Massacred in Montreal-Devils lose 6-2

The New Jersey Devils managed to hang tight for two periods and a little into the third as they kept the Montreal Canadiens close at just 3-2.
Montreal then turned the jets on and swiftly ended the game with three goals and a 6-2 win at the Forum in Montreal.
Mike Cammalleri (18) and Jacob Josefson (3) scored for New Jersey.
Recap below.I'm about to be sick.

Hell Raisers

1) Keith Kinkaid deserved better than a six goal inflation to his GAA.
Kinkaid faced another barrage of shots as Cory Schnieder has of late and Kinkaid made some dynamite saves.
Don't blame number one-without him this might have been an 11-2 game.

2) Credit to Tuomo Ruutu for hitting Jacob Josefson in stride for a backhand that beat Carey Price,
The play was made by Ruutu and it was nice to see Josefson finish the play.
That's about all the good news I have for tonight.

3) Dumbest penalty that I've seen in a while-Dainius Zubrus and his high stick off a faceoff that resulted in a double minor and two resulting Canadien goals.
I'm really weary of Zubrus,who only appears most of the time to make a colossal error.

4) The Devils did get over 20 shots in a rare change (22),but allowed 38 in what is becoming a shooting gallery against the Devils goaltenders.
That ratio is very indicative of a bad hockey team.
Not average,not mediocre.Bad.

5) I'd ramble more on defensive mistakes,but I'm just tired of it.
The losing streak was one built on a mirage.
That's what happens when you get a homestand filled with other crappy teams and get some wins.
Home ice can make that much of a difference with other crappy teams.
Watch what happens against good teams and then wonder-bet on lots of nights like tonight

It's Coming!!

Just wanted to announce the coming of the TRS podcast in the next few weeks!

I've ordered the equipment and hopefully I'll be up and running soon.

I'm very excited and I'm hoping to bring two new interviews to TRS,once the bugs get worked out.

I'm looking forward to not just talking sports,but the other things about me that I find interesting in the world-from politics to weather to reading and more.

I hope some of you will give us a listen when we are ready to hit air...

Meanwhile,the inbox is overflowing and tonight's post will likely feature the cleaning with many different notes from around the world along with the Devils in Montreal.

See you then!

Elias scores 400th in 3-1 Devils win

Patrik Elias scored his 400th goal (7) in his Devils career as the New Jersey Devils completed their homestand with their 4th win in five game in a 4-1 win over the wobbling Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Devils remaining goals were scored by Jaromir Jagr (11 empty net),Steve Bernier (9) and Tuomo Ruutu (6) with Cory Schneider supporting in net with 33 saves.
New Jersey travels to Montreal tomorrow night,


Hell Raisers

1) Patrik Elias has not been a true top notch scorer,he has always been more of an all around player that scores some goals.
Combine that with a long career and goals will pile up,but I've always thought Patrik Elias was a class act and I'm proud to have a player like him hold our record for goals scored.
I can only hope the next guy to hold it has his type of class....

2) The Devils caught a lucky break on the first goal when a Mark Fraser dump-in hit the boards so hard that it rebounded right to Tuomo Ruutu at the side of the net to be slammed home before James Reimer had a chance to stop the puck.
Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

3) Still tired of the playoff updates.
The Devils are 10 points out of the playoffs-Get to five and I'll start listening...

4) Steve Bernier deflected an Adam Larsson shot for another goal and his ninth of the year.
You may not remember,but when Bernier was a rising young player with the Sharks and Canucks,he was considered to be a potential 30 goal scorer.
That might be asking much,but I've been telling Rachel for a while that it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Steve Bernier break out with a 20 goal season out of nowhere like David Clarkson did and make a lot of money off a resulting contract...

5) Cory Schneider's one allowed goal wasn't great,but he was otherwise excellent and other than one smack off the pipe,Schneider wasn't bailed out by anyone other than himself.
Keith Kinkaid will start against Montreal.

Cleveland Browns Season in Review-The Defense

The 2014 Cleveland Browns were a mixed bag on the defensive side of the football.
Surprising in some areas,deficient in others,but a group that has established a foundation to build on for the overall future...

