games

banggood 18% OFF Magic Cabin Hat Country LLC HearthSong 15% Off Your First Purchase! Code: WELCOME15 Stacy Adams

Friday, April 13, 2012

Devils' Martin Brodeur knows Jose Theodore since he was a young teen - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

games - Google News
Google News
Devils' Martin Brodeur knows Jose Theodore since he was a young teen - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com
Apr 13th 2012, 19:28

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Devils goalie Martin Brodeur has known Jose Theodore for a long time.

Their relationship goes back to when the Florida Panthers' goalie was a young teenager.

"He was 12 or 13 when I met him. I was teaching at a hockey school outside Montreal," Brodeur recalled. "I don't teach that well. I was just there, acting like a teacher.

"He's a good goalie, a good competitor. He's been in the league for a lot of years and he's got some experience. He had some success in the playoffs with Montreal. The goalie who has played (in the playoffs) before knows what to expect. That's who I was expecting them to start and I think I was right on that one."

Brodeur knows there will be lots of attention on how he plays at age 39.

"Not having success the last few years people will always look at that," he said. "Look around the league. How many goalies have had success in the playoffs? I think we're all in the same boat. I'm looking forward to playing well for my team regardless of how I get judged. I can't control that.

"I think I appreciate the situation I'm in right now a little more because of the way I bounced back and had a solid year after missing last year."

Coach Pete DeBoer said he isn't sure whether Brodeur feels he has something more to prove.

"In my conversations with him, I know when you get older you start reflecting back," the coach said. "The best quote I heard from him was somebody gave him the advice that when it's over it's really over and there is no going back so kind of enjoy it and make the most of it. I think that's what he's doing. He recognizes whether it's this year, next year or two years from now, things are winding down. This guy is the best of all time and a proud man. He's still got a lot of game left and he wants to win. That's what makes him great."

Brodeur said there is a good atmosphere in the Devils' dressing room.

"We'll see how we handle this but there is a good atmosphere in the locker room. The boys are happy to start. Anxious," he said. "Starting on the road I think makes it a little easier for us, just to go out and be with ourselves and do our thing. The home team always wants to jump and get the intensity from the crowd. For us it's just play hockey and let's see how it falls.

"The guys are feeling pretty comfortable. We know what we have in front of us is going to be a hard battle. We're looking forward to it."

The Devils are overwhelming favorites in this series.

"I try not to look at it but it's kind of hard because it's all over the place," Brodeur said. "People have some respect for our hockey team and I think we have to be proud of that. It goes both ways. When they pick for you, you say, 'That's nice.' When they pick against you, you try to prove them wrong.

"It's such a fine line for us to have to deal with everything. That's what the playoffs are all about. The team that is able to deal with it better will be affected less. It makes it hard to listen and read everything everyone has to say about you and your team and the series.

"You try to keep that away, but now it's everywhere. If you have a Twitter account you see everything. You just look on the internet, open one page and everything is there. On top of it, the fans have their two bits to say. That makes it hard on guys if you pay attention to that. We talked about it as a team. 'Let's just do what we need to do and not worry about the outside world.' That's what the playoffs are all about, managing what's around the game more than the games."

* * *

Travis Zajac said there were points in this season when he thought he wouldn't be able to play in the playoffs.

"Yes, there were. That's a ways behind me now," Zajac said today. "When I did have a setback I didn't know what the future would hold. After going through the rehab I kind of had a feeling I'd be back. I'm 100 percent. I haven't had anything to be a cause for concern. Physically and mentally I feel good."

And what about David Clarkson and his lower body injury?

"No matter what was wrong, I was going to play Game 1," Clarkson told me. "That was hard for me to sit out games at the end of the season, but I had no choice. I had to let the injury settle down. But I can assure you I was going to play."

* * *

Stephen Gionta will play in his first Stanley Cup playoff game, centering the fourth line with Ryan Carter and Steve Bernier.

"I talked to both of my brothers. They're excited and nervous at the same time. I guess I have those same feelings. It's going to be exciting," Gionta said. It's awesome."

His wife will attend home games in New Jersey and his father is likely to get to at least one game.

* * *

Much has been said about the "inside information" John Madden and Scott Clemmensen may have on the Devils.

But what about Ryan Carter, who played 12 games for the Panthers in 2010-11 and seven this season before the Devils claimed him off waivers. Certainly Carter has some inside info.

"I think the only advantage might be having intimate knowledge on some of their guys and their tendencies, but even that I only played seven games there. That's not a ton of time to learn," he said. "That's not enough time. Training camp, seven games. Little tidbits maybe."

Carter said he doesn't have any strong feelings about facing his ex-club.

"No. Maybe for the first game or two against them, but we're so far removed from any emotion that may have come with the transition. This is my team now," he said. "That's all I'm focused on."

Rich Chere: rchere@starledger.com; twitter.com/Ledger_NJDevils

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com.

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions

No comments:

Post a Comment