Rock Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 He's a Devils' advocate Albelin, 41, happy to be back in Jersey http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hockey/s...2p-320369c.html BY SHERRY ROSS DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Tommy Albelin may see action tonight when Devils face Thrashers at home. Having a 41-year-old defenseman hanging around day after day for three months, hoping for a job, could be viewed as pathetic if not downright disruptive. But Tommy Albelin isn't just any old, old player to the Devils, and his determined bid at one last swing through the National Hockey League was rewarded with a one-year, $450,000 contract on Tuesday after Vladimir Malakhov left the team. The real payoff for his patience could come as early as tonight against the Atlanta Thrashers at the Meadowlands. "My son keeps asking me the same questions you (reporters) are," Albelin said yesterday. "'When are you going to play? Do you have any news today, Dad?'" His son, 14-year-old Adam, and daughter, 9-year-old Amanda, were two of the reasons why Albelin wanted to stay in New Jersey and hope another job opening would emerge. Both children were born here (Albelin is from Sweden) and the Albelin family stayed in New Jersey during the lockout so the kids could continue their schooling and be with their friends. Last season's lockout gave Albelin extra incentive to try for one more season. "It was more like being forced out than being able to play and end things on my own terms," said Albelin, who said he would have given himself about another month before calling it quits if the Devils hadn't signed him. "I felt the hunger coming back, missing the game." Since training camp, when he was on an official tryout, Albelin has unofficially practiced and sometimes even traveled with the Devils, with the occasional per diem for meals as his only payment. Albelin started his NHL career with Quebec (which no longer has a team) in 1987 and was traded to the Devils in his second season. He won a Cup with the Devils in 1995, was traded to Calgary in 1996, then re-signed with the Devils in 2001 as a free agent. He won another Cup with the Devils in 2003. When he does play again, Albelin will be one of the NHL's oldest players. Only Chris Chelios (43) and Dave Andreychuk (42) are in line ahead of Albelin for AARP cards. "You're old," chirped defenseman Dan McGillis, a spry 33, to Albelin yesterday. "He's worked hard and he's in shape," said Devils GM and coach (for the time being) Lou Lamoriello. "Age is a number with him. He has so much respect and he has common sense. It's hard to explain. It's something you can't teach a player. He always knows the right thing to do. He'll always be in the Devil family." And tonight, he could even be in the lineup. REST STOP: With their third game in four nights tonight, the Devils rested a number of players yesterday, including G Martin Brodeur. ... LW Patrik Elias continues his comeback from hepatitis A and had a strenuous workout. Elias said he was disappointed at not being named to the Czech Olympic team but understood the decision due to his illness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnderDogX Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 (edited) "Age is a number with him. He has so much respect and he has common sense. It's hard to explain Yeah, here's another number Lou 4...that's how many goals Old Alby is going to be responsible for giving up tonight...basically we let an aging slow out of place d man retire and brought in an already old slow out of place d man...hmmmm...seems like Jersey logic to me Elias said he was disappointed at not being named to the Czech Olympic team but understood the decision due to his illness That's gotta be a big hit because that was one thing that I remember reading over and over...if Elias wasn't going to make it to our team soon he wanted to at least be ready for the Olympics...that's gotta suck...with the way Slovakia looks, plus the always placing team Canada...I'll be surprised if the Czech's don't fall into a meager 6 spot...but who knows!! Edited December 23, 2005 by UnderDogX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 His skating at any age is an improvement over Brown or McGillis who's mintues he will be taking. I think he is an upgrade for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 Adam Albelin Amanda Albelin Hmm. he desperatly want his kids to be first on lists Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnderDogX Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 What happened to the Brown is our hero threads ? ....I mean I know it looks like anyone would be an improvement but when you are replacing old with older you are just not moving in a true direction of improvement...eventually someone in the Dev's organization is going to have to understand fast and skilled beats out tough and experienced these days....but all that aside, back to Alby....how many times will he get beat before the "oh he's just a little rusty" stops and everyone realizes he's too old.....We should have called up Hale...not saying he would be a vast improvement or an instant improvement but he's young and he's good....we've gotta start getting that into the team or everyone in Albany will be gone or old... IMHO at least and of course that is just my Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyFan42 Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 Underdog, you're assuming Albelin is going to suck without even giving him the benefit of playing a game. Can't we at least see him in action before passing judgement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 (edited) Underdog, has David Hale played a complete season yet? Didn't he miss like over 30 games or something becaue of his illness? Maybe they want him to develop a little strength & stamina. Edited December 23, 2005 by M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 The thinking is that Hale can develop better playing full-time as the #1 guys as opposed to playing maybe once a week for 8 minutes a game. I think Tommy we be the #5 guy, but will rotate with McGillis/Brown because of his age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 Albelin isn't being signed for regular time. He's a decent #7 defender who will probably be beaten a lot but has phenomenal hockey smarts. Now, we said the same things about Igor Larionov and look how that worked out. If one of the Devils' defensemen misses significant time, David Hale will be called up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Leeds Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 He won a Cup with the Devils in 1995, was traded to Calgary in 1996, then re-signed with the Devils in 2001 as a free agent. He won another Cup with the Devils in 2003. