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new jersey devils Archive

BE-DEVILED: DEVILS LANDS STAR WINGER KOVALCHUK

The Devils made one of the biggest trades in recent NHL history when they landed Ilya Kovalchuk. The Russian currently boasts the third-highest points per game average among active players. The Devils sent a package that included Niclas Bergfors, Johnny Oduya, Patrice Cormier, and a first round pick.

Even if this is a half-season rental, the Devil got a pretty good deal. It’s tough to give up Oduya but the rest of the players sent are more than reasonable. Niclas Bergfors had been seeing less playing time as he was in the middle of a scoring slump. At the same time, Patrice Cormier is currently indefinitely suspended for a vicious elbow he launched in the juniors. The move should provide an immediate scoring boost for the Devils.

Long-term, the Devils may have a decent shot at re-signing Kovalchuk. Oduya accounts for a $3 million cap hit while Bergfors came in at $500,000. The Devils will come in at only $41.1 million with the contracts they have in place for next year. While they can fit Kovalchuk under the cap, they may have to decide between him and scheduled unrestricted free agent Paul Martin. Martin makes $4.5 million this year and is probably due for a raise. Other than Kovalchuk, the Devil’s actually have a top-heavy predicament with their forwards’ contracts. New Jersey has seven forwards that make more than $2.5 million this year and all of them are under contract for 2010-2011.

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RENT-A-RUSSIAN: 7 NHL TEAMS VYING FOR KOVALCHUK?

Ilya Kovalchuk is a dominant offensive player and he might not be a member of the Thrashers for much longer. Atlanta GM Don Waddell has informed Kovalchuk that he will probably be traded in the near future. If the Thrashers move Kovalchuk, it would be one of the biggest trades in recent memory.

Kovalchuk is a legitimate offensive star. He has 615 points in 594 career games including 328 goals. The only two active players who have averaged more points per game in their career are Dany Heatley and Teemu Selanne. However, there are also a couple of a reasons not to deal for the Russian. His defensive effort is suspect and he’s currently in the last year of his contract. Kovalchuk has already declined an extension from the Thrashers that would have paid him around $10 million per year. He’s rumored to be seeking close to the league maximum of $11.2 million a season.

Even so, there are a number of teams bidding for his services. TSN reports that the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers have all expressed interest in Kovalchuk. Those teams have been told that Atlanta wants “one top six forward, one top four defenceman and a prospect or high end draft pick” in return for their star. Considering the price to get him and the price to keep him, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Pundit Larry Brooks thinks that the Thrashers’ asking price for Kovalchuk is “absurd.” Brooks thinks the deal would be Marc Staal or Michael Del Zotto plus Ryan Callahan or Brandon Dubinsky. The other potential deal could be Dubinsky plus a prospect and a first round draft pick. While the price is steep, it doesn’t seem “absurd.” The talent is worth parting with if Kovalchuk is more than just a rental. Though, it would seem like the Rangers would have to try to dump more salary to make it work.

If the Rangers still want a superstar, they should go after Kovalchuk. Not too long ago they were rumored to be seeking Vincent Lecavalier whose contract pays him just about $8 million per year. Yes, it will be a nightmare to try and fit Gaborik, Lundqvist, Drury, and Kovalchuk under the cap. But that’s a risk worth taking if the Rangers think they can sign him to an extension. In reality, each of those guys except Drury is worth the money. So the problem isn’t really the money that Kovalchuk will make anyway. It’s not like other teams don’t have similar situations. Just look at the big money players that the Red Wings and Penguins fit under the cap.

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SCORES: RANGERS LOSE IN L.A., NETS DROP #43

New York Sports Score From Last Night

ScoresFromLastNight is our daily roundup of last night’s happenings.  Today’s edition is brought to you by BigLeagueScrew’s World Class Women.

