The owner of the Ottawa
Senators, Eugene Melnyk, is treading hot ice as he recently made an asinine
remark about the New Jersey Devils, and more specifically, their style of play.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, Melnyk was talking about
improving the Senators on ice performance as well as putting stability in the
front office to increase ticket sales. He then told the press, “We’re not New
Jersey. We don’t play a boring brand of
hockey.” Really? This is coming from an organization where the most exciting
thing they have is a coach that looks like Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters sans
beret.
Although Melnyk may have a brain the size of a Timbit
(the Canadian version of a Munchkin) for going out of his way to insult a team
in a completely unrelated event, it can be understood why he made that comment.
In all fairness, his argument held water when the Devils won championships, which
is something Melnyk has yet to do as an owner. The problem is, New Jersey plays
a completely different brand of hockey. Here, I will break down the 90’s/2000’s
style of the Devils along with their current style of play in such an elementary manner,
that even a caveman, or Mr. Melnyk could understand, but I repeat myself.
In the 90’s and early 2000’s, the Devils biggest
strengths included shut down defensemen such as Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko, and
Scott Niedermayer. They also had a goaltender like Martin Brodeur, who not only
stopped the puck often, but was able to move the puck out of the zone when opposing
teams dumped it in. Legendary Candiens defenseman, Jacques Lemaire, quickly
became just as prominent of a coach, as he implemented a 1-2-2 for the Devils,
where the center would forecheck on the defensemen trying to break out. The wingers were ideally set at the opposing
blue lines trying to keep the puck in the offensive zone similar to a
defenseman. Meanwhile, the defensemen
would be stationed at the red line, cleaning up anything that got past the
wingers, and dump the puck back in the offensive zone. Attacking forwards were stifled, or better
yet, trapped in the neutral zone, hence, the neutral zone trap. This resulted in low scoring games, in which
the Devils would usually score off a defensive lapse or turnover, and preserve
the lead with sound defense the rest of the game. It was a much slower pace of
hockey than the rest of the league, and with good reason, was deemed boring.
After the ’04-’05 Lockout, several rules came into place
in order to speed up the game and increase scoring. Referees were stricter on
penalties such as hooking, holding, and slashing, defenders can no longer hit
forwards after they chip the puck in along the boards, as well as implementing
the famous “Marty Rule”, or as mathematicians like to call it, the trapezoid.
Combine that with the retirement of Stevens and Daneyko, and the departure of
Niedermayer, it was clear that the Devils had to change their approach.
When
Pete DeBoer was hired for the 2011-2012 season, fans saw a new system emerge.
Like the Devils in the past, the puck would usually be dumped into the
offensive zone. Now, instead of one forward forechecking, all three get
involved. When one forward goes into the
corner to fight for the puck, the other winger would slide in behind the net,
preventing any reverse option, with the center hanging around the high slot to
look for a pass or turnover and get a quality shot. When they have possession, the forward with
the puck will take it from behind the net, and take it up the boards. If there
is no option in the slot or at the point, they’ll dump it back in the corner,
where the other winger will swoop down, pick it up, and do the same thing. This
is also known as cycling the puck. Instead of hanging around the red line, the
defenders rightfully stay on the blue line, either dumping the puck back in, or
getting it on net. Over the course of the season, the defenders started doing
an unfathomable act that would have made Lemaire’s head explode: pinch. This
would lead to one of two results: the defenders keep the puck in to sustain the
attack, or the puck would get out, leading to an odd-man rush unless the
forwards were able to back check in time. This led to an exponential increase of the instances Doc Emrick used the term "fire wagon hockey" when calling Devils games.
While
the Devils still win by low scoring games, and continue to struggle in the goal
scoring department, the game plan in itself is completely different than it was
ten years ago. Today, the Devils spend the majority of the game cycling the
puck in the offensive zone rather than clobbering forwards in the neutral zone.
Instead of waiting for turnovers via the trap, they force them by sending
forecheckers hellbent on getting the puck (appropriately so for the Devils). Considering
the losses of Parise and Kovalchuk, this system fits well not only for skilled
forwards, but for the grittier third and fourth liners. The most prominent
example would be the Carter, Gionta, Bernier line in the 2012 playoffs. This
forechecking and cycle based system allows the Devils to dominate in puck possession
time and generate scoring chances at will. Again, it does not always correlate
to more goals, however, the pace of the game (at least for the Devils) is
quicker, more up-tempo, and ultimately, more exciting.
With
that in mind, I have one piece of advice for Mr. Melnyk: watch a Devils game,
because it is clear that you have not watched one for over ten years. The last
time the Senators had a deep playoff run, their game plan included their
captain taking a slap shot at one of the Ducks best players (who happened to be
the former Devil, Scott Niedermayer). I’m not saying Gelinas should fire a
slapper at Jason Spezza, but rather that Mr. Melnyk, or any other hockey fan
that still thinks the Devils are boring, should pay more attention to the game rather
than blindly accepting preconceived notions of the team from over ten years
ago. To close out my reaction to Mr. Melnyk, I’ll simply quote Mike Myers from The Cat in the Hat, “You’re not just
wrong. You’re stupid.”
