Round Three
The Devils win four in a row to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in nine years. There aren’t that many bills I look forward to getting, and Round 3 Stanley Cup Playoff tickets set the bar pretty high. Where do you start being proud of this team, as a fan? [...]
Five Reasons The Devils Can Knock Off The Flyers
The Devils can knock off the Flyers, probably in six or seven games, because they have the right ingredients with the right blend at the right time. 1. They do the little things. Clarkson’s Game 2-winning goal doesn’t happen if Elias doesn’t poke-check the puck away from his man on the half-boards. It’s not on [...]
Teamwork and Accountability
We can dish out blame for last night’s Devils playoff loss all over the place: the inconsistent referees, the fact that Kovulchuk skated like he’s got a “lower body injury” (groin, hamstring, torn back), DeBoer’s line shuffles that accomplished nothing, Marty’s decision to play the puck without looking at the forecheckers, Volchenkov once again managing [...]
Triangulation: In Memory of Pierre Pellaton
Pierre Pellaton, hockey coach for more than 30 years, died last night. He will be sorely missed. Pierre was the one coach that everybody loved. I really do mean everybody – players, parents, other coaches, the NJ Devils Youth Hockey board, refs, the Zamboni guy. It was impossible not to like him, with his outsized [...]
Depth of Field
Digital imaging is the greatest enabler for one of my favorite hobbies – sports photography. I’ve been taking pictures at football games since 1986, but historically the process was: buy high speed film, take a lot of pictures, get the prints made and $150 later, throw out half of them that included a referee’s head, [...]
Season of Joy
It’s a fall Saturday afternoon and I’m typing rather than lugging a telephoto lens up and down the sideline of a football field. High school football season has ended for our Montclair Kimberley Academy Cougars, after a semi-final playoff loss last night. To balance the feeling that last night was the last time some of [...]
Numbers Game
I’m continually amazed by the number of people who put money at risk without understanding the mathematics of expected return and vigorish (or commission, house advantage, or retailer markup, take your pick). I witnessed the most egregious violation during a recent trip to Atlantic City, where they they offer blackjack with a variety of side [...]
Career Goals and Points
I stand corrected – a few weeks ago I posted that 2011-2012 would be the last year in Patrik Elias’ contract with the Devils. It’s not; I was off by a year and inadvertently rushed him out the door. No, no, no, no didn’t want to do that. Let’s just say that a guy who [...]
Empty Ne(s)t
Bubba and I have been Devils season ticket holders since the summer of 1999, when I saw a classified ad in the town newspaper looking for someone to split a ticket package. We didn’t realize that we’d buy into a Stanley Cup run, Scott Gomez’ Calder-recognized rookie year, and Patrik Elias’ breakout season. Going to [...]
Not With A Bang But A Whimper
This is the way the 2010-2011 hockey world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper (and apologies to T S Eliot). For the first time since we began following our hometown hockey boys, there is no April joy, no second season, no reason to start watching out of market games because of their scheduling [...]