A quote from my favorite Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler song, “Sultans of Swing” basically says it all.  The Devils season is now over after what seemed like a lifeless 3rd period from  New Jersey.

It was kind of an emotional time for me, because I knew that this would be the end of my hockey-covering season.

I noticed something in the Devils locker room today, that probably will stick with me for a long time.  It was Zach Parise…he was sitting in his stall with all of his equipment on, head against the wall, staring at the ceiling.

I just looked at him for a minute, wondering what was going through his head.  He knows the season’s over.  He knows his chance at the Stanley Cup is over.  But he doesn’t want  to leave.  The game ended at 10:32.  It was now 11:00, and he still had his equipment on.  It’s not like he had the media constantly asking him questions and he didn’t have time to take off his equipment.  I think we all wanted to let him be, because that was the most dejected I’ve ever seen a hockey player so far after a loss.

I understand how he feels right now.  This was my first shot at a big time event like the Stanley Cup playoffs, I know it’s not going to be my last, but I didn’t want to see it end.  It was a memorable experience, I met some great people, and (my friend Maria would love this) it made me care about the Devils and change my opinion about them and their style of play.

But alas, a season is done.  That doesn’t mean this blog is done either.  I’ll try to update intermittently, and whenever some big hockey news (Isles, Devils-related) comes around.  But don’t worry, you’ll hear from me.

Thanks to all the readers out there wherever you are.  I’m very appreciative of every one of you who took the time out of your schedules to read this.

You’ll hear more from me soon.  Have a great weekend everyone.

Hi from East Rutherford!  Ok, so I lied.  It’s been a week since my last entry.  Chalk it up to me working (I work at a law firm just to pay the bills), sheer exhaustion, a ton of personal commitments this past week.  My friends are also getting married tomorrow so I am praying to the high-gods of hockey that this 8pm game does not go into overtime!

I will be sure to give everyone period by period updates tonight.

This is a crucial game for the Devils, being down 3-1 at home, I honestly see the Devils taking a win tonight because I don’t see the Devs losing a series at home.  For some strange reason, I think Devils might bring this to a Game 7.  Don’t ask why, just call it a hunch.

I’ll be back during the first intermission with my thoughts…

The above quote is exactly what Martin Brodeur said when approaching the media after what seemed like an endless day/night for me.

Honestly, I don’t blame him.

3-2 Devils victory in Double OT. I just finished my story and I’ll be heading home now, thank you very much.

I’m sure I will have much more tomorrow after a well-deserved good night’s sleep…

Looks like he took some Sudafed or something, but the Devils will get their captain, Patrick Elias back tonight.  Elias missed Game 1 from the lingering effects of a cold.  I still think that it was a very Slapshot-esque situation in regards to his scratch.

Just a couple of thoughts before Game 2 begins…

~Lets hope we don’t have to witness another crazy period like that first.  Brodeur needs to be sharper, like he was in the last two periods for Game 1.

~Turnovers need to be minimized by the Devils.  Ottawa’s Game 1 goals 2, 3, and 4 were all unassisted, coming off of turnovers.

~Devs need a quick start.  Ottawa came at the hard and fast and they need to counter that before it gets out of hand.

~It’ll be interesting to see how the ice holds up.  There was a figure skating show here at 12 noon earlier, therefore the ice needed to be softer for the show.  NHL ice guru Dan Craig was here to oversee that the transition went smoothly so that everything will be good for the game.  We’ll see…

~It’s 20 minutes before the puck drop and already there’s more people in the stands than Game 1 combined.  Attendance has really been an issue here.  There’s even talk of a sellout tonight.  We’ll just see if that comes true…

~A lot of fans made the trip from Ottawa.  Good to see some opposing fans in the building tonight.

Oh, and Rangers practice update is now up at The Blueshirt Scene.  Check it out!

Enjoy the game!

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog, and my apologies to my readers, whoever you are out there…

As I said in my last post, I’ve been covering the Devils playoffs for NY SportScene and having a great time doing it.

