Devils heating up the ice!

I understand most people aren't the biggest followers of Hockey, but has anybody noticed the New Jersey Devils dominating the Eastern Conference?

At 32-11, the Devils have the best record in the East and have won 15 of their last 19 games..the lights going out at the Rock can't even stop this team!

Martin Brodeur is as dominant as ever, his 55-save shutout against the Rangers more than proved that...His stellar defense get some credit for it, however, giving up a league-low 93 goals this year in Jacques Lemaire's trap Defense...I find it amazing how they lose big players every year..yet they STILL find a way to be among the league's best teams year in and year out...

Devils Preview!

How can Martin Brodeur, the NHL's all-time winningest goalie, give up 2 goals in the final 80 seconds of play to send the Devils home in the first round of the playoffs in a year where they win a franchise record 51 games?

This was the question dominating the thoughts of Devils fans as they saw a season of Stanley Cup aspirations go up in smoke...

Shortly after the season, Devils coach Brent Sutter resigned only to reappear in Calgary...In doing so, it opened the door for former Devils coach Jacques Lemaire to make his return to Jersey's team...

The Devils are going under a bit of a youth movement as veterans such as John Madden, Brian Gionta and Mike Rupp find themselves playing elsewhere this season...Bobby Holik and Kevin Weekes decided to call it a career and Brendan Shannahan decided to step away from the team...With the exception of Rob Neidermayer, no major deals were made showing me that Jersey is hoping that the abundance of youth will spark this team to play intense hockey...Not to mention keeping their salary cap down for next season...

Fortunately for the Devils...the core of the team remains Johnny Oduya and Travis Zajac were signed long-term in the offseason and Brian Rolston is hoping to bounce back from a season from which he played through an ankle injury....It should be worth nothing that Rolston's 3 best offensive seasons were churned out in Minnesota...with Lemaire as his coach...

After a breakout season of 45 goals and 94 total points, Zach Parise is looking for his fourth straight season of 30 or more goals...With Patrik Elias out for the first couple weeks with a groin injury, more pressure will surely be thrown on the assistant captain's shoulders..but Zach proved to me last year that this kid is here to stay and will undoubtedly become one of the NHL's premier players...

I'm also looking for David Clarkson to become the biggest reaper of the benefits in this youth movement..with Gionta and Madden out of the picture..more of the focus will be shifted his way and he has the tenacity to come through...

On the defensive side of things, I feel more confident about this defense than I have in a few years...Paul Martin will once again lead the brigade and Oduya is due to come out of his shell this season...I would like to see more out of Colin White this year because last year he played with the agressiveness of a pussy cat and rightfully lost his "A"...

What more can you say about the Goaltending? You're always in it when you goalie is among the best of all-time....Although the Devs won 51 games last year without him, one would prefer a full season from #30...At age 37 and 2 wins away from the shutout record, one needs to wonder how Marty will play as many games as were used to seeing him play...is this the year he begins to get his rest? My answer is that in order to get him out from between the pipes...they would need to physically drag him off with the zamboni...

Although several people are saying the Devils are not as good as they were last year..I disagree...the return of Lemaire's "neutral zone trap" will have this team playing fundamental hockey and the young guys with much to prove are sure to give them a spark...The Devils have made the playoffs in each of the last 12 seasons and I don't see a reason why they wouldn't make it this year....They won't win 51 games again this year, but they should go into this year's playoffs with more intensity...they'll make it out of the first round..but unfortunately i'm not so sure they will make it past the second

Welcome back to New Jersey Jacques Lemaire!

After 11 years away from Jersey and 9 years in Minnesota. The coach who led the Devils to it's first Stanley Cup championship back in 1995 is coming to the rock!

Lemaire, 63, re-joins the Devils after serving as head coach of the Wild the past nine seasons. As the only coach in franchise history, he compiled a 293-255-108=694pt (.529) mark in 656 regular- season games behind Minnesota’s bench. With a 40-33-9=89pt (.543) record in 2008-09, Lemaire led the club to its sixth straight season with a .500-plus points percentage. In 2002-03, he led the Wild to the Western Conference Finals while capturing his second career Jack Adams Award as the league’s top coach. Lemaire was named Minnesota’s first head coach June 19, 2000 after serving Montreal as a senior consultant to the general manager. As head coach of the Devils for five seasons from 1993-94 through 1997-98, he guided the squad to a 199-122-57=455pt (.602) mark in 378 regular-season games, and a 34-22 (.607) record in 56 playoff contests until stepping down May 8, 1998. Lemaire’s 378 games, 199 wins, 56 post-season games, and 34 post-season victories are tops in franchise history. Including the 1995 Stanley Cup Championship, he led the team to four post-season appearances, and guided it to the Eastern Conference’s best record in both 1996-97 (45-23-14=104pts) and 1997-98 (48-23-11=107pts). In Lemaire’s first season behind the team’s bench, New Jersey advanced past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1988, while he won the Jack Adams Award for the first time. He was originally named the organization’s eighth coach on June 28, 1993.

source:newjerseydevils.com

Bottom line is this..Lemaire knows how to win. He played for the Canadiens for 12 seasons and racked up 8 Stanley Cups! (including 4 straight from 76-79 and the cup-winning goal in '77) I am sad that my main man Johnny MacLean was not given the chance to lead this team, but he was given the head coaching job down with AHL affiliate Lowell in hopes to groom him to possibly succeed Lemaire.

Jacques was set to retire, but watching the intensity that this year's playoffs presented lit the fire under him to coach once again. Lemaire said he will be around for at least the next 2 seasons.

Great move by the Devs in hopes to end the slump of getting eliminated in the first round as they have the past 2 seasons. The Devils won an all-time franchise high 51 games last year. Despite the devasting loss in game 7 against Carolina, Lemaire vows to lead the team to the next level....and who's to say he can't?

This move came after Bruce Sutter suddenly resigned the head coaching reigns only to take the head coaching gig for Calgary....the acquisition of Lemaire, however, leads me asking the question..

Bruce who?