KING 2 RANGERS 1

New York lost in Olli Jokinen’s debut since being acquired early Tuesday.  The Kings’ Jonathan Quick had a shutout until Marian Gaborik got on the board with 3:37 left in the game.  It was his 34th goal of the season.  Brandon Prust managed to rack up 19 penalty minutes (two minors, a fighting major, and a misconduct) in his first game as a Ranger. [AP]

MAPLE LEAFS 3 DEVILS 0

Jean Sebastian-Giguere shut out the Devils in his first game with Toronto.  Dion Phaneuf also made an impact in his first game with the team when he fought Colin White.  The Devils haven’t won in regulation since January 23rd when they beat the Islanders 4-2 and have last four of five in that span. [NYDN]

PISTONS 97 NETS 93

The Pistons “improved” their road record to 5-17 while the Nets fell to 3-20 at home.  Yi managed to go 1 of 12 in the game while Brook Lopez went 11 of 16 with 27 points.  Devin Harris also chipped in 24.  The Nets only got 13 points from the bench on 4 of 12 shooting. [AP]

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SCORES: RANGERS SNAP SKID, T’WOLVES BEAT KNICKS

New York Sports Score From Last Night

ScoresFromLastNight is our daily roundup of last night’s happenings.  Today’s edition is brought to you by BigLeagueScrew’s World Class Women.

RANGERS 3 AVALANCHE 1

Marian Gaborik provided all of the scoring for the Rangers notching a hat trick.  He now has a massive total of 33 goals on the season.  Chad Johnson got his first win for the Rangers stopping 34 of 35 shots. [AP]

PANTHERS 2 ISLANDER 0

Tomas Vokoun made 33 saves to shutout the Isles.  Keith Ballard and Jordan Leopold both scored for the Panthers.  Rick DiPietro made 23 saves on 25 shots in the loss. [NYDN]

KINGS 3 DEVILS 2

Martin Brodeur had his third subpar game in his last four outings stopping only 22 of 25 shots.  Zach Parise chipped in two assists and was +2 in the game.  The Kings scored two third period goals including a Drew Doughty power play score with 28 second remaining in the game. [AP]

TIMBERWOLVES 112 KNICKS 91

Wilson Chandler scored 27 points to lead the Knicks in the loss.  Nate Robinson only managed to hit one of his 10 shot attempts and was -33 in the effort.  David Lee had 16 and 11 for another double-double.  The Knicks’ starting five all played at least 33 minutes and the bench only contributed eight points going 3 of 19. [NYDN]

SIXERS 83 NETS 79

The Nets have now lost two straight since winning their fourth game of the season.  Yi chipped in 15 points and 12 boards while Jarvis Hayes and Brook Lopez both had 18.  New Jersey shot 32 of 81 as a team. [NYDN]

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SCORES: CANES KILL RANGERS, NETS GET WIN #4

New York Sports Score From Last Night

ScoresFromLastNight is our daily roundup of last night’s happenings.  Today’s edition is brought to you by BigLeagueScrew’s World Class Women.

RANGERS 1 HURRICANES 5

Ryan Callahan scored the lone goal for the Rangers in their fourth straight loss.  Lundqvist had an awful night in net and had only 19 saves on 24 shots.  John Tortorella must’ve thought Wade Redden was playing worse because he was benched after nine shifts.  Sergie Samsonov and Eric Staal both scored twice in the win. [NYDN]

DEVILS 1 SABRES 2 (OT)

Brian Rolston scored for the Devil while Adam Mair tallied for the Sabres.  Both goalies were stellar as Martin Brodeur saved 30 of 31 shots and Ryan Miller stopped 39 of 40.  Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville both beat Brodeur in the shootout to secure the extra point. [AP]

NETS 102 CLIPPERS 87

New Jersey notch its fourth win in 44 tries.  Kris Humphries was big off of the bench contributing 25 points and eight boards in 30 minutes.  Brooks Lopez had 19 while Keyon Dooling had 18 points on the night.  Even with the win, the Nets own an astoundingly bad point differential of -12.4 per game.  So they’re about 546 points down on the season if you do the math for 44 games.  Ouch. [AP]

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SCORES: KNICKS TAME T’WOLVES, CAPS CRUSH ISLES

New York Sports Score From Last Night

ScoresFromLastNight is our daily roundup of last night’s happenings.  Today’s edition is brought to you by BigLeagueScrew’s World Class Women.

