Devils claim Aaron Dell

   The New Jersey Devils goaltending situation was hamstrung by the late retirement of Corey Crawford and making the Devils very vulnerable to anything that would take Mackenzie Blackwood out of the lineup.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and their cap constraints came to the Devils rescue when an injury forced Toronto's hand that caused them to waive forward Jason Spezza and goaltender Aaron Dell to create cap space.

Spezza was an easy player to slide through waivers- he's 37 and he had told any team that should they claim him, he would immediately retire, but Toronto knew that as much as they hoped that Dell would return to them, Dell's return would be unlikely with the Devils and the Edmonton Oilers in dire straits with depth in their net.

The Devils pounced on Dell and will be bringing to Newark as the steady veteran hand behind Mackenzie Blackwood.

Dell signed with Toronto in the off-season after spending his entire NHL career with the San Jose Sharks and was the loser in the Maple Leafs roster shuffle,

Dell won twelve of thirty starts for the Sharks last season, finishing with a save percentage of .907 and a goals-against-average of 3.01.

Dell is an upgrade over Scott Wedgewood and might be better suited for the backup goaltender than Corey Crawford would have been.

Crawford was a player that was used to playing a lot and even though the plan would have been for the two players to split time fairly evenly, I'm not positive that Crawford (Like Cory Schneider before him) that Crawford would have been fine with that over the course of a season.

Aaron Dell will be fine with that role.

It's what he's always been, it's what he's best suited for, and for a New Jersey Devils team badly in need- Aaron Dell will shore up the roster.

It will be a bit before Dell will actually join the team as being with the Maple Leafs involves crossing the border and will have to go through Covid-19 protocol before being allowed to practice and play with the team.

Browns season ends in close shave with Chiefs 22-17

    The Cleveland Browns gave all that they had in a loss to the powerful Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the AFC Divisional Playoffs and in their 22-17 defeat, the Browns may have proven more about the direction of their franchise than in any of their victories (with the arguable exception of their first-round win over the Pittsburgh Steelers) and may have finally established the franchise as more than another mirage.

Baker Mayfield threw for 204 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.

Nick Chubb led the ground attack with 69 yards, while Rashard Higgins was the top receiver with five catches for 88 yards to lead the pass catchers.

The season ends for the Browns with eleven regular season and a playoff victory on the road at Pittsburgh.

Brownie Bits

1)  I'm going to lead (Pun Intended) with the hit by Kansas City's Daniel Sorensen on Rashard Higgins that was clearly helmet to helmet and Sorensen's lowering of his helmet to deliver the blow. 

The no-call cost the Browns a likely touchdown and because the contact with the helmet isn't reviewable (as it is in college football), replay could not be brought into play.

2) I know Higgins reaching for the pylon is a risky play and I understand that, but why isn't anyone asking this- Does Higgins fumble if he's not being HIT IN THE HEAD by what is, by the rulebook, an illegal blow?

3) And I don't care about Sorensen's "intent".

How many times in college football do we see targeting called and we all talk about intent?

It doesn't matter (although I think it should matter)- There is nothing in the rules that says about whether a player 'meant' to hit the opponent in the head. 

It says you cannot.

4) If that penalty is called, the Browns have a first and goal from the half-yard line.

Four cracks at a touchdown and six/seven points in a game they lost by five to a team led by Chad Henne.

Think about that one...

5) I spent five points on one play for a few reasons.

It was pivotal and cost the Browns a likely touchdown, the officials missed the call, the NFL needs to make helmet contact reviewable for next season, and if player safety is as important to them as their lip service says (it's not) start having their officials do a better job looking for it.

6) Why didn't I mention the touchback?

Well, that is the rule and while I don't mind it as much as some do, that part of the play was called properly.

Evem if it is B.S. that the touchback could be reviewed while the guy nicknamed "Dirty Dan' by his own team didn't extend his arms to try to tackle could not be reviewed.

7) Kevin Stefanski might be the coach of the year, but he wouldn't win coach of this day.

Stefanski's constantly touted as an "analytics" believer, yet he punted on fourth and nine on the Browns final possession, gambling that he would get the ball back-they wouldn't.

8) Stefanski also botched a challenge that had zero chance of succeeded.

Still, remember just as players need experience in the postseason- Same goes for coaches.

9) Now for some good things.

Other than one bad throw, Baker Mayfield played pretty well in the loss.

Mayfield's receivers dropped some passes or his day could have been much better.

I wouldn't dog him for the loss.

10) The running game averaged five yards, but Kareem Hunt didn't touch the ball in the first half and while some of this is due to trailing for most of the game, Kevin Stefanski in the latter part of the season seemed forget this team was built on the run.

