The Devils posted this video on the NHL Video site and while it is exciting to watch, it certainly leads you to believe that the Devils were a team that liked to score goals and weren't afraid to hit people.

* With 171 Goals for this season, NJ ranked 30th out of 30 in the goal scoring department.
* With 1539 total Hits laid on opposing players this season, NJ ranks 28th out of 30th in that department. Lets be fair though, John MacLean's strategy of turning over the puck and high fiving the oppostion as they spend through the neutral zone on the way to scoing a goal didnt' count as a hit, otherwise, I am pretty sure we might have led the league in hits.
* NJ ranked 30th out of 30 in the blocked shots department. Look on the bright side, at least we didn't suffer any major injuries, ala Stephen Callahan, late in the season because we like to block shots!!

I get that the Devils have to put out a video recapping the highlights of the season, and there certainly were a few worth noting.

* The signature Kovalchuk game winning goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs
* The game winning goal in OT against the Pittsburgh Penguins that had almost everyone jumping out of their seats.
* The amazing play that was Johan Hebburg throughout the season
* The lucky bounce they got against the Rangers at the buzzer.
* The Elias crossover goal against the 'Canes

They did miss these highlights though:

* Turn this way, that way, no this way move and goal Kovalchuk made on Joe Corvo  of the Hurricanes
* The Tedenby goal where he faked out the entire Islanders team, including the guys sitting on the bench.
* The Talinder to Elias to Talinder to Kovalchuk slapper against the Oilers

I am glad that they got the fat kid and his beer, the guy who couldnt stand up during one of the most exciting moments of the season, we certainly didn't want to miss that one!! And lets be truthful, this video is much more entertaining to watch than watching the staff lip sync, poorly I might add, to Bruce Springsteen. Why oh why do they put this stuff out there?? 15 years/100 million isn't enough material for the haters? If you have no idea what I am talking about, go visit http://video.devils.nhl.com

Andy Greene would sign on the dotted line today if Lou shoved a contract in his face. Greene admitted yesterday that he would gladly skip the free agency period and stay with NJ given the oppurtunity.

"This is the choice. This is where I want to be," Greene told The Star-Ledger. "If there is an offer there that is good and I felt was right, I'd definitely take it. I'm not dragging my feet waiting for July 1. We'll let it play out."

Question is, do we want to keep him? Lou has said that while obtaining a defenseman that can actually move the puck is high on his list this summer, he would like to see Greene in a Devils uniform in 2011/2012.

The two sides have spoken about getting a contract done but as of now, there has been no contract offer. Greene earned $750,000 this past season. So how much do you think Andy Greene is worth paying to keep him on the Devils blue line?

Greene was the Devils' leading scorer among defensemen with 23 points (four goals, 19 assists) in 82 games. He was durable but also had the worst plus-minus rating among the club's blue liners (minus-23). I like that he was the leading scoring among defensemen but that minus-23 is horrible. If you can manage not be a liability out there defensively, then I say pay the man something in order to keep him here, otherwise go away.

Have you been paying attention to the NHL Playoffs? It has been a great playoff season so far with some very exciting games that have gone into OT combined with a bunch of series that have gone the full 7 games but at the same time, the Devils aren't in it. It is certainly a weird feeling. Its not the the Devils have had deep runs in recent years because they haven't but usually once the Devils go out, I pay more attention to the team that knocked them out. I can always justify losing to a team if they end up being the team that lifts the cup.

The real problem with the Devils players spending their time being Dads, fishing, golfing, etc is that the lack of Devils news really hurts this site. So lets spend today talking about Zach Parise because the rumor mill has been working overtime this week when it comes to the future of Zach Parise and the NJ Devils.

NJ.com ran a story the other day that seemed to make readers believe that Lou and company were leaning towards taking Parise to arbitration instead of trying to sign a long term deal. The problem with the article, or at least the way it is written is that NJ.com appears to be making articles out of nothing really.

