Devils in the Details - 12/16/11 - #27 Edition

by Goalvalchuk on Dec 16, 2011 9:50 AM EST in Devils in the Details

Your daily dose of Devils news...

Tom Gulitti did not like the way the Devils the Niedermayer ceremony - [SB Nation NY]
One of the most important trademarks of Scott Niedermayer's career was winning - [Fire & Ice]
Even if they were on the opposing team, players still respected Scott Niedermayer - [NY Times]
Also, did you know Travis Zajac is back tonight? - [NorthJersey.com]

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Gulitti is 100% right. But talking about the Devils boneheaded marketing moves is just beating a dead horse. They won’t change until Lou retires.

by Zelepukin on Dec 16, 2011 10:29 AM EST reply actions

Frankly, Gulitti is right. We could have really made this a big event that would have made headlines for the team and really celebrate this event.

by NJGuy on Dec 16, 2011 10:32 AM EST reply actions

What more headlines?

There’s been lots of coverage, can’t see how another interview would do much more.

The Devils have won more titles than all Philly pro sports teams combined in the last 25 years

by Real Big Devils Fan on Dec 16, 2011 10:57 AM EST up reply actions

I agreed. A media event would benefit one group of people only: the media. And I’m not even convinced of that either. What would they even do? Ask the same questions of Niedermayer that Gulitti asked of him earlier today, with the same responses?

Given that this night has been hyped by the team, the league, MSG, etc.; I’m not sure what opportunity was actually lost. I rolled my eyes at Gulitti’s tweet (and AJ’s column, but apparently, I can’t comment there?) then and now.

Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog

by John Fischer on Dec 16, 2011 11:08 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

The media event that The Devils whiffed on was not about getting some extra interviews with Niedermeyer. It was to put all three retired defensemen whose numbers are hanging, who all played alongside each other to speak on the team’s legacy, what it meant to them to be Devils and about having #27 now join #3 and #4,

That’s a huge whiff.

by Zelepukin on Dec 16, 2011 1:12 PM EST up reply actions

So Stevens and Daneyko aren’t going to be there? Or is this specifically about having all three together before the game? They could all meet and have a “retired players conference” for the media during the post game.

In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils

by Matthew Ventolo on Dec 16, 2011 1:39 PM EST up reply actions

It’s about having the three available the day of the celebration, together, on hand to speak with the media.. The Devils didn’t stage anything like that and easily could have since the other two work for the organization and/or MSG.

Media got all excited at a possible Legion of Doom reunion for the Winter classic. While this isn’t exactly the same thing, I’m positive this reunion would have excited as well resulting in some more coverage not so much in more Niedermeyer’s number retirement, but the Devils legacy and dominance for two decades.

by Zelepukin on Dec 16, 2011 2:10 PM EST up reply actions

I agree with previous comments. An opportunity lost.

by guanacoracing on Dec 16, 2011 10:49 AM EST reply actions

Agreed. Could be a much bigger event.

This didn’t occur to me until this morning while driving to work. Listening to WFAN, Boomer was on without Carton and I did not hear one mention of the event tonight. I heard plenty of Rangers discussion, but not a mention by either him or Jerry (update guy who i believe is a Devils fan) about Niedermayer’s retirement tonight. I know Nieds was on Sirius the other day with bettman, but how the largest local sports talk radio station who actually carries the Devils is not promoting the game tonight just sucks. My bad tuning in this morning thinking that without Carton the hockey killer, and with Jerry and Boomer who are hockey fans, that they would at least have a mention about it on game day or AT LEAST something in the update.

by NewarkCupParade on Dec 16, 2011 11:04 AM EST reply actions

Most of WFAN doesn’t devote much time to hockey outside of the games themselves. Boomer’s a Rangers fan (and it helps they’re on MSG too) so they’ll get some time. Even if the Devils had a “media event,” it’s not like WFAN would suddenly have segments during their standard programming.

Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog

by John Fischer on Dec 16, 2011 11:10 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

Listening to WFAN, Boomer was on without Carton and I did not hear one mention of the event tonight.

Boomer is a Ranger season ticket holde and Carton hates hockey. This is not surprising. They never talk about the Devils and they work very hard to keep it that way.

In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils

by Matthew Ventolo on Dec 16, 2011 11:11 AM EST up reply actions

very true

I can recall one conversation in particular this past year when they were discussing the success of teams in this area. Boom made a comment like, if you really want to see who was the most successful franchise in this area recently, after the Yankees, “you know who it would be” to which Carton replied something to the effect of, “I don’t even want to hear The Devils”.
Although I guess it hasn’t always been terrible. I do seem to remember that they devoted a good hour plus talking about Brodeur when he was going for the wins record. Inferiority complex I guess.

by NewarkCupParade on Dec 16, 2011 11:25 AM EST up reply actions

Its a grown man calling himself boomer, i wouldn’t take them seriously.

"Its the letter D"

by Rory B. Bellows on Dec 16, 2011 1:11 PM EST up reply actions

Does anyone really think there’d be that much more attention paid to the Devils if they did do what Gulitti suggested? Hockey doesn’t get much in the way of airtime to begin with around here…. and there’s plenty of other stuff to compete for attention. In the sports world alone, the Giants and Jets are both relevant at the moment plus the NBA season is getting ready to begin. In the “real world”, there’s this little holiday called “Christmas” coming up.

The concept that the Devils should make a massive show out of this and a P.R. blitz reminds me of the age-old question about trees falling in forests with nobody around.

by acasser on Dec 16, 2011 11:07 AM EST reply actions

Certainly not. I don’t know why Gulitti is complaining, but then again I find articles like the one he would’ve written about such a theoretical event to be pretty boring and rote. Obviously as a member of the media covering the Devils he gets treated terribly, but still – neither the time nor the place to lash out about it.

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by Triumph44 on Dec 16, 2011 1:58 PM EST up reply actions

My thoughts exactly.

"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"

by Elektrostal_Kid on Dec 16, 2011 5:38 PM EST up reply actions

Simple Idea that would never get traction

Plan an outdoor rally at, say, 5:30 or 6 tonight and try to get ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox local news to get some coverage.

Obviously it would never happen, because they’d rather interview the neighbor of a grandmother who had her purse stolen after being knocked down and put into the hospital, but it never hurts to try, right?

Heck, I’m sure my parents’ neighborhood in the southeast corner of Sussex County has seen more ABC7 news vans about a decade ago when their neighborhood was being evacuated due to the threat of flooding from a dam that never burst than Championship Plaza out in front of the Rock has ever seen.

by Marty 4 Prez on Dec 16, 2011 11:18 AM EST reply actions

Plan an outdoor rally

You mean a riot?!?!?!

That would get some publicity..hmmm

In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils

by Matthew Ventolo on Dec 16, 2011 11:33 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah, and then we can blame it on the fringe, anarchist types. I mean, that worked for Vancouver after they Loluongo’d their way through game 7, right?

by Marty 4 Prez on Dec 16, 2011 11:35 AM EST up reply actions

A rally? No.

Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog

by John Fischer on Dec 16, 2011 11:55 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

For the record

Scott Niedermayer is trending on Twitter in the New York area.

In Lou We Trust: SBN Blog of the New Jersey Devils

by Matthew Ventolo on Dec 16, 2011 11:39 AM EST reply actions

What is truly depressing is the fact that it is potentially Martin Brodeur’s final season and many sports fans have no idea that he even still plays.

Even if Lundqvist never wins a Cup his final season will be jammed down our throats especially by the New York media.

by DiffuseTheBob on Dec 16, 2011 12:24 PM EST via mobile reply actions

Building on that thought; if Martin Brodeur’s career occurred in a Rangers uniform and he won them 3 Stanley Cups and broke the Wins record he would have a statue of him erected outside of the Garden.

by DiffuseTheBob on Dec 16, 2011 12:31 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

He has mural on the side of the rock, near broad st.

