Think about the baseball team down in Tampa. Remember their old name? Now think about the hockey team in New Jersey. Florida: the only state in the union worse than New Jersey. Nice work, team.
New Jersey has always been the team that the Boston Bruins wanted to be; stifling defense, bad reputation, and most importantly, victorious. Oh, and they also got Kovalchuk. Thanks for adding insult to injury, jerk stores.
It's instant Cup-contention with Kovalchuk added to the Devils. Right? Kovy has played in 24 games with the Devils. Their record during that time period is 11-8-5. Five OTL's since the former Thrasher has joined the lineup, and that is also how many OT appearance the Devils have been in during the Kovy era. Before the Russian Invasion: 35-18-2 with only two OTL's in 10 appearances. So, whoa now, what seems to be the trouble? You've added one of the best possession scorers in the league, you already have the greatest goalie of all-time, and have the lowest Goals Against in the NHL...
Ahm, anyone?
In those 24 games, the Devils GAA is 2.4. Still pretty spectacular in relation to the rest of the league. The G/G have been pretty awful at 2.7, but this is actually higher than their season G/G which is 2.6 (and also happens to be pretty bad). So, since the arrival of Kovy, te Devils have seen a slight increase in both goals allowed and goals scored. One would figure that would even out and leave the Devils' success unhindered.
The problem seems to be consistency; they score 5 goals one night, then allow 5 the next, Brodeur lays down a shutout, and his team gets shutout the very next game. This has to concern Devils' fans. Sure, there is a acclimation period for any major change. But, Kovalchuk has been on the team for over two months now. And while his production has been on the limited side (9 goals in 24 games), as noted earlier, his presence has coincided with a slight improvement in scoring for the Devils. Sure, there have been injuries that have aligned with Kovy's arrival: Elias and Skoula have missed time in early February and beyond, so maybe chemistry is still a problem, but things still do not add up.
All of this being said, the Devils are currently filling the 2nd-seed in the Eastern Conference, and are slotted to play the lowly Philadelphia Flyers who have a mere 7 points in their last 10 games, and who have only... beaten... the Devils... on... 5... separate... occassions... this... season (outscored 20-13 in those games).
Yikes.
Players to Watch:
Zach Parise - The other stud on the US team currently leads the team in goals scored as a Devil (eat shit, Ilya). Parise has a tendency to score in bunches, so he fits right in line with the inconsistency of his team (and/or is the cause of it). This could be a good sign come playoff time, or a bad one.
Ill Yeah - He's only 26 years old and has averaged well over 40 goals a season for the last 6 years. In other words, he's a top 5 player in the NHL. Problem is he doesn't have anything to show for it. Does he get another title for the Devils this season and one for himself? Or, does he simply earn that monster 8-year contract that is inevitably on its way in the offseason? How big that contract turns out to be has a lot to do with how he performs in the playoffs given his scant experience thus far.
Marty - Best. Goalie. Ever. But at 38, with over 70 starts on the season under his belt, does he have the juice to get to another Stanley Cup? Will he fall flat as he did in the Olympics? One thing is for certain, he is the KEY to the Devils' Cup hopes. Every cup team needs a good goalie. The Devils happen to have the best goalie... At least he was anyway.
dominik hasek would like a word with you.
ReplyDeleteYou know I don't speak Czech...
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