We Will Overcome

You know, it’s about time the hockey world started giving the Devils the respect they deserve.

Consider, if you will, everything that has happened to this team since the season began in October. Four games into the season, down goes Brian Rolston. One game later, Bobby Holik. After that, Andy Greene, Paul Martin, Pierre-Luc Leblond, and the grand tamale himself, Martin Brodeur joined the parade to the IR. Add to that list the revolving door of day-to-day injuries to John Madden, Brian Gionta, Bryce Salvador, and Jamie Langenbrunner. Sprinkle in Mike Mottau earning himself a two-game suspension, and what you have is a team which at times very much resembled the Lowell Devils. Devils fans used to the molasses-like roster turnover were suddenly lining up to buy programs in order to make sense of a bewildering who’s who of “Who’s that?”

Kevin Weekes was called upon to fill the void until Brodeur’s return in early March, but early on it appeared even the ultimate teammate could not help this collection of entry level contracts. Then, out of the madness, there emerged a hero. He became our savior, our Keanu Reeves…he, the one they call Scott Clemmensen. With a grand total of 25 NHL games under his belt, the goalie who entered the season ranked 3rd on the depth chart, destined to play out the season in Lowell, found himself thrust into the starting role for New Jersey, and did not disappoint. His numbers, to this point, have been absolutely sparkling; 12-5-1, with a 2.15 Goals-Against and a .924 Save Percentage. And all-the-while, players such as Patrick Davis, Matt Halischuk, Petr Vrana, and Jay Leach have held the fort while one-by-one, the Walking Wounded have returned to the lineup.

Where we stand now, the only Devil left to return is Brodeur, and with his recovery progressing ahead of schedule, the Devils could be back in form by late Februrary. While the journey is by no means over, we’ve already learned an incredible amount about the tenacity and depth of the New Jersey Devils. Despite all the injuries, the team barely seemed to miss a beat. Clemmensen’s play as of late has been remarkably Brodeur-like, and he shows no signs of falling back to Earth anytime soon.

The Devils never have been the “sexy” pick to win the Stanley Cup, yet despite the way the team has been able to do more than just tread water, there remains only one member of the hockey media (some guy from Versus) to even mention the Devils as a possible Cup contender. Now, that’s not to take anything away from the remarkable seasons had so far by San Jose, Detroit, Chicago, Boston, etc. Every one of those teams deserves to be mentioned as contenders, but none have yet to be faced with the kind of sink-or-swim challenge that faced the Devils.

Despite the kind of solidarity that only losing half your roster can bring about, as well as the eventual return of a rested and repaired Martin Brodeur on the horizon, I am not at all attempting to guarantee a Devils Cup victory in 2009. While it would be nice if we got some attention as a championship contender, I highly doubt it will happen. Then again, it didn’t happen in 1995, 2000, or 2003 either.