Here’s some of the reaction from the New Jersey locker room last night…
COACH JOHN MACLEAN
“Tonight’s game was tough. A couple of mistakes and it’s in the net. We pushed it a little in the third period, but we weren’t getting the scoring we needed.”
“They shut down Kovalchuk a couple of times. We have to play as a unit and it’s tough. We had a couple of mishaps around the net, bumping Marty [Martin Brodeur] on our own. We’ve just got to keep saying we need to battle through this.”
“Execution was a problem tonight. We need to work on stick-to-stick passes and get some shots on the net.”
“It’s a process we have to go through here. We’re going to have to bounce back. Tomorrow is an off day then we play again Monday and we need to get ready to go.”
JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER:
“Tonight was frustrating because we did a lot of good things, especially late in the game. It just wasn’t enough and that’s what’s frustrating about it.”
“We’re doing a better job of getting traffic in front of the net. We’re trying to get more second and third opportunities but we’re just not capitalizing on them. We need to continue to put forth a good effort and keep it going the whole game.”
“It’s frustrating when you get a goal on the board to make it 2-1 and then give up a goal on the next shift. Those are big moments in the game where you’ve got to come out with your best and we just weren’t doing that.”
Fitting on Haloween that this edition of the Devils seems merely a ghost of what this organization once represented. Over the years they traded prospects (think Willie Mitchell) to keep the “win now” mentality. They had a lot of success drafting with David Conte and Lou calling the shots (think moving up to draft Parise and prior to that moving down to draft Brodeur). Somehow that magic has gotten lost along the way and changed to signing players to ridiculous contracts. I’m so happy not to be a Devils fan! They were a great organization but those days are over.
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puck73 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:22 am
@Crown Royal, You can rest assured that the signing of Kovalsdweeb at that hefty pricetag was the stupidity of Vanderbeek the owner. Lou Lamoureillo didnt suddenly become a moron overnite, his hand was forced by this new owner, where when Dr. Mcmullen owned the team, he let Lou run the hockey operations and they were consistent and successfull for a lot of years. I think Vanderbeek owes Lou, and the devil fans an apology for being a narrow minded, selfish pud. Well, as a lot of the Kings fans on this site would say..Thats their problem, not ours.
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Crown Royal Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:32 am
@puck73,
I agree this stupidity has ownership written all over it and is not the work of rational hockey minds. That was pretty much my point.
At the same time one wonders if the old guard like Lou and his boys are prepared to deal with the changing picture of the NHL. Running a team now with the salary cap is not like the old days of running a team on a budget. Prices of players (especially D-Men) have gone up while the cost of goaltenders may have gone down. It’s difficult now to know how much players are going to cost a year or two in the future.
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puck73 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:39 am
@Crown Royal, Solid points !
CupRun2011 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 12:12 pm
@Crown Royal, Good points! I remember this blog talking about how cheap Leiweke and AEG were for not out-bidding NJ for Kovi–at that time, I felt the same, but thank goodness that AEG said $80M is our limit, otherwise we’d be paying Kovi $125M over the next 15 years! Now we have cap space to be able to shop around and add what we need–yeah it’s still early, but picking up Willy and Poni, seem like great moves!
AZ King Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:36 am
@puck73,
Very well put. For all the complaints about Tim Lieweke and AEG they at least seem to be letting DL build and run this team as he sees fit.
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puck73 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:42 am
@AZ King, I am sure that Tim Leiweike told Phil Anshutz..”Thank god we are letting Dean and Jeff Soloman handle things, look at the mess New Jersey is in right now beacause of cap mismanagement”
Dominick Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 10:18 am
@puck73,
That’s the way I believe it happened. I found it uncharacteristic of Lou to take such a hefty gamble. He is however taking the full blow of criticism, and Kovi isn’t being called out, by any Devilsfans. They’re blaming the coach, and Lou more than the owner.
I’ve been visiting the Devils website to see how their fans see the whole Kovalschmuck drama on fire & ice, and it’s sad that Kingsfans see it, and understand it better than their own fans do. I hope Lou is fired and Columbus snatches him up. Jerseyfans don’t deserve him.
I guess I shouldn’t complain, we still have Kingsfans who would sell the farm, and dismantle the team, just to get a flashy scorer. Even if all our homegames are sold out, and we’re in 1rst place.
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AZ King Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 10:34 am
@Dominick,
You’re last paragraph is a sad truth.
rumpa#19 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:37 am
@Dominick, Thanks for spelling it out,I dont type well.
mrbrett7 Reply:
November 1st, 2010 at 8:40 am
@Dominick, Your last paragraph is what makes me sick…you can thank Mathew Barry for all of that.
dMan Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:31 am
@puck73, I totally agree.
It’s also interesting to note that many on this board would want an owner who is a fan of the game and not just a dollars and cents guy. How many have criticized Anschutz for being ‘invisible.’
This is a perfect example of the dangers of an owner bent on acquiring a high-profile free agent to the detriment of his team.
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puck73 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 12:44 pm
@dMan, Agreed, I love it when guys like Al Davis, Dan Snyder, Jerry Jones, and apparrently Vanderbeek think they Know more then Presidents and GM’s and then then get their ass burned in front of the fans and the press !
KC23 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 4:22 pm
@puck73, Yep, I agree that signing had idiot owner stamped all over it. What gave it away for me was Lou’s quote regarding his coach. Something to the affect “The coach has absolutely nothing to do with our problems atm. Poor first year coach is probably gonna take the bullet for it I bet.
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What? No quotes from Kovalchuk?
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AZ King Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:37 am
@Rob,
He was too busy cashing his paycheck.
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NoDoughty Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:31 am
@AZ King, ROFL
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rumpa#19 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 10:18 pm
@AZ King, Yes now we can finally close the books on wIlya Shovelbucks
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USHA#17 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:38 am
@Rob, He only knows four words or English:
“Hundred Million I Sign”
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chukrocks Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:39 am
@Rob, ya no doubt, I was at the game last night and he looked stupid every time he was on the ice. He looked lost and out of place, I mean really, what do you want for only 100mil?
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Dominick Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 10:31 am
@chukrocks,
In the 3rd, Kovi stepped it up a notch. I think it was his plan to try and catch the Kings off gaurd by lulling them to sleep for 2 periods, than come out like a firecracker in the 3rd.
Too bad he didn’t realize that he was playing against Greene, and that he needed to play that way all game long. Greene and Scuds did a great job of keeping Kovi in front of them, when Kovi would have just blown by other players in the league.
With all that extra jump, he never once got a breakaway, or even a sniff around the net. all his shots were on the outside, or deflected harmlessly out of play. Quick did a great job of leaving no rebounds.
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rick Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 4:16 pm
@chukrocks, Huh? Say what you want about the guy’s character and integrity – and I would probably agree with most of it – but he is an incredible talent. DL and ownership were willing to commit $80 million to the guy – they obviously agree.
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The Devils are certainly reeling right now but they have won three Cups and are a very respected organization. The Kings on the other-hand are an up and coming team that as an organization is building an identity out of past futility. Boasting and beating up the Devils is fine but put things into perspective Kings fans. We’ve not accomplished anything yet. Until we hoist a Cup or win a few playoff series’ then we can think about resting on our burgeoning laurels.
As to the game- another solid effort. I would have liked to see us counter the Devils’ pinch in the third and create more break ways. They really poured things on there with 20 shots.
I would really like to see Kopitar in the top 5 in scoring week after week. He’s that good. I can’t put my finger on why he is not putting up the sick numbers that he is capable of. I like the energy of the “1st” line. Both Richardson and Brownie are excellent skaters. I can’t criticize Brownie’s play but we need a player who can take passes from Kopitar and put the puck in the net. Parse might fit that role. I think that is in the back of TM’s mind. With Kopitar cycling and dishing, Brownie in front of the net and Parse as the F3 up high, in the slot, near the dots ready to snipe, I think that would make for a very productive line.
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AZ King Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:42 am
@Bonvivant1,
I’m hoping for the same thing from Parse, although only time will tell.
