Weekes ready for his closeup; Clemmer in waiting

Kevin Weekes knew there was a possibility that he would have to take over for a while as the Devils' No. 1 goaltender, so now that he knows for sure that Martin Brodeur will be out for three to four months after he has surgery on Thursday to repair a torn biceps tendon, he says he doesn't have to change his approach much.

"The reality is some sense is a little bit different, but this is just part of my job and my role," he said. "So, definitely, it's a little different. I get to play a bit more, but it's all part and parcel with my job."

The reality is that Weekes is the first goaltender other than the Brodeur to be called the Devils' No. 1 since Chris Terreri 15 years ago.

Playing more offen doesn't mean Weekes has to alter his routine a lot because he always tried to stay ready to play even when Brodeur was healthy.

"I'll still approach things the same way as far as my day-to-day work and my habits and stuff," Weekes said. "In that sense, it's not all that foreign. It's just you have this change with where I'm going to play more."

Weekes has started only six games over the last 22 months, so there will be an adjustment as far as handling the heavier workload. But he did play 66 games for Carolina in 2003-04, so it's not like he's never done it before.

"I'm thankful for me role and I appreciate my role, but I really don't let my role define who I am as a player or a person," he said. "It's just my role on a particular team. Your role doesn't necessarily define who you are and what you're capable of. So. that's how I've always approached things."

Weekes has changed his style a little in the last year under the tutelage of Jacques Caron. Instead of sitting back in his net, he comes out to challenge shooters more often.

He said Caron also has encouraged him to relax and have fun.

"Jacques has been great that way," Weekes said. "Just to relax and have fun playing. Enjoy the games more. I've always had fun coming to the rink. I've always been a student of the game, but Jacques' (approach) is practice hard, which we do, and just love the game in practice and try hard to have fun with it."

***

Weekes can provide some perspective on Brodeur's injury because he had surgery in late May to repair a torn biceps tendon in his left elbow. The difference is Weekes' tendon was only partially torn and Brodeur's has been completely torn off the bone.

Weekes said he was told when he had his surgery "to shoot for late preseason or regular season to be ready." He ended up being ready for the start of camp in mid September. So, even though he was ahead of schedule, it took nearly four months for him to be ready to play.

"I was ready for training camp and was on the ice almost a month, 3 1/2 weeks before training camp back home with my goalie coach, so in that sense I was ahead of schedule a little bit," he said. "I just tried to do a couple of things to accelerate the healing and my rehab and that really helped. The main thing was just trying to be ready for camp. I was ahead of schedule."

***

Although Weekes will get the bulk of the starts in Brodeur's absence, Scott Clemmensen also figures to get a few and knows that he has to be ready - even more than when he was Brodeur's backup for two and a half seasons.

"Before being with Marty, you know he's going to play day after day and night after night," Clemmensen said. "In a situation like this you always have to be ready to play."

Clemmensen might play as soon as Sunday against Edmonton, but he said he's not "expecting" anything in terms of the number of games he'll play.

"I don't expect anything, but I all I can really control is what I expect of myself," he said. "I'm going to be ready to play every game, every day. Obviously, it's a different mentality than when I was here two or three years ago and Marty was here. If you asked me that question, I could probably give you a pretty good estimate of five or six, seven games maybe all year. Now when you ask me that question, I don't know and I'm glad I don't know because I'm going to be ready to play every game. I don't expect to get anything. That's something you learn in this business real quick."

He thinks not knowing how many games is a good thing compared to not know if he'll play at all.

"I think that's good," he said. "I'll take that as a positive. Just the possibility of playing keeps you ready."

Clemmensen also said he knows that there's a possiblity that the Devils could trade for another goaltender, though Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello has said that isn't in his plans.

"I've been around the block long enough to know that something like that wouldn't surprise me," he said. "Obviously, it would be disappointing if I were send back (to the minors) and wasn't given an opportunity. You work as a player to get to the NHL to play regularly. But I've been around the block a couple of times -- this block more than once. It's something that wouldn't surprise me, but I just take it one day at a time."

