Take yourselves back to the afternoon of June 23, 2009 when Brent Sutter was named the head coach of the Calgary Flames. If I remember right, my emotions were full of hatred and anger because I felt lied to. It wasn't that I thought Brent Sutter was the greatest coach in the Devils history, no, it was because he promised to do something for this organization and hadn't delivered and now lied his way out of town. Hindsight is a wonderful thing because Jaques Lemaire has turned out to be everything Sutter wasn't. I was recently on a Flames discussion board and I saw a post that said, "Flames are pissing me off. Sutter needs to get a clue" and I relized how much good he did for us by leaving. That said, tonight's matchup is one that got circled on the calendar right away when the schedule was announced, although it would have been nicer to have the game in NJ where fans could really let Sutter know what they think of him, regardless of how well the Devils have done this season.

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (38-21-3) at the Calgary Flames (30-24-9). This is the one and only meeting this season. (Lets hope that if the Devils get to the Cup Finals, Sutter isn't the other team there!)

The Last Devils Game: Offensively, I don't think you could have asked for more. Goals by Zajac and Kovalchuk made Devils fans smile but defensively it was a crazy game. After being up 4-0 in the third, the Devils surrendered 3 quick goals and allowed the Sharks to make a game of it but in the end were able to hold them off. We aren't sure if the Devils short-comings on defense that night was the reason the Devils traded for Martin Skoula at the deadline.

The Last Flames Game: The Flames were shutout 4-0 by the Minnesota Wild. Calgary got 29 shots on Backstrom but never really made him work. Calgary is stuggling for playoff position and that type of loss didn't help.

Tonight's Matchup: If the Devils can do what they did in San Jose the othe night, strike hard and strike often, the Flames will break...easily. If you can get an early lead against the Flames, they don't really do well. The Flames aren't known for a potent offensive, they just don't have that type of team but their defense can be strong. Putting the first game back and the Olympics aside, Miikka Kiprusoff is one of the better goalies in the league. Did you know that Calgary is tied with Edmonton for the second lowest goals scored per game average?

The important thing for the Devils tonight is to not get caught up in playing Sutter. There were a lot of guys here last year that felt terrible when he left and I am sure would like to stick it to him but you have to be careful with things like that. I'm going to keep my eyes on Zubrus and Rolston tonight because both never liked how Sutter used them on the offense last season. They both knew they could do more but were never really given the oppurtunities.

Lastly, we will not see the debut of Martin Skoula tonight.  Lou said on Thursday that Skoula would arrive in Calgary to with the team, but he won't play.  All eyes will be on  Mark Fraser and Anssi Salmela because I expect Jacques Lemaire base Skoula's playing time on their performance, so a good game from either of them will play a big role as to whether Skoula will be on the bench in Edmonton on Sunday.

Taking a stab at the lines tonight, I'll go with:

Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Jamie Langenbrunner
Ilya Kovalchuk - Dainius Zubrus - Patrik Elias
Brian Rolston - Rob Niedermayer - David Clarkson
Jay Pandolfo - Dean McAmmond - Vladimir Zharkov

Andy Greene - Bryce Salvador
Colin White - Mike Mottau
Anssi Salmela - Mark Fraser

Martin Brodeur

Only one more day until the Devils take the ice in Calgary to face off against the Flames. Here’s some news to hold you over:

Martin Skoula Joins Team In Calgary Tonight

Newly-acquired defenseman Martin Skoula joined the team tonight in Calgary. Lou Lamoriello assigned him number 28 – the number Valdimir Zharkov had all season. Zharkov has been reassigned number 18, which previously belonged to Niclas Bergfors and Sergei Brylin.

In an interview with Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record, Devils coach Jacques Lemaire seemed high on Skoula, who played for him in Minnesota.

“I think he can play as good as some of the guys we have,” he said to Gulitti. “I think he’s very solid in the defensive zone. He knows the game well. He’s a big body (6-3, 225). He protects the puck along the boards. He can make that first pass. When he’s got his game straightened up, he can do good stuff. It doesn’t mean he’s going to go ahead of our guys right away, but we’ll see what he can do and if he shows that he’s doing more things, then we’ll put him in the lineup. That’s how it works.”

Although Skoula arrived tonight, he is not expected to play in tomorrow night’s game.

Devils Players Don’t Seek Revenge Against Sutter

With the Devils facing their ex-coach tomorrow night, there would seem to be some extra incentive for the players to beat the Flames.

If there is, no one is saying it.

When interviewed today, many Devils players were indifferent about facing Brent Sutter, their coach for two seasons.

“I haven’t quite thought about it,” Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner said after today’s practice in Calgary. “We’re more concerned about starting to get something rolling than doing something him. I think they’ve got their own things to worry about trying to get into the playoffs. We’re trying to stay on top of our division.”

Sutter stepped down after the 2008-2009 campaign to be closer to his family in Red Deer, Alberta. Some players thought it was fishy when Sutter agreed to coach the Flames two weeks after leaving the Devils. His brother, Daryl, is the general manager of the Flames. But players aren’t showing any emotion about that situation either.

“That was a litle weird because we didn’t think (he was leaving) for that,” goalie Martin Brodeur said. “But, knowing the situation with his brother here and everything, if there was a place he was going to go this was it.”

There were some players, like Dainius Zubrus, who felt they were restricted in Sutter’s system.

“I’m happy now,” Zubrus said. “This year I’m way more involved in different things, whether it’s special teams. I’ve had more responsibilities than I had the past couple of years and that’s something I wanted. That’s about it.”

*Quotes from Fire and Ice Blog by Bergen Record reporter Tom Gulitti

It's trade deadline day and of course the big move for the New Jersey Devils was done a month ago when the Devils acquired Ilya Kovalchuk and Anssi Salmela for Niclas Bergfors, Johnny Oduya, Patrice Cormier and picks. But the Devils do have have needs to fill im my opinion, especially after almost giving away a 4-0 lead last night. Keep it right here to see if NJ makes any deals today.

March 3, 2010 10:59 am ET

Darren's Analysis: Skoula, 30, has three goals and five assists in 33 games for the Penguins this season. The veteran blueliner will be joining his fifth NHL club after being drafted in the first round (17th overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in the 1998 draft. He also skated for Anaheim, Dallas, and Minnesota before signing a one-year contract with the Penguins as an unrestricted free agent last summer. Skoula is again eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He is earning $575,000 this season. In my opinion he's just an average D-man and now the Devils are carrying too many D-men. I'm not sure what he brings to the table other than that Lemaire enjoyed having him in Minnesota where he played with Brian Rolston.

Last night it was Salvador-Greene; White-Mottau; Salmela-Fraser on Defense and at some point Paul Martin comes back so who will Skoula and Martin put on the healthy scratch list? White and Fraser?

AJ's Analysis: I agree completely with Darren on this trade. What does Skoula bring to the team? He's only recorded eight points, and it should be a negative sign that he played on 33 games for the Penguins this season. My guess would be that Lou traded for Skoula's experience. Lemaire never seems comfortable giving Fraser too many responsibilities. Acquiring a veteran defenseman may make Lemaire feel more comfortable with his blue line. But after seeing the Devils almost collapse yesterday, I think someone better than Martin Skoula is needed to help the Devils. With Mottau and White already getting heavy minutes as average D-men, there's really no need for another average position player. This may become similar to last year's deal for Niclas Havelid.

*** 3PM Deadline has passed but as always, there are deals announced after the deadline bell rings. At this point though, I wouldn't expect anything else from NJ ***

This game was certainly a weird game in my opinion. For a part of the game, the Devils completely dominated one of the best teams in the Western Conference and then poof, had one of those moments where the opposition pumps in goal after goal in a very short time frame. When McAmmond went off for tripping and gave the Sharks their first PP of the game and they were able to cut the lead to 2, I was really worried at what I was seeing. In my opinion, a 2 goal lead is the worst kind of lead to have in hockey. One goal and the lead is cut in half, completely changing momentum in a hockey game. One minute later, the Sharks were knocking on the door after Pavelski cut the lead 4-3. Thankfully, the Devils were able to hang on but I'll be honest, when Zajac scored to make it 4-0, I never thought that would end up being the game winner. Allowing 3 goals in 2:35 seconds is down right scary.

As I mentioned yesterday, if the Devils lost, I was going to look for the moral win and even though the Devils skated away with the victory. This was a roller coaster ride and while the Defense scares me at times, which makes me wonder about todays deadline, the offense is simply amazing when they are clicking.

I do believe the Defense will get a HUGE bump if/when Paul Martin returns. We certainly were hoping for some Paul Martin after the Olympics but he's just not ready yet. I hope he close, I read he's close but I've been reading that for so long now, I don't know what to believe.

Congratulations to Travis Zajac who netted his 20th of the year and now has back to back 20 goal seasons. I think he was tired of the Parise / Langenbrunner spotlight the last two weeks because he looked like he was on a mission, skating into the zone and ripping a slapshot right by Nabakov.

