Opening Night Roster Set!!

from newjerseydevils.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2003
Devils Assign Seven to Albany
New Jersey's Opening-Night Roster Set

East Rutherford, NJ – The New Jersey Devils set their opening night roster by assigning seven players to their top development team, the American Hockey League’s Albany River Rats. The announcement was made by Devils’ CEO/President/General Manager Lou Lamoriello.
Assigned were goaltender Ari Ahonen; defenseman Raymond Giroux; and forwards Jiri Bicek, Adrian Foster, Tuomas Pihlman, Ilkka Pikkarainen, and Aleksander Suglobov. Right wing Turner Stevenson was placed on the club’s Injured Reserve List.

The Devils’ current depth chart is as follows (alphabetically):
Goaltenders (2): Martin Brodeur, Corey Schwab.

Defensemen (7): Sean Brown, David Hale, Paul Martin , Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski, Scott Stevens, Colin White.

Forwards (14): Christian Berglund, Sergei Brylin, Patrik Elias, Jeff Friesen, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Jamie Langenbrunner, Igor Larionov, John Madden, Grant Marshall, Jay Pandolfo, Erik Rasmussen, Mike Rupp, Turner Stevenson.

I'm absolutly SHOCKED that Giroux did not make this team. Shocked! I don't think Hale or Martin outplayed him. Well, let the season begin boys and girls!!! :yo:

This is shocking! Good for Hale and Martin, but surprising about Giroux.

Edit. I'm a slow typer.

No surprise up front, but the sending down of Giroux is a little surprising. I guess they want to give the young guys and opportunity. At least the Devils know that if Hale and Martin aren't fully ready for the NHL grind, they will have Giroux ready on the farm and ready to go......

Surprises me that they would keep both Hale & Martin. It means that one will be a 7th defenseman , and not get too much playing time.

I think it would make more sense to sign Albelin and let him be a 7th guy and let one of the young guys play 20 minutes a night in Albany.

Surprises me that they would keep both Hale & Martin. It means that one will be a 7th defenseman , and not get too much playing time.

I think it would make more sense to sign Albelin and let him be a 7th guy and let one of the young guys play 20 minutes a night in Albany.

Unless the plan is to play both and bench Brown for the first little while...

I too am pretty surprised (pleasantly, I think) by this.

Unless the plan is to play both and bench Brown for the first little while...

I too am pretty surprised (pleasantly, I think) by this.

I got to see 3 of the 4 Flyers/Devils preseason games, and I thought Martin looked overmatched physically. He looks like he could use another 15 lbs. of muscle.

Hale looked much more NHL to me.

I'm somewhat surprised about Giroux after what I heard about the camp/preseason he was having, but I'm also glad that Hale/Martin will get a chance to play together in some NHL games (I doubt either will sit in favor of Brown). I'd like to see what Berglund can do with Gomez/Elias..

What is Albelin's status in light of this announcement? It appears that he is in limbo.

Assuming Brown is the healthy scratch, I'd figure our defensive pairings will look like:

Stevens-Rafalski ~12 minutes
White-Niedermayer ~ 12 minutes
Hale-Rafalski or Niedermayer ~ 12 minutes
Stevens or White-Martin ~ 12 minutes

Stevens/Rafi/White/Nieds = 18 minutes of even strength ice. Then there's 12 minutes of PP/PK time leftover. Seems like a pretty typical distribution to me.

Very interesting.

I'm guessing they'll line up like this -

Elias - Gomez - Marshall
Friesen - Rupp - Langenbrunner
Pandolfo - Madden - Gionta
Berglund - Larionov - Brylin
------------------------------------
Healthy Scratch - Rasmussen
IR - Stevenson

Stevens - Niedermayer
White - Rafalski
Hale - Martin
------------------------------------
Healthy Scratch - Brown

Brodeur
Schwab


Makes sense i suppose :dunno:

Your 3rd D pairing should have an interesting opening night with the B's all over them! Perfect roster for your system however I couldn't help but think that if Stevens ever goes down you're in the sh**. Without him you have no "size+experience package" depth on the D and you could probably wipe >10W's off your season.

forward lines read - shooter - playmaker - grinder with the D pairings mirroring this in opposite - grinder - playmaker

I have to admit that Lou can build a team! Stay healthy and we'll see you in the playoffs.



QUOTE=NJDevils#4]Very interesting.

I'm guessing they'll line up like this -

Elias - Gomez - Marshall
Friesen - Rupp - Langenbrunner
Pandolfo - Madden - Gionta
Berglund - Larionov - Brylin
------------------------------------
Healthy Scratch - Rasmussen
IR - Stevenson

Stevens - Niedermayer
White - Rafalski
Hale - Martin
------------------------------------
Healthy Scratch - Brown

Brodeur
Schwab


Makes sense i suppose :dunno:[/QUOTE]

forward lines read - shooter - playmaker - grinder with the D pairings mirroring this in opposite - grinder - playmaker

You know, I've looked at these lines for a while and just couldn't figure out a pattern. I don't know why but I couldn't. That's some nice analyzing. Nicely done. Makes perfect sense now. But I wouldn't really call Gionta or Berglund bigtime shooters just yet. And Larionov probably isn't the playmaker he used to be.