Comments

[Jeff]

Good Luck Weeksie!

[Kelly]

TG... tell Weeksie we believe in him. He's a helluva guy and I have faith in him.

GO WEEKSIE!

[Pete]

I have full faith in Weeksie. My concern is the rest of the team playing in front of him. Can they elevate their game knowing they don't have their old safety net, can they adjust to a new goalie with a new style, etc. Weekes will be fine, it's everyone else's play which will determine how our season ends up.

[Greg]

Weekes is a class act all the way. Here's hoping he can step up and provide some consistency between the pipes.

[comment]

TG,
Please disregard if you already have adressed this, but the GM initially told you and the rest of the media that Brodeur was out with a "bruise." Since then, I have seen several comments by Brodeur noting that his arm does not even have any "discoloration." The implication of this is that the GM was lying to the media. I understand and am used to vague comments specifying only "upper" or "lower" body injuries, but the team's initial comments now seem patently false. Have you confronted the GM about this apparently intentional attempt to mislead, as opposed to just conceal information from, the media? Thanks.

[Josh]

I really hope that we DON'T go after any other goalies. I'm at least fairly confident in the Weekes/Clemmer duo. On a hockey forum I visit, fans are getting loopy and coming up with ideas like trading Gionta for Gerber or Zajac for Khabibulin... Weekes is a good goalie who is capable of starting in the NHL. Obviously not an all-star (although if he plays his way into the All-Star Game I will be thrilled), but a good dependable player. It was a really smart decision to get Weekes as a backup, and it would be a slap in the face to him if Lou were to go out and get another goalie after Weekes waited so patiently for so long, especially since the only goalies likely to come our way aren't upgrades over Weekes in the first place.

[Morgan]

I know I am in a huge minority, but I have faith in both Weeksie and Clemmer. Do not underestimate either of them.

[CR]

Hey TG, any further update on Elias' status for tonight?

[roshacla]

Most teams wont even tell you what the injury is; they don't have to per the NHL's injury policy. I'm sure Lou was just trying to say something to get everyone to settle down. I'm sure if he had given you an answer of "We don't know" you would say he was holding something back and being misleading. Legally, Lou doesn't have to tell us anything, and yet as soon as they understood the whole situation and decided to undertake a course of action we were informed. Why would he "mislead" us purposely if there was the possibility this would happen? Shouldn't he have just stuck to his guns and said Brodeur was out for 4 months with a bruise? THAT would be misleading. I would chalk this up to this event being very sudden and everyone not fully grasping the severity of it at first.

Some people are such whiners.

[roshacla]

Also I agree with all these sentiments expressed about Weekes. He has always been one of my favorite goalies. I was thrilled when we signed him as our back-up and I am thrilled he will be starting for us. Clemmer is a picture perfect back-up and Weekes is a solid 1A goalie who can turn in a showstopper occasionally. As long as the team can find its confidence without Brodeur behind them, I expect good things.

TG, next time you talk to Kevin please be sure to tell him that despite the things the MSM is saying about the Devils chances with him, Devils fans know better than that and we have the utmost respect and confidence in his playing abilities.

Also: Weekes' personal website: http://www.kevinweekes1.com/
Tell him he rocks!

[jules]

@roshacla: I completely agree. It seems like some people are looking for a conspiracy when there is none (or a harmless one, if any). Weekes himself said that his condition was originally diagnosed as a bruised elbow; why could it not have been the same with Brodeur?

@comment: Bruises or contusions may be recognizable by discoloration, but just because there is a bruise doesn't mean that there would be discoloration. For a bone bruise, for example, you wouldn't necessarily see any discoloration.

[HBK27]

I like the attitude of Clemmensen. He was a really good pick up this offseason - without him Lou would have surely had to trade for a backup since there's no way Frazee or Caruso should even be on an NHL bench at this point in time, let alone playing every 4-5 games.

I think the Weekes - Clemmensen duo will be fine & keep the Devils squarely in the playoff hunt until Marty's ready to return with 20-25 games left.

