The blogging has been in hibernation since July 22nd. Seems like an eternity.
The Kovy saga has passed. Maybe. The season broke into two epochs. BCL and ACL. Before Coach Lemaire and After Coach Lemaire. The man deserved retirement after all of his accomplishments. It just took him an extra 11 months to get that done.
It feels strange blogging about the golf course Devils BEFORE tax day. You have to go back to 1996 for the last time the Devs failed to make the second season. The BCL months were a hole that no team has ever been able to dig out of, and the Devs were no exception. But after the Professor took the helm on December 23rd, the Devs compiled a respectable record of 28-17-3.
Sunday afternoon April 10th was a good way to end a roller coaster of a season. The Devs whipped, and I do mean DOMINATED, the 103-point Boston Bruins, third place finisher in the Eastern Conference and 7th in the entire league.
Yeah, yeah, it was without Zdeno Chara playing. And it was also without Zach "the Restricted Free Agent Ghost" Parise as well. Call it even, OK. Despite the score, the Devs humiliated the Bruins, allowing only one shot on goal in the entire 2nd period. I call that a statement made for 2012.
Blue-shirted fans from Quebec stuffed the arena on the last game of the season. 30 buses drove down from the Nordiques Nation to cheer the Devils on. There is something about a rivalry in the Northeast Division with Montreal and Boston. The Quebecers can cheer for Martin Brodeur and not feel guilty. But they have long memories of the Eric Lindros years.
Lindros was drafted by Quebec, refused to play and was traded to Philadelphia in exchange for the likes of Peter Forsberg and others. Ever hear of the Colorado Avalanche? The emigres from Quebec who went on to win two Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001? It was the Lindros deal that made their Stanley Cup run possible.
So, one Quebec fan says to me, "Kovalchuk, he's the problem". Sounds like the voice of experience. Time will tell if Ilya Kovalchuk can become a team player and rise above 30 goals per season. The jury is still out and Coach Lemaire laid it on the line in his farewell speech.
The second season starts in two more days. Go Canucks. Heavens above, doesn't the western part of Canada deserve a Stanley Cup after so many years of drought?
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