The Devil Gets His Due
The Devils have been knocking teams around all year.
One season after declaring a retooling project for his squad, Trevor O'Neil finds himself sitting in a very lofty perch.
The long-time General Manager of the New Jersey Devils swung an early season deal for Jarome Iginla and Kari Lehtonen, and the team has been riding the momentum of that trade ever since.
"It's panned out for us big time," acknowledged O'Neil. "Jarome has brought a great deal of leadership to this team and Kari's been a backbone for our defense."
Lehtonen has been a rock in net for the Devils this year. posting 41 wins after coming over from the New York Islanders, Lehtonen has 45 wins already this year and is on pace for 57 wins, and has an outside shot at reaching 60 wins this year.
Without Kari Lehtonen, who knows where the Devils would be this season.
"If he can keep it up, this season could be legendary for him," said Iginla, who has seen Lehtonen ply his trade for years with the Islanders. "He's not just an all-star, he's arguably the best tender in the game these days."
Lehtonen sits third in wins and save pecentage and second in goals against average, making him a Vezina and Hart Trophy candidate. This play and helped vault New Jersey to a 46-14-5 record, good enough for third in the Eastern Conference, and their .746 winning percentage is second only to the New York Rangers in the entire WCHL.
Forget rebuild, focus on the WCHL Cup.
"We have a great netminder, some offensive depth and a solid defense. We have holes, but we have a pretty sturdy ship as is," said O'Neil.
That ship could sail through the Eastern Conference playoffs if they keep up their pace. And those playoffs are only a mere formality away, as the Devils maic number to clinch a playoff spot is just 11. Even going 5-11-1 would guarantee them a ticket to the dance.
In those playoffs, the Devils just need most players to keep doing what their doing, but if one player could pick it up, it would be Iginla. The power forward has netted just 19 goals in 59 games as a Devils and only 20 goals on the season. That's a far cry from the usual 30 to 50 goals he good for.
A few more goals from Jarome Iginla would help.
"I hope to see things improve soon. It's tough, but I got to keep working at it and it'll come together," said Iginla, who scored tonight.
If Iginla does get going, it'll just be another piece of firepower for a Devils team which is already potent enough as is. That could be all that's needed to get the Devils back to the WCHL Finals.
The Devils have been knocking teams around all year.
One season after declaring a retooling project for his squad, Trevor O'Neil finds himself sitting in a very lofty perch.
The long-time General Manager of the New Jersey Devils swung an early season deal for Jarome Iginla and Kari Lehtonen, and the team has been riding the momentum of that trade ever since.
"It's panned out for us big time," acknowledged O'Neil. "Jarome has brought a great deal of leadership to this team and Kari's been a backbone for our defense."
Lehtonen has been a rock in net for the Devils this year. posting 41 wins after coming over from the New York Islanders, Lehtonen has 45 wins already this year and is on pace for 57 wins, and has an outside shot at reaching 60 wins this year.
Without Kari Lehtonen, who knows where the Devils would be this season.
"If he can keep it up, this season could be legendary for him," said Iginla, who has seen Lehtonen ply his trade for years with the Islanders. "He's not just an all-star, he's arguably the best tender in the game these days."
Lehtonen sits third in wins and save pecentage and second in goals against average, making him a Vezina and Hart Trophy candidate. This play and helped vault New Jersey to a 46-14-5 record, good enough for third in the Eastern Conference, and their .746 winning percentage is second only to the New York Rangers in the entire WCHL.
Forget rebuild, focus on the WCHL Cup.
"We have a great netminder, some offensive depth and a solid defense. We have holes, but we have a pretty sturdy ship as is," said O'Neil.
That ship could sail through the Eastern Conference playoffs if they keep up their pace. And those playoffs are only a mere formality away, as the Devils maic number to clinch a playoff spot is just 11. Even going 5-11-1 would guarantee them a ticket to the dance.
In those playoffs, the Devils just need most players to keep doing what their doing, but if one player could pick it up, it would be Iginla. The power forward has netted just 19 goals in 59 games as a Devils and only 20 goals on the season. That's a far cry from the usual 30 to 50 goals he good for.
A few more goals from Jarome Iginla would help.
"I hope to see things improve soon. It's tough, but I got to keep working at it and it'll come together," said Iginla, who scored tonight.
If Iginla does get going, it'll just be another piece of firepower for a Devils team which is already potent enough as is. That could be all that's needed to get the Devils back to the WCHL Finals.
