New Jersey Devils 3 Stars of the Week

This week has not been a particularly good one for Devils hockey.

This week alone, four players were placed on IR. Lately, the Devils have been plagued with injuries. Not to mention that all of the games I’m taking into consideration for this week’s three stars, the Devils lost. So, this week wasn’t a great one. And this piece is also, not going to be a great one. But, I digress.

Coming in at number 3 of the week is of course, the brick wall that is Cory Schneider. I’ll admit, Cory hasn’t had the best of games lately. But given that he hasn’t really had the defense to back him up, he’s done a pretty good job keeping the Devils goals against pretty low. Minus the Boston game. But you already read my opinion of that, I won’t make you suffer through that again.
Schneids gets a lot of hate, this is no secret. In my opinion, it’s because he’s the guy that followed Brodeur. Those are pretty big shoes to fill, and no one’s going to be perfect. But Schneider is better than what we could have hoped for. I mean, the NHL overlooked some of the more popular goaltenders in the league and chose Cory to go to the All-Star Game. That definitely don’t count for nothing, now does it?
Despite the three losses I’m looking at (Detroit, Montreal and Boston) Schneider showed that not having the proper defense to back him up wasn’t going to keep him from trying his hardest. Sadly, he can’t do it all on his own. Regardless, that’s why he earned my third star of the week.

My second star of the week is either very expected or completely unexpected, and I feel like there’s not an in-between feeling on this one. Either way, I feel that Bobby Farnham earned this spot. There was a point in time that I genuinely thought Bobby was going to be voted into the All-Star Game as a captain, on a joke. Now that the rosters came out, I find myself kind of disappointed that he wasn’t one of the chosen ones.
Farnham is such an interesting character. The Devils claimed him off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was essentially going to rot in their AHL program until he became a free-agent, because the Penguins weren’t going to give him the time of day.
Now, Bobby is flourishing in his own little way on our bottom two lines, and he’s already got 5 goals. Which to be honest, is more than the other guys on his lines.
Not to mention that lately, it seems like anytime we need someone to score a goal for us, little wild thing is the one to do it.
Bobby literally skates as though he was shot out of a cannon. He’s so quick and so rough that it still surprises me whenever he gets to finish a check. If I were out there with him, I’d know better than to be within checking distance of him. He has no shame. Because of the grit and reliability he has brought to the Devils these past few games, Farnham has earned my second star spot.

My first star of the week goes to Kyle Palmieri.
I know, he hasn’t scored in the last three games, but hear me out.
When he goes on the ice for the Devils, especially in the last three games, he’s one of the few guys that I see out there trying his hardest every shift. Palms is the only guy I see out there taking shots and setting up plays every single time he’s on the ice. Like I said, no he didn’t get any goals or assists this week, but he’s been out during every powerplay trying to help set up chances. He’s been out during every penalty kill, clearing the puck.

Next: Bruins Blow Past Devils in 4-1 Win

Besides, he currently leads the team in goals scored and he’s one of our top points leaders. Sometimes being a star player doesn’t mean that you go out there and score every single night. Sometimes being a star player means that you go out and play with all of your heart. You go out and you set up plays and give other guys that wouldn’t normally have a chance to score a goal, chances to show their talent.

For these reasons, Palmieri is my first star of the week.