Devils divide first two games

The New Jersey Devils bounced back from a opening night 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers with a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday afternoon on a Columbus Day matinee' special at the Rock.
Ilya Kovalchuk's third period goal (1) snapped a two-two tie to lift the Devils to their first two points of the season.
Zach Parise scored twice for New Jersey (1 and 2 Power Play/Empty Net) and Mark Fayne rounded out the scoring (1) in the second period.
Johan Hedberg was the starter in winner in goal for the Devils with 24 saves.
The Devils host Los Angeles Thursday night before their first road game of the season in Nashville on Saturday night.
Expect limited coverage of that one due to an eight o'clock start and work will call before the end of the game...

Hell Raisers

1) Starting with the painful loss in the season opener.
The team was just flat-no other way to say it.
Martin Brodeur played reasonably well in keeping the game as close as it was,but even he was not razor sharp as the second goal scored by the Flyers was sorta of a softie....

2) I have never seen Wayne Simmonds of the Flyers fight before,but he took care of David Clarkson quite easily,dropping him with the first punch and landing a few more after Clarkson quickly arose.
Perhaps Clarkson took him lightly,so I'd be interested in seeing another go....

3) The Zach Parise/Patrik Elias/Petr Sykora looked very strong against Carolina,producing two goals and being the dominant force in the first period.
Elias and Sykora have a comfortable level from playing together for years and Parise seems to be a good fit with them.
Lines come and go through out a season,but I think this one could have a bit of staying power....

4) Key point in the game might have been in the third period with Nick Palmieri already in the box,Patrik Elias joined him after crashing into Cam Ward and being called for interference.
The deserved call gave Carolina 44 seconds of five on three power play time and continued a five on four for over another minute.
The Devils fought it off without allowing the go-ahead goal for Carolina and the Kovalchuk goal came about five minutes later.
Great job by the penalty killers...

5) I really like what I see from Adam Larsson.
I would be stunned if he is returned to Sweden after the nine game period expires.
The Swede had the most ice time of any Devil in the game and played with quite a bit of poise after being hit with a cheap shot to the groin by Carolina's Eric Staal.
Larsson is getting power play and penalty killing time,showing the confidence that the team has in him and looks to me to be likely to stay for a long time to come.

6) The goal by Zach Parise in the first period was a work of art as Petr Sykora made a nice pass to Patrik Elias,who fired on net with Parise deflecting it by Cam Ward.
One underrated part of Parise's game that he could use getting back to using more often is mucking around the net.
One could say that Parise's lack of size is a hindrance there,but I wouldn't.
Parise manages to slide into spaces that a bigger man cannot and his game is so much more effective when he does some of the dirty work....

7) Ilya Kovalchuk did score the game winner,but he almost handed the lead to Carolina,when he lost control of the puck after a Carolina clear on a Devils power play.
Kovalchuk had no pressure,he just was too complacent and too close to Johan Hedberg.
Sloppy play...

8) Kovy also might want to look into a new stick manufacturer or at least a new batch after breaking two on the power play on this afternoon.
I know the old wooden sticks broke too,but it seems to me that the composite sticks break even easier.

Photo Credit-AP Photo

Seahawks fly East for win over Giants

The Seattle Seahawks hung around all game against the favored New York Giants and then used two big plays late in the fourth quarter to win their first game in the Eastern Time Zone since 2007 with a 36-25 victory over the Giants.
Charlie Whitehurst,who had entered the game after an injury to Tavaris Jackson,drilled a 27 yard pass to Doug Baldwin for the touchdown that gave Seattle the lead with 2:37 left and a long interception return for the clincher by Brandon Browner as the Giants were in the Seattle red zone paced the victory.
Seattle will enter their bye week with a record of 2-3 and will return in two weeks in Cleveland for another Eastern visit...

Puget Sounds

1) Tavaris Jackson suffered a pectoral injury in the third quarter and was ably replaced by Charlie Whitehurst.
The timing was even worse than usual for an injury as Jackson was looking very sharp and played very well for the second week in a row in the no huddle offense...