I agree about the Devils reputation, but they did a lot to damage that rep by being greedy and not sticking to the formula that made them so successful.
The worst part for them is I doubt Kovi really cares about any of it. Of course he wants to win, he wouldn’t be in sports if he didn’t, but as long as that check clears and he is the highest paid player in the league life is good.
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USHA#17 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 10:00 am
@Bonvivant1,
That was a tired Kings team in the 3rd.
2nd time in two games that Quick saved the bacon of a tired Kings squad.
The Kings are on track to be a team filled with 20 goal scorers.
Our eyes are on the Cup but there is no reason to not enjoy having a serious top down hockey club as we slowly move towards that achievement.
Does any Kings fan believe there is a game that can’t be won by this team?
Clifford looked good last night, too.
Novalchuk should only get $33M since he only shows up for 1/3 of the games.
Some of Novalchuck’s passes in the 3rd period were nothing less then spectacular
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RoyalPain Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:03 am
@Bonvivant1,
If Kopitar would show the grit and desire that Stoll and Williams are showing now, he would be unstoppable.
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dMan Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:38 am
@RoyalPain, Agreed. Kopitar needs to step it up. However, he’s played very very consistently. And his back-checking has been phenomenal.
I don’t see him driving to the net as much this year or trying to make some plays. grant it, a lot more attention is given to him this year by opposing teams and this is why the secondary scoring has been so successful.
But that line needs to start popping them in. Increase that Net mentality, shoot – shoot – shoot.
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Forum67 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 7:53 pm
@RoyalPain,
I hope this isn’t the start of a now that Frolov is gone let’s make Kopi the new whipping boy movement.
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@bonvivant1, I get that sense too. Brownie can definitely grind and crash, kopi is world class as getting plays to develop, but you need that sniper to make the first line really dangerous.
It’s not richardsons normal role, but he’s made a game of it. Kopi gets a good surge in points when Richie does well, and I think TM and DL are hoping that Parse can bring that game regularly. If not, I think some of our surplus elsewhere will go to rent as a sniper for this playoff run. I can’t see them getting anything but a rental since we do have several sniping prospects who could step up next year. I think that especially if Kozun can stick, he’ll be far better than anyone available to rent.
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Are you for real with this quote? Thanks dean for sticking to your plan!
“I’ve played in a lot of places where I got booed. It’s their choice to boo or not,” Kovalchuk said. “The Kings are one of the teams that tried to sign me, and the [recruiting] trip here was more for my wife, because she’d never been in L.A., and she wanted to go see it. So we went. But there’s no point in talking about it anymore because I’m proud to be with the New Jersey Devils.”
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puck73 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 10:50 am
@DB6, One of the teams to try and sign you? NO Kovalshmuk, they were the ONE and ONLY other team to try and sign you..Nice quote Kovalsdope !
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AZ King Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:00 am
@puck73,
Technically the Islanders were in the mix for a bit there also, although I don’t know how serious that really was.
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Stagger Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:12 am
@DB6,
This quote makes me so glad he didn’t sign here. Not what he actually says (although that’s a joke too.) but the attitude of “I’m going to use your money and your time and (worst of all) your belief in me as a player and a possible cornerstone for your franchise to . . . GIVE MY WIFE A VACATION”
WTF is that? What a selfish jerk. Enoy losing for the next 10 years in Joysey. I hope your wife enjoyed LA, because she and you are not welcome back!!
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NoDoughty Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:29 am
@DB6, where did you find that GEM of a quote????WOW!!!!
As soon as talks started to arise about bringing Kovi to the Kings I got an immediate knee jerk reaction – please god no!(I knew nothing about him other than that he was a high scoring winger)
Somehow tough, I just got the feeling he wasn’t going to be a team player and I LOVE that the Kings are a TEAM.
I say it again the Cup is won by a TEAM not an individual!!!!
Now I read this quote and my mind is reeling trying to comprehend what he’s saying!
He came to LA because the wife had never been here before?????? They didn’t pay him enough in Atlanta to afford a trip to Cali during any of the off seasons????? WTF??????
My gut instincts about this guy were proven right, glad he is wasting Devils money not ours!!!!