That will be interesting to follow next season.

11) The Chiefs decided to take away Jarvis Landry and they succeded even though Landry caught the Browns only passing touchdown.

Landry caught seven passes and only twenty yards.

Kansas City was able to keep Landry closer to the line of scrimmage by shadowing him and wrapped him up as soon as he caught the ball.

12) Another good game from the offensive line, who allowed only one sack of Baker Mayfield.

And that came without left tackle Jedrick Wills, who injured his ankle on the first offensive snap.

Give the Browns and offensive line coach Bill Callahan credit, they built an excellent offensive line that should be even better next season with a true training camp.

13) All of that said and it came down to a fourth and long scramble by Chad Henne.

The defense has to stop that with the season on the line and it shows just how close this team has come and how far there is to go.

For the Browns to be a true contender the defense needs to be addresses this offseason in the same manner that Andrew Berry and company worked on the offense during the last one.

The Browns have holes, they will need to fill them to take the next step-Lets see if it can be done.

14) The Browns will pick 26th in the first round.

It's been a long time since the Browns picked that low with their own draft pick.

15) Sorry that this took so long, 

It's been a long day.

I plan on a Browns season in review with the offense and defense over the next few weeks.

16) One more time-for the record.

Sharangovich beats the buzzer! Devils beat Bruins in OT!

   Yegor Sharangovich (1) beat Jaroslav Halak with just under two seconds remaining in overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins Saturday afternoon at the Rock in Newark.

Kyle Palmieri grabbed the puck around the Devil net, passed it to Damon Severson across mid-ice and Severson hit Sharangovich with a no-look backhand to set up the one on one and the game-winning goal.

Myles Wood scored the other Devils goal (2) in the first period when Wood re-directed a Ty Smith shot past Jaroslav Halak.

The win gives the Devils a split of the two games against the best regular season in the league last season.

The Devils return Tuesday with their first road game of the season at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.

Hell Raisers

1) Yegor Sharangovich's first career goal couldn't have come at a better time for the Devils.

With less than two seconds remaining, there would have been no time for a rebound and the rookie had to be perfect and it was almost so.

Jaroslav Halak caught a piece of the puck, but not enough to keep the puck from going into the net.

2) I know it's easy to get caught up in excitement over a win and there have been plenty of players to have fast starts and fizzle out, but something tells me that the Devils have found themselves a real player in Yegor Sharangovich.

In the two games, the guy seems constantly around the puck and has a smoothness about his game that yet doesn't suggest a player skating at half-speed.

3) The goaltending in this game was stellar by both Mackenzie Blackwood and Jaroslav Halak.

While Blackwood was playing for the second game in a row, Halak was almost his equal in his first game of the year.

As good as Blackwood was, Halak's game goes to show how much the late retirement of Corey Crawford is likely to hurt the Devils with the steep drop from Blackwood to backup Scott Wedgewood.

Boston can rely on a strong backup to give Tuukka Rask a break, right now the Devils cannot say the same.

4) Ty Smith now has a goal and an assist in his two games as it was his shot that Myles Wood redirected past Halak for the Devils' first goal.

Smith looked better on the defensive end than he did in the opener and gives me a little hope.

5) The Devils did give up a shorthanded goal when Boston's Patrice Bergeron scored in the second period.

The Bergeron goal saw Kyle Palmieri pushed off the puck by Brad Marchand and the Bruins took advantage.

It's the second game that Palmieri has been pushed around and that's unusual for him as he's never been a shrinking violet in the past.

Something to keep tabs on.

6) The Devils knew that Boston was likely to go after Myles Wood early after the altercation involving Wood in their previous game, but they may not have expected the game to begin with Wood scrapping with Kevan Miller.

Miller did what his team needed him to do, Wood gave and took what he expected was coming to him and when it was over, the game moved on- I wish more teams and referees would allow these things to play themselves out.

7)  Jack Hughes assisted on the first goal and it was Hughes that passed to Ty Smith on the first goal.

Hughes had two big chances in overtime and I have yet another feeling that Hughes is sitting on a breakout year.

Hughes still needs to get stronger and he can be pushed around, but I'm seeing flashes of what the Devils expected and he's getting closer and closer to busting out.

It's coming and maybe sooner than later.

PPM

  The college season is now over and we move to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs in the PPM.