The Tampa series was a fun one to watch.  Brodeur was very shaky to start the series but he REALLY clamped down for the final two games and saved the series for the Devils.

Parise is a beast.  Isles fans (including myself) are still wondering what could’ve been if they picked this kid up.

Gomez has been strong and is really coming to his own this playoffs with 2 goals and 7 assists.  Same with Gionta as well

Patrick Elias apparently will not be playing today because he’s suffering from a lingering cold.  Geez, this reminds me of the opening scene from Slapshot where Dave “Killer” Carlson is up in the press box with a cold because he “went out in the snow without his jacket on”.

Ottawa should be a fun series, and a good test for both teams.  I promise to update more often during the playoffs and will look forward from hearing from everyone.

Anyone remember the famous SNL skit “Jingleheimer Junction”, where Will Ferrell and the gang are in a children’s TV sho about friendship? They try to play “Mix-mash-mix-em-up” and almost spell a four-letter word that I’m sure Isles and Sound Tigers fans are saying to themselves right now as the injury woes continue to bite both clubs in such a crucial point of the season. They’re almost forcing me to bring back the M*A*S*H reference again…
So there have been a TON of roster moves lately. Just got the official word from the Sound Tigers organization, so let’s run them down…

On Recall to the Islanders:
–Steve Regier (emergency unless Smyth or Hilbert cannot play)
–Wade Dubielewicz
–Jeff Tambellini
–Allan Rourke

Joining the Sound Tigers:
–Mike Mole, recalled from Pensacola
–Sergei Ogorodnikov, recalled from Pensacola
–James Sixsmith, signed to ATO
–Kyle Rank, signed to ATO
–Steve Crampton, signed to PTO (Las Vegas)

Currently out day-to-day:
–Frans Nielsen (minor concussion)
–Eric Boguniecki (sickness)

Released from PTO:
–Dustin VanBallegooie
–Cam McCaffrey

On to business at hand now. Sound Tigers are in Bridgeport tonight hosting the Hartford Wolfpack on the tail end of a home-and-home. Your guess will be as good as mine on what line combinations Dan Marshall and crew are going to throw out tonight, but I will be on it when I find out.

Finally, here are the current playoff standings. Albany plays Manchester tonight for those who are going to be scoreboard watching. Those in bold have obviously clinched playoff spots. Binghamton has officially been eliminted.

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Well it looks like the Sound Tigers split their two-game set with the Pirates today as they lost 5-2.  I was not on hand unfortunately because I’m back in Hershey (surprise! surprise!) covering the Binghamton Senators.

Sens lost AGAIN in the third period, this time it was kinda close 3-1.  Coach Cameron was definitely not happy tonight.  Odd, he was nice with me after they lost 6-1.  Maybe blow-outs are preferred?

Kelly Guard played pretty well today, as did the B-Sens defense until those two late goals.

Met Ed Gonser from the AP today.  Doubt he will be reading this, but if he does, it was very nice to meet him and I hope to run into him soon.

If anyone hasn’t seen Dubielewicz’s new goalie mask, it pays tribute to past Isles history and it’s a BEAUT!  I only saw one side of the mask, which was laying on his lockerroom shelf, that had an image of Denis Potvin lifting the Stanley Cup from the Isles first cup victory.  But on the forehead?  The dreaded FISHERMAN!   It reminds me a lot of Eric Fichaud’s infamous fisherman mask.  Brilliant idea by Dubie to say the least.

Tough Isles loss to the Rags today.  As usual, the goaltending was spectacular and that damn Straka-Jagr-Nylander combination bites the Isles again.  This puts them tied with the Hurricanes and the Habs for the final playoff spot in the East.  It’s not gonna get any easier so the Isles need to take any points that come their way.

That’s all for now…time for the long drive back home.

Until then…

Hey all. Apologies for the lay-off. Life seriously went from dull to ten times of hectic in the span of two months. But it’s good to be back in Bridgeport as the Sound Tigers will take on the Portland Pirates at 7pm today.