Yes, arbitration is a realistic possibility for Parise. The Devils would get to keep Parise on the Devils for what would probably be a low price because of his injury last season and give the Devils an extra year to sign him long term. The Devils have money coming off the books next summer and probably would fit Parise in a little easier. The problem with arbitration is that no one ever wins that game, the players usually end up feeling like crap because a GM can't go into that glowing about the player no matter how important he is. Most the time, I'd imagine that arbitration breaks a player/GM relationship and usually ends with that player signing elsewhere once UFA comes around.

I do hope the Devils sign Parise long term but to be running an article about going to arbitration at this stage in the game is rediculous. It is April 26th, no team is really thinking about signing guys at the moment. The teams that are home are probably letting their players lick their wounds for another few weeks and then getting back down to business once the time is right. I have no doubt that Lou want Parise to stay, that he would love to sign him long term. If Lou feels arbitration is the right route for Parise at this time, it is his call. I certainly hope if he does, that Parise finds away to deal with the disappointment of arbitration and ends up staying in NJ next summer. If Lou and Zach strike a deal this summer, great. Bottom line, it is April and now really isn't the time to speculate what is going on in Lou's mind when it comes to Zach Parise.

Who will end up behind the Devils bench next season?Well, here we are again. It seems that ever since I've start this Devils blog, one thing remains constant, that the Devils are spending the off-season looking for another coach. Two years ago, Sutter left us because he was crying about time away from his family, in came Lemaire. Last summer, Lemaire decided he had enough and in came Johnny Mac. We all know how that worked out but once again, Lemaire has said that he isn't returning to the Devils bench next season.

Take my thoughts for what they are worth because I didn't think hiring MacLean last season was such a bad idea but it turned out to be a very bad idea.

The important thing here is finding a long term type of coach. This one year, two year kind of coaching staff doesn't work. That was part of the reason I felt that MacLean was a good choice last summer. He was young and he had the appearence of a guy that would be behind the bench for a long time.

However, my first choice as coach at the moment defies everything I just said. Ken Hitchcock knows how to win. He's gotten the best out of some of his players, made deep runs in the playoffs and has even won a cup. The rumor is that he wants the job in NJ. I think he'd fit because of all the names I've heard thrown around, his style of coaching and playing closely resemble that of Jaques Lemaire and this team seems to really respond to that kind of coach. But, and this this a big but, he doesn't appear like a guy who will stay behind the bench for very long so should Hitchcock come on, I would think that in 2-3 years, we'd be right back here.

So if we are looking for a long term kind of coach, and don't mind a few growing pains, which could me missing the playoffs again next season, here is my list of other guys I would like to see.

Kirk Muller - He's done a great job in his role with the Canadiens. Yes, he'd be a rookie head coach and after MacLean, I'm not sold on going that route but he's young and like MacLean, has the appearence of the kind of coach that could still be here in 5 years.

Mike Haviland - I kind of thought he was going to be named the coach last summer. The Devils appeared to be waiting until the Blackhawks won or exited the playoffs before naming MacLean so I just thought they were waiting for Haviland. He was born here, he's 43 so he has plenty of years ahead of him but like Muller, has no head coaching experience in the NHL.

That's my short list, a list of guys who I would be happy with, any of them. There are some other names floating around that I wouldn't be too fond of. That list includes:

- Marc Crawford - I just don't like the guy
- Michael Therrian - Never really thought he had control of the Penguins, even though he got them to the Finals.
- Guy Carbonneau - Never thougt he did a great job in Montreal.
- Peter DeBoer - A lot of people like this guy but Florida was bad

If Carolina were to let go of Paul Maurice, I do think he would jump to the top of my list. However, I don't see them letting him go again. They made that mistake once, it did pay off for them because they won the cup with Peter Laviolette but then ended up firing him and rehiring Maurice.

So who's your choice? Any of the guys I mentioned of someone who I didn't even think of?

