[Devils-list] Devils.....Rangers....an awkward start to the pre-season.....

[DevAngel Publishing]

the CRASHER line
===============
     When I found out about this game being on MSG tonight and it's
a rare opportunity to recap a pre-season game...I normally jump on that
and get right to it and look forward to it....but since I'm assuming you
have some sort of PULSE and you realize what's happened in the last
week and it's changed ALOT of things out here....and it did make me
think twice about doing this game not only because of the timing but
from where it's being played less than 5 miles North of this whole disaster
....but after weighing this in my head all day and last night....it's best for
my personal healing and after all you out there who called, e-mailed,
ICQed or whatever to make sure we were all ok out here.....how could I not
get back to things ??? It will be a little different especially at first and I
don't think you'll be getting a full play by play....I never do in warm-up 
games
ANYWAY...this one's just gonna be emotional as the Devils go to Madison
Square Garden (see no obnoxious Rangers comments....yet !!) and play the
first live Sporting Event in NYC since the WTC disaster last week

Pre-Game Notes:
==============
-- well I hope I got the big speech out of the way....I know I didn't get all
    my feelings out on it (I mean hell they are sifting the wreckage and debris
    ....and body parts....in the Fresh Kills landfill less then one mile 
from my
    house)....so I am gonna TRY to keep things in proper context...but if I do
    go over the edge....it's just me being human tonight folks....I see the 
effects
    of this whole disaster on a constant basis...I'm just trying to get 
back to
    normal just like the rest of us are and I'm just grateful that I was 
lucky enough
    NOT to lose anyone in all this
-- and on that note...right ?? :p....in typical timing and the way things 
go.....
    of course the night before this all happens would Mandy and myself kinda
    sorta agree to go our separate ways....not to relate the two, but it's 
always
    amazing how one disaster or another follows my lovelife (I know :p *smacks
    myself*).....but at least as she put it "it's more a Mandy type 
break-up than
    a Scott-type break-up so no participants were left to their own means 
in ANY
    hotel room anywhere !!)...and she is coming out here in October....so who
    knows ??....It's just easier to air it all out in here then say the 
SAME thing
    50 times to everyone....sorry folks :)...just once again...compare it 
to the
    Devils....my relationship came up one short...like the Devils did :p
-- we did have SOME fun this summer beyond this whole mess tho.....we
    learned ALOT *l*...and we put a good amount of it on Julie's page as it
    went along this summer (http://www.angelfire.com/dc/sideline-reporter
    I think...she's changed the damn page THREE times this summer :p)....
    and in a bored and enraged FIT after Pearl Harbor....I also decided to 
add the
    CRASHER line movie reviews.....treated the same as our hockey games
    .....if you feel like a good chuckle check it out at
    http://www.geocities.com/crasher21/movies.html .....if that's ok with 
you :)
-- I think you're all caught up now *l* anyway....you know the hockey dealings
    with these teams....O'Donnell is gone (good RIDDANCE)...Mogilny went to
    MUCH richer pastures in Toronto...Ken Sutton is an Islander....for 
now....the
    man keeps coming back :p....the Beezer retired....so did Chris Terreri 
who is
    now the goalie coach in Albany, working with new Rats coach Bobby
    Carpenter....did I miss anything ??? Well I missed the Lindros 
trade...but HE'S
    HURT ALREADY !!!!! He must have twisted his knee in some bizarre act of
    karma at the PR showing the Rangers had down by the WTC this weekend
    (then again my first thought was...it's officially NHL time since 
Lindros is hurt !)
-- I'm also blatantly skimping on the Pre-Game stats cause no one cares yet
    and I'm kinda busy messing with my trial of windows XP (no I can NOT let
    you borrow it :P)....so I was kinda busy trying to see what games work 
on it *l*

Tonight's Goalies:
=============
NJ: Stevens (not the time to kill Lindros :p),  Rafalski
NY: Messier (sore neck),

Injuries/Scratches:
==============
NJ: Henry  (long time prospect, wait that sounds DUMB :p)
NY: Blackburn (19 year old with delusions of DiPietroism !!)