Wow, I'm surprised to say the least. My guess is that they'll do something like this

Stevens-Rafalski
Hale-Niedermayer
White-Martin

If either Hale or Martin adjusts quickly and elevates their game to a top 4 level my guess is that they will be integrated into the top 5. If not, Hale and Martin will see very little playing time down the stretch and in the playoffs.

I don't like this at all!!!

Martin & Hale are no where near close to playing in the NHL. And to have Giroux sent down for Martin to play...that's a pretty ****** thing to do to Ray.

Especially since he's been the most consistent D-Man throughout the preseason.

Just not right...don't like it one bit!

Burns might be banking on the fact that its better for the team in the long run to get David Hale out there where he can watch and learn from Scott Stevens a ton before he calls it a career. Doesn't Lou Lamoriello envision Hale as being Scott Stevens' probable successor down the road if everything goes according to plan? Maybe he knows this is Stevens' last season with the Devils? Still in shock that Giroux didn't make the club. Wow.

O/T: Jason, why don't you start up our season preview on the NHL league talk forum sinse your the most active member.

Burns might be banking on the fact that its better for the team in the long run to get David Hale out there where he can watch and learn from Scott Stevens a ton before he calls it a career. Doesn't Lou Lamoriello envision Hale as being Scott Stevens' probable successor down the road if everything goes according to plan? Maybe he knows this is Stevens' last season with the Devils? Still in shock that Giroux didn't make the club. Wow.As someone who believed that Giroux could help the Devils, I can't say I am surprised. I was pretty sure that Ray was not in the plans when they picked up Smehlik last year. Didn't make sense to get a declining veteran at that point unless they had no faith in Ray. Playing the rookies here seems to reaffirm that.

We'll it's done and I'll certainly trust Lou's judgement over mine any day. Happy to get on with the season. Good luck David and PMart.

If Stevenson is on the IR, we can recall a forward, can't we?

Also, Martin and Hale may play for a week or so, or until Lou can work out a contract with Tommy Albelin. I think he just wants to see what they can do in regular season games. Then they might be sent down and Ray Giroux will be called up.

Or, there could be a trade in the works. Something is up because sending down Bicek and Giroux does not make sense.

BTW, did they have to pass through waivers? Could they have been claimed?

Thanks!!!! :)

Maybe Brown plays tough guy when needed, in Turner's spot until he returns? :dunno:

I doubt Bicek and Giroux would have to clear waivers to go to Albany, when both Hale and Martin could be sent down without the possibility of losing them. If Jiri and Ray are not a part of the big picture, it would make more sense to at least trade them for picks or players, then to lose them for nothing.

I got to see a couple Devs Flyers, and the Ranger game on MSG and it looks like Burns likes these lines the best. Cant believe Giroux didn't make the team. From what I saw Albelin and Giroux looked better then Hale, Martin, Demarchi, and even Brown. I can't see Burns benching Brown though. He'll probabley start Brown and alternate Hale and Martin.

Elias-Gomez-Gionta
Friesen-Larionov-Langenbruner
Pando-Mad Dog-Marshall
Brylin-Rass-Bergland

Stevens-Raffie
Nieds-Whitty
Brown-Hale/Martin

Every game I saw he had Friesen-Larionov-Langenbruner, and they looked good!

This year is shapping up to be a carbon copy of 2000. Gomez, Madden, Whity, Raffie, who are these guys. Hale, Martin, Bergland, see any resemblance.

Not only did Giroux get sent down, but Martin got his #7. Ouch.

What kind of message does that send? Impending trade?:dunno:

I guess 19, 21, and 22 are forward numbers, and I know Lou likes to keep skaters #s under the traditional 30 with the exception of Richer and Mogilny. I don't recall any Devil wearing #13 either.

So maybe there were no other options?

Maybe Giroux gave it to him with his blessing.:rolleyes:

Anybody know what # Martin wore in college?

Hale took over Nieuwy's #25.

I doubt Bicek and Giroux would have to clear waivers to go to Albany

At this point they would not have to clear waivers becuase they were not taken in the waiver draft. They have a 30 day "waiver-free" period where they can go from Albany to Jersey. Remember when that happened to Tommy Albelin (was that last year or 2 years ago) when he started in Albany and than came to NJ to stay.

At this point they would not have to clear waivers becuase they were not taken in the waiver draft. They have a 30 day "waiver-free" period where they can go from Albany to Jersey. Remember when that happened to Tommy Albelin (was that last year or 2 years ago) when he started in Albany and than came to NJ to stay.

Since they're going to sign Albelin and go with 8 d-man until Turner returns, the defense is a definate work in progress.

I'm looking forward to seeing the kids in a real game and I'm comfortable with either Albelin or Giroux playing.

IMHO, Brown sucks. I know we need another physical d-man, but he sucks. He did many, many ugly things in the pre-season games I went to. Brown is a poor-man's Sean O'Donnell. Ick.

Anybody know what # Martin wore in college?


#10

http://www.gophersports.com/PhotoArchive/2002-2003/mhock_OhioState/images/Martin%20Paul%20130.jpg

http://www.gophersports.com/PhotoArchive/2002-2003/mhock_OhioState/images/Martin%20Paul%20170.jpg

http://www.gophersports.com/PhotoArchive/2002-2003/mhock_AlabamaHuntsville/images/Martin%20Paul%2001.jpg

Great pics! :handclap::bow::handclap: Thanks Unthinkable.