Lemaire leaves the ice for the final time this season.The Devils played 82 games this season and for the first time since the 1996 season, they don't get to play more than that. This season started with such great promise. Kovalchuk was supposed to score goals with ease, the line of Kovalchuk, Zajac and Parise were supposed to put up incredible numbers and Arnott was suppose to reignite Elias. Not only were the Devils supposed to be playing an 83rd game, they were picked by many to have a deep run at the cup. It didn't happen and we the fans knew early that it wasn't going to happen.

So what went wrong? What went right? Well, here is my list.

The Bad Stuff

1. John Maclean - Plain and simple, he wasn't ready to be a head coach in the NHL. In fact, I'm not even sure its about being ready, maybe he's just not a head coach kind of guy. The Devils never looked ready for their games with him behind the bench, their play was very sloppy and the players just never responded to his rants and discipline. Yes the players need to be held accountable but when Lemaire came in and said he'd never seen a more out of shape bunch of guys, you knew just how badly MacLean ran this team.

2. Injuries - In a season that consists of 82 games, sometimes on back to back nights, sometimes 3 games in 4 days, you are going to have injuries. Every team has them but the Devils lost a veteran defenseman for the entire season before the season began and lost a prolific scorer and team leader very early on. No team is deep enough to make up for that.

3. Marty Broduer - He showed his age this season. As the year went on, he got better but in the very beginning of the season, he looked terrible. Injuries were a problem as well and it reminds us that he isn't getting any younger and hopefully the Devils management is looking at the future and planning for life without Marty.

4. Henrik Tallinder - I'm sorry, this guy is awful. Early on in the season, the opposition would blow right by him as if he were standing still. In the Rangers game on Saturday, guys were STILL blowing right past him. He hasn't really improved and I am really surprised he only ended up a -6 for the season.

5. Andy Greene - a -23 for the season? WHAT!!?? That is disgusting!!

6. Lack of Scoring - as always, the Devils had a tough time finding the back of the net. We're Devils fans, we're used to that but in the past, we've had the defense and goaltender that kept us in low scoring games. This season it was a much different story. No scoring + shakey defense + aging Marty = Tee times in April instead of playoff games.

The Good Stuff

1. Jaques Lemaire - Thank god Lou called him around Christmas and thank god he decided that he wanted to come back to NJ. Yes, they didn't make the playoffs but he made the season enjoyable and for a brief time, had a lot of people believing the Devils could make a run at the playoffs. He got his team to battle back from 23 points out of the final playoff spot and got as close a 6 points out. He took over a team that was 9-22-2 and got them to finish 38-39-5. Just imagine what NJ could have accomplished if he didn't leave last summer.

2. Johan Hedberg - Hands down, the best move the Devils made last summer was signing Hedberg. He was clutch at times and was able to put Marty on the bench as a spectator for stretches. No one has done that before!!

3. Trading Jamie - The guy had to go and he wasn't adding anything to this team. As soon as Jaques came back, we all knew Jamie's days were numbered. He was a UFA this summer so I think what we got for him was more than adequate.

So now we get to sit on the sides and watch the other teams compete for the Stanly Cup. It's not a great feeling knowing your team doesn't get a shot but lets be honest, this is the first time in 15 years we missed and only the 3rd time in the last 23 seasons that the Devils have missed the playoffs. In 1997, the Devils returned to the playoffs and if it wasn't for the dumb "in the crease" rule, probably would have found themselves in the Eastern Conference Finals. Lets hope that rings true about 2012!!!

I'm sure at the offseason progresses, we will have much more on the 2010/2011 season as well as stuff for next season. Please stay tuned!!

So what did I learn about the Devils over the weekend?

* That Zach Parise is going to be just fine. The Devils need to find a way to sign him yet not handcuff the organization from making other moves we need to make.

* That I am disappointed this current Flyers team isn't the team we faced last season. Last year, they owned us, this year, that storyline is very different.

