Around the NHL in 30 Days – New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils take center stage in FanSided’s Around the NHL in 30 Days. Head over to the Pucks and Pitchforks blog to read the full preview, and to see just how much the staff there loves their Jersey Devils. I’m also pretty impressed with the Devils lately. I mean they had a terrible first half of the season last year, and then followed that with one of the most impressive second half comebacks in recent years to just miss the playoffs. You gotta love that “never say die” attitude.

There are a lot of questions surround the Devils this year. Will their new coach be able to harness the team’s second half transformation last year? Will this year be Marty Brodeur’s last?  How will Ilya Kovalchuk do this year? What’s up with Travis Zajac? One thing I’ve learned from watching the Devils over the years is that you can never count out Marty Brodeur. He is usually the player that the team can lean on and his great play is usually enough to makeup for any other shortcomings on the team. If this is Brodeur’s last year then no doubt the Hall of Fame won’t be that far away for him.

Here’s a snippet of what the great writers at Pucks and Pitchforks have to say about their Jersey Devils:

"This team is fairly strong all around, and despite the Zajac injury, the forwards should be able to hang tough, at least, until his return.  I will predict a sixth or seventh-place finish out of the Devils for next season, and this team does have a chance to knock off a team or two come playoff time, if they ultimately do make it in.  The last two teams to knock them out of the playoffs were both seventh seeds, in fact, so maybe this team can take a page out of the Hurricanes’ and Flyers’ books."

Season series vs. the Sharks: 2 games, Sharks and Devils split the series

The Sharks won 5-2 at the Shark Tank and the Devils won 2-1 in New Jersey. It’s interesting to note that the Sharks beat the Devils so handily in the first half of the season, when the Devils were struggling. The Devils picked their game up in the second half of the season and were able to beat the Sharks. I think that if the Devils can find that extra gear early on this year rather than in the second half then they will make the playoffs. Once a team makes the playoffs its hard to tell how far they will go. When Marty Brodeur is on his game the Devils will always be a playoff threat.

Tomorrow in FanSided’s Around the NHL in 30 Days the NY Islanders will be featured, make sure to check that out!

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