The mission is clear Brent……the Stanley Cup!!!! This isn’t funny.
Your mission Brent Sutter is to survive the season as Devils’ head coach….seriously for every other coach it should be the same…to win the Stanley Cup. The Devils despite losing Scott Gomez and Brian Rafalski may actually have improved their chances dramatically by getting a little younger around the edges. They did acquire a bonafide backup in Weekes as I believe to this day, Lou never felt comfortable with Clemmensen in net. There was also no way in Hades that Lou was going to pay astronomical amounts just to keep Rafalski and Gomez in Jersey…so he went smart….got some low to mid range guys and that may just work better.
One of the Devils’ biggest problems in the playoffs was actually a lack of physical discipline. This, for years, has been a mighty strength for the Devils but it was long gone in the postseason. It was so bad that I don’t know how many times I screamed into the television for them to HIT SOMEONE (add a few bleeps in there and you get the idea). Sadly the television doesn’t talk back or listen…otherwise that might have been some use. Instead, I was more or less wasting my breath as the Devils fell in five close games to Ottawa where we had more chances to win than most athletes do when they are suspended.
In short, this has been addressed emphatically with the additions of Vishnevski and Zubrus…two physical Russians (sounds like an oxymoron)…one a defenseman and one a center. There are a couple players from Lowell that could easily make the team this season and Brent Sutter has inherited a team with a core that can always tend for the Stanley Cup. What a better job to get right….well some won’t think so…no matter how many positives there are. If we can get our RFA’s signed up and I don’t believe Eklund for a minute with his rumors (some of those are way out of left field as Lou has been in close contact with Parise)…then I think the Devils stand a great chance of repeating as division champs despite all the upgrades the Rangers, Flyers, and even Pens have made.
Sutter does indeed have one of the hardest jobs in hockey…but he also is a hockey man born from the Sutter legacy. He commands respects and he receives it…something Claude Julien could never do in New Jersey. Julien was a puppet at times but Sutter is a man’s man and isn’t afraid to voice his displeasure constructively. Sutter will change things up but yet bring the Devils back to their old ways…discipline on D and opportunistic offense…the way the Devils franchise has been built for the past 15 years. Will Sutter complete the season as Devils coach? I believe he not only will but I am confident the Devils will surprise quite a few people despite the annual prediction from The Hockey News that says this is the year the Devils fall off.
Sutter could quite possibly stay more than just a season in New Jersey….he has that kind of knowledge that is well respected in any hockey circle and a lot of teams have contacted him for his services but the Devils were the one that snatched him. He may already be on the hot seat but something tells me that Sutter will be able to handle it where so many others (Robinson,Constantine, Julien) have failed. So this is a mission that, dare I say, may be possible.
