Leblond earns praise; mixed reviews for the rest

Asked what he liked in the Devils' 4-1 loss to Philadelphia in the team's preseason opener, head coach Brent Sutter gave a one-word answer: "Leblond."

He was referring to tough guy Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, who had two fights in the game, including a pretty good, extended one with Riley Cote in the first period. He also fought Matt Clackson in the second period.

"He got involved in the game," Sutter said.

Leblond, 23, is trying to make an impression in camp after splittling last season between Lowell and Trenton and piling up a total of 144 penalty minutes in 42 games, including 46 in just six games in the ECHL with Trenton.

"I did what I do best," Leblond said. "Hockey is a tough game and I have no control of the situation (staying in the NHL). The only thing I can do is play, do my job."

Sutter didn't have much praise for the rest of the his team. He pointed to the two 5-on-3 power plays the Devils couldn't convert on in the first period.

"We hadn't worked on it at all the last two days," he said. "You rely on the experience of individuals on the ice. Certain guys who needed to play well did. Certain guys you thought would (play well), didn't...Certain guys have to understand they have a role to play and, hopefully, didn't forget about it during the summer."

I'm not sure who that was a reference to, but if I had to guess I would say Mike Rupp, who Sutter has often said needs to understand his role and didn't get involved a lot physically. I don't know if Sutter would have liked to see Rupp drop the gloves, but his praise for Leblond seemed to indicate he was looking for someone to do it.

The line top line of Patrik Elias, Brian Rolston and Brian Gionta didn't produce much, but Sutter thinks there's potential there.

"Let them play. We're going to keep them together," Sutter said. "That was the first game those guys played together."

Elias wasn't discouraged. "If we get discouraged in the first preseason game, there's something wrong with us. We made mistakes obviously, a couple of them throughout the game. We have six more (preseason) games to go to get the perfection and make ourselves better."

The line of Fedor Fedorov, Petr Vrana and Nicklas Bergfors created the Devils' only goal -- scored by Vrana at 9:26 of the third -- but was also on the ice for two goals against. Vrana had a turnover preceding the second Flyers' goal, scored by Steve Downie. And Bergfors was responsible on Downie's second goal because he couldn't get the puck past Braydon Coburn at the left point.

Asked to evaluate the line's play, Sutter said, "At times good. At times not good in their own zone. They need to get better without the puck. They had turnovers in our own zone and stuff, just little things like turning away from the play. Yet, they created some offense from the top of the circles down...It's learning how to play the game, learning how to stop and start, learning to not turn your back on the play. Young kids have to be taught that."

Vrana and Bergfors realized they could have done some things better.

"Definitely it was good for our line (to score the goal), but too bad our line made some mistakes," Vrana said. "I made a bad mistake on one of the goals. But I think it wasn't too bad for the first game of the preseason."

"Sometimes we had all the guys (on the line) on the puck," Bergfors said. "Nobody took the slot. Nobody went to the net to do the crash job. We're three offensive players and that was our first game (together). If we play 10 more games, it would be nice for everybody to know (what to do)."

Comments

[FOTC]

I really hope the youngins get a chance to redeem themselves on Wednesday. I really want to see Salmela in action as well.

[Maxwell]

I think the good news is that our first line didn't have an AWFUL first night. I'm stoked to watch the game - should be interesting, not only about what the young-ins can give to us, but what Holik can do this year. I think he has the real potential to grind down a defense, but here's an interesting note:

Holik has NEVER ended a season with a negative +/- rating with the New Jersey Devils since his rookie season he played 61 games and ended with a -6, but also contributed 20 G and 19 A. Now, I'm also going to say I think the +/- system isn't the greatest stat, but I think that over a number of years it can be very indicative of a good player.

[Pat D'Amico]

The Elias-Rolston-Gionta line wasn't terrible, they just didn't produce. I did feel that they showed some glimpses of brilliance however especially between Elias and Rolston. Gionta was invisible I thought. I'd like to see Fedorov centering the two.

