Devils vs. Flyers in Trenton

[DevilFisch]

Originally Posted by Blackjack

Actually, I'm glad this happend to Janssen, now he know where he stands and what he has to work on. I'm just dissapointed about how that picture came out.

A few years later, maybe we'll see Janssen do the same to Vandermeer.

Well, maybe not.

[gmdevils]

Originally Posted by Blackjack

Flyers fans are going to ram down our throats

Maybe you could've chose a better phrase???

[The Mad Crapper]

*The only glaring weekness I saw was our fighting. Devils got in 3 fights and got absolutly killed in all of them. I mean, not even close. Brashear made Marshall and Brown look like punching bags. and Cam Jannsen got knocked around too. I'm starting to wonder if losing Jim McKenzie might be a bigger deal than many of us made it out to be. Who is our real muscle on the team?? Neither Marshall nor Brown are "real" fighers. I think this issue might need to be addressed by Lou. The Devil don't need to get pushed around by moron fighters when we can get a good one for a 9th rounder.

This is way I said we need to call up Skrlac for games like this. I don't care how much fighting is down, this is one of the ways we lose players for the long term when they aren't decent heavyweight fighters.

We can win all we want, but we cannot be paper tigers if we plan to contend for a title! Flyer fans will remind of us of this game for a little while....that's for sure!

http://www.thnt.com/thnt/story/0,21282,815956,00.html

THIS AND THAT: A third-period fight left Devils coach Pat Burns upset. New Jersey's Grant Marshall and Philadelphia's Donald Brashear exchanged swings before Marshall tumbled to the ground. Brashear continued throwing punches at his opponent while Marshall was on the ground. "I've never seen that," Burns said. "Good fighters respect those things." For his part, Marshall kept throwing punches while flat on his back. "It was probably my own fault," Marshall said. "That's the way it goes. The big thing is we won." New Jersey defenseman Sean Brown went after Brashear later in the third, making quick pals of his new teammates. . . . Martin Brodeur was sharp in his first outing of the preseason. He stopped all 14 of the shots he faced during the first two periods, and was pulled before the start of the third. Scott Clemmensen kept the shutout in tact with five saves in the third. . . . Marshall, Sergei Brylin, and Mike Rupp scored on three of New Jersey's first five shots to give the Devils early breathing room... The Devils will be honored for their Stanley Cup Championship season with a visit to the White House on Monday. Devils coach Pat Burns said he's looking forward to it. Individual game tickets for the regular season go on sale the same day.

Originally Posted by The Devils Repairman

This is way I said we need to call up Skrlac for games like this. I don't care how much fighting is down, this is one of the ways we lose players for the long term when they aren't decent heavyweight fighters.

We can win all we want, but we cannot be paper tigers if we plan to contend for a title! Flyer fans will remind of us of this game for a little while....that's for sure!

You can lose players for the long term when they screw their hands up making contact with injection molded helmets or they go down hard twisting an ankle or pulling a muscle trying to be "the man" just the same though. If your skill players get drawn into the fighting and they somehow injure themselves whether they are sticking up for teammates or not, its a loss for the team no question about it. Paper tigers or no, the Devils won the Stanley Cup last season without icing a bunch of rough necks looking to constantly initiate big fights. Its still a part of the game of hockey, but who really cares who won the fights at the end of the night as long as the team keeps winning and the team isn't humiliated?

http://www.nj.com/devils/ledger/inde...8173798870.xml
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After Flyers winger Donald Brashear dropped Ray Giroux with a third-period hit, Devils defenseman Sean Brown challenged Brashear to a fight. When both dropped their gloves, Grant Marshall stepped in and took some punches from Brashear while lying on the ice as Brown and Jim Vandermeer tangled.

"I just know the rule is you never punch somebody when they're down," Burns said. "Brashear was smashing his face on the ice. I never saw that before. A good fighter respects those things."

Marshall, who received an instigater penalty, said, " I wanted to fight Vandermeer because he slashed Brown from behind. Brashear went after me and I didn't respond. When you have that big guy on you, I'm fighting for my life."

Brown and Brashear finally did fight with 1:21 remaining. "You want to show you'll be there for your teammate," Brown said. "I think Brashear took advantage of Marshall on the ground."