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Have The New Jersey Devils Improved At All This Season?

By Catherine Silverman

Nov 25, 2014; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks player Alexandre Burrows (14) scores against New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider (35) during the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 25, 2014; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks player Alexandre Burrows (14) scores against New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider (35) during the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New Jersey Devils don’t seem to be in any rush to win another Stanley Cup

During their heyday, the New Jersey Devils were the tour de force of defensively-minded hockey teams.

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Led by Martin Brodeur’s superhuman goaltending, the team became a late-nineties and early-2000’s empire; three Stanley Cups and numerous playoff appearances spoke highly of a smothering blue line and effective net presence.

As Brodeur’s play began to decline, though, and highly touted defensemen like Scott Niedermayer departed from the lineup, the team became somewhat stagnant. By the end of Brodeur’s tenure in goal, the team missed the playoffs three times in five years; at the end of the 2013-2014 season, Cory Schneider was officially passed the reins in net and Martin Brodeur took to free agency.

As the first two months of the 2014-2015 season come to a close, though, it seems like the team looks… well, much like they did at the end of the last season. A three-game win streak to start off the season was followed almost immediately by four losses, and the team has slid to a 9-10-3 record to show for what was supposed to be a comeback year.

It could be because the team relied too heavily on starting netminder Schneider through the first twenty games of the season, but it could also have to do with the team going nearly entire games without scoring a single goal. The defense-heavy system that once worked is no longer as effective — and as a result, a number of the team’s beat reporters think head coach Pete DeBoer’s job could be on the line.

Luckily for New Jersey, they aren’t a ‘bad’ team right now — they’re inconsistent, but they know how to play. Unluckily for them, being on the lower end of average — which is where you end up when you only play twenty or thirty minutes of good hockey a night — is a good way to miss the playoffs. This team misses the playoffs again, and it’s almost certain they’ll want to tear it down and rebuild from scratch.

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