New Jersey Devils: I Was Wrong About Brian Gibbons
By Nick Villano
New Jersey Devils forward Brian Gibbons scored again. After killing the move to keep him on the roster, I have to admit I was wrong.
There are times when someone must admit they were wrong. When writing about sports, that reality may come more often than not. I wrote earlier for Pucks and Pitchforks that the New Jersey Devils were making a terrible decision to choose Brian Gibbons over the likes of John Quenneville or Joseph Blandisi.
Gibbons has been amazing for the Devils to start the season. In 66 games to start his career, he has five goals. He has three goals to start this season in just five games. He has been in the right place at the right time for all of them. They aren’t the pretty goals like ones scored by Drew Stafford and Kyle Palmieri, but they count just the same.
Those three goals came in some of the most crucial times. On Tuesday night, Gibbons sat in front of the net while Steve Santini sent a puck off the back boards. It went right in front, and Gibbons was able to put it five hole past Peter Budaj. The goal put the Devils in front with just 52 seconds left before the end of a high-energy first period.
Against Toronto, he scored a goal while the team was killing a 5-on-3 powerplay. That goal ended up being the game winner, and the dagger into another one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference on the way to a 6-3 win.
Gibbons has been very good at all ends of the ice. He is one of the Devils best penalty killers. Gibbons has been so good, he’s warranted more ice time than anyone would reasonably expect.
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So I apologize for second guessing the Devils decision making. I thought the team was making a big mistake starting the season with a 29 year old with just 66 career NHL games. I was not alone in that assessment, but like everyone else I was wrong. Gibbons hasn’t shown anything to warrant the Devils to take him off the ice. He plays hard. His penalty killing keeps the Devils in games. The way he plays on the defensive end gives Cory Schneider and Keith Kinkaid a breather.
Gibbons was a great addition to this roster. Good job by general manager Ray Shero and head coach John Hynes for making this decision when everyone was second guessing it.