Why The Kovalchuk Trade to the Devils Doesn’t Bother Me
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!
The Devils never eliminated the Islanders in the playoffs after a blood and guts best of 7 heart-breaker of a series (the Islanders would’ve had to MAKE the playoffs in the mid to late ’90′s for that to happen, and well . . . the Isles were/are playoff challenged). The Devils never had a player intentionally take out our captain’s knee. None of the Devil’s players ever flapped their arms and did a chicken dance on Coliseum ice. Really, the only thing I find the Devils guilty of is consistently beating the Islanders by boring them (and the fans) to absolute death with their extreme-defensive system. But that’s not personal, they’ve been doing that to all the teams in the league for nearly 2 decades.
So, why am I not that upset that an already good Devils team just got much better by adding Russian sniper Ilya Kovalchuk? Because I respect the Devils. I respect their GM, Lou Lamoriello, who has always put together solid teams that find ways to win no matter who is in and out of their lineup. I respect them because they aren’t the New York Rangers, who are famous for going after the likes of Pavel Bure, Jaromir Jagr, Wayne Gretzky, Marion Gaborik, etc. etc. etc. simply because they have an obsession with collecting superstars. The Rangers are also famous for proving that simply obtaining the “best names” available doesn’t automatically translate to success (only one Stanley Cup victory in 70 years people!!) and there is nothing respectable about “buying” wins. The Devils don’t do that, and they didn’t do that yesterday when they acquired Kovalchuk, a proven natural goal-scoring machine that gives the Devils a new offensive option like they haven’t seen in . . . well . . . have they ever seen a player like this on their team? (Stephan Richer doesn’t count lol)
Bottom Line: This doesn’t affect the Islanders at all. If the Islanders were to be bold and try to sign Kovalchuk when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in July, then let them woo him and throw whatever dollar amount it will take to get him when July comes. Heck, they have the cap space! But for the Islanders to get him as a “rental” player for the rest of this season would have been utterly ridiculous. There’s no need to lose prospects just to maybe get in the playoffs with Kovalchuk and then lose him in the summer. The Devils, however, are out to win the cup, and you have to admire Lou Lamoriello’s way of getting things done. Besides . . . at least the Rangers didn’t get him! That’s enough to put a devilish grin on my face!
General Musings | admin | February 5, 2010
Hockey, Ilya Kovalchuck, Lou Lamoriello, Marion Gaborik, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, NHL, Pavel Bure, Stephan Richer, Wayne Gretzky
I agree Tom. They said the Rangers and Flyers were also in the mix for Kovalchuk; so what the hell; let the devils have him! They can’t get any better really and we’ve come accustomed to them being the dominate team. It’s keeping with the status quo as far as I’m concerned. A good Devils team isn’t an impediment to an Isles playoff run, a good flyers and rangers team are. (No, they do not get capitalized!) I respect them enormously as well. They are able to loose players and recycle them with new young players who sometimes seem better then those they let go! Rafalski, Gomez, and Gionta all leave and are replaced without the team missing a beat atop of the conference year after year after year after year after year…..you get the point!
“. . . flyers and rangers team are. (No, they do not get capitalized!)” haha awesome.
That’s a great point you make – we should compile a list of all the players that have left the Devils and who essentially replaced them – it doesn’t matter – it never matters. Like you said, Rafalski, Gomez, Gionta – remember Holik went to the Rangers too just like Gomez did, and the Devs never skipped a beat – Scott Niedermeyer went to Anaheim – never skipped a beat (and that says a lot!) Sykora, Mogilny, Arnott, Gilmour, Niewendyk (oh we can go on and on and on with this!) It never matters! They even lose mainstays like John Madden and Sergei Brylin and guess what . . . it doesn’t matter! What a system they have there!! It’s simple “plug and play” with them! lol