2009 preview: New Jersey Devils

No matter what happens to the New Jersey Devils, they always seem to be one of the hottest teams going into the playoffs.

Slow start. No problem. Martin Brodeur goes down for months with an injury. No problem. The team struggle offensively. No problem.

So no matter where this team is around the Christmas break, expect them to make a push at the end of the season.

Story of the season:Will this team go back to dull boring hockey, and how will it impact the young offensive players? With new coach Jacques Lemaire back in the fold, many are speculating the team will go back to the dull hockey of old. How much that will stifle the progress of players such as Zach Parise remains to be seen.

Former Habs: Yann Denis, Danius Zubrus

Blog to follow: Pucks and Pithcforks

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Pool Picks:Travis Zajac. He broke through with 62 points last year. He will probably match that again this season. Stay away from:Brian Rolston. Sure, he had an off-year last year, but the Devils are expected to play more defensive-minded hockey. He’ll probably finish with 40 points.

Award nominees:Jay Pandolfo for the Selke

Expected Finish: Third in the Atlantic, sixth in the East

Cheerleader: This is one of the Devils Dancers

Top 100 Habs: #46

#46: Claude Lemieux

While Claude Lemieux may be a superpest, there’s no doubt that his style of play had a huge influence on many teams and their Stanley Cup runs, including the Montreal Canadiens.

Claude Lemieux holds the Stanley Cup in 1986.

Lemieux was drafted by the Canadiens in 1983 after a successful junior career, and actually made the team that year. However, after eight games into the season, he was sent back to juniors.

He played one game for the Canadiens the next season, and only 10 in the 85-86 season, but he stayed around for the playoffs that year, which was a smart move. Although he had only played 19 regular season games to that point, Lemieux was instrumental in the playoffs. He scored 10 goals (including four game-winners) and added six assists in 20 playoff games, helping the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup that year.

The next year, he made the team full-time, scoring 27 goals and 53 points in 76 games in hus true rookie season. He followed that up with seasons of 31 and 29 goals, but it was in the playoffs he excelled. Known as an agitator, Lemieux wasn’t scared to play with an edge.

He was traded to the New Jersey Devils during the 90-91 season, but kept his winning ways. He would win three more Stanley Cups (one with the New Jersey Devils and two with the Colorado Avalanche), and is one of only five to win Stanley Cups with three different teams. In his New Jersey Cup win, Lemieux won the Conn Smythe trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

Lemieux is second in league history with 19 career playoff game-winning goals, trailing only Wayne Gretzky.

He has also played for Canada at the World Junior Champions, Canada Cup, Rendez-Vous 87′  and the World Championships.

For more information on Claude Lemieux:

Hockey Hall of Fame

Wikipedia

Pat Burns fighting cancer again

One of my favourite coaches of all time, Pat Burns, is fighting cancer for the third time.

Pat Burns

Burns, one of the most respected coaches out there, was diagnosed with lung cancer last May after the World Hockey Championships.

He successfully fought colon cancer in 2003-2004, and liver cancer in 2005. He doesn’t want to undergo any more chemotherapy, so he’s looking at other ways to fight it.

Burns has won the Jack Adams trophy for top NHL coach with three different teams, which is a record. It also shows how effective a coach he is. He’s only won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils, and coached the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Every time there’s a rumour of someone being fired, Burns name comes up as a replacement. Burns told La Presse newspaper that he wanted to get back into coaching this year.

“If it weren’t for this, I would have been back in the National Hockey League this year. I wanted to come back, I had interviews set up and permission from the Devils to consider the offers that people were making. But because of the cancer I’ve had to put all that aside,” he said.

Let’s all hope that Burns is successful in his latest fight.

Brodeur overrated?

This was supposed to be Martin Brodeur’s season.

After a long career, Brodeur was supposed to pass Patrick Roy for most wins in a career and Terry Sawchuk for most shutouts in a career.

Instead, he got injured in a game back on Nov. 1 and is out for three to four months. There was much debate about how much the New Jersey Devils were going to suffer without him. There was talk of trades to bring in a new number one goalie, of trying to cling to a playoff spot for when Brodeur came back in February or March.

Instead, the back-up goalie, Scott Clemenson, has stolen the spotlight. The same Clemenson who had started 28 career games at this point. The same Clemenson who’s best season since the lockout was in 2006-2007, when he had a 3.14 GAA and a .889 save percentage.

Now, Clemenson has started just as many games this season as Brodeur, and their numbers show something surprising:

Brodeur: 10 games started, six wins, two losses, 2.16 GAA, .916 save percentage.

Clemenson: 10 games started, six wins, three losses, 2.32 GAA, .922 save percentage.

Their numbers are almost identical. If look at most other past years, you will see the backup goalies with almost identical records as Brodeur, no matter who the backup is.

Brodeur seems to always be mentioned in the same breath as other great goalies in history, but it’s not warranted. He’s a product of the team’s success. For years, the Devils played a dull neutral zone trap game. Brodeur happened to be the goalie back there.

There were many games where the opposition took less than 20 shots, and half of those would be dump-ins from centre ice.

How can Brodeur compare to guys like Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden, Terry Sawchuk and others when most of his wins weren’t that difficult?

Funniest Sen is….?

There’s one guy from the Senators who always makes me laugh. When he’s on the Team 1200, I know he’s good for a chuckle.

Of course, I’m talking about Roy Mlakar, president and CEO of the Ottawa Senators. Why does he make me laugh? Well, for starters, he never answers a question that may be negative in any way. A couple of days after the atrocity that was the Sens pregame playoff opening, he was asked about it on the radio. He answered by making a joke about the host of the show, and then started answering a question about another topic that wasn’t even asked.

Even better was last week, when he said the Sens have the best playoff record of the past 10 years or so. Of course, you could ask Stanley Cup champions Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Carolina, New Jersey, Detroit, Colorado and Dallas if they would rather have the Sens playoff record of the past 10 years instead of a Stanley Cup banner.

Man, the guy is funny. I wonder what’s next?