2) Give Charlie Whitehurst plenty of credit as well for being able to step right in after Jackson's injury and being able to continue to run the no huddle effectively.
Often times when the backup is forced to enter the game,the offense can become simplified by need.
Seattle did not have to do that yesterday and the credit goes to Whitehurst....


3) Often times,the defensive line play only comes up when the sacks pile up.
Yes,the Hawks dumped Eli Manning three times and was very effective rushing the passer,but the defensive tackles Alan Branch,Brando Mebane and Anthony Hargrove bullied and dominated the Giants interior line all day.
When you can get that type of play from the tackles and the offensive line needs to provide help in that spot,the defensive ends can become oh so effective rushing off the corner one on one with a tackle.
Good work there...


4) Marshawn Lynch ran well as he churned out 98 yards on just 12 carries.
Lynch is a frustration for me as he pops out the occasional nice game,but just as often is quite a disappointment.
Yesterday,he looked very strong and considering that,I was surprised that he did not have a few more touches as the game went on...


5) I had to laugh when the ball bounced off Victor Cruz's hands and into Brandon Browner's for the clinching touchdown.Cruz had played well and his TD catch took massive concentration,but flukes even out over the course of a season.
I did not expect it to even out over the course of the game...


6) Doug Baldwin-Wow.
The fact that no one drafted this guy is one thing,but that Jim Harbaugh and the surprising 49ers did not sign him as an undrafted free agent is even more amazing to me.
Of all people,Harbaugh should have known about Baldwin at Stanford since he coached him there.
Baldwin caught eight passes for 136 yards and a touchdown that gave Seattle the lead for good.


7) The secondary played well,especially when you consider that Marcus Trufant missed the game with an injury,
Brandon Browner is improving from the first two games of the season and Earl Thomas teamed with the returning Kam Chancellor to patrol the middle.


8) Awful cheap shot to the head early in the game by the Giants (I cannot recall the name) on Zach Miller on the first drive of the game.
Clearly an shot to the head that was not needed and ended the day for Miller.
Bet on the league office dropping a fine on that player..


9) The offensive line continues to be a work in progress as they allowed six sacks.
The Giants are one of the league's best pass rushing teams,but the line has still not truly jelled as of yet...


10) Play that I liked the most-the Anthony Hargrove safety,where he tossed the guard aside and slammed T.J.Ware to the turf.
Tough and physical-exactly what I love from line play.


11) Finally, I am in support of breast cancer funding as most are,but all this pink just looks awful on these uniforms and around the fields.
The NFL uniform police is on patrol for sock length,but this is allowed?
Awful.


Photo credits-AP Photo

Nebraska rally stuns Ohio State

For two and a half quarters,Ohio State appeared to playing the perfect game with a three touchdown lead and on the verge of turning things around with a stunning road upset of heavily favored Nebraska.
Sadly,games last four quarters and with a turnover followed up by an injury to Braxton Miller,who had played very well,well the wheels were not only off,it reminded one of those old 1980's NASCAR wrecks where only the cyclone fences kept the car from leaving the facility.
In any event-Nebraska 34 Ohio State 27.
Ohio State drops to 3-3 and will host undefeated Illinois next Saturday.

Buckeye Leaves

1) This game never felt like it was over to me.
I suppose years of rooting for bad teams does that to a person,but it seemed like (yes another sports comparison) a horse that sprints to a huge lead and knows the horse from off the pace is going to make his run.
The question becomes how close is the wire???

2) I did not see either the Braxton Miller fumble that handed the Huskers great field position for the score that started the rally or the play that put Miller on the sidelines for the evening.
I was in the car on the way to work and was listening to the Nebraska radio network,which gives one hundred dollars to the FFA for each Husker TD,for those of you that care.

3) Those two plays clearly turned the tide against the Buckeyes,but I was encouraged by Miller's play until that point.
Miller ran with confidence and his throws looked crisper,although he still needs refinement as a passer.
I might have even gone as far to say this- Miller stays in the game,OSU holds on....

