This is just a small part of catching up on things.I will be mentioning my trip to see the Lowell Devils,but the main post that deals with the trip will (most likely) be on my next off day.
Again,I apologize for missing Friday,although there was nothing I could do yesterday.
I really need to get a laptop!
I was close to getting one last week,but circumstances changed things......
The New Jersey Devils host the Philadelphia Flyers today in a one o'clock matinee'.
The Devils are coming into the game after a 5-1 crushing of the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.
I missed watching the win due to work,but I did listen to Matt Laughlin and Sherry Ross off the XM radio version of the bird.
Bear with Hell Raisers as being from what I hear and stat related notes for this one.
I don't like to do that,but sometimes that is unavoidable.
Patrik Elias scored two goals(14 and 15,both on the man advantage) along with two assists and Zach Parise assisted on four of the five Red and Black goals.
The remaining three Devil goals went to Brian Gionta (9),Travis Zajac (9) and John
ny Oduya (3).Hell Raisers
1) Hate to keep harping on this,but is Patrik Elias on fire or what????
11 goals and 16 assists in the last 15 games!
This is the type of play that Patrik Elias used to give the Devils before the unfortunate Hepatitis issue in Russia during the lost season of 2004-05 and wouldn't it something is after 3 lesser seasons that he could finally be back?
I didn't expect it,but I shall take it every time!
2) The Gionta goal was the only one of the five that I actually saw and again s
howed the benefit of crashing the net and causing deflections as Gionta got a piece of a Paul Martin shot to deflect by Alex Auld.This team is so effective when they play aggressively!
3) The goal was the third game in a row that the Devils scored in the first two minutes of the game.
That sets a new team record.....
4) Bryce Salvador was scratched,but was replaced by the returning Andy Greene.
Salvador will also miss todays game with the "upper body injury" as will John Madden,who is down with the flu for the second straight game..
5) On a related topic to my trip to see the Lowell Devils,Hockey's Future rated each teams system and the Devils were ranked in 30th place.
As in last,I don't claim to know as much about hockey prospects as baseball ones,but this can attributed to two things.
1) The Devils always pick 20th or lower and have done so for many years.
Pretty tough to keep your talent stocked from top to bottom picking down there for that long of a time.
2) The Devils seem select players that either will be so explosive in impact that they cannot resist such as when they traded up to grab a falling Zach Parise or this season when Sweden's Mattias Tedenby plopping into their lap after trading down twice or selects players that fit what they do.
When you do the latter,observers tend to underrate what you have on the farm as it doesn't become obvious on the player until he is inserted into the parent roster....
Bonus Round
Sherry Ross continues to grow on me every time that I listen to the radio satellitecast on the Devils network.
She is knowledgeable and offers a wit that takes some time to get used to and takes the listener a few seconds to get the inference,which leads to delayed chuckles from me anyway!
Bullpen Notes
I hope to have time later in the day for a seamhead edition,if not look for that tomorrow.
Congratulations to coach Larry Kehres and the Mount Union Purple Raiders for thei
r winning yet another Division III title over Wisconsin-Whitewater.The 31-26 win avenges last years win by UWW and gives Mount Union their 10th national title under Kehres.
Mount Union runs a dominant,yet classy program and they deserve their success.
A tip of the hat to the Warhawks from Wisconsin as well,as they have met Mount Union in the last four D-III finals and proving their program's strength as well...
I was back in forth on attending the Mt.Union or the trip to Hershey,but finally settled on the Devils.
I have been to the Division Three title game before in Salem and enjoyed it,so maybe next year...
Snow is expected to fall in both Cleveland and Seattle today and that might make two games that look less than intriging worth viewing.
The Garbage Bowl in Cleveland today takes place and I can smell this one from 300 miles away.
Only a loyal Browns fans would watch this one,especially over the Devils,but that is why I have two TV's with tape rolling.
The Browns have the edge on the obvious stats over the visiting Cincinnati Bengals,better record (4-10 to 2-11-1) and the home field advantage,but the Bengals did win over Washington last week and seem to be playing better football right now.
I can faintly hear John Facenda now "Ken Dorsey and Ryan Fitzpatrick lead their teams into battle as the snow drops through the air in Cleveland".
The Seahawks meanwhile host the New York Jets in a game that is important to the Jets as they are in a three way tie for first in their division.
Ironically,there is more snow forecasted to fall during the game in Seattle than Cleveland.
Imagine that.
Seattle used plenty of breaks to win a game that they shouldn't have in St.Louis last week and look to be the weaker team,but the Jets have lost twice to bad teams (49ers and Raiders) on the West Coast,so don't rule an upset out.
Our picks
Bengals 13 Browns 9
Jets 31 Seahawks 17
Photo Credits
All Hockey:Bruce Bennett:Getty Images
Mt.Union:RC Workman-D3Sports.com
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