First Period
-----------------
-- as expected they had a very moment before faceoff giving tribute to the
    brave heroes who gave wayyy too much, featuring the song "Proud to be
    an American"....and I'll do it once again...those words ain't been ANY 
truer
    then they've been for the last week :).....got the chills once again
    and to see both teams stand at the bench and skate to center ice and kneel
    side by side in unison for a long moment of silence in honor of those brave
    rescue people....it's really kinda fitting to see such bitter rivals as 
they are
    to stand together and show unity for something WAY more important :)
-- geeze....I must have grown up SOME through all this....I'm just not into
    hating the other guys yet.....I'm sure that WILL change as we move on
    but anyway....let's just write it off as pre-season rust before I get 
depressing :p
-- and the long standing ovations and USA chants for both the National
    Anthem and God Bless America....and the panning of the crowd to see
    fans singing along and crying....just well well done I have to say :)
-- the Rangers also painted UNITED WE STAND by each blue line
-- Gomez....over the line...drops to McKenzie....waits...flips a shot that
    Blackburn was fooled by but makes the flop save and dives across !!
-- Madden...over the line...floats a wobbler....Blackburn kicks it out....geesh
    first game of the year....first phone interruption :p....NICE !!!....at 
least that's
    out of the way as I notice the US Flag and 9-11-01 written in 
it...*chills again*
-- Lundmark off for high sticking at 3:03...Devils to the first pp:
    Lindros killing penalties without the fear of Stevens....but he still 
can't count
to 4 properly....too many Rangers on the ice !! *snicker*
-- Devils 5 on 3:
    McKay...Holik...didn't see it coming....fumbled....Malakhov up to 
Lindros...
that sounds so WRONG :p....Lindros clears....
    Abelein...Gomez...McKay in front...SAVE Blackburn.....Holik BIG blast
save Blackburn !!
    and she calls AGAIN :p....geesh...thank you Amy :p
    Lundmark out of the box.....Blackburn ROBS Stevenson in front !!!
and that pp ends too !!
-- Lindros a hit on Niedermayer....Niedermayer to the ice...Lindros NOT hurt
    that's a highlight !!!
-- Berglund for hooking....he's that new guy that Lou picked up from the Swiss
    league...kinda like Rafalski...and he's just as old...that Lou he knows 
his
    shit :)
-- NY pp:
    Leetch....NICE jump and keep...down low to Lindros....can't handle the one
timer...recoils....fires...Henry DIVES ACROSS and stops it !!!
    Niedermayer a good pass to get the puck out of trouble...but his stick got
caught into Toms on the follow through....nice fall Jeff :p
-- NY 5 on 3:
    now how does this damn TiVo work again ??? oh yeah *l*

(1 - 0, NY) Fleury[1-pp] (Malakhov, Ciger) {8:23}
Leetch....to Ciger...down the right....waits....gives back to Malakhov....
looks fires...Henry the save...but right in front is Fleury gets past Abelein
and had nothing but twine to stop him from tapping that gimme in the net...

-- Still 1:15 of pp to go....
    Samuelsson...not Ulf....not Kjell either :p.....back to Heisten....stays in
front..missed the pass but took the cross check from Boumedienne
and it's more bonehead pre-season ugliness !!!
-- NY 5 on 3, again:
    Lindros...misses....Ciger.....Rangers play the point...but Madden forced it
away....
    McKenna...looks...centers....Daneyko picks it off and it's cleared at 
last...
    Dvorak...down the slot..denied Abelein...he knows he gave one up before
....umm...I was saying ???

(2 - 0) Toms[1-pp] (Johansson, Dvorak), {10:54}
Freddy Henry....good to know ya bud...he's the first on the Albany express
Dvorak to the front....Toms...waits....waits....waits...has no play....gets
Niedermayer in his sight line of the goalie....fires...and Henry NEVER saw
it.....not the quality of goal you'll see scored in the regular season.....

