GDT: NJD vs. NYR, The "I'll See You in Newark" Edition

[CRASHER]

you seriously don't sit that far from us... I missed BOTH our goals due to the crazy stuff in the stands.. but I have to say I've NEVER seen a crowd as jacked up and ready to go as this one was!!

(you heard all the grief to the guy with the something about Mary hairdo right!!)

and the two Ranger fans chanting Taco Bell was pure awesomeness!!

You got your Pesos, si???

[njskaguy33]

you seriously don't sit that far from us... I missed BOTH our goals due to the crazy stuff in the stands.. but I have to say I've NEVER seen a crowd as jacked up and ready to go as this one was!!

(you heard all the grief to the guy with the something about Mary hairdo right!!)

and the two Ranger fans chanting Taco Bell was pure awesomeness!!

You got your Pesos, si???

[Reverend_Hellh0und]

Which is why a re-location of the team is highly likely in the near future, and i hope it happens

[Satans Hockey]

I understand the some of the reactions here; some of you are too young or too new to remember anything other than Devils success, so you think you're entitled to having a Stanley Cup contender every single season. It doesn't work that way...if you're lucky, you have nice, long cycles where your team does indeed contend for a Cup year after year, but eventually those cycles come to an end (or a slight dip), and it then takes some time to try to build another cycle. How long? Who knows. But if this is the beginning of a downturn, just remember that you got to see three Championships (depending on when you jumped aboard), and in the years you didn't, you got to see a team that at least had a chance to compete for one. All in all, that you makes you pretty lucky. But not entitled.

Edited November 15, 2007 by Satans Hockey

[CRASHER]

I didn't catch the Taco Bell comment nor did I catch the Marty hair comment. If that happened in the first, I missed it due to the terrible 7:00 start time.

Next game I attend, I'll have to stand up and just yell, "Crasher, where you at?!?!" Of course that wont happen until 2008 as I'm going to New Orleans this weekend and I'm leaving for Florida after that. Wont be back until the 22nd of December.

Between the horrid play on the ice, the fights in the stands and arguing with my g/f about the aforementioned trip, it was an entertaining evening all around!

[davemaleyfan]

so we're supposed to be content that the team stinks now?

Edited November 15, 2007 by davemaleyfan

[Don]

Not at all, but what can be done about it other then venting on a message board?

I'm as annoyed and as frustrated as anybody, but if I start calling for a player to be traded, who the heck really cares what I think, other then folks on said message board.....

[CRASHER]

This really isn't the time to bitch about this team's lack of success this year... look how good we've had it as fans for the last 15 years (trust me I've seen my Cowboys rise and fall and rise AGAIN in this time )... and it's been amazing... hall of fame and legendary icons, even perennial all-stars (rafalski) have been constants on this team for YEARS now... it's IMPOSSIBLE to maintain that level for as long as we have without paying a damn price for it and look how many teams have been brutal that entire time.... (Florida and Washington have one run to the finals in that time and NOTHING else for their history)... hell even the Mighty Ottawa stacked teams only ONCE have gotten to a Final since then, Buffalo's not been to a finals since Brett Hull cheated and the Rangers have won ONE playoff series since 1998... maybe it's time to step back and say it's a hell of a run and this team has EARNED the right to take some time off and retool for one last big run with Brodeur instead of wanting to piss the sink away for another 2nd round exit...when you hit the talent wall we're at you MUST get worse before you can get better... period!!!

[davemaleyfan]

Aye. I think I spoke to the futility of writing stuff on message boards (ie blaming Lou). But if we didn't futily write stuff on message boards, it would be kinda a boring place I guess....

[Devilish34]

This really isn't the time to bitch about this team's lack of success this year... look how good we've had it as fans for the last 15 years (trust me I've seen my Cowboys rise and fall and rise AGAIN in this time )... and it's been amazing... hall of fame and legendary icons, even perennial all-stars (rafalski) have been constants on this team for YEARS now... it's IMPOSSIBLE to maintain that level for as long as we have without paying a damn price for it and look how many teams have been brutal that entire time.... (Florida and Washington have one run to the finals in that time and NOTHING else for their history)... hell even the Mighty Ottawa stacked teams only ONCE have gotten to a Final since then, Buffalo's not been to a finals since Brett Hull cheated and the Rangers have won ONE playoff series since 1998... maybe it's time to step back and say it's a hell of a run and this team has EARNED the right to take some time off and retool for one last big run with Brodeur instead of wanting to piss the sink away for another 2nd round exit...when you hit the talent wall we're at you MUST get worse before you can get better... period!!!

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

so we're supposed to be content that the team stinks now?

Edited November 15, 2007 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[MantaRay]

Even if the last two years represented progress over the seven preceding playoff-less seasons during which the Blueshirts were a shameful 3-23-11 in the Battle of the Hudson, they still could not get by New Jersey. Not in the season series, not in the standings, and not in the first round of the 2006 playoffs.

The Rangers couldn't get by the Devils in large measure because they couldn't find the way to free Jaromir Jagr from the shackles of a shadow named Jay Pandolfo. Now they don't have to do that, for Devils' coach Brent Sutter has done it for them.

No shadow for Jagr in New Jersey's new era puck-pursuit game, only a shadow being cast over the Devils' hockey dominance of the Hudson.