Big game in terms of the playoff race for the sound Tigers. They moved into a tie for the last playoff spot yesterday as a result of their win in Bingo and Albany’s SOL in Hamilton. Today the River Rats take on Syracuse, which should be an easy win for them, so it is must win for the Tigers. Here’s the playoff race as it looks now:

Early word coming out of Bridgeport is that Blake Comeau will be back in the lineup after missing a good month or so with an ankle injury. Boguniecki missed last night’s game due to an illness and will not dress tonight as well. Add Drew Fata to the list of injured with back spasms.

Be back in a few with the pre-game warmup line combinations…

Well I’m back in Hershey, PA today stringing for the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin covering the Binghamton Senators today. Here are some quick thoughts…

~How bad have the Islanders looked lately? The defense, which has most of the year looked pretty strong looks like a pee-wee team out there.

~Speaking about bad, Dunham has looked very lost out there as well. His lateral movement has been god-awful as of late as was evident on those two wrap-around goals by Neil (Ottawa) and Jokinen (Florida).

~According to Newsday, if Ricky isn’t ready to go against Tampa on Tuesday, Dubie is gonna get the nod. I think that’s smart. Dubie looks solid in net, and confident as well. Something Dunham doesn’t look like he has…

~Bridgeport lost 6-3 in Norfolk after taking one there the previous day. Consider that a success since only 5 teams have won there before the Sound Tigers came into town. They’ve kept pace with Albany though, still one point behind. Here are the standings…

~Big game for the Tigers today in Philly as they visit the Phantoms. A lot of tensions should be running high as a result of what happened last game which I like to dub “Fight Night at the Bridge”.

~I appreared on the premier episode of Hockey Night on Long Island yesterday (around the 31:30 mark). Best of luck to Alex & Steve on the show, they did a great job interviewing me and I highly recommend checking out their show next week and for the weeks to come.

~Happy Birthday to the Stanley Cup today which turned 115 years old.

I’ll be back after the Sens/Bears game with some arbitrary (I really had a desire to use that word) thoughts….

Until then…

Tom…

I joked after the game that the Sound Tigers lockerroom should be called the M*A*S*H unit. Along with Brandon Nolan, Jeremy Colliton, Blake Comeau, and Jamie Frasier; here’s what happened today…

~Drew Fata hurt his ankle but continued to play through it. He looked to be having a tough time turning on it in the first period but looked better there on in.
~Jamie Johnson took a high stick to the face late in the third period, no penalty was called, but Johnson was fine.

~Mark Wotton seemed to hurt his wrist right after Johnson got hit in the face. Wotton left for the bench, but seemed fine in the lockerroom.

~Masi Marjamaki blocked a shot on his knee and had to wobble to the bench just two minutes after Wotton got nailed. No word on his condition..

~After undergoing a series of x-rays, Petteri Nokelainen was diagnosed with a broken index finger and will miss around 4-6 weeks.

~Allan Rourke was walking around the lockerroom after the game after taking a slash on the foot Saturday night and hopes to play Wednesday in Albany. He’s listed as day-to-day.

Last thing they need is Jamie Farr running around in a dress! (Hey! I may be 23 years old but I can still make classic TV references!)

Albany continues to keep pace with the Sound Tigers after scoring five in the second period, beating Syracuse 5-2. The Sound Tigers still hold the one point lead on Albany heading into a big 4-point game on Wednesday between both teams. Here’s the playoff picture as it looks now:

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Things didn’t seem to get better for the Phantoms Boyd Kane. First, Jamie Koharski slaps him with a 10-minute and a game misconduct on Saturday, and tonight gets the same from Terry Koharski. To think, he got off light today and scored the game-tying goal for Philly.

Finally, I’d like to express my sincerest thanks to Patrick Williams for plugging this blog on probably what is the best AHL blog on the net today. It’s great to see that even in its infancy this blog is getting noticed and I have to thank those who read this. I suggest you to go visit Patrick Williams blog on SLAM! Sports - There isn’t a better one out there and you won’t be disappointed. I’ll make sure to add it on the links sidebar as well.

That’s all for now…