And now, a positive story about the state of New Jersey. And to be honest with you, I’m actually happy this story has nothing to do with the New York Islanders for once. For once, a landmark – epic deal (17 years!? I’m going to have a teenager before Kovalchuck and the Devils are done with this contract!!) does not involve Charles Wang and the Islanders (see: Alexei Yashin; Rick DiPietro) – for Gods-sake Yashin’s deal seems very tame now (except the fact that he is not of the same caliber of hockey player as Kovalchuck, but why would that minor detail have mattered to Mike Milbury and the Islanders of the early 2000′s??).
I watched the Devils score 3 late goals last night to welcome in Ilya Kovalchuk and stun the hapless Toronto Maple Leafs (keep trading away Toronto, it will never make a difference!) and I ended up speaking to a native New Jerseyan this morning (Nicholas) about all things Devils. We reminisced about Scott Stevens, and it instantly made me think of something. The Devils played the Leafs last night . . . Stevens was brought up this morning . . . ahh . . . my memory took me back to the 2001 Stanley Cup Playoffs when Tie Domi was a member of one of the dirtiest NHL teams – in fact – Domi should’ve been captain of that team just to symbolize how dirty they actually were. Here’s the clip:
One might think that because I’m an Islander fan I instantly must hate anything the Devils do. Well, the Devils have done nothing but win, win, and win since as long as I’ve been a fan of hockey (since Martin Brodeur’s rookie year) and I can see how that would be annoying to nearby fans of the Flyers, Rangers, and the Islanders. I’m a little different though. The Devils don’t annoy me. They never have. In fact, I remember the 1st game I saw on TV (the old SportsChannel!) was actually a New Jersey Devils game (I totally remember their nasty green and red Christmas jerseys!). And by the time I became a die-hard Islander fan I already knew who I was supposed to hate . . . the dirty Rangers! The Devils were harmless, at least to me!
This post is inspired by Chris Botta’s comments in one of his Islanderspointblank.com posts, where he asks Islander fans, ” . . . can we stop using their [Toronto Maple Leafs] misery as consolation for the Islanders?”
Why? Why must we stop taking solace in the Maple Leafs’ misery? Hey, the Islanders have no right to make fun of any other organization. If Wayne Gretzky called the New Jersey Devils a “Mickey Mouse Organization” in the ’80′s, then what would the Islanders of the mid-late-’90′s and all the other years up until and through this year (holy crap that’s a long time!) be called!? I mean, at this point, any reference to Disney might be too much of a compliment! But that doesn’t take away the Islanders’ fans right to make fun of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who by the way, haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967. In fact, if anyone has a right to make fun of the Maple Leafs, and dare I say the Montreal Canadiens (the team that beat the Isles way back in 1993 to eventually win the cup – which gives them a bit more leverage in my argument than the Leafs have) it is the fans of the struggling New York Islanders. Let me explain why:
. . . mostly because I haven’t been this excited for an Islander’s season since the ’94 seas0n (when I was 13 years old, hence the title of the post). See, the ’94 season was the season AFTER the Islanders surprised the NHL world by not only beating the Washington Capitals, but more importantly eliminating the 2 time defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2nd round. So, naturally, a young kid would expect more of the same (or a little better!) the next season! Oh boy, have I been let down!
NHL Hockey, Sports | admin | July 20, 2010 | 
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Alexander Mogilny, Alexei Yashin, Devils, Ilya Kovalchuck, Islanders, Isles, Jersey, Kovalchuck, New Jersey, New Jersey Devils, New York, New York Islanders, Pavel Bure, Rangers, Rick DiPietro
