–03.

1st goaltender in history to have 3 shutouts in two different playoff series. (1995 against Boston in the Conference Quarterfinals, 2003 against Anaheim in the Stanley Cup final.)

Edited December 21, 2011 by ScoreMoreThan3