Monthly Archives: November 2011
New Jersey Devils Viewing Party 11/15: North Brunswick Pub
Tuesday was my first New Jersey Devils viewing party, but it certainly didn’t go as planned. The Devils lost a close game, my ride somehow got lost in Morristown for twenty minutes and I missed the entire first period. There was traffic on the Parkway and it was a long day of work. French fries were thrown. Were it any other event, this night would have been a total disaster.
However, my night at North Brunswick Pub defied a troublesome start. A trip far from the friendly confines of the Rock proved more than hospitable when at least 50 Devils fans packed into a bar with more than 20 HD TVs. It was a hockey paradise with drink specials and 35-cent boneless wings.
Grant Marshall of the 2003 Stanley Cup team was there to sign autographs and quite approachable. Fellow general Kevin Lankey went home with four autographed pucks for friends, Marshall talked hockey with anyone who wanted to chat and even posed for photographs. Other autographs were raffled away from Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias. It was a fun night for a few lucky Devils fans.
Though the game didn’t go our way, the Devils kept it interesting. Against the defending Stanley Cup champs, our Devils repeatedly battled back before falling in the final minutes to the Boston Bruins. Scoring three goals against Tim Thomas is no small feat and the Devils received goals from David Clarkson and Nick Palmieri. It was Palmieri’s first two-goal game of his career.
The result wasn’t what we’d hoped for, but the energy throughout the bar was electric and it was a great way to watch an away game. The Devils Generals thank the North Brunswick Pub for being wonderful hosts and turning each of their 20 screens to a great Devils hockey game.
There will be another Devils viewing party in West Hampton next weekend. The Devils Army invades South Jersey for a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. If a night filled with traffic and anger that ends in a loss can be this much fun, Saturday’s viewing party is bound to be more exciting. We’ll see you there.
Player of the Week Winner: Patrik Elias
The Devils Army has voted and the results are in – Congratulations to this week’s “Player of the Week” for November 7th-13th, Patrik Elias!
Elias continued his point streak for the month of November assisting on goals by Danius Zubrus and Petr Sykora during last Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. On Friday, in the first of a home and home against the Washington Capitals, he assisted on Adam Larsson’s first career goal and the Devils only goal that night. Then the next night in the Nation’s capital, with the Devils down by 2, Elias won a key offensive zone faceoff and fed it to Sykora again, who ripped it home to make it 2-1, bringing life to NJ as they rallied for the come from behind win!
As of November 13th, Elias had 6 goals and 9 assists and continues to lead the team in Points, with 15. Once again, congrats to Patty!
Join us again on Monday, November 21st when we reveal who the “Player of the Week” is for November 14th-20th.
Game Preview – Game 17: Your New Jersey Devils @ Buffalo Sabres
New Jersey Devils (8-7-1, 17 points) @ Buffalo Sabres (11-6-0, 22 points)
7:30 PM EST
TV: Versus
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
Matchup:
The Devils get their first look of the season at the Buffalo Sabres tonight. This will be the first of four meetings between the two clubs.
Devils Fall to Bruins:
It’s never easy playing the defending Stanley Cup Champions, but the Devils stayed on par with the Bruins for most of the night.
The Devils rallied from two third period deficits with Nick Palmieri scoring the Devils second and third goals giving him his first career two-goal game.
Johan Hedberg, who got the start in the front game of back-to-back games, had his moments in net, but had a couple flubs allowing soft goals to the Bruins.
The Devils came out firing with less than a minute left to play putting several scoring chances on net, but could not get the puck past Tim Thomas. The final score saw the Devils come up just short, 4-3.
Kovalchuk to Play Tonight:
Ilya Kovalchuk has been inserted back into the Devils lineup and will once again play right wing on a line with Devils captain, Zach Parise, and Adam Henrique. Kovalchuk, who has missed the last five games due to a groin injury, told the media this morning that he is excited to be back on the ice and was excited to see the powerplay unit score a goal. “We’re on fire now,” he said.
With Kovalchuk coming back into the lineup, someone must be scratched. For tonight, Coach DeBoer has elected to scratch struggling winger, Mattias Tedenby. Tedenby is looking at it in a positive light saying that it will allow him to save energy and when he gets the chance, he’s going to “go for it.” DeBoer hopes that resting Tedenby will light a spark in Tedenby’s play.
