Devs Versus Leafs…The Final Battle!
The aftermath…..and NOW…….
Since the Cam Janssen hit started the ball rolling on a rash of stick fouls and questionable hits….why not have the redux, I mean the rematch tomorrow. So of course right on cue, here it comes. The Devils go up to the Air Canada Centre tomorrow night to face the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are in a fight for their playoff lives while the Devils are in a dogfight for the division and the #2 seed that goes with it. Every game counts from here on out and every win is a relief and every loss is that much closer to a date with Ottawa in the first round.
At press time…the New York Rangers just defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1….when the world stopped and Jagr had a flashback of the days when he was a Penguin and scored clutch goals when it counted most. Sure enough with :34 left…he beats an exhausted Jocelyn Thibault and with that tomorrow’s Devils-Leafs game means that much more. A win pushes the lead back to four points and at this time of year…every single point counts. The two points would be nice but what I really want to see is what Belak and Tucker will try to do to Mr. Janssen for his late hit on Kaberle. Tomas Kaberle had symptoms similar to PCS and may or may not be back for this game TSN : NHL – Canada’s Sports Leader ….depends on the paper you read up in Toronto.
What bothers me more was a ruling handed down today, where Colin Campbell suspended Tootoo for five games. That five games was influenced by the nature of Robidas’ injury which was a concussion and he will be out at least 1-2 weeks. However, the Janssen suspension wasn’t. Anyone see the disconnect here? Yes Kaberle fell awkwardly but Campbell originally said injuries would not influence a suspension…the actual act would. If this backlash type suspension seems familiar to you…then again we bring up the Bertuzzi-Moore incident from three years ago. Wade Belak got 8 games plus four playoff games for essentially a stick follow thru that happened to hit an Av right in the head. Again the injury influenced the suspension after Campbell had pledged it wouldn’t. That inconsistency is what makes tomorrow’s game very scary for both teams. Both have something very meaningful to play for.
The Devils are already without so many players. No Elias, Madden, or Gionta. Speculation is White, Brodeur, Rafalski, and Brylin are all banged up. I don’t buy it and really do not care. The effort shown against Carolina was enough to make any fan boil over…and I sure did. The Devils better come out angry…completely pissed off at the world, because that is what it will take to come out of Toronto with two points tomorrow. I quickly got tired of certain bloggers and columnists who came out from Toronto saying Janssen should be jailed, even if meant jokingly…it was still a slap in the face to every Devil fan. Was it a late hit? Yes! Was he suspended? Yes! Now….get over it! If Tucker or Belak or the powderpuff girls want to fight Janssen, Rupp, or whoever tomorrow….bring it! Don’t chirp like a canary bird to the press…first shift Belak or Tucker sees Janssen…DROP EM….don’t use your helmet or your stick….just throw some haymakers and settle it like men. I don’t believe for a minute the feel good story from TSN among others honestly.
I want to see a Devils team tomorrow, win or lose, that plays with heart for its Hart candidate (Brodeur). They sure as hell didn’t Saturday. What better team to bring some hell upon than the Leafs. A good bit of it was Brodeur’s fault…he admitted being out of it…but I know he will bounce back. The rest of the team needs to follow his lead more. The unofficial captain of the Devils will lead them. Come on Devils…show these Leafs what Devils playoff like hockey is truly like. This is your season on the line…time to ram their faces into the boards and put the skate down on their hopes.
