The Devils were pounded by the Caps in DC last night by a score of 5-1.
My prediction was that the Devils were going to lose 4-1 but they proved me wrong like they enjoy doing from night to night.
My emotions from this season have gone from excitement to tentative to hopeful to disappointed and now to just straight up anger. The Devils are now 1-8 in December. This comes after the team won three of four towards the end of November that got people thinking that they had a legitimate shot at turning things around. Now, there is absolutely not chance the Devils can make the playoffs this year. Sure, they aren’t mathematically eliminated yet… Two points in front of the Isles in the East but 8 back of Toronto. In the West, the Devils would sit in dead last with a 9 point deficit to the Edmonton Oilers.
Why has not a darn thing been done this season? Seriously. Every game we have to watch a team that does not show up to games. They are always a full step behind the other team, nowhere near as physical as they should be, and completely deflated before the puck even drops. Their head coach, John MacLean, is a guy who has admitted time and time again over the past few weeks in post game press conferences that “we weren’t ready to play this game.” Well you know what Johnny Mac? YOUR JOB IS TO GET THE TEAM READY.
After goals, penalties, bad calls, and other bad plays Mac remains lifeless on the bench. He has absolutely no fire in him whatsoever. He has lost his cool maybe once this year. In the beginning of the season he boasted that he is not exactly a “players coach” because he was fiery and hard on the guys. Where is that?
One of the biggest holes on this roster is a puck moving defenseman. Our best is Andy Greene. After that, Anssi Salmela is the next guy on the list. Against a fast Caps team, Salmela was benched in favor of Matt Corrente who has shown absolutely no offensive upside. His best asset is that he knows how to fight. Mac chose to start Martin Brodeur in Atlanta the night after a loss at home to Nashville and he got absolutely smoked. A lot of people thought that starting Hedberg would have been smarter because he would have been psyched to play his old team. Also… what are we playing for? Why is it so important that Brodeur starts every night when there will be NO post season?
People ask me “Yeah, you’re mad… but what would YOU do if you were Lou?” I’ll tell you.
Trade Jamie Langenbrunner. It is clear that his time here is done. Many call into question his ability as a captain. I won’t say that he doesn’t have anything left in the tank as a hockey player but it is evident that since his benching in Carolina towards the end of last season, he has checked out mentally.
The Colorado Avalanche have been vocal that they would certainly be interested in trading for him as I’m sure a few others teams would. It would be a good idea for Lou to get something for him before he walks in the offseason. Maybe trade him for the third rounder the Devils lose in the Kovalchuk punishment?
FIRE JMAC
I cannot say this enough. I have never been one to blame the coach for a team playing poorly but he is clearly over his head for many reasons including the reasons I mentioned above. There are a few good veteran coaches still looking for jobs… Bob Hartley, Guy Carbonneau, Ken Hitchcock.
Rolston
Put Brian Rolston on re-entry waivers and see if someone takes him. It is obvious that no other team is going to trade for him and have to give up something while taking on that ridiculous salary. Being stuck with a 2.5 cap hit this year and next is better than having Brian Rolston under-perform at 5.025 million.
RE SIGN ZACH PARISE
For the love of all things sacred just re-sign him. Are you serious? Zach finally has hired an agent and has said over and over again he would be willing to talk contract if he was approached by Lamoriello which he has not. WHY? This is the team’s franchise player! If Lou is looking for a way to satisfy the fans and ALSO do something to make his team better… he would re-sign Zach… YESTERDAY. But no, he has not even started negotiations and it is pathetic as there is no real reason why this hasn’t happened yet. I think re-signing him would certainly help people who are considering getting season tickets or renewing their packages by knowing that they will get to watch Parise every night. But again, the Devils do not care about the fans. They never have and it does not appear that they are looking to start now. This has always been the case but it stands out now because the team can’t seem to win a game or two.
The Devils face the New York Islanders tomorrow night. Since the Devils will most likely have one foot out the door to go spend Christmas with their families, they will gift a win to the Islanders tying them for the basement and pure embarrassment of the National Hockey League.