Against the Bruins:
All-time the Devils are 45-40-16-0 against the Sabres, and are 21-20-9-0 when playing in Buffalo.
Patrik Elias & Ilya Kovalchuk both have 31 points in their careers against the Sabres. Elias has 7 goals and 24 assists, while Kovalchuk has 19 goals and 12 assists. Kovalchuk, however, only has two points in four games against the Sabres since joining the Devils in February of 2010.
Dainius Zubrus has only one point (an assist) in 15 games against his former club while playing for the Devils. Tonight will mark a milestone in Zubrus’ NHL career as he plays in game number 1,000.
Martin Brodeur is 30-16-7 in his career against the Sabres with an impressive 2.17 goals against average.
Projected Devils Lineup:
Parise – Henrique – Kovalchuk
Sykora - Elias - Zubrus
Palmieri - Carter – Clarkson
Zharkov - Mills - Janssen
Greene – Larsson
Tallinder - Fayne
Volchenkov – Salvador
Brodeur
Hedberg
——————–
No Miller? No Problem:
After being hit by Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic on Saturday, Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller was diagnosed with a concussion putting him on the shelf for an unknown amount of time.
Usually, seeing your star goaltender go down with a concussion isn’t a good sign, but Sabres fans aren’t worried at all. In net, the Sabres will have Jhonas Enroth which is a blessing in disguise. Enroth is playing better than any goaltender in the league currently. Enroth is 6-0-0 so far this season and has not lost a game in regulation since November 24 2010, in which he only gave up one goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Enroth is also 13-0-1 in his last 14 decisions.
Lindy’s Longevity:
Lindy Ruff was named head coach of the Buffalo Sabres in July of 1997. Since then, there have been 164 coaching changes in the NHL (the Devils have 13 of them with 9 different head coaches).
Ruff is the second-longest tenured coach in the four major professional sports leagues. Ahead of him is Gregg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs since 1996.
Projected Sabres Lineup:
Vanek – Roy – Pominville
Leino – Adam – Stafford
Kaleta – Gaustad – Gerbe
Eliss – McCormick – Boyes
Leopold – Regehr
Weber – Sekera
Ehrhoff – Gragnani
Enroth
MacIntyre
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Game Preview – Game 16: Your New Jersey Devils @ The BruCrew
New Jersey Devils (8-6-1, 17 points) @ Boston Bruins (8-7-0, 16 points)
7:00 PM EST
TV: MSG Plus 2
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
Matchup:
Tonight marks the first of four games, and first of two in Boston, between the Devils and the Bruins. Last year, the Bruins took the season series 3-1. The Devils beat the Bruins in the final game of the season in a game which meant nothing for either side and saw the Bruins rest some key players, including Tim Thomas (who was 3-0 against the Devils last year).
Devils Win Again in Shootout:
In their last game, the New Jersey Devils looked to be heading for another loss. The Devils found themselves down 2-0 in the second period, until Petr Sykora snapped a shot off a faceoff to pull the Devils within one. Ryan Carter then deflected a shot with just over a minute left in the second period to tie the score.
The Devils held on and Johan Hedberg made remarkable save after remarkable save to force the game into OT and a shootout.
The Devils sent out Zach Parise, Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias in the shootout with Parise scoring. However, Alex Ovechkin scored for the Washington Capitals, so a fourth round was needed. The fourth shooter was chosen by Assistant Coach Adam Oates, and it was David Clarkson. Clarkson was able to put the puck past Capitals goaltender Michael Neuvirth giving the Devils the extra point and the win.
Will Ilya Kovalchuk Play Tonight?:
I wish I could tell you either yes or no.
After injuring his groin in the Devils’ 4-3 win over Philadelphia two weeks ago, Ilya Kovalchuk started participating in full-team practices with the Devils. He was skating as an extra forward with Rod Pelley. During this morning’s skate, Kovalchuk was skating as an extra forward again, BUT was a part of the first powerplay unit when the team ran through powerplay drills.
Originally, Head Coach Peter DeBoer, who officially confirmed the injury to Kovalchuk is a groin injury, said that Kovalchuk would NOT play tonight. However, he will now let Kovalchuk participate in the pre-game warmup.
