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Goal Line Report

Why The New Jersey Devils Are Lucky

by Patrick Hoffman on 01/17/11 at 05:05 PM ET
Comments (1)

When a team sits in last place in both the Eastern Conference and the entire National Hockey League, it is hard to imagine why someone would call them lucky.

With that said, however, the New Jersey Devils really are lucky for a number of different reasons. For starters, there is no pressure on the team. Both team general manager Lou Lamoriello and head coach Jacques Lemaire have made it clear that this is pretty much a lost season and that going forward, it will all be about rebuilding.

Keeping with the “no pressure” idea, the Devils can actually go into games and just focus on playing good hockey and doing what they can to pick up two up two points rather than fighting to make the playoffs. Yes, losing many games can certainly weigh down a team or player but when your club is clearly out of the playoff picture, it is easier to just go out, focus on your game and improve going into the 2011-12 season.

The Devils are also lucky in that the future becomes now for many of their younger players. I am talking about players such as Tim Sestito, Vladimir Zharkov, Mattias Tedenby, Matthew Corrente, Olivier Magnan, Mark Fraser, Rod Pelley, and others. I am sure that both Lamoriello and Lemaire do not want to have all these guys in the lineup but at this point, why not?

The big reason why the Devils are lucky is because of the NHL draft. At 12-29-2 and 35 points, it is clear that if the Devils continue to falter and lose hockey games, they will have a good shot at getting the No. 1 pick in the draft. This could be anyone from Gabriel Landeskog (Kitchener Rangers, OHL), Adam Larsson (Skelleftea AIK), Nugent-Hopkins (Red Deer Rebels, WHL) and several other talented prospects.

The future is NOW for the Devils and it is time to start looking forward instead of in the past. So Devils’ fans, do not be down in the dumps. Consider yourselves lucky as things can only get better from here on out.

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Comments

I did not like the big contract that was signed this summer. I thought it was absurd on its face. By early November I was saying to a colleague that they should just consider the season a wash, and just run all manner of lines on the ice during every game, get Hedberg in net more than Brodeur so that he can build his skill set, and think about and plan for next season. Anything else would just be even more defeating than what’s already happened. I would like to think that they will be able to convince Parise to stay, but maybe that’s not in his best interests. I love to watch him play, as he is totally enthusiastic and talented. I love to watch him play with Zajac. If they can keep the two of them on board, that would be great, but in any case it really is all about rebuilding, including figuring out what to do about coaches. My two cents…

Posted by Carthage on 01/17/11 at 08:50 PM ET

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Patrick has a tremendous passion for hockey. Besides covering the Rangers and the NHL for Kukla’s Korner, you can also find Patrick’s work over at Sportsnet.ca, The Red Light District Hockey Blog, NHL Home Ice, and Liam Maguire’s Ultimate Hockey web site.

Prior to writing for the above mentioned outlets, you could find Patrick’s musings at hockey web sites/outlets such as TheHockeyNews.com, TheFourthPeriod.com, Spector’s Hockey, Hokeja Vestnesis, Blueshirt Bulletin, SNYRangersBlog.com and many more.

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