Tempers flare at The Rock

Devils coach Brent Sutter and right wing Arron Asham got into a heated, profanity-laced exchange near the end of this afternoon's intense practice at Prudential Center. Most of what was said can't be printed, but Asham said it started because he didn't chip the puck in the way Sutter wanted. Asham said something about the puck bouncing and Sutter ripped into him. There were a lot of expletives from both sides of the conversation. At one point, Asham tried to dismiss Sutter by saying, "Whatever", to which Sutter replied, "Whatever? That's the way you've been playing for two weeks." Eventually, Sutter told Asham "to sit down" on the bench (but with a few unprintable words mixed in) and practice continued without further incident.

 

Sutter didn't think the exchange was a big deal, saying. "It's a non-issue with me."

"That's good," Sutter said of the argument. "I don't take things personally. As long as it's not through a lack of respect, it's no problem whatsoever with me. I've always said that emotions run in practices and games and sometimes players and coaches, they get into it. It's not the first time it's happened and it's not going to be the last...If it can make Ash better, that's a good thing."

Asham was remorseful. "It was as inappropriate of me as a player," he said. "I should have said nothing...It was just one of those days. I was supposed to chip the puck and I chipped it the wrong way. Nothing big. Nothing I'm worried about."

Asham said he would probably approach Sutter to talk to him about the incident, "But I'm sure he's not sitting in his room right now waiting for me to come in and say I'm sorry. That's not the kind of guy he is."

It was a long, hard-working practice with a lot of skating and a drill of one-on-one battles in the corner and behind the net. Defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski was downed briefly after being struck in the groin by an inadvertent skate from Sergei Brylin during one of the drills.

Sutter made one small change on his forward lines, replacing Sergei Brylin at left wing on the checking line with rookie Rod Pelley. Brylin moved into Pelley's old spot on the fourth line. Sutter shook up the defense pairs some, too. He had Mike Mottau with Colin White and Andy Greene with Paul Martin. Johnny Oduya was with Karel Rachunek and Vishnevski and Sheldon Brookbank were together as usual.

Sutter said the coaching staff would decide overnight whether to dress six or seven defensemen in Thursday's game in Boston. Martin Brodeur will be back in net after Kevin Weekes got the start Monday in Washington.

Today's lines and pairings:

Forwards: Parise-Elias-Gionta; Zubrus-Zajac-Langenbrunner; Pelley-Madden-Clarkson; Rupp-Brylin-Asham.

Defensemen: White-Mottau; Greene-Martin; Oduya-Rachunek; Vishnevski-Brookbank.

Comments

[jules]

"Whatever? That's the way you've been playing for two weeks."

haha...awesome.

[HBK27]

I love the blog for tidbits like this.

Nice to see a little bit of fire from this team...I love Sutter's response to Asham too (which, by the way is accurate - Asham has regressed since earlier in the season).

[Kevin]

That's what's up. Hopefully this will light a fire under their asses for Boston and the rest of the calander year

[alzheimers]

"Whatever" could be used to describe a couple devs, not just Asham. I hope they carry the passion over into their next game.

*Defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski was downed briefly after being struck in the groin by an inadvertant skate*

So should we call him Vitaly Vascectomy from now on? :D

[JD]

Nice reporting, Tom.

Was that the first such incident to erupt like that this year b/w coach and player? Also, any update on Pando?

[Maxwell]

In my humble opinion, these line-pairings are PERFECT. I wouldn't make one adjustment. I like the Brylin-Pelley switch a lot. The third and fourth lines can be very physical; Pelley and Clarkson are both younger, tougher guys, and the Sarge will head up that fourth line.

I really like this Brookbank character. He's HUGE and hopefully will continue to improve.

TG - you gotta start video-taping these practices to post nuggets like this on the blog for us. (I'm sure that's not allowed, but would be great). Also, I would read that proof-read this post one more time... (don't want to be a jerk, I'm just saying)

[MAS]

TG - great blog. check it everyday. You ever thought about blogging at Hockeybuzz.com?

It could use a man of your talents/access covering our team...

[matt]

i like it.. but i don't like that theres not willingness and chemistry between Asham and Sutter. it makes me question Sutters relationship with the rest of the team. I know its their job to play for him, but i think it helps if they want to play for him.
They were probably both just stressed and feeling the pressure. 'whatever'.