DeBoer had an idea to use Kovalchuk in only powerplay instances tonight, but felt that Kovalchuk would get stiff while sitting on the bench in between powerplay opportunities.
Odds are Kovalchuk will be scratched again tonight, but it will be a game time decision.
Against the Bruins:
All-time the Devils are 41-44-15-2 against the Bruins, and are 19-23-8-2 when playing in Boston.
Patrik Elias is the all-time leading scorer for the Devils against the Bruins with 39 points (21 goals, 18 assists) in 50 games played.
Ilya Kovalchuk, however, has the most career points against the Bruins with 40 points (22 goals, 18 assists) in 37 games played.
Johan Hedberg is 4-8-2 in his career against the Bruins with a 2.93 GAA.
Projected Devils Lineup:
Parise – Henrique – Palmieri
Sykora - Elias - Zubrus
Tedenby - Carter – Clarkson
Zharkov - Mills - Janssen
Greene – Larsson
Tallinder - Fayne
Volchenkov – Salvador
Hedberg
Brodeur
——————–
Lucic Not Suspended:
The talk of the NHL world this past weekend was whether or not Bruins forward Milan Lucic was going to get suspended for his hit on Buffalo Sabres’ goaltender Ryan Miller. Miller left the game and was later diagnosed with a concussion.
Lucic met with Brendan Shanahan on Monday to discuss disciplinary actions, but the decision was made not to suspend him. Shanahan felt that there wasn’t evidence of the hit being outstandingly bad that warranted a suspension.
Many in the NHL and fans were angry with Shanahan’s decision and believe that if an injury occurs on the play, there should be a suspension.
Seguin earns NHL First Star of the Week:
The Bruins hot offense has been sparked by NHL sophomore, Tyler Seguin.
Seguin, the second overall draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has scored seven goals in his last four games.
He currently has the league’s top plus/minus at +14, is tied for second in the league in goals (11) and tied for fourth in the NHL in points (20).
Projected Bruins Lineup:
Marchand – Seguin – Bergeron
Lucic – Krejci – Horton
Thornton – Campbell – Caron
Peverly – Kelly – Hamill
Chara – Boychuk
Corvo – Seidenberg
Ference – McQuaid
Thomas
Rask
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Player of the Week – 11/7-11/13
We’re a few weeks into the season and we’ve decided to start a “Player of the Week” blog to see what the fans have to say.
Here’s how it will work – each week (our week will run Monday – Sunday) we will come up with three players we think had the best week and the Devils Army will have a chance to vote for one of those three players. Voting will begin on Monday and end on Wednesday, with our announcement on Thursday.
Now that the formal stuff is out of the way, let’s get down to business.
The Devils played three games this week, Carolina Hurricanes on November 8th and then the Washington Capitals in a home and home on November 10th and 11th.
Here are you’re choices for Player of the Week. Vote, let us know why you picked that player and stay tuned for the results!
Game Preview – Game 15: Your New Jersey Devils @ Alex Ovechkin
New Jersey Devils (7-6-1, 15 points) @ Washington Capitals (10-4-0, 20 points)
7:00 PM EST
TV: MSG Plus, NHL Network-US (subject to local blackouts)
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
Matchup:
Tonight is the second of a home-and-home series between the two clubs. Last night the Capitals beat the Devils 3-1 at Prudential Center. This will be the second of four meetings between the two teams.
Happy Birthday Adam Larsson:
Today, the Devils’ first round draft pick celebrates his 19th birthday.
Last night, Larsson got an early birthday gift as he scored his first career NHL goal to give the Devils a 1-0 lead in the first period. The Devils looked to have the momentum as they were pouring on great scoring chances and pressure.
However, the game slipped away as the Capitals tied it late in the second period and scored two goals in the third to give them the 3-1 win.
Devils Strong PK:
In their first eight home games of the year, the New Jersey Devils have not allowed a single powerplay goal. The team has been down a man 30 times while playing at Prudential Center.
Meanwhile on the road, the Devils are 18-22 (81.8%) on the PK.
Overall the Devils are second in the league with a 92.3% PK.
Against the Capitals:
All-time the Devils are 67-76-8-1 against the Capitals, and are 27-45-4-0 when playing in Washington.
