Kevin Allen of USA Today has reported on twitter that the New Jersey Devils have acquired star winger Ilya Kovalchuk for Johnny Oduya, Nicklas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier and a 1st-round draft pick. The trade was announced around 7:30 tonight and shocked the hockey world. The Devils were supposedly strong contenders during the entire sweepstakes, and obviously were the ones that were handing Don Waddell and the Thrashers the return he wanted.
This is a fantastic deal for the Devils, as they did not have to give up a whole lot for a rental, who could become a franchise star if re-signed in the summer. The Devils have just become a club that will be in the hunt for the Stanley Cup with the lineup they now hold, and have made the already tight Atlantic Division that much tougher. Yet another tremendous move by veteran GM Lou Lamoriello.
The Rangers will meet up with the new look Devils on Saturday night, which will be Kovalchuk's second game with New Jersey. The asking price, from a Blueshirts standpoint anyway, was ridiculously high and I am relieved Glen Sather did not make a mistake and go all out on this one.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
Thursday, February 4, 2010
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4 comments:
Lets see how Kovalchuk will play under a garbage "defense 1st" type of coach with jaques lemaire. Lemaire is the reason why gabby wanted to leave minnesota. Kovalchuk will request a trade out of NJ in no time. He wont last a minute in Lemaire's defensive system.
I think he will leave the team as a free agent in teh summer if he does not like playing the system- which is likely.
It was very interesting to compare the Caps power play with the NYR power play last night, especially since the NYR output was exceptional (for them). Three Caps move the puck laterally between them with quick, crip passes to get NYR and Lundquist moving side to side. As soon as a defender falls a step behind, they either shoot or drive to net and shoot. The two big boys down low, screen, the scoop up the garbage. Watching them, I EXPECT them to score because they do this in such a workmanlike, systematic way. Furthermore, there is no way that the players dreamed up this style while they were on the bus. They were trained to do this. NYR also tries to move the puck, but then generally move it more north-south than east-west and usually try to work out of the left corner. I presume the strategy is to attempt to isolate that defenseman, then create an opening either when he loses a step or when another defender moves over to help. NYR passes are generally shorter and except for Del Zoto, they are not as crisp as the Caps. When I watch NYR, I almost feel that it will take an act of God for them to score because they count too much on the creativity of individuals and not on a systematic scheme to wear out the outnumbered opposition. Once I get this far, I then ask myself how our coach can watch this contrast, then opt for either no team practice or a practice where he is not on the ice to show these guys what to do. The answer I come up with is that he isn't there because he doesn't know what to do or how to teach it. Boudreau coached in the minors for a long time and learned coaching technique there. So did the Ottawa coach and the Pitt coach. Emotional outbursts can only distract for so long ...
It is true. You do realize a lot when you go up against the better teams in the league and I understand where you are coming from. The Caps are probably the best puck moving team in the NHL and have superior skill to compliment that. Thye are fast, they all seem to have great hands. It just all works for them.
As for the Rangers, they do not have all of the skill up front that the Caps had. I think if we could get one more Gaborik-like plyer, we could be a much better team with the puck. But for now, we will have to deal with mediocrity.
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