4) Well,Joe Bauserman just exhausted my last branch of excuse last night.
Bauserman throws half of his passes into the bench and not with style either.
Bauserman's deep throws remind me of the type that Seneca Wallace threw for the Browns last season.
That equals UGH,my friends...

5) I also thought Carlos Hyde ran well and gained the tough yards that a back of his size needs to get.
Hyde scored two touchdowns on the day with a total of 104.

6) The defense was just beaten up in the second half.Rex Burkhead just ran all over the Buckeyes and they had simply no answer for the Huskers running game.
Simply put the larger and more physical team pounded them down and that bodes poorly for Wisconsin in two weeks...

7) I did not understand the early fourth quarter play calling on this key drive.
Still with a seven point lead,Ohio State threw two passes on second and third down and then passed on a 49 yard field goal attempt for Drew Basil in favor of a punt.
The weather was not great,but the explanation was they wanted to be a few yards closer.
Well, perhaps a running play on one of those two poor Bauserman tosses might have gotten you those few yards to feel more comfortable trying the field goal.

8) Jim Bollman was just awful in this collapse as well.
Bollman kept calling the same play-pass plays that feature routes that Joe Bauserman cannot hit his receivers on.
It has become crystal clear that Jim Tressel spent considerable time protecting Jim Bollman.
I look forward to next season without him in the press box.

9) I called for more time for Kenny Guiton after the loss to Michigan State,but Braxton Miller played well in the start.
However,if Miller is missing the Illinois game with his ankle sprain,I propose Guiton get the start.
It is clear that Joe Bauserman is not the answer and Guiton has more similarities to Miller than Bauserman does,so the theory is perhaps Guiton could be more effective in the OSU offense...

10) Finally,a non-game note.
The Ohio State University needs to clean house now.
Starting with President Gordon Gee,moving on to Athletic Director Gene Smith and taking the hit by announcing Luke Fickel will not be returning next season.
The NCAA is dragging their feet on the punishment headed Columbus way and there is a chance to make this look better-by taking a step forward and cleaning out some of the enablers.
This is selfish on my part as my reasoning is to get as light as possible in a bad year and hope to save 2012 recruiting as much as can be and get things rolling again for 2013.
A step or two back is inevitable,that is occurring now-the key is to keep it at that distance...

The Devils play Carolina Monday at one,I will be doing a dual recap on that game with the loss in the opener last night then....

Photo Credit:Dave Weaver-AP Photo

Pigskin Pickin' Machine

The PPM is one fewer today after Boise State's 57-7 demolition of Fresno State last night....

Ohio State (3-2 0-1) travels to Nebraska (4-1 0-1) and still loses Boom Herron for one game and now DeVier Posey for five more.
If I were Posey,I would not even bother to risk injury to play two lousy games and drop in the next year's draft.
In any event,this one comes down to the Ohio State defense,if they can force some turnovers ,especially on the Husker side of the field,maybe they can hang in this one.
When I consider the Buckeye offense,I feel this is highly unlikely....

Texas Tech (4-0 1-0)  hosts rival Texas A&M (2-2 0-1) in the last game between the two for quite a while,I would bet.
The Red Raiders have won the games that they needed to going into Big 12 play,but they have to prove to me that they are for real.
Tech struggled to a one point win over Nevada,who was then overmatched against Boise State in their next game.
A&M has blown sizable leads in both of their losses over the last two weeks and goes into the place that they hate to play most in Lubbock's Jones Stadium.
Ask an Aggie fan,they would rather to Austin and play the Horns than Lubbock and the Red Raiders.
The Aggies snapped a seven game losing streak in Lubbock with a win in their last visit in 2009.
Winner here is who is wins the run battle.A&M shuts down the run and runs the ball well.

Bowling Green (3-2 1-0) visits Western Michigan (3-2 1-0) after their expected waxing against West Virginia last week.
The Broncos are coming off a three point loss to ranked Illinois and a win over Connecticut.
Western throws the ball far more than BG,so after the WVA game the Falcons will see a different look...

