Schwei On Ice: Devils Flashback To 1996
By John Schweibacher
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The Devils close out the 2010-11 season this week. For the first time in 15 years New Jersey will not be playing in the postseason. On April 13th, 1996, the Devils were defeated by the Ottawa Senators, 5-2, as former-New Jersey Devil Tom Chorske scored twice to eliminate the defending Stanley Cup champs from playoff contention.
Here is a look at what else was going on in the world of the New York-area sports teams as well as the sports world in general the last time the Devils missed the postseason back on April 13th, 1996:
· The New York Mets were off to a 3 and 7 start under manager Dallas Green, who would be replaced that August by Bobby Valentine. Rookie pitcher Jason Isringhausen had made all of 16 career starts. Paul Wilson had made two. Bill Pulsipher had been shut down with torn ligaments in his left elbow 10 days earlier.
· The New York Yankees were off to a 5 and 4 start under new manager Joe Torre. Rookie shortstop Derek Jeter had played 24 career games as of 4/13/96. Mariano Rivera would not record his 1st major league save until May 17th.
· The New York Jets, coming off a 3-13 season under 1st-year coach Rich Kotite, were a week away from selecting Keyshawn Johnson with the 1st overall pick in the NFL Draft.
· The New York Giants, who would draft Cedric Jones with the 5th pick, were preparing for their final season under head coach Dan Reeves.
· The Kentucky Wildcats, coached by Rick Pitino, defeated Syracuse just two weekends earlier to win the NCAA's Final Four at the Meadowlands.
· The New York Knicks, under new coach Jeff Van Gundy who had replaced Don Nelson in early March, were headed to a 2nd-round playoff loss vs. the Chicago Bulls.
· The New Jersey Nets went 30-52 and would replace coach Butch Beard with John Calipari of UMass on June 7th.
· The New York Islanders went 22-50-10 under 1st-year coach Mike Milbury.
· The New York Rangers went 41-27-14 as Colin Campbell's team lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
· St. John's fired head coach Brian Mahoney on March 11th.
· On April 14th, Greg Norman blew a six-shot lead heading into the 4th round of the Masters, losing to Nick Faldo who shot 67 on the final day.
Patrik Elias registered his 8th career hat trick in New Jersey's 4-2 win over the Flyers last Friday night. It was the Devils 1st hat trick of the season and the first against Philadelphia since Randy McKay's back on March 24th, 1998. Here is a list of the Devils all-time leaders in hat tricks:
· Patrik Elias 8
· John MacLean 6
· Pat Verbeek 5
· Kirk Muller 4
· Claude Lemieux 3
· Stephane Richer 3
· Randy McKay 3
· Bobby Holik 3
New Jersey has had two seasons in which no player scored a hat trick; the work-stoppage shortened 1994-95 season and in 2003-04. Elias' 3-goal game was the latest into a season a New Jersey player registered the team's 1st hat trick (Game 77) surpassing Stephane Richer, who scored the Devils 1st hat trick of 1995-96 in the club's 73rd game, a 6-4 win at Tampa Bay.
Johan Hedberg collected his 14th win of the season, 4-2, over the Flyers last Friday night. Outside of Scott Clemmensen's heroics two seasons ago, Hedberg has the most victories by a Devils goaltender other than Martin Brodeur since the mid-1990's. Here are the most wins by Devils goaltenders other than Brodeur in a single season:
· Scott Clemmensen 25 2008-09
· Chris Terreri 24 1990-91
· Alain Chevrier 24 1986-87
· Sean Burke 22 1989-90
· Chris Terreri 22 1991-92
· Sean Burke 22 1988-89
· Craig Billington 21 1992-93
· Chris Terreri 20 1993-94
· Chris Terreri 19 1992-93
· Alain Chevrier 18 1987-88
· Chris Terreri 15 1989-90
· Chico Resch 15 1984-85
· Chico Resch 15 1982-83
· Johan Hedberg 14 2010-11
Jay Leach recently made his return to the Devils, called up from Albany after the injuries to Colin White and Anton Volchenkov. Leach, who played for New Jersey in 2008-09, became the 20th player in club history to be re-acquired and play for the Devils, but only the 5th defenseman with separate New Jersey stints:
NJD Defenseman - GP 1st NJD stint - GP 2nd NJD stint
· Tommy Albelin 379 160
· Ken Sutton 13 64
· Vladimir Malakhov 17 29
· Anssi Salmela 17 53*
· Jay Leach 24 4*
(*-current)
Rookie Mattias Tedenby failed on a penalty shot attempt in the Devils' 3-1 loss to the Canadiens Saturday night. It was the second penalty shot of the season for Tedenby, who became just the 3rd New Jersey player to attempt more than one in a single season:
· Mark Johnson 1987-88
10/9/87 Stopped vs. Pit Pat Riggin
3/12/88 Scored at Phi Ron Hextall
· Aaron Broten 1987-88
3/5/88 Stopped at Bos Doug Kearns
3/24/88 Scored at Stl Greg Millen
· Mattias Tedenby 2010-11
11/22/10 Scored vs. Was Braden Holtby
4/02/11 Stopped vs. Mtl Carey Price
Schwei's Plus/Minus:
Minus: 40 Below. Devils must win all four of their remaining games or see their streak of consecutive 40-win seasons end at 13, leaving them tied with Montreal (1970-71 through 1982-83) for the longest such streak in NHL history.
Minus: Marty Below. Loss to Canadiens drops Martin Brodeur's season record to 22-25-3. Despite going 17-7-2 over his last 26 starts, Brodeur will suffer his first losing season as an NHL goalie.
Plus: Johan Hedberg. 1st appearance in 15 games is a 4-2 win over the Flyers. Devils back-up goalie now 9-1-1 over last 11 starts after beginning season 5-10-1.