[Mike]

Sometimes, these outbursts are needed in sports. I know from personal experience that I always played better and picked up my game when I heard it from my coach. Thats his job. A player needs enforcement when he's playing well and he needs a kick in the butt when he isn't. Asham can be a long time fan favorite in this town if he wants to be. That fourth line is perfect for his gritty style of play. Hopefully, he can be a leader on his line and get them to all finishing every check and crashing the net. Sit him down to watch some old "Crash Line" tapes Sutter!

[Brian]

That is some awesome stuff! Sutter is the man!

[TG]

Hockeybuzz isn't for me. Too much creative writing on that site.

And I don't mind the comments about proof reading. I try to get something up quickly and then usually go back and re-read later when I'm finished with my story for the paper.

[bobo]

thanks TG. i'd ask for a raise!!! this blog is great. how many hits a day do you get?

[Pat D'Amico]

Keep up the good work TG, it doesn't go unnoticed.

[Steve Lepore]

"Hockeybuzz isn't for me. Too much creative writing on that site."

TG, you rule for this sentence.

[Matt]

Great reporting. This is exactly what sports reporting should be.

[Steve]

Tom,

Are you typically one of the guys that gets questions heard on the tv broadcast during the post game interviews? I know Rich Chere's voice, and there is another somewhat "deep" voice that I often hear asking questions, and then there is someone that sounds about 12 years old that asks questions for FSNY and asks the same questions verbatim to each player interviewed (they should try working a little harder on that). Just curious.

[TG]

I never get to see the postgame, but I'd guess my questions get on there sometimes. I don't know if I would consider my voice "deep", but it's definitely not like a 12-year-old either. The person who asks the questions that are the same to every person is a FSNY person. I always sounds funny when I hear myself on tape, though.

[Chris]

Man, what can I say this is what the Devils have always needed a little spark... we all know they have a habbit of drving coaches into early retierment.. I like that Sutter did this.

[DevilsfaninVA]

I love this blog. Living in Virgina, I don't get any Devils coverage. I have the center ice package to watch the games and this blog gives me everything else. Keep up the good work, Tom!

[Jon]

Good Stuff!!!, Reminded me of something Herb Brooks said in "Miracle"

[Jason]

Hockeybuzz does not deserve someone of TG's stature. He would add far too much credibility to that site!

[jss]

TG, Coach Sutter is absolutely right on with asham, he had a couple of good games early on and last 2 weeks he has disappeared and thas why he doesn't get that much icetime. And by the way asham should have kept his mouth shut rather than yapping back at sutter cuss that could have a negative affect on the team later on. And if asham doesn't shapeup lou should get rid of him cuzz cam janssen is getting ready to come back.

[Sal]

"TG, Coach Sutter is absolutely right on with asham, he had a couple of good games early on and last 2 weeks he has disappeared and thas why he doesn't get that much icetime. And by the way asham should have kept his mouth shut rather than yapping back at sutter cuss that could have a negative affect on the team later on. And if asham doesn't shapeup lou should get rid of him cuzz cam janssen is getting ready to come back."

There's plenty of time before Janssen comes back. I wouldn't hold my breath on it. Remember he had one point all of last season. I like Janssen but in all seriousness, Clarkson > Janssen.

As far as Asham is concerned, I was starting to like him up until halloween. He gained a lot of respect from me when he stood up to Crosby earlier in the season. Now it seems like he doesn't put in the effort anymore.

TG, keep up the great work!

[Chris]

For all those that question the ... rightness (?) of the move Sutter decided to go with in dealing with Asham stating that they should want to play for him or that they aren't going to like him what etc. you have a valid point, but it isn't the one that Devils management and coaching staff want to go with. This isn't a deviation from Sutter's origional plans, in fact it is exactly what he said he wanted, "I am not saying there won't be times where people disagree, but I have learned through it all, you don't want to agree all the time. You need discussion whether good or bad. The important thing is to make decisions that are right for the front of that jersey, that's what matters." -Brent Sutter.

To both TG and Sutter, keep up the amazing work!!

[Jeremy Kenter]

wow... a little spark, a little giddy-up maybe... not be to pessimistic, but I hate lackadaisical efforts... I like controversy, this kind of stuff