Why I Really Hate the Devils

This is an oft-trodden subject amongst Philly fans ever since Claudie Lemieux slipped that blue-line shot past Ron Hextall in mid-June, 1995 at the Spectrum, but I have a bit of a different take on the issue beyond the usual "I hate the Devils because they're from Jersey/they always beat us/they choke the life out of the game" stuff.

Hear me out.

1) They cause me to root against and wish horrible fates upon some great players I went to school with.

I graduated from Boston College in the Spring of 2000, just as the Eagles hockey program was reaching its peak under Jerry York after some very down years in the 90's. On those teams (which reached two NCAA finals and lost both, along with a national semifinal) were forward Brian Gionta, defenseman Mike Mottau, and goaltender Scott Clemmensen.

Gionta, who mysteriously recorded fewer points each year he was at the Heights while growing in popularity and leadership roles, set the Devils' record for goals in one season with 48 in 2005-06. He is the prototype for the small forward who takes his punishment but scores from in close, and could very well be the next Claude Lemieux for the club in the future. As captain in 2000-01, he was the chief guiding force behind BC's title run and victory over North Dakota. He and I also shared two classes together during my senior year, both bullshit communication courses. Smart kid, but one of those who spoke loudest in his own natural environment.

Mottau was the defensive stalwart from 1996-2000, and won the Hobey Baker in 2000, one day before the crushing loss to the Sioux in Providence. My lasting memory of him was as he lay curled up inside his own empty net after a fruitless dive to stop ND's clinching empty-netter, a player who gave it all and more, but it just wasn't enough. He finally got his legitimate shot in the NHL seven years after graduating and bouncing between several NHL and AHL teams.

Clemmensen graduated with Gionta after the 2001 triumph. In four years, he captured just about every meaningful goaltending record there was (albeit during an era where the neutral zone trap was in vogue in Hockey East), including the school record for longest shutout streak by games and minutes played. After a year in exile with Toronto's AHL team, he had the best job in hockey as Martin Brodeur's backup until Brodeur's injury in November forced him to share the spotlight.

All three have made significant contributions to the Devils' success this season, as they are the Atlantic Division leaders. All those fond memories and accolades from those great college years have melted away now that they are the faces of the red-and-black clad enemy. As a Flyers fan, I wouldn't blink twice if any of them suffered a horrible injury short of incapacitation, but I'd secretly be praying for their safety and secretly cheering for their individual accolades.

2) They have taken chances on, won with, players the Flyers wanted but never had the balls to go for.

This started back in 1999, when Alexander Mogilny was clearly on his way out of Vancouver thanks to Mike Keenan and Marc Crawford's regime changes. At the time, the Flyers had their eye on Mogilny and Ray Bourque to spruce up what had become a very good, grinding, four-line operation under Craig Ramsay. The fear was that Mogilny's "soft" reputation would outweigh his production. Never known to show much courage but possessing a flair for goals, he was eventually brought to Jersey in March, 2000 after Brendan Morrison bad-mouthed the trap system and was marked for exile. Suddenly, the Devils' slumbering offense awoke.

Despite just three goals in 12 games at the tail end of the first season as the Devils wrested the Cup from the Dallas Stars, the Russian exploded for 43 goals and 83 points in 2000-01 as Jersey went all the way to a Game 7 before bowing to Colorado. That season, with his help, New Jersey led the league with 295 goals and was second in wins. However, not wanting to sign him to his contract demands, Jersey let him go to Toronto in the off-season but his mark on the franchise was evident.

This year is another prime example. Brendan Shanahan.

Shanny was left in exile after the Rangers' roster purge at the end of last season, and failed to catch on with anyone despite generating all sorts of interest from the Summer forward. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren repeatedly expressed desire to inquire, but nothing serious was ever in the works despite certain media and blog reports.

In my opinion, Philly was left with serious veteran leadership holes after Jason Smith, Jim Dowd and Sami Kapanen departed or weren't welcome back. Shanahan could have filled that role expertly, and I imagine would have been happy to skate on the third line to do so. Instead, the Flyers have insisted upon keeping the young team chemistry as is, while Shanahan was signed by New Jersey in mid-January.

All that's happened since is that the Horned Ones rose from fourth in the division to first, thanks to a 10-2-0 spurt in the first games since Number 18 came back to the club which drafted him in 1987. Included in that run was an eight-game win streak. Despite the Flyers' ability to win games and stay out of a tailspin like last year, New Jersey currently holds an eight-point lead over Philly in the division and is challenging Washington for the second seed in the conference.

I'm not looking forward to the remaining Flyers-Devils matchups this season, and my prediction for the orange and black is nothing but pain in this area.

3) They've chosen not just to clog up the league with choking defense, but also done the league and themselves a disservice by shacking their own collective offensive talents.

Case in point: Jacques Lemaire's first year behind the bench, 1993-94, Jersey scored over 300 goals and advanced to double-overtime of Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The next season, in the 48-game scramble caused by the lockout, the Devils were in shut-down mode. Theirs is the first and purest strain of the Neutral Zone trap virus. Those teams pressured the opposition into mistakes, converted them, and pressed from a 1-0 lead right through to the end of the contest. Before the league caught up to the antics, New Jersey slew the Red Wing dragon by capitalizing on so many mistakes that it appeared the Devils still had some capability goal-wise.

That wasn't the case, as the Devils' goal totals dropped to 215 in 1995-96, rose slightly to 231 in 1996-97, the dipped to 225 in 97-98. In the two expansion years which followed, Jersey scored 248 and 251, while still clinging to a defense-first philosophy which caused some drawn-out, boring regular-season and playoff games.

During this stretch, they made old-school point-a-game producers seem like retreads, giving Dave Andreychuk, Steve Thomas, Doug Gilmour, Phil Housley and Bobby Carpenter some very un-worthy numbers when judged against the rest of their careers.

Fully armed in the last expansion year, the Devils (for reasons only those in the organization know fully) transformed into the second-coming of Edmonton by nearly hitting the 300-goal mark. This was the most complete, scary, and awesome team the Devils ever had, but their response after taking the Colorado Avalanche to the limit in 2001 was to dismantle the machine.

In 2001-02, there were only 205 goals to be had, then 216 in their final Cup year of 2002-03. The Devils hit the net 213 times in 03-04, then spiked to 242 in 05-06 before falling to 216 and 206 the last two campaigns.

This season, the Devils continued their stingy ways while always relying on the Hall-of-Fame credentials of Martin Brodeur. As always, they remained stuck in neutral early on, struggling to remain competitive in the Atlantic.

Until tragedy struck in the form of an arm injury Broduer suffered in a November game. He's been out ever since, and the goal has been guarded by Clemmensen and Kevin Weekes, also known as goalies 2A and 2B.

And what was the Devils' plan to bide their time until their Savior came back? Open up the floodgates and use scoring to win games! Brilliant!

With the addition of Shanahan, the Devils now have a very-much feared attack. Eight players have scored at least 10 goals as of today. Zach Parise leads the parade with 35, having moved ahead of Jeff Carter (Boooo!) for second in the NHL. Patrik Elias has 23 and Gionta is fifth with 13 tallies. They have scored five or more goals 13 times already this season. They have dropped an eight-bomb on the Rangers, seven at Tampa, and outgunned San Jose on the road last Sunday night. This is a scary bunch.

And no matter what happens, it will all disappear once Brodeur comes back, be it in March or next October. New Jersey will once again act like a turtle frightened by a stiff breeze, and win 2-1 and 3-2 again.

I can't take it. Pick one and proceed. Just don't get in the way of legitimate teams who embraced the philosophy of the New NHL.