Last Week: 4-3

Overall: 115-56

AFC

Chiefs over Browns 43-31

Bills over Ravens 24-21

NFC
Packers over Rams 28-13

Saints over Buccaneers 35-24

Editors Note- Title game picks

AFC 

Chiefs over Bills 31-21

NFC

Packers over Buccaneers 28-20

Drummond carries Cavaliers to win over Knicks

        Andre Drummond may have been motivated by the Cleveland Cavaliers acquisition of Jarrett Allen or he may have been auditioning for a potential suitor, but Drummond picked up the Cavaliers and carried them to a 106-103 victory over the New York Knicks in Cleveland.

Drummond finished with 33 points and 23 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers with Cedi Osman finishing with 25 points to lead the starting five that saw each starter finish with double-figure points.

Cleveland was scheduled for a doubleheader on Sunday and Monday against the Washington Non-Bullets, but the battered Cavaliers will have a long respite as Washington's Covid-19 outbreak has caused both games to be postponed.

Cleveland will host the Brooklyn Nets next Wednesday and hopefully will see the two newest Cavaliers, Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince, face their old team in their Cleveland debut.

Swashbucklings

1)  The trade rumors started about six seconds after the announcement of the Cavaliers' involvement in the four-team trade, but Andre Drummond immediately showed what some team might be getting, should they decide to trade for a big man for their playoff run.

The best way to get out of a town is to play hard, perform well, and make teams want you.

More players in all sports need to take heed of Drummond's example.

2) Andre Drummond's 30/20 was the first for a Cavalier since Carlos Boozer in 2004 (Can it be 17 years since Carlos Boozer played in Cleveland?) and was only the sixth time for anyone in Cavalier history.

3) I'll never forget Carlos Boozer and the stunt that he pulled.

When players bemoan a franchise's lack of loyalty, remember Carlos Boozer and how players aren't always a shining beacon of honor either.

4) The Cavaliers won this game with only eight players, the starting five, Lamar Stevens, JaVale McGee, and two minutes from Dean Wade. 

The five starters all played forty minutes or more and hopefully after the extra days from the Washington postponements and getting Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince on the court will keep Cleveland from being this light on the bench for a while.

5) It wasn't Andre Drummond that took the most shots in this game.

Drummond took eighteen, but it was Cedi Osman that fired up the most shots with twenty,

Fortunately for Cleveland, Osman hit ten of them and five from three-point land.

I'm torn on Osman, who I think will be a solid player with occasional streaks of top-level play.

Those streaks will come and go with an unpredictable outside shot.

6) Kevin Porter Jr. arrived on the bench for the first time this season and he was very involved among the injured players on the bench rooting the team on.

I'm not sure of the status of Porter, but the Cavaliers have been far too secretive with why Porter isn't playing and when he may be expected to return.

I don't need specifics, but a date of when they hope to have Porter at practice would be fine to start.

Devils lose Opener to Bruins

   Brad Marchand scored the only goal of the shootout to give the visiting Boston Bruins a 3-2 victory at the Rock in Newark and send the New Jersey Devils down to an opening night defeat.

New Jersey trailed twice in the game, with Myles Wood scoring on a breakaway in the third period to tie the game at one and after Boston regained the lead at two to one, rookie defenseman Ty Smith scored his first NHL goal to force the shootout.

Jack Hughes assisted on both goals for the Devils, who did earn one point in the loss.

Mackenzie Blackwood was stellar in net with 35 saves for New Jersey, who will host the Bruins in a Saturday 1;00 matinee' after taking a day off.

Hell Raisers

1)  Give almost all the credit for the one point that the Devils earned to Mackenzie Blackwood. 

Blackwood literally willed the team to their hard-earned point with several spectacular saves with stops against about every offensive situation that you could think of and without a lot of help from the Devils defense.

2) Myles Wood's goal was a beautiful sight as he broke into open ice and beat Tuukka Rask for the Devil first goal of the season.

Wood can be such an exciting player with his free-wheeling aggressiveness and willingness to crash the net.

3) Myles Wood also showed the need to control some of that aggressiveness and how it can affect the team with two goaltender interference calls.

It's such a fine line between aggressiveness and recklessness and Wood doesn't always walk that line.

Until he does that better, Wood might not become the player that he is capable of becoming.

4) The pleasant surprise was Yegor Sharangovich, who seemed to be all over ice and spent time playing on the top two lines.

Some of this may have been due to the missing Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt, but his play was very strong for the 22 year old from Belarus.

It's only one game, but I was impressed by his play.

5) Ty Smith scored his first NHL goal but his pairing with Matt Tennyson is going to be very weak, at least for a while.

Tennyson is playing because the recently re-acquired Sami Vatonen hasn't been able to get into the country due to signing late in camp and the Covid-19 crisis, so that pairing will not last long for that reason only.

Still, they were not good for most of the evening.

6) I've said before for all of my dislike for many of the gimmicks in sports, the best recent change in the game has been the NHL's installation of 3 on 3 overtime.

I love it- it creates scoring opportunities and excitement and it's much more like real hockey than the shootout.

I only wish the NHL would expand it to ten minutes so even more games would be decided and never make it to the shootout.

7) Due to a recent personal change (with work/Covid-19), I'm not sure how much I'll have time to write for the next 2-4 weeks.

It's very possible that I could be posting more content and just as likely that I may be writing less.

At this stage, I just don't know.

I am hoping to sometime next week do a Devils preview.

With all the hubbub right now, I just ran out of time...

Cavaliers enter James Harden trade, land Jarrett Allen

      The Cleveland Cavaliers often have a way of working their way into trades that you wouldn't expect them to be involved with and once again, the Cavaliers managed to wiggle their way into a major deal as Cleveland traded away injured guard Dante Exum and the first-round pick in 2022 that the Cavaliers acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cavaliers 2024 second-rounder to the Brooklyn Nets.

Coming to Cleveland will be center Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince, both coming from the Nets.

The 22-year-old Allen is the prize of the deal as the 6'11 center is a consistent young big man that has averaged around eleven points and ten rebounds in the previous two seasons and thus far this season.

Allen shot 65 percent last season and is shooting 67 percent this season from the floor.

Allen also averages a block and a half a game and gives the Cavaliers a rim protector on defense that is different from what Andre Drummond brings.

Drummond is a physical banger that blocks shots with anticipation, while Allen is more of an athletic center that gets off the floor higher and faster.

Allen doesn't quite have the offensive game that Drummond has but at 22 is still capable of growth as a player so don't rule that out.

So in a nutshell, Allen's not quite at the level of Drummond right now, but he could post similar numbers eventually.

The problem with Allen is that he is a restricted free agent and while the Cavaliers will be capable of matching any offer, Cleveland may have other franchises bidding up the cost of keeping Allen in the fold.

Allen seems to fit with the Cavaliers young core and his arrival makes it very likely that the team will try to move Andre Drummond by the trade deadline in order to get something back for the soon-to-be free agent big man.

Javale McGee could be the first to leave though as McGee's early-season play has boosted his trade value to a contender looking for a big man to play fifteen minutes a night. 

I would imagine that the Cavaliers are shopping McGee already because even as injury-strapped as the Cavaliers are right now, the minutes for three centers (Drummond missed the loss to the Jazz with a sore Achilles) aren't there for all three to receive the playing time that they need.

Taurean Prince is a small forward that was selected by the Jazz (and quickly traded to the Hawks) with the 12th overall pick in 2016 out of Baylor.

Prince is a 6'7 tweener that can play either forward but is better offensively at the small forward position that he played in Atlanta.

The Nets tried to use him more at the four and his numbers dropped off in every category and only shot 37 percent from the floor with Brooklyn last season.

Brooklyn cut Prince's floortime further this season from 29 minutes last season to 18 in 2020-21 and some of this may be due to his less than average defense, so Prince will have to either improve or be covered for on the defensive end.

Second unit players are a little easier to help. so Prince will likely play more with the reserves rather than the starters.

Brooklyn signed Prince to a two-year contract for 12.2 million this year and 13 for next season, which seems to be a large overpay for a guy playing less than twenty minutes a night.

Prince will be given a chance to earn more playing time with the Cavaliers and could increase his value for a team looking to clear salary-cap space for next season.

Prince isn't a bad player, but he's a player with raw skills that hasn't progressed as a player, but he's still only 26 and it's not too late for him to develop, but for now, Prince is a player that is good in the open floor, has trouble dropping his shot and is below-average defensively at an above-average cost.

To make space for Allen and Prince, the Cavaliers released center Thon Maker and recently signed guard Yogi Ferrell.

Maker averaged 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in eight games for Cleveland, and I liked what I saw from him in his limited chances.

Sadly, even at 23, Maker might be a player that isn't given the chance to develop his skills and is caught in limbo- too strong for the G-League, not refined enough to play a lot in the NBA.

Farrell signed over the weekend and played in the Cavalier's losses to Memphis and Utah, scoring ten points against the Jazz and nine against the Grizzlies.

I would not be surprised to see the former Sacramento King return to Cleveland in the event of future backcourt injuries.

The New Jersey Devils drop the puck for their opener tonight, if I have time later I may do a preview of a season that should not be to the Devils' advantage.