* That I don't like having my playoff hopes squashed by two former NJ Devils.

* On this coming Sunday, approx 6pm, I will have to start rooting for a different team if the Stanley Cup Playoffs are going to be entertaining at all.

News has started to surface that Jaques Lemaire is willing to consider remaining the coach in NJ next season. If you're a New Jersey Devils fan, that is the only news you want to hear. Well, that and maybe that you will make a playoff appearance this season but that appears to not be on the horizon for this team.

The Devils are famous for having a revolving door behind their bench. Each of their three Stanley Cups, all won within a 10-year period, was won with a different coach. Now, you can't blame all the changes on the Devils, as Lemaire did retire last spring and Pat Burns had to step down because of cancer. Some of the other coaches in recent history were just knuckleheads, yea you Kevin Constantine.

The Devils NEED Lemaire to come back, anyone with half a brain knows that. Lemaire took over a 9-22-2 team that had no chemistry, no promise and turned it into a 25-13-2 juggernaut. Lemaire commands the best from his players. When he arrived at Christmas, the Devils were very much out of shape. He's fixed that now and he's even got players scared to take penalties. Certainly John MacLean didn't own the locker room the way Lemaire does. I truly wonder if John MacLean will EVER get another coaching job in the NHL, maybe an assistant's job but I can't see another shot at head coach.

Getting Lemaire to stay for at least one more season would allow the Devils to easily transition from one season into another, without having to learn a new system, a new personality, and a new coaching philosophy. We all know how effective Jaques Lemaire is.

If you are Lou, you do everything possible to achieve two things this coming off-season. 1) Sign Zach Parise long term and 2) get Jaques Lemaire to stay. The Devils can’t afford to sacrifice another 33 games of a season to yet another new coach.

The Devils dropped their Friday night matchup, the one where they wore the old red and green jerseys, to the Washington Capitals, a very good Capitals team  I might add. Brodeur said after the game "It's a setback. We were doing well." It was the second loss in as many nights and the first time they dropped two in a row since the very beginning of January. What Brodeur said was an understatement. Basically, the way I see it, the Devils can afford 1 loss the rest of the season. They are still having trouble getting past 6 points out of 8th.

Thankfully, the Devils got back on track last night with a 3-0 win over the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets.? Tomorrow night the Devils head to Boston to take on a Bruins team that was embarrassed in Toronto and on Hockey Night in Canada so that one loss I feel the Devils can afford to lose, could come REALLY early.

You want to keep playing hockey in a few weeks, nows the time to dig down and show us what you are made of.

It's been all smiles for NJ lately and rightfully so...If the Devils can continue their winning ways tomorrow night when they Ottawa Senators come to town, this Devils team will reach the .500 mark. The way this team played and looked in the months of October, November and December, being a .500 team is a significant accomplishment. I don't think at any one point in time during those early months did I think that this team could put together such an impressive run, like they have in the last 24 games.

However, despite going 20-2-2 in the last 24 games, that has only gotten NJ to within 8 points of the final playoff spot. With 17 games left to play this season, it is going to be really difficult to climb into that spot. It's not that I don't believe in this team, it just that I agree with Jaques Lemaire when he says these 17 games are going to go by quickly and we do need for other teams to start losing. If the Devils were to pull off an amazing run and win the final 17 games of the season, they'd end up with 98 points, which would more than likely put them in the playoffs. But how realistic is that, to finish a season on a 37-2-2 run? Especially when NJ has 9 games against current playoff teams and 3 games against teams battling for that final playoff spot? One of these tough 12 games comes against the Rangers at MSG in the final weekend of the season, a game which could have HUGE ramifications on the playoff picture. I'll be sure to be watching that game!!

I'd be thrilled if the Devils climbed into the playoffs, not because I believe that if they do they could win the whole thing. Getting to the playoffs buys you a chance but I'd be more thrilled because this team would have overcome such a huge hole to accomplish something nobody thought was possible. Right now, I am just thrilled watching this team. I wasn't able to watch the Islander game yesterday (the reason for no recap..) but the Penguins game on Friday night was thrilling and thats all I can ask for, from a team that 24 games ago was 27 points out of the playoffs.

