Monday, September 17, 2012

Rebuilding Hell

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

2011-12 record: 48-28-6 (102 points)
Lost to Los Angeles in Stanley Cup Finals
Captain: TBD

How fast can one team go from the penthouse to the outhouse?  Well, that is the story of the New Jersey Devils's summer.  As of June 1, they were competing for the Stanley Cup.  However, as July reared its ugly head, the Devils were smarting from a Stanley Cup defeat at the hands of the Kings and on July 4, they lost Zach Parise to the Wild.  At least they still have Martin Brodeur and Ilya Kovalchuk.  While Brodeur is firmly entrenched as the starting goaltender, there is still no clear cut future starter, as evidenced by Johan Hedberg's two year deal (the same as Brodeur's deal).  Kovalchuk will have to shoulder more of the load without Parise, but last year was his best overall year yet, as he played a more complete game than in years past.  Adam Henrique looks like a future star with the Devils, and the team has Travis Zajac healthy and Jacob Josefson (2009) and Mattias Tedenby (2008) are eager to validate their first round status.  On defense, Adam Larsson has potential, but suffered the typical rookie troubles.  Those were largely masked by a defense that features the likes of Bryce Salvador and Anton Volchenkov.

Prediction: 11th in the East

Band: Theatre of Tragedy

In the beginning, the band had some major success.  A sudden change in style led to a downturn and a change in vocals.  The new vocalist provided a brief spark, but nothing really came of it as the band would disband in 2010.  The Devils are experiencing a similar fate, minus the splitting up part.


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