Devils vs. Islanders, 2/23/08

We have bad news for all you game diary enthusiasts out there — once again the Devils have chosen not to consult with Pookie’s work schedule, so we’re going to be on TiVo delay for today’s hot matinee-against-the-Islanders action. Considering we’ll be watching this bad boy on a 7-hour delay, and we’re staring down the barrel of another matinee tomorrow (seriously, does the NHL hate us or something? Don’t answer that), we probably won’t be doing a diary today. So for anyone who’s around, enjoy this open thread, and we’ll be joining you all whenever we finish up with the Devils game.

Read Full Post »

Devils vs. Islanders, 1/16/08

After a four-hour TiVo delay, it’s awfully late to just be starting this game; without any further ado, let’s just get this going. So yeah, it’s the poopy Islanders again, we’re without Madden, we’re with Tallackson, and we zap over the pregame.

FIRST PERIOD

19:21 Paulie strips an Islander in the near corner of the Devils zone, then, with the Islander draped all over him, puckhandles around behind the net and up and out past the blue line. Schnookie: “That was kick-assedly good by Paulie.” Pookie: “Don’t you mean groin-grabbingly good? Snowman-shatteringly good?”

19:03 As FSN focuses on Pretty Ricky, Pookie declares: “I always just assume he’s out with a concussion. I’m always surprised when he’s starting.”

18:19 Doc informs us this is the first time since April ’99 that the Devils are without both Madden and Pando. That’s very, very cool. And very, very sad for PandoNation, where we are trying hard to keep ourselves from emotionally falling apart, but it’s an uphill battle.

16:33 Pookie suggested while we watched Sutter exhorting his team on the bench during the fast-forwarded intro that he was saying stuff like, “Come on, boys! It’s not the Islanders tonight! It’s some other team.” However, as the Devils flounder around the neutral zone, Schnookie sighs, “It definitely looks like the Devils are playing the Islanders tonight.” Pookie: “Sutter’s like, ‘No! I said they’re not the Islanders! Gah!’”

Read Full Post »

Devils @ Islanders, 12/29/07

So why couldn’t the schedule makers have anticipated that the Devils would be having trouble scoring these days and given them a game tonight against someone like the Flyers? They have no problem putting up four or five goals against them. But no, tonight we get the Islanders, whom the Devils have yet to beat this year. We keep getting this stupid Metro Ice Challenge update during the pregame that reminds us that the Islanders are winning the head-to-head, three-team matchup between them, the Devils and the Rangers. Interestingly, the Rangers are second and the Devils are in “last place”. Considering that’s the exact opposite of how the teams are standing in the division rankings, maybe we shouldn’t be putting too much weight on this Metro Ice Challenge after all.

In disheartening news for those of us hoping the Devils might score tonight, it is reported that Patty is out with a “tweaked groin”; as soon as we hear that, we both assume that means he’s being traded.

FIRST PERIOD

19:45 Doc announces at the outset that this is Zach’s 200th game. Sheesh! As Boomer says, “It’s been a fast 200 games,” Pookie adds, “He’s one third of his way to his own hotel room! Travis is like, ‘That day can’t come soon enough.’”

17:37 Pelley tries one of his signature shots, but it seems Dubie (yes, we’re going to be on a nickname basis with him for the sake of brevity) has read the book on Pelley, and is not going to give up a craptacular, bad-angle goal.

Read Full Post »

Devils vs. Islanders, 11/16/07

Well, considering that we’re creatures of habit, we should probably be happy that we’re in the doldrums of schedule-hell month, and don’t have to deal with shocking changes to our routine like having to play teams that aren’t in our division. So here we go, once again, with the Islanders.

The big story tonight is that Patty’s been moved over to center. It takes us back, this system of having natural centers playing at wing and natural wingers playing at center; it reminds us of the good old days, back when we were killing hockey and not the other way around. Pookie comments, as we see a graphic about Patty’s position shift, “It’s not like it’s going to last more than 15 seconds, though.” She makes a valid point.

The pregame chit chat moves on to the Poppers, and Chico says, “A hockey team is a lot like a rock band.” We correct him loudly, “It’s an orchestra, Chico.”

FIRST PERIOD

19:35 Doc mentions that Greene is skating with Rachunek tonight because Paulie’s still injured. Pookie: “BOO!” Pause. “Sorry, that was just me booing Marc Staal.”

17:51 Patty hits the ice and looks like he’s not totally lost skating up the middle; of course, it’s the same old result after he takes a pass in stride, drifts up the offensive zone and then shoots high.

Read Full Post »

Devils @ Isles, 11/10

Game Two of the Game Diary Marathon ’07 takes us to the Island for a little hot Devils-Islanders action. We’re lucky enough to get a pregame show tonight, because what’s better than bonus Stan Fischler?

Steve Cangialosi pops up to give us the plotline for the Devils, and says, “The storyline could be by night’s end that [Marty] will be going for his 500th win.” Should we take that to mean that Marty isn’t going to win this game? Because we thought he was going for his 500th win now.

The pregame show then goes to John Giannone to find out what’s up with the Rangers, and we see a graphic illustrating that this year’s Rangers are one of only four iterations in their entire history to not have been able to get two points out of their first six road games. They might be ahead of the Devils in the standings, but we’re still laughing at them.

The commercial break treats us to a lame-assed Knicks promo that elicits this response from CC: “You know, with the money these teams have you’d think they could do better than these promos. They might as well be standing in front of a bluescreen singing ‘Love Shack’ like we did at summer camp.” We decide not to tell CC that we never did this at summer camp. We’ll let her keep her dreams.

FIRST PERIOD

Doc and Chico discuss Gio and Zubrus busting out in the last game, and Chico refers to them as “The Rochester Rocket” and “The Lithuanian Freight Train”. Doc is as stunned by this as we are.

Read Full Post »