Devils finally back on the ice

September 23, 2009   ·   Hasan   ·   Jump to comments

While it seems as if the Rangers have played their entire 82-game schedule already, the Devils have had a mere one preseason game in the first week plus of action around the NHL but now the pace finally picks up as New Jersey begins a stretch of three games in four nights, with the first one on MSG+ in a matter of minutes at 7 PM.

As Derek already detailed in a fine dual preview, it will be the first time John Tavares will take the ice in front of the home fans in New York.  While I agree on the surface it made little sense to keep him out of the Kansas City game, maybe it was one last olive branch to Long Island – if so it backfired, since the lousy attendance doesn’t put KC in a good bargaining position.  Not to mention word via Mike Francesa on WFAN today is that the much-awaited town hall meeting didn’t go well at all, so Isles’ owner Charles Wang really is caught between a rock and a hard place.

As far as the Devils, it’s hard to say there’s really been news over this last week.  While the Rangers have already cut down to 24, the Devils have had to keep 42 players in preperation for the schedule over the next week which has New Jersey playing games tonight, tomorrow in Philly, Saturday and next Tuesday – the latter two at the Rock against the Flyers and Islanders. 

Oh, there was a slight newsworthy item in TG’s blog the other day when coach Jacques Lemaire indicated it wasn’t likely that both Andy Greene and Cory Murphy would be part of the Devils’ blueline.  That seems kind of odd to me - though they are similar sizes they are different players.  Greene doesn’t have half of Murphy’s offensive talent but is probably a little better on the back end (as crazy as he drives me) and is more durable than Murphy, who’s been plagued by injuries throughout his brief NHL career.  Plus Greene has at least shown the ability to come in and play decently after sitting for a couple weeks, a trait you don’t mind having in a potential #7 defenseman.  Nonetheless, Greene and Murphy are the leading candidates to fill the #6 and #7 spots on defense making it likely that Jay Leach, Mark Fraser and Rob Davison head off to Lowell with Alexander Urbom being returned to juniors. 

Yet, the picture on defense seems clearer than at forward where Patrik Elias’s injury clouds the Opening Night picture even further.  An untimely bout of the flu for Patrice Cormier probably hurts his chances of making the roster, opening the door for people like Tim Sestito (in tonight’s lineup) and Ben Walter.  Admittedly I don’t know much about either, so I’ll be watching Sestito tonight.  As far as our wingers, there is a Matt Halischuk sighting tonight as well, as he’s going to play on a line with Nicklas Bergfors and Sestito.  Another kid (Vladimir Zharkov) gets prime time real estate tonight, as Zach Parise’s fill-in on the top line with Travis Zajac and Jamie Langenbrunner.  Ex-Sabre enforcer Andrew Peters also makes his Devil debut tonight, in spite of not signing a contract just yet apparently.  Here’s the complete lineup for the Devils:

• Zharkov-Zajac-Langenbrunner
• Rolston-Zubrus-Shanahan
• Bergfors-Sestito-Halischuk
• Peters-Pelley-Magnan-Grenier

On the defense are three of the five regulars, as well as Murphy with Davison and Leach being the third pair for tonight.

• Oduya-Martin
• White-Murphy
• Davison-Leach

Yann Danis will be in net again, this time with an actual Devils mask as it arrived just today.  Apparently he’ll play the first two periods with Jeff Frazee seeing action in the third.

And on a sad note, news has just come out that former Devils coach Pat Burns is now suffering from incurable lung cancer.  From Rich Chere’s article at NJ.com:

Burns, 57, is dealing with cancer for the third time since he was first diagnosed with colon cancer during the 2004 playoffs. He beat that, as well as liver cancer.

This time it is incurable lung cancer, which has taken a noticeable toll on the once-robust former cop. Burns has lost 57 pounds, and now weighs 184, his voice is very weak and he has decided to forego any further treatment.

“That’s all done. It wouldn’t do much. It’s not going to help. It’s a question of time, really,” Burns told me from his home in New Hampshire.

Hopefully Burnsie’s able to enjoy what time he has left.  Even before he coached for the Devils, I was always a fan of his straightforward manner and sardonic humor, particularly when I was just getting into hockey and he was coaching Toronto then (back when the Leafs actually had class).  The same passion Burns showed getting into it with then-Kings coach Barry Melrose during the ‘93 playoffs is the passion he’s shown fighting cancer over the last few years.  It’s a shame things can’t be better for him now but all of us in the NHL community are better off because he was – and is - a part of it.