NHL 2008-2009 Regular Season Thread

[jyoung]

Preds come through on the road against the Kings to vault up to the 7th spot in the West.

Of course, if they do hold on to one of the lower seeds, they'll just end up playing San Jose/Detroit like they have for the last four or five years, and I don't think they've ever taken more than 2 games in a series against those two teams.

[Yoshi]

Did you know?

-- The Devils traded down to get Brodeur in the 1990 entry draft. They gave Calgary the 11th overall pick and the Flames took goalie Trevor Kidd (140 career wins). The Devils, who also gave up their second-round selection in the deal and got two second-round picks from the Flames in return, snatched Brodeur 20th overall.

-- Of Brodeur's 551 career wins, 237 have been by one-goal margins. Two have been by nine-goal margins.

-- The Philadelphia Flyers have been his most frequent victims. Brodeur has beaten them 43 times. The Islanders are next (41) and the Rangers third (39).

-- The most likely score in a Brodeur victory is 3-2. It's happened 98 times.

-- On Nov. 9, 1996, Mike Dunham replaced Brodeur for 41 seconds in a 4-0 shutout of the Islanders. Brodeur got credit for the win, but not the shutout.

-- His first NHL coach was Tom McVie.

[Dyne]

So history can yet again be made.....against my Hawks Every year it seems they let a milestone happen.

Watch him get a SO and a goal just to ice that cake.

[Dyne]

Preds come through on the road against the Kings to vault up to the 7th spot in the West.

Of course, if they do hold on to one of the lower seeds, they'll just end up playing San Jose/Detroit like they have for the last four or five years, and I don't think they've ever taken more than 2 games in a series against those two teams.

If we don't start winnning some fucking games we'll be out of the race altogether.

[Geo]

Congrats to Marty Brodeur. There isn't a more deserving guy to break Roy's record and now be the all-time leader in wins.

[Changeling]

It was great to watch Marty get his record. Did Yoshi go to the game ?

[Cowutopia]

No, but I did.

First things first:
CONGRATULATIONS MARTY!

It was FANTASTIC. One of the few sold-out crowds I've seen since when I went to opening night.

Scoring in under a minute in was great, and just set the tone for the evening: jubilant. I'll admit, I went to the game already expecting to see history.

The Blackhawks played a good game, but the Devils had the edge all game. The Devs sat back a bit towards the end of the first, after they took the first penalty, and played a bit too defensive-minded for my likes, but got it done.

Ok, the history.

As soon as Patty broke the record the whole crowd erupted. There's one thing you can say about Devils fans, they know what the fuck is going on. That assist turned out to be on the game winner, too.

There were so many different chants through the night. Pat-ty Pat-ty. Pat-rik E-li-as. Marty chants would break out spontaneously, at least a dozen different ones. It was just a great crowd, amazing atmosphere, even if not too many people came along with my chants in my section.

The Blackhawks didn't give us enough time to enjoy Patty's record-breaker. (Btw, tack on another Devils SHG) The game didn't get scary though until 3-2. There were plenty of scary moments though, Marty came up huge on more than one occasion. After it was 3-2 everyone was biting their nails. I think by the time there was a minute left everyone was standing. It was intense, Marty made a huge save with 3 seconds left to close it out.


I almost teared up while they cut the net, but I didn't. My voice is a little hoarse. I couldn't really hear Marty's speech after the game.

Devils had St. Patty's parade of bagpipers and drummers and flag-carriers going around the halls during intermissions. There were people trying to collect used tickets after the game, and I couldn't find a program anywhere. I walked into the arena from will-call at 6:30 and there was not one program I could see.

It is so wonderful to see nhl.com covered in Devils stuff. The guy who dresses up like a Devil is at most games. I high-fived him tonight. He's on one of the nhl videos. Too bad they didn't interview Santa.

Now the game stuff!
It didn't register with me that Colin White sat out periods 2 and 3. I did notice a lot of Mottau, but it just didn't register. Mottau made a great play in the third. Draws were awful in clutch situations later in the game, not happy about that. Clarkson continues to fall down every time he gets bumped, not happy about that. Jamie is a man possessed. WTF? Zajac is so hugely improved. It's crazy. I've been saying it all year, but it's still crazy.

The Rolston line had a PHENOMENAL even-strength shift in the second but couldn't bury it. Patty made one too many passes on that particular one. They attacked for about two minutes, I'd say.

This new arena is great, but when it's packed it's hard to walk around the arena to get to the smoking areas. There are plenty of concession stands though, so nabbing food and good beer is no problem. It also took a long time to get out tonight, and the will-call area's weakness in the design of crowd flow was reintroduced to me. Everyone's swarming in and there's no real out path, you just have to fight upstream to get out once you have your tickets. They need to deal with that.

Tried to get some we want the cup chants started, nobody came with me. It's time to start thinking about that, though. This team has proven able to beat anyone who matters and the records are in the rear-view mirror. No more distractions.

Wednesday's game is likely going to be a hangover-loss, and with White out and Greene in, the next three could be rough. We'll see. Tough schedule ahead through Sunday.

4 points back with 2 games in hand on Boston, and even if we lose one of the next two, we face down Boston on Sunday for a potential tie.

Buffalo with a HUGE loss. Rangers win in the shootout, big surprise...only this time they scored three in regulation.

Penguins are coming. I told you assholes. I know I said they'd take fifth, but with Philly floundering they might take fourth. Fuck.


P.S. - I've had the same poster of Brodeur on my wall since the first grade.

[Cowutopia]

Oh, and SJS clinched the Pacific.

[Cowutopia]

If we don't start winnning some fucking games we'll be out of the race altogether.

There's no way Dallas is making up 9 points to pass you/knock you out of the playoffs. Nor Minnesota, nor St. Louis.

I REALLY REALLY hope STL makes it into the playoffs. I like them, young team, play hard, good goalie. I don't think they'll do it...but it's possible. Edmonton isn't that hot.

I like how everyone's talking up SJS when none of the other teams in their division are going to be playoff teams. Well, I guess recently nobody's been talking them up. They've played weak since Nabokov went down a while back, even though he's back now.

[Dyne]

I like how everyone's talking up SJS when none of the other teams in their division are going to be playoff teams. Well, I guess recently nobody's been talking them up. They've played weak since Nabokov went down a while back, even though he's back now.

I've never talked them up because of how they always flake in the post season. Personally I would like to see Calgary make a run for it out of the West if something tragic should happen to the Hawks. Canada needs something other than Montreal to hold onto.

Saw the highlights from last nights game. Seemed like our usual game if we don't score first. Hang in there until the last three minutes then all the sudden jump to life. I'm glad for Marty. I never liked Roy. Ever since the post season where Colorado beat us (god back in the Roenick days) he rubbed me as an arrogant prick and he couldn't play the puck.

Now for us to get some wins. I just saw we play NJ again next Friday. Our last game will be on NBC at home against Detroit. We always end against Detroit. Hopefully I don't get stuck with a regional game and can watch that one.