Martin Brodeur noted that the Olympic gold medal he picked up in Vancouver on Sunday is larger and heavier than the one he won with Canada in 2002.

That’s because he sat on the bench as the backup to Roberto Luongo for the last four games, including Sunday’s 3-2 overtime win over the U.S. in the gold-medal game.

“It’s hard,” Brodeur said Monday after rejoining his Devils’ teammates in San Jose to prepare for tonight’s season reopener against the Sharks. “When you don’t play, you don’t feel as much a part of the team. I really embraced it as much as I could because I think this was the right thing to do.”

It might be difficult for some to come back from the emotional experience of the Olympics, but Brodeur doesn’t believe that will be a problem for him.

“It’s been over for a week for me, so I’m not in an Olympic mode, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’m excited to get back. This is our family. This is what we do.”

Click here to read the full article – By Bergen Record

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The Devils will return a different team than the one that skidded into the Olympic break. Whether they’ll be better depends on whether coach Jacques Lemaire can restrain himself and un-burn them out.

They’ll be better just for the returns from fractures of Paul Martin and David Clarkson, better for the further acclimation of Ilya Kovalchuk, and better for the trade that sources told The Post general manager Lou Lamoriello is still pursuing for another center.

Lamoriello, sources say, was in the hunt for Matt Cullen, who went to Ottawa from Carolina, and has made inquiries about Matt Stajan, who left Toronto for Calgary. His interest in a center is a certainty.

Another forward, Alexei Ponikarovsky, who plays like a center, is likely to be moved out of Toronto, and he may be the best they had. There has been speculation, idle or not, from NHL team officials that he could be Jersey-bound.

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

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Devils left wing Ilya Kovalchuk grew up in Russia, so he knows what big snowstorms are like.

“All the schools [in Atlanta] were shut down for a week, so it’s a little different,” Kovalchuk said before the Devils’ game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night at Prudential Center. “But there’s a little bit more snow here. It’s like back in Russia, so it’s good. Nice hockey weather.”

Fortunately for Kolvalchuk, he did not have to drive in the storm. Only a week has passed since the trade that brought him to the Devils from the Thrashers, and he still doesn’t have a car in New Jersey.

He got a ride to Prudential Center on Wednesday afternoon from rookie right wing Vladimir Zharkov, a fellow Russian.

“We’re in the same hotel, so he’s a pretty good driver,” Kovalchuk said. “He’s got a Porsche Cayenne sports car. So I told him, ‘Just be careful. Relax.’ ”

The day was somewhat reminiscent of Jan. 22, 1987, when a blizzard brought 15 inches of snow to the area and only 334 fans made it to the Meadowlands to watch the Devils defeat the Calgary Flames, 7-5. The start was delayed 1 hour and 46 minutes because only 13 Devils had arrived by the 7:30 p.m. game time.

Click here to read the full article – By Bergen Record

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The Devils experienced something they never see in New Jersey.

The team will experience another oddity Tuesday night when Yann Danis starts in goal for the Devils against the Leafs in place of Martin Brodeur.

Brodeur, who had started the last 33 games and played in 40 straight, couldn’t remember the last time he did not start a game in Canada.

“It’s been a while,” Brodeur said. “Especially here. I don’t know where I’m going to sit. I have to ask the trainer.”

Nov. 6 against the Islanders was the last game this season in which Brodeur did not see action either as a starter or in relief of Danis.

“There are a lot of games coming up. This is a great time for me to rest,” Brodeur said. “We’ve got two days off after this game. After that it’s a full week of playing games every couple of days. This will give me time to rest and work on my game.

Click here to read the full article – By Newark Star-Ledger

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November is done, and so is the Devils’ six-game month of home perfection. Jacques Lemaire says December’s 0-1 Devils will skate, skate and skate some more today after last night’s flop.

“They need a good practice. We’ve been taking it easy on them, thinking they might be getting tired. Christmas is coming, everybody’s mind is somewhere else. We’ll try to put their minds back on the game,” Lemaire said after last night’s 5-2 loss to the Canucks in Newark.

Giving up a handful for only the third time this season, the Devils allowed the first three in the first 12:32 of play and never caught up, losing in Newark for the first time since Oct. 28.