Soooooo grateful to Dean that he stuck to his guns.
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DB6 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 12:07 pm
@NoDoughty, It’s in the AP game summary. Im not gonna lie, I wanted him to sign really bad, but I’m so glad he’s stuck in jersey for the rest of his life!
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Tito Jackson Reply:
November 1st, 2010 at 8:35 am
@DB6,
Didn’t Dustin Brown pick the guy up from the airport? Kovalasuck used a captain of a NHL team chauffer is wife around?
Unreal.
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You all realize having a guy like Kovy at his cap hit is not the end of the world. The Rolston contract is the worst on that team. Any GM would love Kovy and a 6.66 million cap hit if the owner was willing to spend the actual dollars on that contract which are much much more over the first 10 years of that contract. Having a superstar at that cap hit is actually a bargain in regards to the cap. If the Devils owner is still willing to spend to the cap every year who cares about the actual money?
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AZ King Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 10:32 am
@Eddie,
Obviously not every GM agrees with you, including ours thank goodness, because nobody else even bothered talking to him. The problem mostly comes when they are trying to resign their players. You better believe Parise is going to be more than a 3.1 million cap hit when it comes time to resign him. Same with Langenbrunner.
Plus there is oviously some problem when you can’t even afford to dress an entire team. The greatest thing that could have happened for the Devils this season is Rolston going down with an injury. If it wasn’t for that they still wouldn’t be able to dress full team.
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Eddie Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:21 am
@AZ King, Not every GM was able to offer the actual money in that contract, it had little to do with the cap for most teams. If you don’t understand how a player like Kovy is worth a cap hit of 6.6 million a year I guess we will never see eye to eye.
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AZ King Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:33 am
@Eddie,
How do you know what the owners of the other 29 NHL teams are able to afford? Do you have access to their accounts?
No player is worth 6.6 million a year if it sacrifices your abilty to resign the core of your team. Who would you have let go to get Kovi? DD, Simmer, JJ, Quick, Bernier? We would not be able to keep all of them if we signed Kovi to that contact. If you’re willing to sacrifice to future of you team to satisfy the ego of one player then we never will see eye to eye
Eddie Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:51 am
@Eddie, We offered him around 5.5 a year but it wasn’t nearly as lucrative in the first ten years and DL said because of that we were “not even close.”. I would venture to guess that if DL could have worked out a contract with Kovy getting a cap hit around 6.5, just 1 million more then he was willing to give him cap wise he probably would’ve pulled the trigger. Of course that’s speculation on my part but 1 million isn’t going to destroy our cap space.
And to answer your question on if I would be willing to give up certain young players… yes. I love Simmer but if getting a 50 goal scorer meant losing him I think I would have to let him go.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he isn’t here because I love the make-up of this team but to call a superstar with a cap hit of 6.66 million a bad deal is incorrect IMO. That contract is “bad” because of the actual dollars in the first half on the contract. Good thing about that is I’m sure Devil’s fans don’t give a damn about the owners money just like we don’t care about Uncle Phil’s money unless he decides not to spend it.
Next year when Parise’ contract is up all the really bad contracts on the Devils will be off the books and as long as he wants to be there they will have the money to sign him.
AZ King Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 12:01 pm
@Eddie,
Okay, but DL secided he didn’t want to do that becauase it would not let him keep the core of the team together.
The problem is a team needs to be more than 2 players. So they have Kovi and Parise, then what. They’re going to have a hard time signing free agants or even resigning there emerging talent. The concensus by people who really know is that the Devils have screwed themselves for years to come by signing Kovi to the contract they did.
rick Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 4:12 pm
@Eddie, Agree with you. Smyth’s cap hit is somewhere around $6 million. Anyone who watched the game last night – especially the third period – would laugh at the thought that those he and Kovalchuk are roughly equal in value and talent.
Dominick Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 10:41 am
@Eddie,
You do realize that New Jersey was already having Cap issues before they signed Kovaldump.
They needed to resign some Key players to long term deals(see Parise contract), and already had a team that had chemistry, and were only a couple of small peices away from competing for Lord Stanleys cup again.