"Its the letter D"

by Rory B. Bellows on Dec 16, 2011 1:13 PM EST up reply actions

And Dwight Gooden used to have this ginormous mural on the side of a building you could see as you came out of the Lincoln Tunnel on the Manhattan side.

Let’s face facts. As far as the (NYC) media is concerned, if it isn’t within the bounds of the Five Boroughs, it just doesn’t matter as much.

by acasser on Dec 16, 2011 1:51 PM EST up reply actions

Unless it’s the NY Football Giants or NY Jets*

**NY Jets only If they are having a good year or Rex Ryan makes another boast.

Double coverage if of course both teams are playoff contenders only half-way through the season because OMG they might play each other in the Super Bowl

by Marty 4 Prez on Dec 16, 2011 1:59 PM EST up reply actions

The Jets — particularly Rex Ryan — create headlines. When the stories and headlines write themselves, the media gets really excited…. perhaps because it leaves “journalists” more time to work on their golf swings or Sudoku grids.

If we ever got a Bizarro Lou Lamoriello — a guy who gave lengthy interviews with many, many soundbytes for public consumption — the media would camp out at his door waiting to hear his pearls of daily wisdom.

by acasser on Dec 16, 2011 4:42 PM EST up reply actions

You’re missing the point.

Mark Messier is heralded as a savior in New York for winning a single Stanley Cup and he did not even play his entire career in New York. If Martin Brodeur put up the career numbers he did in New York instead of in New Jersey, he would be mentioned alongside Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, DiMaggio, Jeter, Rivera, Namath, LT, Frazier, Reed, and Messier as legends. A statue would have been erected of him in front of the Garden. His final game would be nationally televised. His career would be celebrated in front of a sell-out crowd, and ticket prices would be extraordinary. The Rangers would have probably lobbied for his number to be retired league-wide.

Martin Brodeur’s career is coming to a close, and many sports fans, even those who watch hockey, have no idea he still even plays for the Devils, let alone is probably retiring at the end of the season. It clearly shows how poorly the Devils market individual players, and the post tonight about the Devils not properly celebrating Niedermayer night hardly fazes me at all. This is the same old song and dance that has been occurring with this franchise since the early 90s, and it will not change any time soon. However, I would rather have a quality on-ice product coupled with a terrible off-ice product, than a consistently mediocre on-ice product coupled with an excellent off-ice product. So my complaints are pretty much invalid.

by DiffuseTheBob on Dec 16, 2011 2:57 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs

Martin Brodeur’s career is coming to a close, and many sports fans, even those who watch hockey, have no idea he still even plays for the Devils

This is a ridiculous exaggeration.

by Zelepukin on Dec 16, 2011 4:15 PM EST up reply actions

In what way? I have plenty of fans that love the Bruins and live up in Boston. As recent as a week ago 3 of them asked me if Brodeur was still playing.

I never stated that die-hard fans have no idea that his career is coming to a close. Simply that their are hockey fans out there that truly have no idea he still plays.

by DiffuseTheBob on Dec 16, 2011 4:20 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

so It's a simple equation :

Stanley Cup+Boston Bruins= Ride the wave of the Bandwagon
-

But I get your point.

"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"

by Elektrostal_Kid on Dec 16, 2011 5:49 PM EST up reply actions

Those are not Hockey fans. Those are Bandwagon fans who jumped on the Bruins last year.

by Zelepukin on Dec 16, 2011 9:55 PM EST up reply actions

It’s understandable that some hockey fans may forget that brodeur still plays; he is pretty old.
however I think that the devils should have maybe pushed to get televised on regular MSG or maybe VS. not MSG+.

by Andrewrogers17 on Dec 17, 2011 4:08 AM EST reply actions