I could get used to Kovalchuk scoring wristers from the point on Power Plays. He usually opts for the bigger slapper but sometimes it's not neccesary. Credit down the stretch must go to the third line for some excellent defensive play.  With 90 seconds left, Rob Niedermayer decided to play keep away from the Sharks for a good thirty seconds.  The Sharks finally got Nabokov off, but could not launch a successful attack.  Kovalchuk nearly hit an empty netter but he missed and came back on defense to shut down the final Shark breakout, and the game ended and a huge sigh of relief went up in Devils Nation.

Don't forget today is the deadline and everything I've read says you won't be seeing a certain brother of a current NJ Devil coming back to NJ. With the Ducks in the hunt, I'm not sure why they would trade Scotty. We'll see if Lou does something to sure up the defense a little, other than that, I don't think NJ needs much.

Join us tomorrow at The 6th Sens for a Live Trading Deadline Event.

When Sidney Crosby scored the overtime goal to clinch gold for Canada, the most successful sport in the Olympics came to an end. Olympic hockey drove the ratings throughout the Olympics, with CNBC and MSNBC offering limited commercial breaks and solid commentary. The ability to broadcast live games – such as the Canada-US gold medal match – greatly helped the ratings. And for that gold medal match, NBC drew 27.6 million viewers, the highest hockey rating since the tape-delayed U.S. vs. Finland gold medal game in 1980.

The Olympic hockey action drew a wide range of new and old viewers to the sport. But Olympic hockey differs in a few key ways from the NHL game. It moved quicker, didn’t allow fighting, and showed several all-star teams taking each other on. The Olympic product was high quality, but there are plenty of things the NHL can consider to improve their on-ice product and keep new fans watching the game.

Number 1: Keep The Game Going

As we all know, sometimes a hockey game can drag. There are those games when there seems to be seven whistles every minute. But, in the Olympics, many of the games seemed to flow. I would watch the game, look at the clock and realize five or ten minutes had already ticked off the clock. The Olympics kept the flow of the game while limiting the amount of commercials shown. With the games on CNBC and MSNBC the majority of the time, NBC probably could afford the advertising loss. But the NHL should take note.

Many viewers enjoyed the fast pace and almost non-stop action of the Olympic games. While watching the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche game last night, I realized the Olympic system could work for the NHL. If networks can keep commercial breaks to a minute or two, then the break in the action won’t be so noticeable. Then it won’t seem as if there is a clear break in the action. It’ll keep the breaks short and the action flowing.

Number 2: Institute No-Touch Icing

The Olympic rules differ from the NHL, including the no-touch icing rule. While I don’t know if I’m 100% in agreement with no-touch icing, the rule should be instituted in the NHL. There are too many injuries (or possibility of injuries) that result when two players chase down the puck. With the NHL attempting to become safer, no-touch icing becomes a no-brainer. You eliminate the possibility of a boarding or cross-checking penalty during the chase, and the game moves quicker.

The Olympics are over and the NHL has resumed play. I did enjoy the Olympics but I am certainly happy to get back to Devils Hockey or at least if they start winning I will be happy to get back to them!!

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (37-21-3) at the San Jose Sharks (40-13-9)

The Last Devils Game: It was UGLY. Even the 2 week layoff didn't make me forget about the whooping the 'Canes put in the Devils thanks to Ray Whitney.

The Last Sharks Game: The Sharks also looked bad against the Sabres going into the Olympic break. It certainly makes me wonder if the Olympics were a distraction, especially to a team like San Jose who was sending SO many guys.

Tonight's Matchup: Lets just get the Olympics stuff out of the way. Could there be a Post-Olympic Funk that is felt league wide? Sure, why not. These guys are going from playoff calibre games back to (and I say this loosely) regular season games that have little meaning, especially this East v West matchup. I'm not extremely worried about the 5 Devils that played in the Olympics. Kovalchuk and Elias left the tournament kind of early and Brodeur got the bench after the 5-3 loss to the USA over a week ago. Parise and Langenbrunner played the most of the 5 and Parise is young enough to not really have this affect him so I guess I am saying it's just Jamie that I worried about having a Post-Olympic Funk. I thought Marty's comments yesterday were exactly where I wanted him to be at this point in time.

For all your San Jose coverage on the Bloguin Network, go visit our friends over at Couch Tarts, they do a really nice job over there.  For my further thoughts on this game, please read on.