Writer’s Block and Devils Ramblings

Well, don’t think I’ve disappeared on you guys as I haven’t posted anything in the past ten days to two weeks or so. I guess you can say my horrendous and procrastination has gotten the best of me as of late, along with another longtime adversary of mine…writers block. If you’re any type of writer, don’t tell me you haven’t gone through it at least once. It’s frustrating, time consuming, and can even be confusing at times. The problem I have is when I write anything that’s going to be submitted for public view, I have this perfectionist mentality about me that comes with my writing because my top priority is to maintain originality and bring about my ideas in a creative way that will show my readers they aren’t reading something they could just read on another site or blog worded differently. This may sound corny but I firmly believe as readers, you’re entitled to read content to the best of my ability and should be drawn into each write up, article, or whatever else you read each time. I’ve attempted to complete a few write ups since my last one and I have to say I’ve gotten stuck or had issues that range from wording and structural issues and me questioning the overall quality of what I intended on posting. So, having said that let me apologize for my recent lack of activity and get to the point.

How about these New Jersey Devils as of late? They’ve won four of their last five and five of their last eight since returning from the Olympic break and despite being in a deadlock tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins, have reclaimed the top of the Atlantic Division after completing a season sweep against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. I’ll admit it’s been a frustrating past few months, during which the Devils lost over twice as many games won. It cost them the cushion they built on the division and at one time, conference lead, but things could have been much worse.

The Devils winning four of their last five and six of their last ten is very encouraging, however I’m more excited about is this team’s offensive output since returning from break. In eight games the Devils have scored twenty-six times, averaging a little over a goal a game, while giving up twenty-two, which is a slight concern, but the Devils being able to pull off the wins as of late goes to show they’re really putting in a team effort instead of relying on Marty Brodeur to bail them out on a nightly basis.

The usual suspects being Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Patrik Elias have continued to do their thing since returning from break, while newcomer Ilya Kovalchuk has continued to be an effective acquirement, totaling four goals and seven points for the month of March. Since coming to New Jersey, the consistency of his productivity he had with Atlanta has been questioned, but his output has been coming in streaks. You can use the excuses that Kovalchuk is still adapting to the Devil’s style of play and his line mates before he reaches what a lot of critics and anxious fans call “one hundred percent”, but I think Kovy’s fitting in nicely and is doing a lot of things during games that don’t show on the score sheet, which are going unappreciated. This is Kovy’s first time on a team where he isn’t the top dog and center of attention, not to mention he’s probably unsure how to handle the tremendous support this team offers. I’m sure everyone expected Kovalchuk to come to New Jersey and continue being a point per game player, but whenever a big name such as Kovy gets moved to a team such as New Jersey, where his and the team’s expectations are high, the player normally never lives up to them, regardless of how good or productive he is in his own way.

With the unexpected return of Paul Martin last night, it presents an interesting predicament to head coach Jacques Lemaire as he has eight defenseman to choose from and the first time he’s dealt with a fully healthy roster all season. I firmly believe Mark Fraser and Ansi Salmella are serviceable defensemen that could be a lot more effective if Lemaire was more opportune with them. Salmella possesses a lot of offensive upside, while Fraser looks to be on his way to becoming a solid stay at home defenseman with a quietly effective shot. I know many fans have vented and raved about the undeserving role and ice time the likes of Mike Mottau and Colin White may get, but I guess you could say Lemaire values the experience and alleged reliability these players possess, which can be invaluable come playoff time. Having said that, what do you do with Fraser and Salmella? Do they ride the press box from here on out? Do they get sent to Lowell, where they can at least continue their development and work on the weaknesses of their games? When Lemaire was hired, one supposed plus about him was his liking of instilling youth into the lineup, which he was good at in the beginning of the year, especially with the alleged youth movement the Devils started to go through since the summer. Don’t get me wrong, Paul Martin is a legit defenseman (although he’s nowhere near top pair material, he’s the best we’ve got), and right now, I’d take him over Salmella and Fraser, but I continue my preaching of exploiting Lemaire’s misusage of the roster’s capable youngsters. I guess time will only tell if these current decisions will help or hurt this Devils team.

Tonight’s game against the Leafs will prove something. When you look at how the Devils have fared against opponents successive to important games since January, the outcome hasn’t been pleasant. After defeating the Rangers in an emotional 1-0 shootout victory on January twelfth, the Devils proceeded to lose the next three games to the Coyotes (4-3), Avalanche (3-1), and Islanders (4-0). On February fifth, the Devils had an exciting rally after being down 3-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs and won the game 4-3, during which Ilya Kovalchuk made his Devils debut and notched a pair of assists. In the following games, the Devils proceeded to lose to the Rangers 3-1, and dropped back-to-back games against the Philadelphia Flyers, blowing a two goal lead in one of them. Upon return from the Olympic break, the Devils bested the San Jose Sharks in a 4-3 outcome, and proceeded to lose to the Calgary Flames (5-3), and Edmonton Oilers (2-0)…yes, the Edmonton Oilers…subsequent to that, the Devils defeated the Rangers 6-3, Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1, and proceeded to fall to the Islanders 4-2…having defeated the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins in their last two games, I hope you can justify my belief the Devils should take this game more seriously than they might originally perceive, especially with their turbulent track record against the Leafs this year (2-1, scored nine goals, gave up eleven).