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> And he was in Dallas rooting the boys on for Game 6 in 2000. He was interviewed after the game and you ould see he was dying to still be on the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnderDogX Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 Ok, first and foremost don't get me wrong....I like Tommy....he's a good player...and when he was with us before he was very solid....but I also remember when we had him everytime he hit the ice it was him and Dano...now that was "ok it's time to slow things down and start playing some rough D" but that was it...slow things down...He could very well come back and play for us and do well...the only point I'm trying to make is that we need to start worrying about improving....and I feel there is a difference between bringing in someone who can help our D and bringing in someone who will improve our D...again, i'm not saying Hale is that person but he's young...and I just think he should have a shot for us before we sign and older guy...what's the worst that would happen...Hale gets called up pulls a few mala-coughs...and then we send him down (barring the whole clearing waivers and being signed by the other team at half thing if that pertains to Hale) and bring in Tommy...its not like Alby is going anywhere... so relax I'm not taking jabs at Ably all I'm saying is I think it would have been a better move to bring in Hale first.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 Ok, first and foremost don't get me wrong....I like Tommy....he's a good player...and when he was with us before he was very solid....but I also remember when we had him everytime he hit the ice it was him and Dano...now that was "ok it's time to slow things down and start playing some rough D" but that was it...slow things down...He could very well come back and play for us and do well...the only point I'm trying to make is that we need to start worrying about improving....and I feel there is a difference between bringing in someone who can help our D and bringing in someone who will improve our D...again, i'm not saying Hale is that person but he's young...and I just think he should have a shot for us before we sign and older guy...what's the worst that would happen...Hale gets called up pulls a few mala-coughs...and then we send him down (barring the whole clearing waivers and being signed by the other team at half thing if that pertains to Hale) and bring in Tommy...its not like Alby is going anywhere...so relax I'm not taking jabs at Ably all I'm saying is I think it would have been a better move to bring in Hale first.. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I don't think you're understanding the point. The Devils aren't looking to improve their defense by signing Tommy Albelin - they're looking to improve their depth. Albelin isn't going to get major minutes and if a defenseman gets injured for a long period of time, David Hale will probably be called up to fill in, not Albelin. This move also gives us the ability to confidently move another defender, like McGillis, moving Hale into his spot and ensuring there is a #7 defender who can step in if the Devils need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizDevil30 Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 Welcome back,Tommy. It's like you never left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nj96 Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 You have to figure that if he's been practicing with the team all year, the coaching staff has seen what he can do for what they need him to do. If he wasn't capable, they could have just said, "Sorry, Tommy, it's just not in the cards. Here's a front office job." I'm confident that he's got the skills for what we need him to do. He's not the future, he's just a known commodity that can only improve what we've got back there. It's basically an Albelin for Malakov switch and I'm definitely a big fan of that. -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnderDogX Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 (edited) No I completely get it...but that's my point exactly...I think as a team it would be better to fill the roster with depth that's fast...not old and slow...realistically Dano and Stevens would have to play catch up in a fast paced game like this at their age and they are GREAT players....Alby isn't great, he's good...and I mean I understand the "he adds depth" point of view....I guess the only real thing I'm trying to say out of this is we need to stop focusing on playing players that go out there and their sole purpose is to stop the opposition from scoring and shift it to players that can slow the opposition's scoring ability but still have a shot at scoring...same reason why Madden's gotta work on his aim..... I mean that's basically saying Langdon adds depth...he played 45 seconds last and spent two minutes in the box...that's not depth thats stopping a better player from having that spot on the bench...but again, just my two cents...hopefully he will be good for the team as I'm sure he probably will be...I would just rather see speedier (is that a word?) defensive depth as opposed to having Alby.... and a note to the "If he wasn't capable, they could have just said, "Sorry, Tommy, it's just not in the cards. Here's a front office job." Then Langdon would be digging ditches somewhere...possibly helping put our new arena together... EDIT: This is exactly what I'm talking about....I just turned on the game...they show the lines and there is a hole in the 4th line wing...but we have 7 D-men...We have a problem scoring...we don't need someone who is a defensive guy who can play wing if need be we need a winger who can score....we're short on those as it is...All I'm saying is this is the completely wrong approach to take in this new fast paced NHL...someone out there has got to understand what I'm talking about...and I'm sure someone will agree if we lose tonight...if we win...i'm sure I was all wrong Edited December 24, 2005 by UnderDogX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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