New York Sports Fan Blog

For the past two games, with their backs against the wall, the New Jersey Devils have come up strong with two big games to keep themselves in the running for the Stanley Cup. After winning the first three games on the Stanley Cup Finals, the Los Angeles Kings made everyone believers that they would sweep New Jersey to lift their first ever Stanley Cup. But they have come up short in the past two games. The Kings offense has been no where to be found after lighting the lamp in game 3, scoring four goals against future hall-of-fame goaltender Marty Brodeur. The Devils were able to score twice against stellar goalie Jonathan Quick of the Kings in game 4, and then scored an empty net goal to make the final score 3-1, thus bringing the series back to New Jersey. The motto in the Devils locker room before game 4 was they have to fly back to New Jersey no matter what the outcome was in the fourth game, and they wanted to bring the Kings back with them to make them earn their first ever Stanley Cup. That is exactly what happened.

The series shifted back to The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and the Devils got the crowd into it fast after an exciting first period of game 5. When the buzzer sounded after the third period the score was 2-1 New Jersey. The Kings now know the Devils are not going anywhere and they will come out fighting in game 6 Monday night in order to once again bring the series back to New Jersey for a game 7. All eyes are on the Kings and if they are going to be able to finish off the Devils at home tonight. If they don’t, another six-hour flight awaits them back to the east coast for a game 7, something no one in the Kings locker room wants. They want to hoist the Cup tonight, in front of 18,000+ of their fans and show everyone that they no only deserve to be in this year Stanley Cup Finals, but that they deserve to be the Champions this year.

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 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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and other New Jersey Devils Gifts and Collectibles
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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

New Jersey Devils Sports Memorabilia
and other New Jersey Devils Gifts and Collectibles
Below are links to memorabilia available for popular New Jersey Devils players.