Polemic Hockey

This team gave up a goal to lose with less than a second left earlier in the series and then loses the ENTIRE series in less than a minute and a half. That is simply not good enough. It's an epic fail, and a team that does that doesn't deserve to win.

The Devils played too much Sharks hockey to win a series.

I'm just disgusted.

Update. What an abortion of a game, a series and a season. This team showed streaks of brilliance during the regular season, and at its worst it showed signs of being outgunned and outtalented, but I never saw (and I admittedly did not watch all 89 games) the kind of pusillanimous shitty play that lost them this series. To lose like that is to act like you think you're so much better.

Ugh, what an abortion. Well, Lou, how many good seasons does Marty have left? Maybe he needs a long summer to fully recover. But you'd better get some fucking D-men who know how to win and get rid of some hangers on coasting on their reputations from the glory days who aren't doing shit. (I'm looking at you Patty Cakes, you fucking femme. You belong on the Sharks.)

Update 2: The Devils have approximately $40m committed next year to 13 players. Word is the salary cap will go down to $50m. That seems awfully low. But let's see what we can do in that scenario, and in a scenario where it just doesn't go up.

First, let all of the UFAs walk except Madden and Oduya. If Shanahan wants to come back for about the same, that would not be a bad thing. Trade Elias. That frees up $5.25m, which is most of what you will need to retain Zajac and Oduya. Allocate another $3.5m for the total jobbers, and we're in the neighborhood of $45m without having resigned Madden and without guessing what Elias's returns will cost. If Dainus Zubrus can be traded, trade him. Give him away. That's $3.4 of dead weight, and so we're back in the neighborhood of having $8m, or $13m, depending on the scenario, to play with.

Let's assume some of the guys in the minors that are included as "total jobbers" can fill in 2 or 3 positions. If the cap doesn't go down, we can sign Madden for the $4m per he'll probably demand, and we have most of a roster. We maybe need 4 or 5 players and employ Elias's return for $4m or $9m. If it's the former, then the team will be worse next year and will have to rely on the farm and maybe a somewhat ready prospect as a return for Elias.

If it's the latter, there's money there to go get the defenseman they need, and they'll have a chance. NHL numbers shows Salvador still on the roster. I missed that. Buy him out, trade him, whatever. Jobber.