[CRASHER]

So your saying throw in the towel fvckit??

[jkrdevil]

-Larry Brooks 11/15/07

[njdevils2003champs]

This had to be one of the worse losts Ive seen in person.

[thelastonealive]

This had to be one of the worse losts Ive seen in person.

[CRASHER]

the biggest downer is that crowd was CRAZY for that game last night and the game didn't deliver

[halfsharkalligatorhalfman]

Sure a lot of devils "fans" will abandon the team if they aren't good any more, and then you know they are fairweather fans. I'm happy about the past 15 years of suceess the organization has enjoyed but I'm not gonna wax poetic about it and forget about the fact that the current team I'm watching is bad. I appreciate things people like Elias and Broduer have done for the organization but that doesnt mean they get a free pass now.

The truth is there is no way this team can win the cup this year, and unless major changes occur Broduer will probably not win another one before its all said and done.

[Devil Dan 56]

halfshark...that's exactly the kind of response that makes me wonder how much fortitude some Devil "fans" have. Depending on how long you've been watching, you've seen your team make the playoffs every year, save for '88-'89 and '95-'96, since the Cinderella run of '87-'88. Granted, the early part of that run was characterized by mediocre teams that barely got into the playoffs (and weren't really considered contenders once they got there), but from '93-'94 on, you've seen a lot of banners raised...including 3 of the best possible kind. (The Ranger organization hasn't raised a banner of ANY kind, save for retired numbers, since 1994.) Take a look at the other four teams currently playing in our division, and take a look at their records over the same run; with the exception of the Islanders, all have had some success, but they've also had to suffer through dry spells that we've never had to. Would you have thought that, watching the early Penguins of the early '90s? The '94 Rangers?

My point is this: the runs don't last forever. Entitled fans will try to assess blame and call for mass changes and this coach's job and that player's head, and even blame the GM...but what was Lou supposed to do? Is it Lou's fault that Stevens and Daneyko couldn't stay young forever? That Niedermayer wanted to play with his brother? Maybe he screwed up the Rafalski situation, maybe he didn't...who knows? But the Devils had a killer defensive corps they could rely on, season after season, for a long long time. Lou hasn't done the best job replacing those guys, but when two of them are Hall-Of-Famers, how could he, really?

I just get the sense that a lot of Devils fans are going to run for the hills if this team struggles for the forseeable future...that despite having been treated to a very successful run, they're going to jump ship if the team looks like it's going to have a rough go of it this year, possibly next and (GASP!) even the one after that. And no matter how I look at the situation, I think that sucks.

[NJDevs4978]

This really isn't the time to bitch about this team's lack of success this year... look how good we've had it as fans for the last 15 years (trust me I've seen my Cowboys rise and fall and rise AGAIN in this time )... and it's been amazing... hall of fame and legendary icons, even perennial all-stars (rafalski) have been constants on this team for YEARS now... it's IMPOSSIBLE to maintain that level for as long as we have without paying a damn price for it and look how many teams have been brutal that entire time.... (Florida and Washington have one run to the finals in that time and NOTHING else for their history)... hell even the Mighty Ottawa stacked teams only ONCE have gotten to a Final since then, Buffalo's not been to a finals since Brett Hull cheated and the Rangers have won ONE playoff series since 1998... maybe it's time to step back and say it's a hell of a run and this team has EARNED the right to take some time off and retool for one last big run with Brodeur instead of wanting to piss the sink away for another 2nd round exit...when you hit the talent wall we're at you MUST get worse before you can get better... period!!!

Edited November 15, 2007 by Hasan4978

[britoon]

Where has all the loyalty gone? This kinda sh&t drives me crazy. Ok, so the Devs are not doing well right now, and yes, we most likely won't have a legitimate run for the cup this year, does that warrant jumping ship?

I am from NJ and I have lived in the Atlanta GA area for the past 11 years. I have been a Devils fan my whole life and even though I tend to go to more Thrashers games than Devils games I still hold the Devs as my number one team.

I hate to watch us lose, but that doesn't mean I am looking for another team to get behind.

Loyalty seems to be at a premium lately.

It's a shame.

[Triumph]

Where has all the loyalty gone? This kinda sh&t drives me crazy. Ok, so the Devs are not doing well right now, and yes, we most likely won't have a legitimate run for the cup this year, does that warrant jumping ship?

I am from NJ and I have lived in the Atlanta GA area for the past 11 years. I have been a Devils fan my whole life and even though I tend to go to more Thrashers games than Devils games I still hold the Devs as my number one team.

I hate to watch us lose, but that doesn't mean I am looking for another team to get behind.

Loyalty seems to be at a premium lately.

It's a shame.

[britoon]

haven't you heard? if your team doesn't win, it's time to find a new one, or at the very least, spend your time complaining about your current one.

[Devilish34]

Maybe kinda... I'm saying it's time to lower the bar on the expectations around here, hell just look at the on-ice product.. the defense is in a MAJOR rebuild mode and it's only gonna get worse if Martin is out any length of time

[stevestevens]

I dont think the team is in the top half of talent this season, but the only thing that bothers me is the lack of heart some players put in. If youre playing, you should be at 100% every second youre on the ice. Thats all i ask.