KNICKS 132 T’WOLVES 105

The Knicks won by 27 after losing by 50 the previous game.  David Lee had 28 and 10 while Al Harrington chipped in 26 and 10 off the bench.  The Knicks bench players shot 14 for 28 from downtown in the victory.  New York was leading by 32 at the end of the fourth quarter. [NYDN]

ISLANDERS 2 CAPITALS 7

The Caps scored four goals in the first period which resulted in Dwayne Roloson getting pulled.  Alexander Semin scored twice for Washington while five other players not named Alex Ovechkin netted a goal each.  Ovechkin didn’t manage to score on any of his 10 shots but did manage to destroy Jack Hillen’s jaw with one. [AP]

DEVILS 0 SENATORS 3

Brian Elliott continued his hot play for the Senators to win his fifth straight start.  He’s only allowed five goals during that streak.  Martin Brodeur only played two periods and was pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots. [AP]

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NUTS & BOLTS: INTRODUCING, THE REX RYAN DIET

Looking content with a win over Buffalo, Rex is presumably on his way to celebrate by eating 50 wings

If you’re looking to get in shape for “beach season” this diet probably isn’t for you. However, if “beached-whale season” is something you’re interested in, then this is definitely up your alley. According the the NY Post, Jets coach Rex Ryan consumes about 7,000 calories a day. That number is absolutely staggering, and to give you a little perspective as to just how much food that is, Shutdown Corner has broken down how one could reach 7,000 calories at McDonald’s. You will be shocked. (Shutdown Corner)

The Jets have scheduled a playoff rally for their fans today in Times Square. The rally kicks off at 5:30 and features appearances by Mike Bloomberg, Mike Tannenbaum and Curtis Martin. I’ll be there. Who’s coming with me? (NY Jets)

The Sanchez family has released several photos of a very young Mark, detailing his journey from football crazed youngster, to HS All-American, to NFL star. (NY Post)

The Vikings will be wearing earplugs on Sunday to help combat the crowd noise at the Superdome. (Pioneer Press)

As the new head coach of the Buffalo Bills, Chan Gailey’s top priority is to find a starting QB. Hey, Jimmy Clausen, how do you like cold weather? (National Football Post)

UFC fighter Brock Lesnar berates Canadian health care as “Third World”. (Toronto Star)

Marlins president David Samson on Dan Uggla: “He is a Marlin and will be a Marlin this season.” (Miami Herald)

Four-time NBA All-Star (and free agent to-be) Amare Stoudemire says he sees “potential” in the Nets. (NY Post)

Who isn’t taking shots at Jay Leno these days? Last night, Jay interviewed Michael Jordan and asked him if he could still dunk. His Air-ness’s response? “Are you stupid?”. (NESW Sports)

New Jersey Devils coach Jaques Lemaire pulled his team off the ice yesterday morning and told them to “go back to bed.” The first place Devils were amidst a 3 game losing streak until last night’s victory. (Star-Ledger)

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If you have any links you’d like to share with BLS for Nuts & Bolts or even an original post email them to me at john@bigleaguescrew.com

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SCORES: NETS LOSE 38TH GAME, DEVILS DROP PANTHERS

New York Sports Score From Last Night

ScoresFromLastNight is our daily roundup of last night’s happenings.  Today’s edition is brought to you by BigLeagueScrew’s World Class Women.

NETS 94 SUNS 118

New Jersey notched its 38th loss in 41 games. Brook Lopez was the only bright spot on the night going 12 for 22 with 26 points and 13 boards. His brother Robin Lopez had 20 and 9 while Amare and J-Rich put up 27 and 26. [AP]

ST. JOHN’S 59 UCONN 75

The Red Storm only had two players, D.J. Kennedy and Dwight Hardy, in double digits in the loss. St. John’s also shot a miserable 34.3% from the field and made only two of 17 threes. UConn went 29 for 51 in the game including 8 for 14 with 21 points from Jerome Dyson. [NYDN]

RUTGERS 68 VILLANOVA 94

Rutgers was crushed by 26 due to Nova’s 50% shooting from the field. The Wildcats also went 8 for 17 from downtown and outboarded Rutgers 49-27. [AP]

DEVILS 2 PANTHERS 0

Martin Brodeur stopped all 22 shots he faced in the victory while his counterpart, Tomas Vokoun, allowed only one goal on 31 shots. Travis Zajac had the only goal in the game until Dean McAmmond buried an empty netter. [AP]

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SCORES: DEVILS DROP RANGERS IN OT, ISLES CRUISE

New York Sports Score From Last Night

ScoresFromLastNight is our daily roundup of last night’s happenings.  Today’s edition is brought to you by BigLeagueScrew’s World Class Women.

RANGERS 0 DEVILS 1

Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur combined to stop an insane 96 shots on the night. Patrik Elias, the Devil’s last shootout man, was the only person to put a puck behind a goalie on the night. Marc Staal logged the most ice time for the Rangers with 27:31. [ESPN]

ISLANDERS 6 RED WINGS 0

The Red Wings only mustered 16 shots on the night as the Isles crushed them. Rob Schrempf netted two goals in the effort. Red Wings’ defenseman Derek Meech managed to be -5 on the night. [NYDN]

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SATURDAY MORNING SCREW – HANGOVER EDITION

 

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The Boss will be pulling for Gang Green Sunday night... will you?

 

Happy New Year, guys and girls. Busy weekend for sports in general and no shortage of action on the local front to keep you all busy. For starters, raise your hand if you tuned off the Tim Tebow show last night to check out Nate Robinson dropping a 41-point N-Bomb on the Hawks. Seriously though, if Urban Meyer knew that the Sugar Bowl was going to be that relaxing, he may not have Favre’d us this week.

Since I’m a little sluggish from starting the New Year off right (read: drunk, watching college football, and sleeping), we’ve already missed two games on today’s dockett – the Rangers dropping the back end of a home-and-home series with the Hurricanes that spanned two years in OT earlier today and the Nets not making news by going down quietly to the King and the Cavs in scenic East Rutherford. Really, it’s breathtaking in the winter. You’ve gotta see it.

And now, on with the show…

Saturday January 2, 2010

Who: Atlanta Thrashers at New York Islanders

When: 7PM, MSG+

The game is on MSG+. It’s the Islanders. Really, I’ve got more important things to get to…

Who: New Jersey Devils at Minnesota Wild

When: 8PM, MSG

The Devils, first place in the Eastern Conference head out to the Midwest to face the Wild – 11th in the Western Conference and not particularly antsy to do anything about it.

Sunday January 3, 2010

Sunday is a jam packed day for New York sports. I will be enjoying it in Atlantic City while celebrating my father’s 66th birthday. Happy birthday, Pop.

Who: New York Giants at Minnesota Vikings

When: 1PM, FOX

The G-Men wrap up a disappointing 2009 campaign that makes me physically ill to even discuss Sunday afternoon in Minnesota. My only hope is that somehow the Giants are able to continue making Brett Favre look like he did down the stretch last year for the Jets and remind him of the last time he faced this team in the 2008 NFC Championship Game. This will hopefully mean the Vikings get an outdoor playoff game, instead of remaining comfortable inside a dome (either Metro or Super) for the duration of the playoffs. I’m not sure I’ll even watch, the results of the Giants e-mailing the game in last week while working from home has me looking for anything else to distract me (like a craps table).

Who: New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers

When: 6PM, MSG

The Knicks! Who knew? Nate’s alive and well and reminding New Yorkers that another Nate exists besides Chace Crawford’s character on Gossip Girl (plug). Will D’Antoni ride the spark plug’s hot hand, or will he be banished to the back of the bench for another month (he went from 12/1/09 – 1/1/10  between appearances). Tune in and hope that these questions are resolved before the day’s main event…

Who: Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets

When: 8:20PM, NBC

Time to shut the old girl down, indeed. The Jets will follow up great performances by U2 and Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band and one shit sandwich from the Giants in closing down 30+ years in Giants Stadium. Now, I want the Jets to win. I really do. I like Rex Ryan. I like the mean defense and I’m most especially looking forward to the Ocho Cinco / Darrelle Revis show wherever they line up. I just know how this story ends. I’m a Mets fan. That’s analagous to being a Jets fan. It’s torture. They continually get the hopes of their fans up only to crush them into more pieces than you can count. In 2008, I watched the Mets close down Shea Stadium from 12 rows behind home plate. It effectively ended with a Wes Helms home run eliminating the Mets from the playoffs one day after a masterful performance from Johan Santana. Now here, we are, waiting on a Jets collapse. Most Jets fans will talk positively about how Ryan has brought a different attitude to the team but this is embedded in the name, the uniform, and the culture of the franchise. I fear a heartbreaking Jets collapse in one of two ways – a game they are never in and put up maybe 3 points, or a game they lead the whole way only to crap away at the end. Either way, I hope I am wrong and the Jets emerge victorious Sunday night.