Patrik Elias has the most points as a Devil, as an active player, against the Capitals with 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) in 49 games played.
Kirk Muller has the most points of any Devil player against the Capitals with 51 points (20 goals, 31 assists).
Johan Hedberg is 7-4-2 in his career against the Capitals with one shutout and a 2.85 GAA.
Projected Devils Lineup:
Parise – Henrique – Palmieri
Sykora - Elias - Zubrus
Tedenby - Carter – Clarkson
Zharkov - Mills - Janssen
Greene – Larsson
Tallinder - Fayne
Volchenkov – Salvador
Hedberg
Brodeur
——————–
Boudreau Close to Milestone:
After last night’s win against the Devils, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau is sitting at 199 career wins. His current coaching record is 199-83-39. With an impressive record like that, Boudreau has a .681 career points percentage which is tied for the best in NHL history for a coach with at least 250 games of experience.
Capitals Detour on Highway to Hell:
The Washington Capitals are 5-1-0 in their last six games against the Devils. The one loss came from a 5-0 Devils win last season. Despite that 5-0 win for the Devils, the Capitals have outscored the Devils 21-10 in that span. The Capitals believe they have the Devils’ number as they have collected the most wins and points over the Devils than any other franchise.
Projected Capitals Lineup:
Ovechkin – Johansson – Brouwer
Laich – Backstrom – Semin
Chimera – Eakin – Ward
Hendricks – Halpern – Knuble
Erskine – Wideman
Hamrlik – Carlson
Alzner – Schultz
Neuvirth
Vokoun
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Best to Wear #16 – Bobby Holik
NUMBER: 16
HEIGHT: 6′ 4″
WEIGHT: 230
POSITION: Center
SHOOTS: Right
BORN: January 1, 1971
BIRTHPLACE: Jihlava, Czech Republic
Bobby Holik was acquired by the New Jersey Devils prior to the the 1992-93 season when he was traded along with the Hartford Whalers second round pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft to New Jersey in exchange for Eric Weinrich and Sean Burke. What happened next was 10 strong seasons from Holik.
Holik is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion, winning the Cup with the Devils in 1995 and 2000.
He left the Devils before the 2002-03 season when he signed a contract during the off-season with cross-Hudson rivals, the New York Rangers in a move that was considered Benedict Arnold-esque (that is until Scott Gomez pulled the same move years later.)
In 2005, Holik had his contract bought out by the Rangers and he signed with the Atlanta Thrashers. He stayed with the Thrashers until 2008, and even served as the Thrashers captain in the 2007-08 season.
Holik made a return to the New Jersey Devils in the 2008-09 season, marking the 11th season with the franchise.
He retired after the 2008-09 season.
| Career Stats with the New Jersey Devils | ||||||||||
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | S% |
| 786 | 202 | 270 | 472 | 122 | 863 | 44 | 0 | 43 | 2046 | 9.9% |
Player Profile: Adam Henrique
NUMBER: 14
HEIGHT: 6′ 0″
WEIGHT: 195
POSITION: Center
SHOOTS: Left
BORN: February 6, 1990
BIRTHPLACE: Brantford, ON, Canada
His name has become quite popular in the last week amongst Devils fans, and with good reason. Adam Henrique didn’t make this team coming out of training camp, but went to Albany and continued to work on his game. Then, after playing just 3 games with the Albany Devils and notching one assist, the 21-year-old center from Brantford, Ontario, Canada received the call every minor league player dreams of. The New Jersey Devils needed him, and although it was due to an injury to another talented center in Jacob Josefson, that was all Henrique needed to hear.
He has made an immediate impact in the early season thus far, scoring 4 goals, and 3 assists in just 10 games. And after scoring back to back game winning goals against the Jets in overtime and the Hurricanes on November 8th, he has quickly become a fan favorite. Chants of “Hen-Rique!” Hen-Rique!” rang out from the crowd after each goal and during his post-game interviews.
