Ready for preseason opener

The Devils held their morning skate today on the

Prudential

Center

main rink. It was the first time that rink has been used in camp, so it was difficult to get any gauge on the ice quality.

“It was fine,” Dainius Zubrus said. “Usually, when you run into problems is when there are a lot of (non-hockey) events and that’s not an issue, yet.”

The Devils worked on a little on the power play to get ready for tonight’s preseason opener in

Philadelphia

. Brian Gionta, Bobby Holik and Patrik Elias worked up front on the first unit with Zubrus switching in for Holik. Mike Mottau and Brian Rolston manned the points.

Although that forward combination was somewhat dictated by the players in the lineup tonight, Devils coach Brent Sutter said the Mottau-Rolston pairing on the points is one he’s considering for the regular season.

“We definitely want to use Motts and Brian together on the point,” he said. “I’m going to try it. I’m just trying out different things. So, we’ll see how it goes."

Sutter said Tyler Eckford and Matt Corrente will work the points on the second unit, but Johnny Oduya and Sheldon Brookbank might also get some shifts there.

***

Although Corrente has been paired with Oduya since the start of training camp and that pair will play together tonight, Sutter said that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s thinking Corrente will be Oduya’s regular season partner.

“No, It’s just trying to get pairings for the games we’re going to be playing,” he said. “That could change the next game. We just didn’t want to put a pair of Eckford and Corrente because then you have two kids.”

Asked if Corrente could win a spot as Oduya’s partner by playing well with him, Sutter replied, “We’ll see. I’m not going to comment because there’s so many scenarios that can take place. It depends on how some of the kids plays and also some of our veterans.”

***

The line of Fedor Fedorov, Petr Vrana and Nicklas Bergfors, which has been skating together since the start of the NHL camp and will play together tonight, is an interesting one because it is combination of three forwards who are all trying to make the team. Realistically, all three probably can’t make it, but because they are playing on the same line they need to help each other to succeed individually.

“That’s a pretty skilled line, three pretty good hockey players,” Sutter said. “Now, they’ve got to put it together in a game and we’ll see how they respond.”

Bergfors said there is no rivalry among the three players.

“That’s not an issue,” said Bergfors, who said he played 10-15 games on the same line with Vrana last season. “We have fun together. I don’t see any competition.”

***

Right wing Barry Tallackson has returned home to

Minnesota

for further testing on a heart irregularity discovered during his training camp physical.

***

Former Devil and Brick native Jim Dowd hasn’t retired, yet. He is in camp with the Flyers as a non-roster invitee.

***

I saw someone posted that the game will be streamed on the Flyers’ Web site. If, for some reason, you can’t see that, I’m going to be posting updates after each period with details on the game. In addition, after I’m done in the locker room, I’ll put up post-game comments from Sutter and some players.

Comments

[gensfan118]

This was posted on another thread before this one was started. Sorry. Any word on the rookies and which ones will be in the lineup in Philly tonight. We Oshawa Generals & windsor spitfire fans would like to find out if our OHL players are in the lineup. Thanks

[TG]

Sorry for the mess-ups with these posts. The site is not cooperating and keeps breaking up the text and I can't get it fixed. I have to run to a doctor's appointment and will try to fix it again later.

For Gensfan, I posted the entire lineup for tonight's game yesterday under "Weekes to start preseason opener"

[LucasS]

Long time reader, first time caller..........(terrible I know)

Thanks for all the updates, from the practices alone is there one of Federov-Vrana-Bergfors that has stood out to you the most?

I would love to have your job. Do you need a sidekick?

[2600]

Thanks TG, some great info here!

[Devilswede]

Mottau and Rolston on the point during the regular season?! Is he serious? What about Martin or Oduya insetad of Mottau?! What the heck is so special about Mottau that he chooses to use him on the first PP unit?!

[CJ]

Mottau on the PP instead of Martin or Odduya is def a little suprising.

[Jersey Mike]

TG - why cant the Devils have a live webcast for the games ?

