I will get to that momentarily, but first a few quick notes on some other topics.
1. I am beyond thrilled that coach Barry Trotz and his Nashville Predators finally made it out of the first round of the playoffs. Trotz & GM David Poile have shown tremendous patience with the Preds and it has finally paid off. It's always nice to see organizations that do business the right way get rewarded. The Preds worked long and hard and learned from their crucial Game 5 loss in Chicago last year. Nashville had the lead late in the third period only to cough it up and eventually fall in overtime. They encountered the same situation in the first round this year in Anaheim but held on. The Preds then held serve at home in Game 6 to take the series. Mike Fisher has been a tremendous addition to the club, totaling six points (three goals, three assists) in the first round series against the Ducks. Hopefully the Preds can hang with the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the second round.
2. The Boston Celtics swept the New York Knicks right out of the NBA Playoffs in the Knicks' first postseason appearance since 2004. It was the Celtics' first postseason sweep since 1992. It was incredible to see how quickly the energy and the buzz around Madison Square Garden deflated as the Knicks (after coughing up the first two games in Boston) just couldn't muster enough offense or stop Rajon Rondo. It's great for the Knicks (and the NBA) that they are back in the playoffs but one thing is now abundantly clear. For all the points Carmelo Anthony can pour into the basket, it's Amar'e Stoudemire who is the engine that makes the Knicks go. He chose to go to New York this summer, grew up, put the team on his back, and willed them into the playoffs. They need a healthy Stoudemire next year if they are to have any hope of building on this year's postseason appearance.
3. The Mets put together a nice little winning streak against their fellow National League bottom-feeders last week. Then, they go to Philadelphia and everything returns to form. Mike Pelfrey implodes in the fifth inning Friday and Roy Halladay shuts the door on Saturday. Sadly, I believe the Mets' nightmare is just beginning. The figure outlining their monetary debt grows larger every day and I think it's fair to now wonder which franchise is encountering the uglier mess, the Mets or the now-MLB-owned Dodgers.
4. Four quarterbacks went in the first round of this year's NFL Draft. The Carolina Panthers took Auburn QB Cam Newton with the first overall pick. What does that pick say about Carolina taking Jimmy Clausen in the second round last year? Perhaps they don't believe he is the long-term solution at the helm. Washington QB Jake Locker shocked many by going eighth to Tennessee. Jacksonville then traded up to number ten to get Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert. The Minnesota Vikings finished it off by taking Florida State QB Christian Ponder with the twelfth pick. Ponder was the first Florida State QB ever to go in the first round of the draft. I was shocked that TCU QB Andy Dalton didn't go in Round 1 but he was snatched up quickly by Cincinnati early in Round 2. The fall of Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett wasn't as shocking. Many teams felt there were off-field issues and in the uncertain times of the lockout it appears as though teams were not willing to take the risk. The lockout had a severe effect on this year's draft. Without free agent signings and the like, many teams made value picks as opposed to addressing needs. Once the league year actually starts (hopefully soon) it should be interesting to see what happens with some of these draft picks.
And now onto the main event:
Despite the second half surge that made the season quite interesting, it's still extremely hard to swallow (even a month later) that the Devils didn't go to the postseason, absent from the greatest postseason in sports for the first time since the 1995-96 season. It was quite a ride in the second half but you always knew that the Devils weren't going to recover from that horrendous 10-29-2 start.
I think some struggles were to be expected. The team had a rookie head coach in John MacLean, several new defencemen (Henrik Tallinder, Anton Volchenkov, and a host of youngsters that would occupy the sixth defenceman spot at various points throughout the year), Martin Brodeur heading into the twilight of his career, an unhappy captain in Jamie Langenbrunner, and a smattering of players who had no clue how to play with new star Ilya Kovalchuk. Some struggles would naturally occur but no one could've seen 10-29-2coming.
Personally, I was not a fan of the MacLean hiring (Admittedly, I wanted Ken Hitchcock). I have tremendous respect for Johnnie Mac but I just don't think he was the right fit for the veteran team that GM Lou Lamoriello had assembled. Jacques Lemaire comes back (again) and rights the ship. He even shows that he can get his players to play some offense while still being defensively responsible. Brodeur goes down and backup Johan Hedberg gets red-hot while he fills in. I give Lamoriello credit for making a difficult decision in trading captain Langenbrunner, realizing that he and Lemaire would never get along. I also give him props for turning Jason Arnott into David Steckel and a draft pick. Steckel is a prototypical Devils' player and should be a great asset next season. Ilya Kovalchuk rose to the occasion, playing great two-way hockey, taking the club on his back and smacking home many game-winning goals. Some of the youngsters (Tedenby, Josefson, Palmieri) came along well and showed some great promise for next season as well.
Some big questions loom for next season. Can Martin Brodeur produce at 39 years old or will his workload have to be limited to 55-60 games? Is Andy Greene coming back? Is Zach Parise coming back? Can the club continue to adapt and build around Kovalchuk, who like or not is the face of Jersey's Team for the forseeable future? I have this weird feeling that Parise isn't coming back but I'll save that for another time.
I was absolutely lost when April 11th rolled around and the reality sank in that there would be no more hockey for the Devils this season. I had no clue what to do without any playoff games to go to at "The Rock." I refused to believe the season was over after defeating Boston on the last day of the regular season. I am still in a state of disbelief. It's almost like part of my life was missing this spring. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the various spring games (Alabama, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Florida State) that were televised this year but they don't replace playoff hockey in the Garden State.
The only plus is that is the first time in recent memory that a season hasn't ended with me in tears in the arena or punching seatbacks in the arena or at home. The irony is that this really isn't much of a plus. I still remember being dragged out of the Meadowlands after being eliminated in the 2007 Eastern Conference Semifinals by Ottawa like it was yesterday. Or smashing the TV remote against the wall after losing to Ottawa in '98. Or punching my seat at "The Rock" to the point where my knuckles were busted up after falling to Philadelphia in 2010. Or sitting in a complete state of shock, unable to utter a single word after blowing it against Carolina in 2009. Or cursing out Ray Bourque and the Colorado Avalanche after losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2001. Or throwing more expletives and crying buckets after the debacle of 1994. There is nothing more devastating to watch than the end-of-series handshake that puts the finishing touches on a postseason series in the NHL. Or at least that's what I thought...until this season ended on a regular-season Sunday with the Devils raising their sticks to the crowd and thanking the fans.
Until next season. And as per usual, the picture says it all.
-Meech
