A Worried Report From The Devils Correspondents

Because we are not terrifically prolific reporters on all that transpires in the world of the Devils, we can only assume that everyone here has been waiting with bated breath to hear an update about our beloved team. Well, at this moment things look pretty good. After stumbling horribly to start the season with a lot of new faces, a new coach, a new system and a new building (not that we're making excuses or anything...), the Devils have figured things out and are rolling along at a fairly steady, satisfying clip. They are currently rocking a nice "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" vibe, all of which is backstopped, as usual, by a Marty Brodeur who gave us some scares that he'd lost his game at the start of the season, but who, it turns out, was only kidding. All in all, they kind of have a bit of the same character the 2003 team showed, where it's hard to figure out where the wins are coming from because no one guy (other than Marty) stands out, but the wins just keep on coming anyway. (Which is not to say that we think they're going to do what the 2003 team did, Hockey Gods. In case you're listening and looking for someone to smite.) In short, they're spunky, they're hard-working, they're traditionally low-scoring yet still fun to watch, and for the first time in 15 years there isn't anyone on the roster who is publicly making it known that he doesn't want to be there. We should be in a very good place. And yet, we're not. You see, trouble is lurking on the horizon, the kind of trouble that blows out its chronically-injured shoulder in a preseason fight and then gets in another fight in that same game to further demolish the woebegone joint. That's right: it's Cam Janssen.

The astute observer of the Devils last season would have noticed that the team was performing much the way we've described this year's squad above. They looked to be having a grand old time playing together, all full of camaraderie, brio, and a flair for pulling victory from the jaws of defeat with no small regularity. Then, one totally random evening in March, while the Devils were doing a workmanlike job of beating the Leafs, Cam Janssen threw his infamous hit on Tomas Kaberle, and the wheels fell off. The entire team deflated. They lost that game, blowing a sizable lead while doing so. And while they hung on to win the division, the character of the team was never the same. All season they'd seemed like a group of guys who collectively had a huge chip on their shoulder, who were driven to prove that while they were a kind of rag-tag group in comparison to Devils teams of old, they could still beat the teams the hockey media thought were sexier. But as soon as one of the season's villainous hits was laid out by one of their own, they stopped being scrappy overachievers and started being one of those teams that has to stand up for a dirty player. It sucked. And now, after a delightful half season during which Janssen has been both out of sight and out of mind for us, he's been cleared to play. Word is that the team is playing well enough that Coach Sutter won't want to mess with his lineup, that Janssen's going to Lowell, ne'er to return. We fervently hope so. But even with that hope, we're still very afraid of Janssen and his powers of creating dreadful turning points in otherwise successful Devils seasons. It could happen at any point, even when we least expect it. We wonder if anyone wants to trade for him. Anyone? Anyone?