-- Poor Freddy....there's no IHL for you either :p

(3 - 0) McCarthy[1] (McKenna) {11:29}
McKenna wins his battle on the boards....then McCarthy.....then
McKenna...back to McCarthy....waits....waits....Henry gives him the
WHOLE top shelf and buries the puck in the WIDE open top corner !!

-- Lindros....lets ANOTHER one go....amazing how safe he feels with
    Stevens not playing :)....wow...Henry STOPS ONE on the Midget in
    front...NOT the Fidget *l*
-- Ciger got NAILED as he came across the line from Berglund....and as he
    went down...his stick went up.....so Ciger to the box....
-- NJ pp:
    Nieds....Gomez....high circle....fires...blocked before it gets to the 
net.....
Devils flounder the pp and the first is in the books....that wasn't TOO 
painful
was it ???? :)

Second Period
------------------------
-- Fleury off for hooking 37 seconds in....Commodore...long shot...tipped
    Blackburn STAYS WITH IT !!! Nice effort....hmmm...I am saying nice things
    about Rangers....and well look...it's the people's asshole :p

(3 - 1) Holik[1-pp] (McKay, Gomez) {1:27}
Gomez along the boards....up to McKay in front....has Holik ALL ALONE
in front....he hurries the pass and whiffs badly on it....the puck bounces
off Holik but he slaps it down and stuffs it in the net before anyone can
come across !! and I think "the People's Asshole" could be a keeper nickname :)

-- Leetch and Jefferson tie and snarl at each other in front....so we have
    some needed displeasure and offsetting penalties !!
-- 4 on 4:
    Holik.....McKay...in front...shot...stuff...but Blackburn closes the 5-hole
and holds on as the 4 on 4 ends !!
-- Holik...back to the point....Nieds fires....off the stick of the TEEN goalie
    ...cause it all sounds better with TEEN in front...right ???
-- speaking of which...did I mention I'll be in Dallas the weekend of Dec 7-10
    for a lil outing o
-- Dvorak...2 on 1...hurries....to Toms...looks...stuffs...PAD SAVE Henry !!
    Dvorak again...Henry stops it again !!!...Madden the transition.....and
    some rookie I will NEVER get spelled right is in the box for a hooking
    call...just sent that guy to Hartford would ya  ??? :p
-- NJ pp:
    Drury....well they got embarrassed enough in the Finals by Chris to get
TED ??? :p...guess so....he gets open...FIRES...SNAPPED from the air
by Blackburn !!!
-- ANOTHER phone call ?? Guess no one else DID know this was on *l*
-- thanks to Kimmy I miss the rest of the pp...you know who to blame :)
-- Gron...one on two....keeps the puck...flings the shot...off Blackburn and to
    the corner....as we near the honorary mid pre-season game goalie change !!
-- Holik shoves Leetch down behind the play...we needed some anger out
    there....and he goes to the box as we rotate goalies....
-- .....now in net
    NJ: Damphousse
    NY: Holmqvist
-- and the NY pp:
     I missed 90 seconds getting that goalies name...damn Ranger :p
the Rangers missed the whole 2:00 :p
-- Gomez...FLYING in...looks...cuts...shot..GLOVE SAVE !!! Damn we needed
    our hockey back :)
-- FIGHT !!!! oh let them go DAMMIT !!!!....stupid refs...same as always :p
    we need our hockey brawls war or no war !!!! :p..McCarthy and McKenzie
    got some shoves in and no one backing down to no one !!!
-- game's slowing down now and I get to watch some and get back in the
    flow and the needed typing speed :)
-- Mark Richter ??? Who the hell is that ?? Well Damphousse swats his stick
   at whoever and kicks it away !!
-- Stevenson...denied...White...over to Abelein...but his shot is blocked....
-- Heisten gets an extra shot on Abelein and he goes to the box swearing away
    like a sailor :)
-- NJ pp:
    Gomez....blocked....Lindros...holds...cowers...no Stevens...period over !!