Game of the week goes to the Red River Shootout as third ranked Oklahoma hits neutral turf against eleventh ranked Texas.
Both teams are undefeated,but Texas seems to me to be the weaker team.
I see lots of hook ups from Landry Jones to Ryan Broyles....

The Browns are on their bye week,so only two games from the NFL this week.

Seattle travels across the country after a gritty comeback against Atlanta to play the Giants.
Mike Williams will miss the game and I just do not see the Hawks,who are a bad road team anyway, being able to do much against the Giant pass rush...

Game of the week is the Sunday night war between the Packers and Falcons.
This one should feature about every possible thing that a football fan could want from both offenses.
This looks to see tons of footballs flying through the air and lots of scoring...

Our picks
Nebraska over Ohio State 24-7
Texas A&M over Texas Tech 34-24
Western Michigan over Bowling Green 31-20
Oklahoma over Texas 27-14

Giants over Seahawks 31-13
Packers over Falcons 38-30

New Jersey Devils preview

The New Jersey Devils will attempt to bounce back from a rare non-playoff season tomorrow night at the Rock against the visiting and hated Philadelphia Flyers in their home and season opener.
A good start would be helpful for the Devils with their first three games of the season played at home....

One bit of news-the Devils traded faceoff specialist David Steckel to Toronto in return for a fourth round pick next season.
Steckel's faceoff skill cannot be denied,but he seemed to be out of place in the Devils system and it was best for both parties.
The trade brings the final total for last season's trade of Jason Arnott to Washington's second rounder and Toronto's fourth.
Both picks will come in handy,if the Devils decide to pay the penalty this season for the Ilya Kovalchuk signing,which with two extra picks,I would guess that they do unless it would be a very high one...

The Devils made very few moves this season to add to the team,but managed to add a large amount of cap space.
The moves that removed Brian Rolston,Trent Hunter (Obtained for Rolston),Colin White and now David Steckel placed the Devils 4.6 million under this seasons cap and 25+ million under next seasons cap-money that will be needed to sign Zach Parise long term and any other additions to the squad.

The Devils named Zach Parise as the team captain this week in an expected move.
Will the move help retain Parise after the season?
Perhaps,but one thing that cannot be denied is that Parise's injury sent the team into a scoring tailspin that created a hole that the team could not dig out of.

The lines are always fluid as the season wears on,so I will not attempt to go by lines,but the team is strongest at left wing with Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk as their two.
Considering the talents of the pair,one could argue that either line that they play would be the top line.
These two players must produce if the Devils are to return to the playoffs.
Patrik Elias,Mattias Tedenby and rookie Adam Henrique will see time at left wing along with time at center for Elias and Henrique and right wing for Tedenby.
Eric Boulton was added as a free agent to add muscle after spending last season with Atlanta.

The loss of Travis Zajac for the early portion of the season is a huge one for a team that is not elite at the center position.
Zajac will return before the first of the year,but to make up for the deficit,Dainius Zubrus has been moved to center and will need to step things up as will second year man Jacob Josefson,who is one of the three young Swedish would be stars that the team is hoping to infuse new blood to the squad.
The talent dips quickly after those two,although as noted above Patrik Elias and Adam Henrique will see center time on occasion.
Rod Pelley is back as the faceoff/checking center and Brad Mills has made the team for now after splitting last season between Albany and New Jersey.

The right wing is where Mattias Tedenby will likely spend most of his ice time.
The Devils will need Tedenby to add scoring punch because beyond him,the right wingers are filled with questions and less than terrific answers.
David Clarkson returns and needs to show signs of his past play/
Too many times last year,Clarkson did not crash the net and did not play as physical as in the past.
Clarkson can be a very effective player,when he uses his skills wisely.
Nick Palmeiri was a pleasant surprise last season and looked to have some chemistry when playing with Ilya Kovalchuk.
Look for Palmeiri to spend lots of ice time there again this season.
The feel good story was former Devil Petr Sykora making the team after playing in Europe most of last season.
Sykora's scoring touch would be a huge boost,if there is anything left in the tank.
Another former Devil was signed as a free agent in enforcer Cam Janssen.
I am questioning why the team needs both Janssen and Eric Boulton considering their limited skill set or lack thereof.

