The third part of our installment concentrates on more of the defensive minded players….even if their golf clubs aren’t quite as shiny as the offensive players. That being said…time to get to it.
Not the good kind of sandwich really….looks like a bloody Oreo.
Jay Pandolfo (W)
2006-07: 13G 14 A …27 pts….-5 82 games..8 PIMS
This one hurts….I didn’t know which direction to go right up until I was writing this. Pandolfo played unbelievable all year…but I really do think alot like Brodeur, he expended too much energy in the regular season. There were games where he was so superhuman it was scary….Jay really could have netted 20 with a little more luck. His defense against the top lines was stuff of legend…the only thing that bugged me was the occasional clunker game where he was a -2 or -3 and he looked gassed but then would come right back with 3 or 4 stellar efforts strung together. Did he like the team push too much again? I honestly think they did…but Pandolfo might have pushed even harder than Brodeur…he is that kind of person. Winning the division meant a lot….but from the first game of the playoffs….Pandolfo just didn’t really ever have it. He was a -8 for the entire playoffs…which was 11 games. The Game 5 against Tampa was his best effort..bar none. Though he did chip in a couple points in each series…it didn’t make up for the unusually subpar positioning that Jay had. This is why it was so hard to grade…was it just the first lines of Tampa and Ottawa were too much or was Pandolfo simply gassed and out of shape for the playoff run. Time will tell.
Grade: A- (C- for the postseason)
Paul Martin (D)
2006-07: 3 G 23 A..26 pts….-9…82 games
So much potential yet still unfulfilled. I keep waiting for him to be a Brian Leetch player or some semblance close to it…but it never happens. I guess I can wait till next season yet again. Has too good of vision to keep making the same mistakes that he does game in and game out. I would have loved to see him benched for a few games to send a message. Because the bad habits he carried throughout the regular season carried into the postseason where he was worse. He wasn’t a -8 like Pandolfo….but made some brutal decisions like Rafalski. I would like to see a player like Stevens (who could play offensively when he had to) take him under his wing because Martin needs someone to show him again the fundamentals of good defense..he forgets far too often.
Grade: C (D+ for the playoffs)
Brad Lukowich (D)
2006-07: 4 G 8 A 12 pts…+1…75 games
Brad gave an effort every nite….sometimes that effort would screen Marty but what can you do. Sometimes you have to just chalk it up…and play it again the next game. He did score some big goals against the Flyers….if you played him against the Flyers 82 games…he’d probably have 45 pts. Sadly, the NHL won’t allow it. He also excelled against some of the top players like Crosby and Ovechkin. Lukowich played rugged, took his fair share of shots and elbows from Colby Armstrong, etc….but he kept on going aside from a couple nagging injuries, particularly a concussion. In the playoffs, he did play fairly well….not much offensively…but he was one of the few defensemen that played fairly level for the team. All in all…not too shabby.
Grade: B- (C+ for the playoffs)
Johnny Oduya (D)
2006-07: 2 G 9 A…11 pts…-5…76 games
Another defenseman who has better skating ability and shooting than he leads on. The most frustrating thing about the Devils maybe is that very fact…the defense just doesn’t shoot for long stretches…too much reliance on the forwards…who if they are bottled up…the defense doesn’t try to take a chance…they make the safe play which sometimes backfires horribly on them and that happened quite a bit to Oduya in the playoffs. Not necessarily his fault, but a chance sometimes needs to be taken…and if they know the safe play is coming…the job isn’t going to get done. In the regular season, he had flashes of good, solid play and then blips of just horrendous mistakes and in the playoffs it was more of the same. Just in the playoffs, everything is magnified. Maybe next year, he will be able to clean up those mistakes with some better defensive coaching.
Grade: C (C- for the playoffs)
Erik Rasmussen (C)
2006-07: 3 G 7 A ..10 pts…-2….71 games
I really don’t get why he is still in a Devils uniform…tries to hit hard but can’t…tries to score but can’t….tries to play defense but can’t really do that so well either. He just doesn’t do the little things to become a better player and reverts back to bad habits faster than any center I know. His faceoffs were never good…but the last couple months…it seemed Jim Dowd had more energy than him. Maybe a change of scenery will do him good…like the minors or out the door.
Grade: D- (F for the playoffs)
Mike Rupp (W)
2006-07: 6 G 3 A…9 pts…-10…76 games
Another example of a guy who has a little more talent than he leads on. Part of that was lack of playing time…part of it was his role…part of it was on him. Rupp can score some and he can hit…and fight when need be. He did a solid job as a fourth liner but probably needed more playing time to make an impact in the playoffs and at times he didn’t when he got the chance. Could have done better…seems to be the Devils motto for the postseason.
Grade: C- (C- for the playoffs)
Jim Dowd (W)
2006-07: 4 G 4 A ..8pts…-5 in 66 games
Had that big 2 goal effort late in the season that showed he still had a little scoring touch in the tank….a great role player who plays solid and leads by example. A lot of players could learn what true grit and tenacity means in this league by looking at Dowd. A couple nagging injuries kept his game total down but not his influence on the ice. That was clear as day…though try as he might in the playoffs…that extra gear wasn’t quite there. Hope he comes back.
Grade: B- (C for the playoffs)
Colin White (D)
2006-07: 0 G 8 A…8 pts..-8 in 69 games
All I will say is this…..he has the ability to play defensively sound like Stevens but takes far too many of the dumbest penalties…like he was split off from the Holik family clan. Worse, they often come at the worst possible times like in the Ottawa series. He needs to skate faster…go on a conditioning program or something because he just can’t keep up at times in the new NHL and therefore has to take a dumb penalty some of the time. I wonder if Professor Stevens will pay a visit during the preseason because White could use it so maybe he can start earning that contract Lou gave him.
Grade: C- (D for the playoffs)
In our final part, we will take a small look at the incompletes and a small peak into next season…stay tuned.