STAMP OF THE WEEK

Longhorns. Colt McCoy follows up on the performance by fellow God Squad member Tim Tebow and leads the Longhorns to their second BCS title in the same place Vince Young did 4 years ago.

Texas – 31

Alabama – 20

Hook ‘em and STAMP IT.

**Keep watch this week as I will continue my assault on the dumbfounding commentary found on MetsBlog.com — they’ve done themselves a favor over the past few days and kept from making any asinine statements. Yes, it’s a new year but it’s only a matter of time.**

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NEW JERSEY’S KEVIN SMITH DITCHES DEVILS FOR OILERS

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Kevin Smith is a huge New Jersey Devils fan. He loves the Devils so much that he even wrote a blog for NHL.com about the team. A little over a year ago, he even ranted about “being a Devils fan from New Jersey” to Puck Daddy, a fellow Devils fan and Yahoo’s NHL blogger:

It’s so weird that there’s not more pride from people living in our own state over our own team. Like, they still feel the need to cheer on teams from two bordering states. I always just kind of found that disconcerting. I feel like if you’re in Jersey, you have to be a Jersey Devils fan. Anybody born within the confines of the border of the state of New Jersey, I feel, should be a Jersey Devils fan.

Unsurprisingly, the Edmonton Oilers are not mentioned once in the Puck Daddy article. Kevin Smith is almost as famous for wearing a Devils jersey as he is a trenchcoat. That’s why it’s surprising to see that he might forsake his favorite NHL team. Well, Silent Bob might not like the Devils as much as he says.

Smith got together with the Edmonton Oilers for a twitter contest. Hilariously, the page says that the actor/writer/director “often speaks about his love of all things Oilers.” The page also mentioned that it was Smith’s first game at Rexall Place. They even interviewed him on the jumbotron after Ales Hemsky made it 3-0. Here’s the exchange between Smith and Mark Schulz:

Smith: “Yeah, I got in ten minutes late, and the Oilers score three goals, I’m a good luck charm.”

Schulz: “So what else did you do today?”

Smith: “Well, Kevin Lowe gave me a tour of Northlands… sorry, Rexall…Centre. I had the biggest chubby the whole time.”

The whole arena BURST out laughing.

Schulz (trying not to laugh): “Then what did you do?”

Smith: “What happened between the two Kevins is best left unsaid.”

Smith told NHL.com this month that he was recently inspired by the 1980’s Oilers teams. He even bought seven Oilers t-shirts and added that he’d be wearing them every day that he was shooting his new movie. By now, it may seem like we’re making something out of nothing. Except for Smith didn’t just say he liked the Oilers or buy new shirts. He went so far as to remove a New Jersey Devils patch from one of his jackets and replace it with a SECOND Oilers patch (below). The Devils patch was even on the jacket as recently as a month ago. Ouch.

kevin_smith_oilers_jacket_new45021177

So there you have it, Devils fans. Kevin Smith is officially an Oilers fan. Here’s to hoping that we see that jacket with two Devils patches in the near future. You can see two more pictures of Smith at Rexall Place via Shaynsaw’s twitpic account.

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STABBING SEASON UNDERWAY IN PHILLY

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Philadelphia fans are well-known for their… fanaticism. Occasionally, that enthusiasm turns bad. That was the case this weekend when a bus ride back from a Flyers game in New Jersey became a magnet for violence.

First, a random guy in a Brodeur jersey decided to arbitrarily attack Philly fans in line for the bus. After a short scuffle, the fight was broken up by police. It seemed like that would be the end of the violence — but they hadn’t made it back to Philadelphia yet.

Upon returning to the City of Brotherly Love, the bus was greeted by brawling Flyers fans. At some point, one Flyers fan ended up stabbing another one in the stomach. An off-duty police officer was also beaten in the altercation.

The Flyers fan slash stabber was described as a white man about 6′1″ weighing 300 pounds with tattoos on his arms and across his knuckles. Sounds just about right.  You stay classy, Philadelphia!

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