Devils' management taking the fun out of the game?

Very interesting interview with Gionta. This, if true, is beginning to shape my opinion on how tightly management keeps things and how that may reflect the players' outlooks. Chere uses the phrase "word has gotten around" without citing anything. When writers say this, I'm guessing it must have come up over casual off-the-record conversation about a handful of times (or more).

For me, this article from Chere really sheds some light on the new coach. Hitchcock has a reputation for being harder on the younger guys and respecting veterans, but he's not known as a "players' coach" from what I know. This would make a stronger case for Carbonneau or Johnny Mac. Guys who would put "fun" back in the sport.

"He is not the first to hint that some of the fun has gone out of playing the game in New Jersey. . . . Word has gotten around the league about how poorly some respected veterans were treated, such as two-time Stanley Cup winner Jay Pandolfo being benched during the playoffs and forced to dress in the practice locker room instead of with his teammates in the main dressing room. . . And what about his former team? The next coach must find a way to keep players fresh and put the fun back in the game."

about 2 years ago Cherno77 4 comments 0 recs |

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I know that no one knows this team like Chere, but to criticize the benching of Pandolfo is stupid. There’s a good reason Pandolfo wasn’t playing, and it’s his play. He’s getting older and slower while the Devils are moving in a younger direction, as they should. Now I’ll agree that when we were clearly flopping against Philly, maybe putting Pando back in to switch things up—and his playoff experience—would have been a good idea. But other than that, he was not playing for all the right reasons.

That being said, it is a little strange he couldn’t dress with them. I could see that as a point of contention, just not his lack of playing time.

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by thejerseydevil on May 18, 2010 9:52 AM EDT reply actions

To be fair, Pandolfo was playing most of the year with a bum shoulder. He had surgery about two weeks ago, which is probably why he wasn’t that great.

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by Kevin Sellathamby on May 18, 2010 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Which further showed that if you need to get surgery, then go get it.

Regarding Gionta, I can’t respond to this article without being really snarky (e.g. “All the same, Gionta, it wasn’t fun for me to watch your goal totals drop from 48 to 25 to 22 to 20.”) or cold (e.g. “Oh, well, then I suppose the Devils should have taken more games off in 09-10, slump aside. Maybe they can lobby the league to only play 72 games for 2010-11 so they can avoid that nasty burnout from doing what they get paid millions to do.”)

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by John Fischer on May 18, 2010 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Playing well or not, that’s just not how you treat a well-respected veteran who is one of the team’s core. Pando may not be the penalty-killing, clinch-goal-scoring guy that he was, but he is still well-loved by his teammates, especially Parise, who is good friends with him. Perhaps by disrespecting Pando that way (or allowing it, in Lou’s case), management drove the wedge between themselves and the team (particularly the team’s leadership) that much farther.

If Andrew Peters ever plays again it will be too soon.

by LangsForPres on May 18, 2010 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions