North Jersey Won the Battle, Now Will They Win the War?

Ok Save Jerseyans, I am a man of my word. I made a bet with fellow contributor James Beattie that I thought was a sure thing, and I was wrong. I literally bleed orange and black, and have my entire life. This post was incredibly painful to write, but here goes nothing.

Two nights ago the Philadelphia Flyers were bested in their seven game series with the New Jersey Devils. As promised, what follows in this post is an in-depth analysis of why the Devils were able to run away with the series (and you thought all I knew about was politics – pst!) . . . 

Over the last week or so we learned that in 2012, North Jersey beat South Jersey on the ice. They won the battle, but will they win the war for the Stanley Cup? I think they just might make New Jersey proud for the fourth time in the Devil’s history.

1. The Devils Played Disciplined Hockey – This series was the complete opposite of the first round of the playoffs. The Philadelphia Flyers frustrated the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that most sports analysts had picked to win the cup this year, by literally beating them up at every turn. When teams get frustrated they start to take awful penalties, which the Flyers are usually pretty good at capitalizing on. The Devils barely took any penalties in this series. And even when they did, they managed to neutralize the Flyers’ offensive. Which brings me to point #2.
2. The Flyers Had No Forecheck – The Philadelphia Flyers have a great system, when they can play it. It includes a heavy forecheck into their opponents zone, a wide cycle within that zone, and harsh physical play in front of the opposing goaltender to pick up loose pucks. The Devils did not allow the Flyers to play their game at all. Martin Brodeur, the Devils long time goaltender, plays the puck better than any goalie in the world. Whenever the Flyers would clear the puck, Marty was there first to fire it back the other way. On the boards, the Devils won almost every battle. They fought for loose pucks and forced a ton of turnovers, nearly 40 in the last two games alone. Even in rare situations when the Flyers had a power play, the Devils managed to block passing and shooting lanes nullifying what normally would have been prime scoring chances.
3. Poor Coaching Decisions – Peter Laviolette, the head coach of the Flyers, made some weak decision in this series that I would consider to be abnormal for him. He brought back an injured James Van Reimsdyk, a Monmonth County native by the way, instead of playing a bruiser player like Zac Rinaldo until the final game of the series. The Devils needed to be roughed up and bringing in a cold guy like JVR was not the answer. There were also some questionable line match up decisions and weird line changes that led to goals for the Devils, including one in overtime.
4. The Devils Were Underestimated – Everyone below I-195 was completely convinced that the Flyers were going to crush the Devils. Some were even calling for a sweep. Some moronic radio commentators were saying players like Zach Parise  and Patrick Elias were average players at best (which is not true, they were both among top players this year in the NHL). This sentiment was not lost on the Flyers. Throughout the series they were shocked at how well the Devils were playing, but for some reason were unable to adjust to it.
5. The Devils Taught Kovalchuk How to Play Defense – Ilya Kovalchuk, the Devil’s highest paid forward, is known for his go it alone approach to hockey and his quick hands. He has never been known for his defensive ability, and if anything was known for a lack of it. Well it seems he has finally bought into the Devil’s more defensively based system and started to act like a team player. Kovy was back checking and attacking Flyers players on the rush rather than just waiting for loose pucks and hoping for breakaways. He scored some deadly goals in the series as well, showing that just because he was changing his game, he still is the same old Kovy.
6. The Devils Were Just Hungier – The Devils showed that throughout the series they wanted this more than the Flyers did. They skated harder, they shot harder, they passed better, and put on the pressure. Being known as a more defensive, trapping style team this even took me by surprise. They never let a puck just go to the Flyers. The game winning goal in the last game occurred when the Flyers goaltender, the immensely overpaid Ilya Bryzgalov, wanted to pretend to play like Brodeur and fire the puck up ice. Instead he shot it right at an attacking Devil player who redirected it right through Bryz’s legs and into the net. That is the kind of attack that came out of the Devils all series long.

So can the Devils win the war and take the cup for the fourth time in our my lifetime? I think so, and as promised, I am rooting for them. Here is a good stat for Devils fans to hold on to: In the last three years the team that has knocked the Flyers out of the playoffs has gone on to win the Stanley Cup. Chances are they will be facing the New York Rangers, another team with a large New Jersey fan base, in the Conference Finals. I hate the Rangers far more than I could ever hate the Devils, so I am looking forward to seeing that series play out well for New Jersey.

Additionally, Martin Brodeur has been the Devil’s goaltender for twenty years. He was won three cups with the team and also some MVP trophies in that time. As a hockey fan, it would not be the worst thing in the world to see Marty retire on the top of his game and end his story with a fourth and final cup before he heads to the hall of fame.

So, in closing: Go Devils. See you next season.

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