Wow, what a frustrating journey. I was not one of the optimistic people who thought there would be a season at some point, but I sure am one of the many ecstatic hockey fans today. I CANNOT WAIT to resume watching the Devils and the NHL.
Now I hate mentioning this, but it will be in my mind the whole year. The Devils lost the hardest working player in the league, their captain, and a superstar all in one package. Zach parise signed a contract with his hometown team, Minnesota Wild, over the offseason. In my opinion the Devils had built their gameplans and play-styles around him. From intensely forechecking, to fighting players off the puck, it was all perfectly resembled by work-horse Zach Parise. You will be missed.
Last season ended with a bummer. Coming up with a loss in the Stanley Cup Finals feels awful. No doubt about that. To put things in perspective, the Devils rolled into the Playoffs as a 6 seed. They defeated their two division rivals in the 5-seed Flyers and 1-seed Rangers. Congratulations to the Los Angeles Kings for an outstanding playoffs. They finished the 1, 2, and 3 seeds in the Western Conference with ease. In fact, the Devils gave them the most trouble. New Jersey brought the series to six games.
The NHL season begins on Saturday, January 19. Martin Brodeur and his New Jersey Devils will take on the New York Islanders at The Nassau Coliseum in Long Island. I am very curious to see what the lines for forwards will be, with a different group of guys. The departures of Petr Sykora, Eric Boulton, and Alexei Ponikarovsky will make things interesting. I believe David Clarkson has to continue his scoring ways and favor that in his play-style. Another question mark I have is who will be line-mates with Ilya Kovalchuk.
Captaincy for the team is up in the air. Zach Parise is gone and the team is in need. Ilya Kovalchuk is the most appropriate and likely for the job, seeing that he is a lead player who will be around for a long time. I would like to watch him receive the "C" and see how he deals with it. Another candidate is Patrik Elias. He has been a verbal leader for quite some time. However, he is aging and the Devils cannot afford to lose another captain soon. The Devils have lost two captains within a very short span of time. Kovalchuk will be here for quite a while, give it to him.
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