Devils moving on up? Sharks on cruise control
I got a small complaint that I wasn't talking about the Sharks enough...well there isn't much to say. They are in 1st place in the NHL (14-3-1 29 pts) which is certainly odd for them. They are usually trying to figure it out until January where they start going crazy. The young kids are doing well (Setoguchi is on fire) and the Sharks have Nabokov (ok well not at the moment). I can't complain about them and all I can say is I hope they don't burn out in the tail end. Oh and making the defending Stanley Cup Champs look like pansies was a bonus.
Ok so now the drama called the Devils who last night beat the Caps 6-5 in a shootout. I am officially not giving the Devils the excuse of injuries anymore because as you can see they can produce goals and play solid hockey...for the most part. I know Clemmy did ok in net, but I still want Weekes back in net. I mean doing crossword puzzles on Marty's watch is one thing, but doing them on Clemmy's watch is like a slap in the face. It was also nice to see Gionta get back to scrapping for loose pucks up front and getting his nose dirty. I want to see more of that outta him so I can yell "GIONTA!!!!!!" in a Doc-esque manner. It seems like Parise has cooled off in the goal scoring department, but the effort is still there which I can't complain. Elias finally snipes one home after being stoned walled by (insert goalies here) time after time. I want to add in that Alexander Ovechkin is an awesome hockey player. Great in skills and its like hes a kid with the amount of enthusiasm he puts in his celebrations. When he scored with 1 sec left in the 3rd, he skated right to his bench and jumped to his bench. It was something I haven't seen since I played in my teens.
So the Devils are currently 8-7-2 and still in the mix between 4th and 8th (about 6 pts behind 4th and 2 pts up from 8th) and I can't shake the feeling that the Devils are what the Sharks were at the first half of the season for the past few years. Lost, key players not scoring, panic in the fanbase (calls for firing the coach), and floating between 6th and 10th in the conference. I'm here to say things will be better so chill out guys and girls. No we don't need that bum Shannahan here, no we don't need to give up guys for 2nd rate goalies, and no we don't need to fire the coach (do you really want the mullet here?!?!?), wait until February or March and you will see a new Devils team...the team we saw at the beginning of the season. The Devils just need to stay in the mix until then and that shouldn't be a problem although ask me in a month when they've gelled and have some people back.
In other news yeah Melrose got fired from Tampa and is jobless...well until he begs for his job back at ESPN and gives Barnaby the boot (honestly don't know how good Barnaby is as a analyst, does anyone know????) I think that whole organization is fucked up and that it wasnt just the mullet's fault. Suspect trades (dealing Carle and getting Roberts, bring Downie in really?) and meh goaltending, he didn't have much to work with. Rich Tochett will be the coach now and I'm too lazy to make a gambling reference so (insert one here). Point is Tampa Bay isn't going anywhere anytime soon and to fire the coach 16 games in is odd...or maybe the players really did hate the guy i dont know.
Thats all for now and no matter what I say remember, only time will tell what happens and anything can happen...ask Barry Melrose.
- Jon 45 (sporting a 12-24-5 life record)
Ok so now the drama called the Devils who last night beat the Caps 6-5 in a shootout. I am officially not giving the Devils the excuse of injuries anymore because as you can see they can produce goals and play solid hockey...for the most part. I know Clemmy did ok in net, but I still want Weekes back in net. I mean doing crossword puzzles on Marty's watch is one thing, but doing them on Clemmy's watch is like a slap in the face. It was also nice to see Gionta get back to scrapping for loose pucks up front and getting his nose dirty. I want to see more of that outta him so I can yell "GIONTA!!!!!!" in a Doc-esque manner. It seems like Parise has cooled off in the goal scoring department, but the effort is still there which I can't complain. Elias finally snipes one home after being stoned walled by (insert goalies here) time after time. I want to add in that Alexander Ovechkin is an awesome hockey player. Great in skills and its like hes a kid with the amount of enthusiasm he puts in his celebrations. When he scored with 1 sec left in the 3rd, he skated right to his bench and jumped to his bench. It was something I haven't seen since I played in my teens.
Click to viewSo the Devils are currently 8-7-2 and still in the mix between 4th and 8th (about 6 pts behind 4th and 2 pts up from 8th) and I can't shake the feeling that the Devils are what the Sharks were at the first half of the season for the past few years. Lost, key players not scoring, panic in the fanbase (calls for firing the coach), and floating between 6th and 10th in the conference. I'm here to say things will be better so chill out guys and girls. No we don't need that bum Shannahan here, no we don't need to give up guys for 2nd rate goalies, and no we don't need to fire the coach (do you really want the mullet here?!?!?), wait until February or March and you will see a new Devils team...the team we saw at the beginning of the season. The Devils just need to stay in the mix until then and that shouldn't be a problem although ask me in a month when they've gelled and have some people back.
In other news yeah Melrose got fired from Tampa and is jobless...well until he begs for his job back at ESPN and gives Barnaby the boot (honestly don't know how good Barnaby is as a analyst, does anyone know????) I think that whole organization is fucked up and that it wasnt just the mullet's fault. Suspect trades (dealing Carle and getting Roberts, bring Downie in really?) and meh goaltending, he didn't have much to work with. Rich Tochett will be the coach now and I'm too lazy to make a gambling reference so (insert one here). Point is Tampa Bay isn't going anywhere anytime soon and to fire the coach 16 games in is odd...or maybe the players really did hate the guy i dont know.
Thats all for now and no matter what I say remember, only time will tell what happens and anything can happen...ask Barry Melrose.
- Jon 45 (sporting a 12-24-5 life record)