Pavlik great,Devils not so much

The New Jersey Devils looked like a team that either needed to have or was looking forward to their five day break in a listless 4-0 loss to the Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum.
The less said the better about this loss,so I am moving on,but suffice it to say that I was not pleased with the play during the three game road trip to come away with just two points when you consider the Devils opposition was two teams with losing records...

Martin Brodeur may be in net for the Thursday game against Colorado.
The final decision is Brent Sutter's,but it could be the jolt to snap the Devils out of their funk.

One possible reason for the poor play (and it could be an excuse) is that it seemed like half the team had the stomach flu during the swing.
Perhaps that could have been why the team looked so weak?

Kelly Pavlik retained his WBC Middleweight belt when challenger Marco Antonio Rubio was unable to answer the bell for the 10th round.
No knockdowns in the bout,but Pavlik was reported to have won every round.
Pavlik is expected to make his next defense in early summer in Cleveland.
Possible opponents include Vernon Forrest,Sergio Mora and John Duddy.

In the other fight of the day,Miguel Cotto stopped Michael Jennings in five rounds.
So,for those of you scoring at home(Other than me) my record improved to 3-1 with 2 bonus points on the year.

Battlin Bob sends us this note on wrestling legend Verne Gagne being implicated in the death of a 97 year old man at the assisted living home that the two men resided at.
Gagne (82) threw the man to the floor,breaking his hip and injured his head and the incident that resulted in his death.
Gagne suffers from Alzheimer's disease,so the incident isnt as bad as it sounds,although that is little consolation to the family of the victim.

Ryan drops us a line on the death of ELO bass player Kelly Groucutt at 63.
Groucutt was the bass man for most of the classic stuff of ELO before leaving the band in1983.
I have always thought that ELO's early stuff is where the Beatles sound would have progressed to had the band never broken up.

Either later or tomorrow,I hope to return with a post on the woes of the Washington Nationals,Esmailyn Gonzalez and more for the seamhead.

Photo Credit
Boxing:AP photo