Third Period
-------------------
-- Devils continue that power play...and it still feels kinda weird even 
after 2
    periods....it's just not really hockey time yet....I think we need to 
be getting
    to that pre-season game on the 29th to get to the mood :)
-- NJ pp:
    Johansson....steals form Nieds...shot...save Damphousse...Devils
come back...but the pass is picked...and off to the races is....

(4 - 1) Dvorak[4-sh] (Johansson) {1:11}
Dvorak...first to the puck....gets his stride and NO ONE gonna catch him
......cuts to the right...all sorts of room....looks....finds a hole under
Damphousse's right arm and stick...and man the Devils potential backup
goalies do NOT look good so far this year...another softie :p

-- Stevenson off for roughing as I wonder about THAT goal too :p
-- Lindros...back to the point...Ciger....at the point...fires a wobbling shot
    ...through traffic....well past Damphousse...NEVER saw it coming....but
   Daneyko did and JUST gets the stick on it in time !!! It's all that 
pasta over the
years !!!
    Fleury...Leetch....cross to Lindros....save Damphousse !!!!
    Leetch...again...Ciger in front...DAMPHOUSSE MAKES THE DIVE !!!!
    Well that makes him back up from bad to ok now *l*
    Leetch....long shot...the kid does it again !! Maybe the stinker woke 
him up ??
--  well maybe NOT ??? :p

(5 - 1) Martin Richter[2] (none) {4:31}
Boumedienne gets caught along the boards with Samuelsson.....the
puck rolls back to the faceoff dot as ...spins and does the twirling
Pandolfo in the corner :p.....Richter to the puck...races across...
gets Damphousse to open the pearly gates (well maybe not pearly but
who am I to judge his hygiene ??) and he stuffs the backhand clean
past him....we may be begging for Terreri soon !!! :p

-- ok, this one is over folks...I admit it :P
-- Lindros off for slashing at 7:57...
-- NJ pp:
    Nieds...makes room...flings a high wrister after the cross ice Holik pass
that Holmqvist....whoever the hell he is he stops it :p power play done again
-- I didn't notice that there are NO ads along the boards....all it says is
    something along the lines of all our hearts and prayers are with the 
families
    ...the rest was cut off and it's hard to read something that goes along the
    whole length like that...but I think you get the point :)
-- Holmqvist (yes that IS the spelling :p) makes another good glove save
    on a high wrister !!!
-- Stevenson off for a stick hold.....Rangers to another pp, they've been
    GOOD on it :p
-- see ??

(6 - 1) Lindros[1-pp] (Ciger, Martin Richter) {12:21}
Lindros....high boards....to Ciger....give and go...Lindros gets the pass
back....fights free....floats the shot....Devils goaltending been bad...Ranger
execution goal good....hence the score :p...shit MIKE Richter would have
2 points in this one tonight :p

-- Niedermayer flying in...with Gomez...shot...save....rebound...SAVE
    HOLMQVIST.....this game's been a clunker at best when it comes to
    quality of play and good rushes....so you actually appreciate the few
    good moments you get !!
-- well the highlight of the last minute was seeing Madden hustle and
    work around with the puck as Lindros cross checks someone at the buzzer
    but it doesn't matter....hockey's back and some of us never needed it
    more then now....it wasn't the best recap of all time...but we're all
    getting back into the flow of things and it was a good start to what we
    all hope will be a long exciting season !!!

Shots on Goal:   1 + 2 +  3 == total
===========================
Devils:               8 +  9  +  9 ==  26
Rangers:          12 +  8 + 11 ==  31

Power Plays:
==========
NJ: 1 / 8 (shg allowed)
NY: 3  / 6

My Three Stars !?!?:
================
     It's preseason who gives a damn !!?!?!? :p

      If the Devils put any more tune-up games on TV me or Julie will get to
them but in case they don't we'll be back Oct 6, when the Devils go to DC
to welcome that $13 million star who was outscored by Jay Pandolfo in the
playoffs last year :)