Devils fans are excited about top pick Adam Larsson making the team as the first top ten the team has had in over twenty years.
Larsson could only stay for nine games,if the Devils wish to keep the Entry Level Contract from kicking in,so we will know more on November 2nd,which is Game 10 of the campaign.
Look for Larsson to be paired with steady Swede Henrik Tallinder,who did a terrific job breaking in Tyler Myers when Tallinder was with Buffalo.
Punishing hitter Anton Volchenkov will be attempting to bounce back from an injury plagued first season in New Jersey.
Volchenkov brings the type of physical presence that was badly needed at times last season.
Andy Greene was brought back from free agency and Bryce Salvador returns after missing all of last year with concussion issues.
Mark Fayne was a huge surprise as a rookie last season and rounds out the top six defensemen.
Mark Fraser will be the seventh defender..

Martin Brodeur and Johan Hedberg both return as the goalie tandem and should give the team quality net minding...

I think this is a playoff team,but not a division title contender.

Talkin' about the Hagerstown Suns-The Pitchers

Time permits,so lets move on the look at the Hagerstown Suns pitchers,which is not as heavy on quantity,but perhaps (Bryce Harper excepted) better from the quality control side...

The two top prospects were clearly from the 2010 draft in righthander A.J.Cole and southpaw Robbie Ray.
The interesting fact for me in comparing the two is that they pitched the exact number of innings on the season as the other (89),so should be easy as far stats go.
Ray had the better ERA,while Cole struck more batters out.
Both had a poor final month of the season and inflated their numbers a bit.
That could be a case of high school pitchers wearing out over the course of their first full pro season,so I would put that off to the side as a non-issue.
Cole throws a bit harder,while Ray seems to have more of a feel for pitching.
Cole seems to have the slightly higher upside,but Ray seems to be a safer bet.
In any event,both are on track to become part of the Washington National rotation eventually.

Taylor Jordan posted excellent numbers before a season ending injury,but Jordan does not have the toolbox of Cole and Ray to dip into.
Jordan keeps the ball on the ground and that type of pitcher that keeps the ball down and uses off speed stuff can often find success in the SAL,but the hitters more often than not catch up to that prototype as the competition stiffens.
63 strikeouts in 90+ innings is the fire alarm to me on Jordan.

Chris Manno was devastating in his half season as the SAL hitters had no clue on what to do with him
Keep in mind that Manno is a college pitcher (Duke) and should have been feasting on the SAL.
In any event,when you have an ERA of barely over 1.00,you are far better than what you are facing.
Washington did not seem to be as impressed as Manno was not promoted after the first half and was part of the Jonny Gomes trade in mid-season.
Manno just went to the Reds,who started him in High A Bakersfield in a notorious hitters league and park and just posted an even better ERA and whiffed 31 batters in 13 appearances/17 innings.
I was not sure on Manno as a Sun,but those numbers in Bakersfield make me a believer....

Neil Holland might have been the breakthrough bullpenner had he not played on the same team as Manno.
Very nice numbers and did well after a promotion to Potomac.
Holland is not overpowering,but the numbers are solid enough to think about.
I can see Holland in AA Harrisburg next season.

I did not see Sammy Solis as much as I would have liked and when I did,he was still chipping the rust off,so I have little to add on his Hagerstown stint because he was not razor sharp.
Solis struck out a batter a inning as a Sun and fell a hair short of the same number in Potomac.

Bobby Hansen had some really intriguing numbers away from the Muni before a mid season injury that finished his 2011,so I am interested in his 2012 season.