Selected 82nd overall in the third round of the 2008 entry draft, Henrique has put up impressive numbers throughout his entire career in both the OHL and AHL. During the 09-10 playoffs while playing for the Windsor Spitfires, Henrique scored a stunning 20 goals in 19 playoff games, and was awarded the “Wayne Gretzky 99 Award” for OHL Playoff MVP as his team won its 2nd of back to back Memorial Cup Championships. Henrique also helped Team Canada win the silver medal at the World Junior Championships back in 2010. Clearly, he is no stranger to success in his young career, and that can only mean good things for the New Jersey Devils.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the talented Henrique as the season progresses. With the return of Josefson and Travis Zajac on the horizon, he’ll certainly need to keep up this pace if he hopes to stay with the parent club. So far, he’s making it pretty difficult for the Devils to send him back down to Albany.
What does the Devils Army think of Adam Henrique? Feel free to comment and Let’s Go Devils!
| 2010-2011 Season Stats | ||||||||||
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | S% |
| 10 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 20.0 |
Game Preview – Game 14: Washington Capitals @ YOUR NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Washington Capitals (9-4-0, 18 points) @ New Jersey Devils (7-5-1, 15 points)
7:00 PM EST
TV: MSG Plus
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
Matchup:
Tonight marks the first of four games against the Washington Capitals this season, and the first of a home-and-home series against the Capitals as tomorrow night the two teams will meet in Washington, D.C.
Coming into Tonight:
After beating the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night, the Devils have tied their season high three game winning streak. The win came off of the stick of rookie sensation Adam Henrique. In 10 games played this season, Henrique has four goals, three assists and is a +1. Henrique also has a four game point streak going into tonight’s game (four goals, two assists). Henrique now has the game winning goal in two straight games which makes him the Devils’ first rookie to complete the task since Patrik Elias did it back in November of 1997.
The Devils are currently 2-0 without Ilya Kovalchuk in the lineup this season. Kovalchuk pulled a muscle in his leg during last week’s 4-3 win over Philadelphia. Kovalchuk is not participating in this morning’s skate and will not play in tonight’s game or tomorrow’s game.
Player Moves:
Vladimir Zharkov was recalled from Albany (AHL) this morning. He is participating in the morning skate wearing his usual #18, and it looks like he will play in tonight’s game.
Eric Boulton was placed on Injured Reserve on Monday, retroactive to October 21. It was on October 21 that he hurt his hand during a fight with Doug Murray in a game against San Jose.
Against the Capitals:
All-time the Devils are 67-75-8-1 against the Capitals, and are 40-30-4-1 when playing in New Jersey.
Ilya Kovalchuk has the most career points against the Capitals with 52 points (24 goals, 28 assists) in 48 games played.
Patrik Elias has the most points as a Devil against the Capitals with 45 points (18 goals, 27 assists) in 48 games played.
Martin Brodeur has an outstanding 36-16-4 record against the Capitals with a 2.28 GAA and 6 shutouts.
Projected Devils Lineup:
Parise – Henrique – Palmieri
Sykora - Elias - Zubrus
Tedenby - Carter – Clarkson
Zharkov - Mills - Janssen
Greene – Larsson
Tallinder - Fayne
Volchenkov – Salvador
Brodeur
Hedberg
——————–
Capitals News:
The Capitals enter Prudential Center tonight on a two-game losing streak despite having scored the second-most goals per game (3.77) in the NHL. During their last four periods of play, the Capitals have been outscored by the Islanders and Stars 8-3. As a punishment of recent play, Capitals Head Coach Bruce Boudreau had the Capitals practice for two straight hours on Wednesday, including the dreaded bag skate. A bag skate is endless laps around the rink or sprints from line-to-line.
On the bright side, the Capitals look to have Mike Green back in the lineup tonight. Green injured his ankle six games ago, but participated in the infamous practice on Wednesday and practiced Thursday with his defensive partner, Roman Hamrlik.
Capitals against New Jersey Fun Facts:
New Jersey native John Carlson led the Capitals in points against the Devils last season, two goals and five assists in four games.
Alex Ovechkin ranks first in goals scored since the 2005-06 season with 307 goals. Second on that list is the Devils’ Ilya Kovalchuk with 263 goals.
Mike Knuble leads the Capitals in career points against New Jersey with 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 61 games played.
Projected Capitals Lineup:
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Brouwer
Eakin – Johansson – Semin
Chimera – Laich – Ward
Hendricks – Halpern – Knuble
Alzner – Carlson
Hamrlik – Green
Schultz – Wideman
Neuvirth
Vokoun
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