[Scott731]

TG, any chance of getting the lineup for the rookie game Tuesday? I'm on the fence about going and would be interested in knowing before heading out. Thanks.

[TG]

I don't have the lineup for the Tuesday rookie game, but I'd guess that it will be similar to the Monday game. Here's a link to the official scoresheet.

http://ahltraining.leaguestat.com/stats/official-game-report.php?game_id=1001145

[JW]

Scott,
Go to the rookie game regardless of the lineup. Trust me, they're a lot of fun. I usually go to the Lowell/Phantoms game in Voorhees every year since I live in South Jersey and it's always a great time. There isn't a bad seat in the house with the game being played on a practice rink with a small bleachered seating area and it's a good chance to get to know some of the future NJ Devils stars. I wish I could have gone this year but I'm at college in DE. Last time I went I got to talk to Lou and Chris Terreri, who were just walking around the lobby of the rink, and I met Stephen Gionta too.

[JW]

TG,
Any ideas who we'll see in the next Devils preseason game?

[Falcone]

Wasn't expecting too much considering they've been practicing for 3 days. But with that being said, we pretty much went thru the motions. Almost felt each other out throughout the game.

I'm glad Corrente said he had a bad game, I thought that as well and wondered where the hype was coming from. But as he said, he was nervous. I'm sure he'll get used to the big venues. Holik, Zub and Ruppy have to be more physical. They're the crash line and that's something they need to do. They didn't do much of that. The line of Bergfors, Vrana and Federov did nothing the whole game. The only one on that line that impressed me was Federov and that's mostly due to his size. I hope for our sake Vrana and Bergfors step up their game over the next few games or they're not going to have a chance to make the team.

I'm not too concerned its the first preseason game. Let's get into a groove. Looking forward to seeing how the other lines mesh.

[ML]

I feel another first round exit coming on... If the only talent Sutter noticed last night was Leblonde, we're in trouble. This team needs scorers, and talented offense. By last night's showing I would say that young line of Fedorov /Vrana/ Bergfors is our best hope. I'm also amazed that no one gives credit to the fact that this is one of the first NHL games for Vrana and I'm sure he's trying to perform through nerves. I'd say that if this is the kind of player we see on the first preseason game, he will be a force to be reckoned with come mid-season. Clearly Sutter is ignoring the skill required to push this team forward. This is hockey, not boxing Sutter.

[tyler]

ML, come back to us.

This was the first game of the pre-season, and you can already feel a first round exit coming on???

[ML]

all I'm saying is that it appears that Sutter was only impressed by a fighter last night, and I'm not sure that's going to do anything to improve the situation from last year...

[Zavior]

ML, too early to make those predictions. Let's wait until we are about 20 games into the regular season before we start getting all negative on Sutter. One gripe I have is against John Maclean who is the assistant/offensive coach for the past 3-4 seasons. I think his plays and offensive strategies are not effective and do not make full use of the talent the Devils have (especially on the power play). I love Johnny Mac just like all Devils fans do but I think the Devils need someone with more experience running the offense, coaching is important for the young-ins and we have plenty in the ogranization to teach them Defense but not many to teach offense (the place we have struggled for eons).

Let's be optimistic as far as our players, We can only hope that Elais-Rolston-Gionta gel together and start scoring a bunch of goals this year (although I think putting Rolston in Center is a mistake and will hurt his game).

Unless the Devils make some improvements this season and in the playoffs, my gut feeling tells me that the Devils may have a new coach starting next season (If that day comes, we can hope that it's not Lou or Larry, Burns maybe but not Lou please...

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

I had no idea that in order to avoid a first round exit was to go undefeated in the pre season. Well you learn something new everyday!

If we lose one of our first 5 games of the season does that mean we can't make the playoffs either?

[ML]

Oh my... perhaps reading the entire post would be helpful. I made a reference to Sutter not seeming interested in some young offensive talent on the team, and more impressed by a fighter. I made no comment to the fact that we lost. I'm only trying to point out that I hope Sutter will make the necessary changes, so we can experience a different fate than last season. Some take every word far too seriously....