Matt Grace led the team in wins,but his numbers were bad and I don't see much of a future when I see his stuff.
Paul Applebee is an organizational soldier type that is helped by being a lefty tosser,although he had a strong 2011 season.
Matt Swynenberg has the funky motion that will baffle lower level hitters,but might not play as well as he rises,while Ryan Demmin pitched well in a late season Hagerstown cameo,but turns 24 next April and will need to get off to a fast start.

Other than that,the rest seem to be non-prospect roster filler,with the arguable omission of Ben Graham,who had nice numbers,but was old for the level.
The 2011 Hagerstown Suns had a memorable season that will live on for quite a while for Hub City fans.
Between the Bryce Harper arrival and the first half final week collapse that saw an almost certain division title go by the wayside,this season will be talked about for years...

I will try to look at the Suns off the field thoughts sometime next week...

Talkin' about the Hagerstown Suns-The Hitters

Taking some time to get the on field thoughts down on the 2011 Hagerstown Suns hitters as after today,the specials might be on hold for a few days with the PPM popping,football recaps and the return of Devils hockey to these pages.

If I am lucky,I'll have time for the pitchers later tonight,if not they might wait until next week.

The Suns featured the prospect of the year in Bryce Harper.
I would wager you have read plenty elsewhere on Mr.Harper,but he is clearly the best player to wear a Suns uniform (Major League rehab assignments aside).
The tools are there,although he makes me think that he will lose a step in speed as he ages,to be a terrific player.
It will still be tough to live up to the hype machine,but he should at least be a perennial All-Star.

The other position players made me wonder though.
Jason Martinson hit for power (19 Homers) and runs well (26 steals and caught just six times),but the defense was deeply concerning and a lack of contact (144 whiffs!) does not bode well as he advances higher.
A general rule of thumb for me is this -If you are striking out a lot in the SAL,you better project to be a 30 homer man.
Not sure Martinson has that covered...

Blake Kelso had a huge first half that was counter-balanced by a below average second half.
Kelso should have been a candidate to move at mid-season,but the Nationals must have had some ideas on Kelso as he did not get the callup and his numbers dropped.
The second half is a warning flag as Kelso has one plus tool-hitting for average.....

David Freitas was very similar to Kelso from the great first half,average second and the lack of a callup that the first half numbers looked like would happen.
Freitas still had a nice season and the question is defense.
The arm is strong,but he does have some defensive limitations.
Interesting note-six homers in 117 at bats against lefities,but only a .214 average.
Not great for a righthanded hitting backstop.

Michael Taylor had a huge second half and looked to be putting things in order.
He had better because he was maybe the weakest fielding outfielder the Muni has seen in years.
Taylor is outstanding physically,but fanned over 100 times,notice a trend there?
Taylor is just 20,so he is still a prospect.
I am looking forward to seeing his development in Potomac next season...

Adrian Nieto might have resuscitated his prospect status a bit with some strong play in the final month.
Nieto came back from various issues and looked like the player that was thought of so highly when drafted.
Nieto still had issues striking out 1 out of 3 at  bats,but I would give him another year before crossing him off.
His biggest issue might be the catching logjam in the system...

Adrian Sanchez did not have a bad season,but not what I expected.
I thought the second sacker could be the breakout prospect of the team,but he just did not get that finished.
Sanchez did enough to move up in 2012,but he did not help himself much on the prospect radar.

Kevin Keyes built up steam as the season moved forward and might have been the teams best bat by seasons end.
Keyes has big time power potential,but will need to step his game up further in Potomac at age 23.
Keyes has the look of a power hitter (13 second half homers)but looks to be more of a left fielder that was stuck in right field defensively.


Randolph Oduber missed almost the entire second half and strikes me as a guy that will put up numbers in the lower levels,but not a real prospect.
The injury hurt him a lot as he will enter next season at 23 and having never completed a full season.
Oduber does have some tools,so not ready to give up,but next year is a make or break season...

I do not see any prospects of the remaining Suns hitters,although I can see Brett Newsome sticking around as a "Tim Pahuta" type and Sean Nicol is the type of organizational soldier that is nice to have in the system with the ability to play multiple positions....