“They played well, we didn’t, and that makes an ugly outcome,” Andy Greene said after the loss snapped New Jersey’s three-game overall winning streak.

The Devils fell behind 3-0 for the first time since losing 5-2 in their season opener to the Flyers Oct. 3 in Newark. They hadn’t allowed three goals in an entire game in Newark since that Oct. 28 4-1 loss to the Sabres, and the night’s five were most of the six-victory home streak’s total of eight goals allowed.

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

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Devils coach Jacques Lemaire has spent weeks waiting for various injured players to get back onto the ice, and they are finally beginning to return to the lineup.

Center Rob Niedermayer should be the first reinforcement. Niedermayer is expected to play tomorrow night against Vancouver for the first time since he suffered a separated shoulder Nov. 4 against the Capitals.

“We’ll see [today],” Niedermayer said after yesterday’s practice. “Hopefully it feels good again. I’d like to get back in the lineup as soon as I can.”

Niedermayer, who began practicing last week, wasn’t the only recuperating player on the ice yesterday. Left wing Jay Pandolfo, who has been out of the lineup because of a dislocated right shoulder that he injured Oct. 24 against Pittsburgh, participated in his first full practice. Pandolfo was less optimistic about being able to suit up for tomorrow night’s game.

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

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The comebacks are coming.

It also means the temps who helped the Devs work that miracle will soon have their stalwart efforts repaid by diminished roles or downright demotions.

And, too, it means the Devils will have full shelves of credible youngsters for trading when it comes time to rent playoff help.

Johnny Oduya (hip/groin) and Jay Pandolfo (dislocated shoulder) are likely to join the team in practice today, while Rob Niedermayer (shoulder separation) already is practicing with the varsity.

Click here to read the full article – By New York Post

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Brendan Shanahan is retiring from the NHL.

After 21 seasons and an almost certain Hall of Fame career, the 40-year-old forward announced Wednesday that he wouldn’t play again. After going through training camp with the New Jersey Devils, the team he spent his final season with, he and the club mutually parted unexpectedly shortly before opening night of the season.

That move came one day after Shanahan, who scored 656 career goals, was told there was no spot for him on the Devils’ top three lines.

He has not played this season.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

After posting a 44-30-8 record in their first two years at Prudential Center, the Devils have had difficulty continuing that success, opening the season with an 0-2 record at home.

Starting with tonight’s game at Tampa Bay, the Devils will get a welcome change of scenery with a three-game road trip, their first venture out of New Jersey this season. As the lone team in the Atlantic Division without a point, the Devils will attempt to rebound at the Panthers on Saturday and the Capitals on Monday.

“We’ve been here for a long time,” said Devils coach Jacques Lemaire, in his first year of his second stint with the team. “I think it’s the right time, the right moment to go on and hit the road and build up our confidence and regroup.”

Goaltender Martin Brodeur said, “We’re looking for any kind of spark to get us going. We played a little better [against the Rangers on Monday], but still there’s lots of improvement to do and now we’re concentrating on doing it on the road for three games.”

Click here to read the full article – By Howard Kussoy of New York Post

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It’s not the impressive Rangers the Devils will fret first tonight in Newark. They are more concerned about themselves than they are about their rivals.

“It’s just about us, how we play. The Rangers, for the fans, it’s a big deal, but for us, it’s getting a win and feeling better about ourselves,” said Brodeur, who set an NHL record by making his 15th straight opening night start.

Besides an excusable goal off a retrieved block, the Devils’ franchise goalie was beaten by three first-shot wristers and a wrap, and the fans registered their disappointment with derisive cheers.

Brodeur says he knows what went wrong and spent yesterday correcting it.

“I was concentrating in practice on challenging the shooters a little more instead of looking for [opponents'] plays all the time,” Brodeur told The Post. “I got caught, for whatever reason, I don’t know, I was looking for [Philly] to make an extra play all the time.

“I wasn’t really square to them and that’s not me. That’s not the way I play. Usually I don’t doubt anybody around me that I have to do this.”

Click here to read the full article – By Mark Everson of New York Post

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