You do realize that they don’t have any of those things now, and are in last place in the league.
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puck73 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 10:53 am
@Dominick, @AZKing, @Dominick..you both went yard on those takes !
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Eddie Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:18 am
@Dominick, Thats exactly my point… There are other contracts on the Devils, most expiring after this season, that are much worst then Kovy’s. Can you honestly say Kovy at a cap hit of 6.66 is bad? The length may be bad but the amount per year is a bargain for the superstar player Kovy is. If the Kings had him at 6.66 million a year none of us would be complaining or at least shouldn’t be. The reason why most teams didn’t even try to sign him was the actual dollars on the first 10 tean years of that contract, not the cap hit.
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rumpa#19 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 11:53 am
@Eddie, Three sixes is a slippery slop. 6.65,or 6.67 is how DL would have rolled.
Eddie Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 12:43 pm
@Eddie,
Eddie Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 1:16 pm
@Eddie, How is a contract at 6.66 gonna keep them from signing anybody cap wise? You realize Kopi’s cap hit is similar and there is about 25 other contracts in the NHL with higher cap hits. Like I said, if the owner is still willing to spend to the cap who cares about the actual dollars? Having Kovy at his cap hit isn’t going screw them cap wise.
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Belexes Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 2:39 pm
@Eddie,
You are absolutely right my friend. To think that this organization would be in the same cap trouble that the Devils find themselves in had we signed him is dead wrong. What it probably would have ment is no Poni, and possibly no WM, but capwise, 6.6M would have been nothing for us…
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Dominick Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 6:00 pm
@Belexes, Nothing for us. For New Jersey it meant not icing an entire team, and losing some players needlessly during next summer. It should also be noted that they also lost 3 million dollars, and some draft picks as well. They’ll probably lose some players to salary dumps before next season also.
Trade Schenn for Parise right now.
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@Deader Fan, Lou has not lost his mind.The kovalshmuck deal was the new owners.
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There’s something going on in the Devil’s locker room that’s more than the cap hit and the off season arm chair yackin’ by NHL fans. Be it someone’s ego because they got what they wanted (my marbles are bigger than yours so I’m more privileged), player styles that don’t blend or what, the Devil’s issues are beyond coaching or general management right now. Coaching and Lou have to sort out the mess and get them back on track.
I respect our boys for showing us and the NHL every game, that they are a TEAM. Team’s win hockey games, not single players. If I want to see one guy carry the team, I’d watch the Lakers.
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Irrespective of how we all feel about “Kovi”, they guy is going to pick his game up and get it going at some point. He will finish in the top 10 in goals. And no…..I’m not a Devils fan.
As to his reasoning for coming to L.A. because of his wife’s desire to see L.A. that smacks of disrespect for another professional organization. Perhaps the fact that they just got beat by L.A. clouded his judgement but he should not have said that. This organization poured a lot of effort in trying to make a deal with his camp and for him to return to L.A. and rifle off that excuse is pathetic. He obviously learned his P.R. skills from some post- Cold War bureaucrat.
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“We need to [..] get some shots on net” – I seem to recall the Devils having 40 shots, if that’s not enough for him…
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puck73 Reply:
November 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
@Starlight, That is pretty ironic and funny isnt it? The good thing is, is that Quick saw most of those shots and was able to make saves. The other great thing so far this season is, is that this team doesnt give up a lot of rebounds compared to other teams and I believe the addition of Willie Mitchell has a lot to do with that. When he was with Vancouver and Minnesota it always seemed that those teams were especially difficult to play against and we are seeing that here up close and personal.
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Here’s a report about an ex-Devil:
“Bobby Holik spent three seasons in Atlanta as a teammate of Ilya and while professing to liking him personally, didn’t do him any favors when talking to Hockey Night in Canada Radio recently.
“‘It’s still something that doesn’t make sense,’ he said. ‘The trade at the deadline didn’t make sense; the Devils’ signing him didn’t make sense. If you want to talk about team first and everybody plays for the team, why do you sign [a] player who’s not exactly known for that? If I want to make my team to the next level, that’s not the player I’m going to go after.’”
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