[Pete]

Morgan, not many people--at least not ones who post here--are saying they don't have faith in Weekes. It's the Clemmensen thing. Never once has he shown he deserves to play in the NHL. I, for one, hope I am proven wrong, and that when he does play he shoves it in our faces. I just doubt that will happen.

[VinnyC]

comment,

You do not need discoloration to have a bruise. Bones can bruise as well, and some flesh bruises leave no visual indications. If Marty still had use of his arm, as they knew before the MRI's, if I were Lou I would have also said a bruise. They had no clue either.

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

i don't understand why people are so upset about Lou calling it a bruise. whats the big deal honestly? anyone who was watching knew it wasn;t good. So Lou called it a bruise, i was unaware that him not fully disclosing the extent of an injury was similar to committing perjury in a court room.

[Spleens]

Clemmer will be fine. He's played rather well I think in his few appearances for us. It's hard playing behind Marty :\ He's not nearly the same kind of professional as Weekes is, so you can't really expect Clemmenson to be outstanding playing 4-5 games a year every other month. He hasn't really had good consistent playing time. They'll be fine.

[TG]

I guess there was a slight chance that it was a bruise, but most everyone suspected otherwise from the start.What can you do about it? Everybody lies about injuries and the league does not require teams to release any information on injuries.

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

Pete... what about 3 years ago when Brodeur got hurt for 6 or 7 games and Clemmer won 4 out of 6... did he still suck then, and as i believe, one of those wins was against the Rangers.

[JJ]

I love how bloggers are suddenly experts in sports related injuries. I'll say it for the 4th time, WHO THE F CARES whether we found out about the full extent of the injury until a day later??? As TG said in another post, we should all expect to have to read into the "official" statements about injuries. It's always been like this in the NHL. When Lou was dodgy about this one in particular it did give us all an idea that the injury was a little more than just a bruise. Lou has a history of crafting statements to cut off further questions and avoids making comments that he's not prepared to elaborate on so just give it a rest guys.

[Salvatore from Garfield]

I've always had faith in weekes. I've always taken notice that when tg posts who shows up for the optional skates, it's usually weekes out there. I admire his work ethic and this poise.

I've be VERY surprised if he didn't pick up the team's "unsung hero" award.

[M.P.]

IN WEEKES WE TRUST & BELIEVE!

[Sav]

I saw Lou tests weekes for about 15 games. Depending on how he plays and the Devils record...he may need to make a move for another goalie until marty is back. Possibly a top line D?

[JCdevs]

I really dont see the big deal either with Lou and MB's injury..who cares? Can I make..I dont know..a suggestion for the site. How does everyone feel about keeping all comments on the most recent thread. TG is doing a great job with all the updates. The problem is when I look at the recent comments I have to scroll through 3 different threads to read them all. Typically within one update there will be multiple topics discussed anyway. Maybe its easier just to keep all comments on the most recent TG update?

[95-00-03]

I think tonights game is gonna be HUGE! It will show what we can expect for the next 25-30 games or so. If the Devils don't make a statement tonight and show the league that we are capable of winning a game without Marty then we are going to be in for a loooong season.

I have confidence in Weekes and I know our D line is weak, but if our forwards can play 60 minutes of sustained pressure and pitch in when the puck is in our zone, then we still have a chance.

GO DEVILS!

[comment]

It's not a matter of calling something a conspiracy or "perjury." The Devils are a private company and it clearly is not something to lose sleep over. And it was fairly obvious that the injury was more serious than a bruise. The only point is that it does not seem to be a matter of degree, where the GM minimized the injury. Instead, he flat made it up, and gave that disinformation to TG, et al., which they then passed on to the public. If the GM was referring to a bruise with no visible symptoms, it's all a moot point (the Weekes point is a good one). But there is at least as good a chance that the GM was simply providing you with false information. If reporters are content to be lied to, and to pass along that incorrect information to the public, then so be it. I realize it's just an elbow anyway, not Watergate.