The defensive line struggled with injuries all season and that's too bad as they should have been pretty good at top throttle.
Desmond Bryant was the healthiest and most consistent and finished with five sacks.
Armonty Bryant was playing very well when he went down with a knee injury and Phil Taylor was effective stuffing the run until his season ending injury,
Billy Winn shows promise and John Hughes missed a lot of time with injury,but showed me lots of toughness in returning to play in the final meaningless game when he didn't have to.
Ahtyba Rubin was disappointing and might be ready to go elsewhere and Ishmaaa'ly Kitchen is just another depth lineman.
The Browns finished last in the league against the run and while the loss of Phil Taylor helped that number stay so low,Cleveland still could use a big and physical lineman
The line also needs to generate more of a pass rush and I think the Browns might be interested in adding another end and a tackle in the draft and free agency.

The linebackers were a much improved unit over last year and could have been the most improved period.
Paul Kruger rebounded from a disappointing first season and was a strong pass rusher as Kruger finished with 11 sacks.
The other outside backers weren't as productive as Jabaal Sheard continued to struggle in his move from end.
Sheard is a free agent and will likely to find a team that will use him at defensive end.
Former first rounder Barkevious Mingo still was not a breakout player,but in his defense,Mingo played the entire season with a torn bicep,so I am willing to give him a pass.
Outside linebacker is a definite need,even if just for depth after the loss of Sheard.
The inside backers were better as Karlos Dansby did exactly what he was signed to do with veteran leadership and strong tackling.
Craig Robertson was greatly improved ,especially against the pass,where Robertson struggled against in the past and rookie Christian Kirksey played well and looks to be a contributor for quite a while...

The secondary was improved as was expected before the season,but not for the reasons that I thought that they would be,
Joe Haden continues to build a All-Pro resume' with what I thought was his best season yet on the corner and Buster Skrine had his best season as well.
Skrine struggles with bigger receivers and I still think he would be better served covering someone in the slot,but Skrine gets better every year.
Skrine is a free agent,so it'll be interesting to see how highly the Browns consider retaining him
The Browns expected to be able to move Skrine to the slot after installing a rookie corner.
The surprise was that the rookie to make his presence felt was free agent signee K'Waun Williams,who played very well until a late season injury.
Williams might be able make Skrine move to the slot next season,should he return as Williams was that impressive.
First round draft pick Justin Gilbert had his occasional victories (a pick six),but more often was uninspired,beaten and had off the field issues all contributed to making his rookie year an extremely disappointing one.
I wouldn't be ready to write Gilbert off yet,but he might need a boot camp style intervention in order to turn his career around.
Donte Whitner was very similar to Karlos Dansby as the Browns got exactly what they hoped for with his signing.
Whitner's partner Tayshaun Gipson had six interceptions when his season ended due to injury and looked to have a chance at making some all-pro teams when the injury occurred.
Jordan Poyer will be the only returning backup safety as steady veteran Jim Leonhard announced his retirement after the season...

The Browns defense had its ups and downs,but I am encouraged entering 2015.
They need some reinforcements,especially on the defensive line,but the defense shows promise for the future..

Grades

Defensive Line:C-
Linebackers B-
Secondary B

Back later with the special teams and a grade for the coaches/front office

Devils pass Senators 2-1

The New Jersey Devils used a little late offense and a little late luck on the defensive as the Devils took a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators at the Rock in Newark.
Mike Cammalleri's goal (17) lifted the Devils to the lead with the only score of the third period with New Jersey holding off the Ottawa attack late in the game with the goalie being pulled.
Adam Henrique tied the game at one with his 13th goal of the season in the second period.
New Jersey will host Toronto Friday in the final game of a five game homestand....

Hell Raisers

1) My lord,another boring game to watch.
I'm not going to rap the Devils for playing this way in an extremely defensive style as it gives them their best (if not only) chance to win,but these games against other less than strong teams are becoming less than artistic interpretations on the ice...

2) New Jersey also received a bit of luck with seconds remaining when Ottawa's Bobby Ryan missed being able to slam home a puck into a open net.
Andy Greene and Adam Larsson both had a small part in the miss,but the biggest factor?
What the dearly missed Doc Emrick used to call "The Unseen Hand".

3) The goal by Ottawa was downright terrible as Curtis Lazar was fed a pass off an awful turnover by Marek Zidlicky.
Lazar lumbers in,tries to go to the backhand,whiffs and then as Cory Schneider attempts to put the squeeze on Lazar by taking his space away,the puck then rolled by Schneider.
These things happen,but too many bad things on one play....

4) Third straight game with under 20 shots and they come away with five points?
Lot of luck there,but they are keeping the opponents shots down too (except vs Pittsburgh),so the commitment (like it or not) is to this type of slow,defensive hockey and hope for the best.
More shots are going to be a must,if the Devils expect to defeat better teams...

5) I wrote a few days about the Devils needing a ten point sweep of this homestand to have a prayer.
So far they have gotten 7 of a possible 8.
I still think they are finished from playoff talk and I'll still take a better draft position than meaningless and boring wins over other bad teams.
12 points behind Boston for the last wild card spot-not good enough in my opinion .....

Defending the Football thought process

I'm pretty active on social media and although I look at Facebook and Twitter as distinctive products, they do have one similarity-they both have people that wonder what I'm thinking!
So in that spirit, I'm going to try to offer/answer four (Yes, four) questions/comments on football that I've made on social media this weekend.
Keep in mind that you don't have to agree, these are just my thoughts.

Question 1) Was the Seattle pass play call
at the end of the Super Bowl that bad and what would I have done differently?

Answer: The easy answer is run with Marshawn Lynch and you cannot go wrong there, but I'll even give the Seahawks a break and offer this-a pass play was not that bad-IF...
You had done anything resembling some formation that gave you some options.
As soon as you put Russell Wilson in the shotgun without a back and three wideouts-It's a pass play unless it is Wilson up the middle.
And if it's a Wilson run up the middle-who is more likely to bull in-Wilson or Lynch?
So, assuming that your decision to not to challenge the Patriots because you think they are ready for the run, what would I have done?
I would have put Wilson under center and play actioned to Lynch and then dumped a safe pass to a tight end or outside receiver.
Safe and nothing that could be picked off, if it was incomplete, who cares? You still have two more chances from the one!

Question 2) Was this the worst play call ever?

Answer: Well, maybe.
Maybe there have been worse calls, but certainly, this was the worst call in a big game ever unless I'm just forgetting one.
Those of you out there that want to compare the Browns Red Right 88 pass play down 2 to Oakland needing a field goal to win, this blows that off the map.
Super Bowl compared to a mere playoff game and with a field goal uncertain due to cold and wind compared to perfect conditions in a dome?
Not even close.

Question 3) Tony Dungy criticized the call and he should have. I tweeted that considering his playoff record, I'm not sure his opinion is relevant.
I was then asked what my issue was with Dungy.

Answer: I don't really have one and no, long-time readers-it isn't this.
What is the case is a less than glittering playoff record by Dungy (the main reason that I am in the Anti-Dungy camp for the Hall of Fame) at 9-10, six times Dungy coached teams lost in their first playoff game, three of those at home.
Dungy does have a title for his case, but could you get an easier Super Bowl draw than a team quarterbacked by Rex Grossman?
I'm not saying Tony Dungy was a bad coach, just a somewhat overrated one, especially in big games.

Question 4) I said that I wouldn't vote to put Jerome Bettis in the Hall of Fame, compared him to Earnest Byner (long career, high yardage and carries, less than great yards per carry average) and baseball's Craig Biggio (played a long time, hit certain statistical benchmarks and was voted in despite really not being great).
Am I just a Steeler hater and not objective??

Answer: I'm a Steeler hater, but I pride myself on being objective on the merits of a player.
When Jonathan Ogden was voted in, I was all for it, despite me hating the Ravens.
It's about the merit of the player, not about the helmet or jersey they wore.
Jerome Bettis rushed for over 1,500 yards just once (in a 16 game season,1,000 yards isn't what it was in a 12 or 14 game season), never led his conference- let alone the league in rushing, finished a season with double-digit touchdowns just twice in 13 seasons and couldn't average four yards a carry in his career.
I'm not really furious about this, Longevity does count for something and the 6th leading rusher of all time did hit some numbers, so you could put him in the hall, but I'm not sure Bettis was a great back.
Here's the question-would you rather have had five out of this world seasons from Terrell Davis or 13 good not great ones from Jerome Bettis and which would you value more considering both players have marks against them?
It isn't an easy call, but I lean toward greatness, not durable goodness.

Al Haymon and Vince McMahon-History shows a similar path

I was struggling with a topic for tonight with being called into the road office and missing the Devils and Cavaliers wins.
I could have watched the Cavaliers on line,but I did have some work to do on this night,so I passed.

However,I was watching something unrelated to sports and suddenly had my column.
Al Haymon is slowly trying to take over the world of boxing and with his recent deals with NBC and Spike along with rumored deals upcoming with CBS,may be in a position to be what he envisions as the boxing answer to the Dana White owned UFC.

That might be the comparison that Al Haymon sees,but I see another one and a chance to see how either history could repeat itself or show how things could have went differently for another sport related business.
Yes,the comparison I'm making for Al Haymon is one Vincent Kennedy McMahon and his World Wrestling "Entertainment" formerly Federation.
A little over thirty years ago,pro wrestling was a business divided among several promoters in different area around the country with each having a little fiefdom cut out for their own doing.
There is a small difference as wrestling was divided by geography,while boxing's promoters are not,but the rest is the same story-a sport ran by multiple promoters with some of them doing better than others,but all operating loosely together.

Where McMahon's vision was to become one wrestling "league" and putting the rest out of business essentially came true by signing their top stars and making his company the only place to see the "best" is basically what Haymon is trying to do,there are even more similarities.
In the 70's and 80's pro wrestling drew such strong local ratings in most areas,the TV stations would pay the promotion to air their shows.
Think of networks paying rights fees for boxing for the correlation,but suddenly Vince McMahon showed up and bought the time slots,shoving the local promotions off the airwaves.
Al Haymon is buying time on the NBC family of networks,Spike TV and rumored to be soon CBS,which leads to ESPN (among others) to question why they are still paying for fights when they could GET paid.
See the similar issues?

What killed those regional promoters was the lack of vision and finances,depending on the case.
They attempted an All-Star group of their own that failed (Pro Wrestling USA) due to few of the promotion being able to work together and as a result saw each of them fall to McMahon one by one.
Boxing might have an advantage here,if Top Rank and Golden Boy can continue to work together among the smaller promoters to provide a quality alternative to Haymon being the only place in town.
I'm not against any one promoter,I just want to see the best fight the best and so often we don't get that.

Vince McMahon is now the only pro wrestling game in town and the result has been stagnation.
Competition brings creativity and I hope Al Haymon has some success,that is good for the boxing business.
However,I don't want to see him become the only place to watch quality fisticuffs and take boxing down the road of wrestling with a stale product that that becomes even more of a niche' product.
Another McMahon comparison-wrestling got so hot for a while that it was on network TV after being off mainstream television for 25+ years.
Boxing has rarely been on network TV for the last 25 years and could get the sport really hot again.
However,the star faded for McMahon and the same could happen for Haymon's group if he is not careful.

Want more parallels? Vince McMahon had one star above all the rest-Hulk Hogan,who wrestled the same lousy match again and again,no matter his opposition.
Al Haymon has one star above all the rest-Floyd Mayweather,who fights the same lousy fight again and again,no matter his competition.
McMahon had one match that the world wanted to see- Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant.
Haymon has one match (although he'll have to co-promote it) that the world wants to see-Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao.
Hogan vs Andre was the biggest pay per view of its time and a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout would certainly be the largest of its period.

Al Haymon has a great idea and he could make lots of money doing it,however my question is this- is it the healthiest manner to grow the sport over the long term?
Will the Top Rank-Golden Boy alliance allow them to be the alternative like WCW was for a while to McMahon's WWF?
Or will they be like WCW in the end- a strong opposition that ended as they simply couldn't create the needed stars to continue generating big business and go out of business?

Al Haymon and Vince McMahon-history may not repeat itself (although it could),but there sure is a similar business plan in order.
It'll be interesting to look back on this in a few years and check out where boxing stands at that time...