The point I wanted to make on this non-game day is that I feel pretty damn proud of this team and think that it is pretty impressive that the Devils are one win from being a .500 team when only a few months ago, they couldn't do anything right. I think a lot of people have erased that image of the puck getting away from Kovalchuk during a shootout where the entire arena bursted into boobirds, and rightfully so, he has completely turned his game around!!

The New Jersey Devils biggest supporterWhen it comes to Devils fans, I think we can all agree on one thing and that is that we are used to people talking smack about our team. For years, we've heard it all: NJ plays boring hockey, NJ doesn't care about offense, NJ has no fans, NJ is what killed in the NHL in 2005, NJ is and always will be a trap team, etc etc.... It doesn't usually bother me but I've had read one particular hockey journalist for years and I've finally had enough.

Whenever ESPN's Scott Burnside decides to focus his attention on the NJ Devils you can be guarenteed one thing, that it will be a column full of hatred and facts that have no basis what-so-ever. For the past 6 or 7 years, I've watched Burnside put on paper that this will be the year of the Devils demise. Congratulations Scott, 2010/2011 is FINALLY the year you are correct. It had to happen at some point!! I'm sure journalists wrote for years that this would be the year the Rangers won the cup and finally in 1994 they were right!!

Today, he and fellow ESPN hockey columnist Pierre Lebrun wrote a column debating the ramifications of the Jamie Langenbrunner trade. Let me share some comments made by Scott Burnside..

"Let's start with the Devils, who continue to solidify their place as not just the worst team in the NHL this season, but also maybe the worst team in franchise history. "

I am the first one to admit the Devils product on the ice this season has been complete garbage but to go so far and say its possibly the worst team in franchise history is a bit much. Please do some research and use your brain. Those teams in 1983, 84 and 85 to start the franchise were certainly worse, especially given the high quality of talent existing in today's NHL compared to back then. If Parise were healthy, he alone would have helped NJ win at least 5 or 6 games which would currently have them in an outside shot of making the playoffs this season.

"I thought it pretty funny when you asked Lamoriello if Martin Brodeur might be approached about a move. The GM simply answered: "No."

Why would that be funny?? Can't argue with what Marty has done for this team in the past and many believe he still has something left and everyone is entitled to a bad season. He has one year left on his contract and after embarrasing himself this season, you don't think he'll want a season of redemption? You probably wrote Tim Thomas off after last season as well but look at him now.

"Moving Langenbrunner, and any other pieces of driftwood from the Devils' lineup, does open up some salary-cap space that could allow Lamoriello to re-sign restricted free agent Zach Parise."

Please check your facts. Langenbrunner was due to be an UFA this summer so Jamie doesn't even factor into the equation when it comes to Zach Parise. Yes other players or "driftwood" as you so nicely phrase it will need to go in order to give Parise the contract he deserves.

"It’s hard to imagine he would want to, given the sorry state of the franchise."

This was in reference to Parise resigning in NJ. I guess one bad year after making the playoffs every year from 1997-2010 including 2 cups and another Finals appearence certainly justifies this quote. The Peguins who you write nothing but wonderful things about were a joke for a long time. The Flyers were just as bad as the Devils are just a few years ago but found their way to the Finals last season. Should I keep going?

If it were just this article, I wouldn't be writing this post but if you look at his archive, you'll see the hatred his spews about NJ on a regular basis. Part of me says I shouldn't even address the things this guy says because a) it just shows that I read his crap, which causes him to write more and continue being emplpoyed by ESPN and b) he works for ESPN who. honestly, doesn't really care about the NHL. Anyone significant in my book left that network when the dumped this league in 2005. If he were a real hockey journalist, he'd write for someone more involved in the NHL.