[dannyd]

does anyone have the link that tg mentioned to the flyers website where they will be streaming the game? also, i am a college student in NE PA and i get NHL Center Ice from comcast but im not sure if they are planning on showing the preseason games or what channels to look for b/c this is the first time i am signed up for Center Ice and the guy who signed me up wasn't very helpful with this info, so does anyone have Center Ice on Comcast that knows anything about this? thanks
...and devilswede i completely agree, sutter must be clueless if he thinks mottau can do a better job manning the #1 PP unit than any of martin, oduya, or even greene...does he not remember the time last season when mottau tripped over the blueline and gave the puck up for an easy breakaway goal?

[Scott731]

Mottau could work with Rolston because Mottau doesn't really like to shoot the puck but is a good passer, has good vision, and is able to hold the puck in at the point well. So Mottau becomes the distributor up high while Rolston is the shooting threat. That also lets you have Martin and Oduya on the other unit, who are both more well rounded type guys at the point, as opposed to Rolston or Mottau who are much stronger in one area than another.

I'm not saying that will definitely be the regular season pairings but it makes sense on paper so it's worth taking a look at.

[ALeatherGlove]

The Flyers webcast is only going to be available in the Philadelphia area.

[Phil.happyhour]

Yeah the Flyers site said something about local coverage, but here is the link in case you guys want to try it out anyway.

http://flyers.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp

or you can just go to their site around start time and click the link on the front page. (I know it's an evil place, but this one time won't kill ya) If you look under the "livewire" tab, on the .tv, the game is listed on the top right. Like I said might be worth a look around puck drop.

[JasonMacIsaac]

I don't see that PP unit as much of a surprise. Mottau can really move the puck on the point and he controls the line very well. His job isn't to shoot or initiate the offense. He is there to set up Rolston for the onetimer much like Markov and Kaberle have done with Montreal and Toronto. He will play the left point while Rolston will play for the ontimer on the right point.

[Pat D'Amico]

Thank God for the Flyers' website!

[Ali-P]

Thanks for all the hard work TG. These updates are awesome. Without you, fans would have no clue what goes on in camp thanks to the close door policy.

[Scott C]

it's the year 2008, why can't the Devils have any of their preseason games on TV? Or the internet like Philly is doing, this organization totally alienates their fanbase, I hate it! I've been a fan since 1985 when I was 7 years olds, this philosophy is getting old, I want to see Brodeur on a billboard or anything. PROMOTE THIS TEAM LOU!

[Pat D'Amico]

Hey TG, any word on who is going to wear the C and the two A's tonight?

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

all my best to Tallackson, i hope he recovers soon, and can come back to us in perfect health. Get well soon.

TG, i think you spoil us! great article in the Record today BTW.

Mottau with Rolston adds an element of D accountability i think to the PP, and also you need guys to man the second PP unit, and if you can't have Rolston playing both points, so thats why Martin and Oduya get the points for our 2nd PP unit. also i mean it is only the 3rd day of camp and the first pre season game. all these pairings and lines are subject to change

[Jersey Mike]

they prob wont wear a "C" it'll prob be players wearing the "A"

[TG]

My apologizies for the breaks in copy (and a few typos) in this post and the one on Salvador below. I'm having trouble with the typead site and it will not save my fixes. I also couldn't see for a while after my eye doctor appoinment, so I was unable to try. Hopefully, I'll be able to post new stuff later when I get to Philly.

[Devilswede]

newjerseydevils.com is really an embarrasment. They're so far behind the rest of the league it's not even funny. All other teams have constant picks and videos. The Devils? Zero. A couple of crappy picks from day one and that's it. Jeez...when will this organization learn?

If we didn't have TG and Chere we'd have no clue what was going on around this team...

[Devilswede]

*pics

[tyler]

Couldn't see?.....eye doctor appointment????

TG, you serve as the "eyes" of all Devil fans at training camp, practice, in the locker room, etc., etc.

You better take good care of those things!!!!!!

[maddening11]

Grand Master, i read in one of your other posts on a different topic that you were trying to get rid of preseason games and no one wanted them? Do you have any left that you would like to get off your hands? I'm pretty disappointed that practices are closed to the public, and would love to check out a preseason game or two to see some of the young guys in camp. Let me know if that's still the case. Thanks.

[frankied]

I remember Mottau scoring a few goals on the PP last year when he snuck down low for an open one-timer. Perhaps the thought is that Rolston will command a lot of attention at the point, allowing Mottau to slip down unnoticed.

[ges918]

For those interested, Lowell lost in OT to Philadelphia. The game summary is here: