Matching each Devils' player with a car

I recently launched a new blog for my "other" hobby: sports cars.  The blog is called Traction Control Off, and as an introduction and segue between blogs, I wrote a guide giving each current Devils player (and one former Devil) a corresponding car based on their role as a player.

The post can be found here: Matching each Devils' player with a car

How to prevent another NHL lockout

"How many fingers am I holding up?  That's how many lockouts the NHL will have suffered by time I'm done here.
You're welcome, David Stern!"

For the, uhh, millionth third time in the Gary Bettman era, the NHL faces the possibility of a lockout that would shorten, or worse-yet cancel another season of NHL hockey.  In case you didn't know, Bettman worked for David Stern in the NBA before becoming NHL commissioner in 1993.  The first lockout happened in the fall of 1994 (yes, right as MLB was finishing up a strike of their own) and forced the 1994-95 season down to 48 games.  But I'm not complaining, because there was a happy ending to that season.  Then, exactly 10 years later, the entire 2004-05 season was lost to a lockout.  So here we are in 2012, desperately hoping to avoid a third lockout in a 20 year period.  Gary Bettman told us not to be worried three weeks ago, but now says he's prepared for a lockout.  But this can all be avoided.  I've arranged a few helpful tips for the NHL and NHLPA to prevent another lockout.

• Well, the easiest way to settle the labor war is to lock Gary Bettman and NHLPA director Donald Fehr into a room, and whoever comes out alive after an hour gets whatever they want in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
   
• Make sure the next CBA has a no-lockout clause, similarly to players' no-trade clauses.
   
• Have the NHLPA hire someone who's been in a sport that never locks out.  Okay, anyone but Donald Fehr...
   
• Tell Ryan Suter and Zach Parise that they won't be able to make their salaries...oh, right, they have massive signing bonuses that pay them even if this very sort of thing happens.  Never mind...
   
• Put Dany Heatley on the NHLPA's player committee and tell him that if there's no CBA in place, he can't inevitably request a trade to Edmonton.  Or Pittsburgh. 

If the Devils were in a Winter Classic, who would play in the alumni game?

This week is the week that the Red Wings and Maple Leafs will announce their rosters for the 2013 alumni game during the Winter Classic weekend.  Now, as outrageous as this may seem, it is possible for the Devils to be a part of a Winter Classic someday.  So, I got to thinking: if the Devils were a part of that weekend, who would play in the alumni game for them?

Adam Henrique, Adam Larsson and Jacob Josefson are three of the most logical choices, since by the time the Devils get picked for a Winter Classic, they'll be the only ones still able to skate.

*Last year, the Flyers had 17 forwards, 9 defensemen, 3 goalies, 3 coaches and 3 ambassadors on their alumni roster.

Let's start with the obvious choices.  In goal, it'll be Chris Terreri and Chico Resch.  Those two are second and third on the Devils' all-time games played list for goaltenders.  Which reminds me, if Terreri and Resch are second and third, there must be a first.  ... Oh, right.  Brodeur.  Yeah, I guess he can come if he wants.  He's been a pretty solid goalie over the years, I'd say.

Obviously Brodeur is a lock to be the primary goalie for the Devils.  Marty is the NHL's all-time leader in games played for a goalie, wins, losses, shutouts, minutes, playoff shutouts, plus he's got 4 Vezina trophies, 5 Jennings trophies, a Calder trophy, 3 Stanley Cup rings, a couple Olympic gold medals and he's scored two goals.

After Brodeur, there would a battle for second between Terreri and Resch, but since the alumni roster allows for three goalies, both of them would probably make it.  Terreri was Marty's backup during the 1995 Cup run and well, Chico is Chico.  Unless you really like Yann Danis (and no, Johan Hedberg has not played long enough for the Devils).

Sources say: you just got scammed. #CONFIRMED

Chances are that if you have a Twitter and follow hockey, you've probably heard a rumor started by @HockeyyInsiderr, you just may or may not know.  For some reason, many people continue to follow him and believe his idiotic rumors.  In fact, the mysterious character that "HockeyyInsiderr" is has amassed over 21,000 Twitter followers.

Anyway, I usually ignore people like him.  I've never followed him, and I never will.  While I disagree with what he does, which is essentially trying to create rumors (like Brodeur for Semin two years ago and Parise for Malkin last summer) and inflate reports to boost his follower count, he doesn't force anyone to follow him.  If people follow him, that's their problem.

There was a little extra buzz surrounding him recently.  Why?  Well, usually when he's wrong about something, he's able to cover up and pretend that never happened.  He was unable to do that this past week.  On July 3rd, the night before Zach Parise and Ryan Suter signed with the Minnesota Wild, "HockeyyInsiderr" boldly tweeted that there was a 95% chance that Parise was heading to the Penguins and Suter had pretty much agreed to go to Detroit.  He was the laughing stock of Twitter the following day.  His sources must have misguided him.  Eventually, he got into some kind of Twitter dispute with some members of the media, including TSN analyst Darren Dreger.

Devils' 2012 off-season spotlight: Alexander Semin

Well, the dust has cleared.  Zach Parise is in the past, as far as Devils fans are concerned, and it's time to move on.  Unfortunately, timing was awful for the Devils this summer.  Their star captain hit the free agent market, and the free agent market itself was extremely thin, thus inflating the demand for those players and driving their prices up.  Add to that the Devils' financial problems and the potential for a lockout in the fall and this was a disaster waiting to happen.  There really aren't any high-end players who can make a difference in the NHL next season left on the free agent market...except for one: Alexander Semin.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of bringing Alexander Semin to New Jersey (not that it's my call, but you get the point).  First of all, there are two alternatives if the Devils don't sign him: do nothing and hope for the best next season before hoping to cash in on the 2013 free agent group or make a trade for Bobby Ryan or Rick Nash, which would cost the Devils trade assets that they really don't have, such as young forwards (which is already a scarcity) and first round draft picks (the Devils will have to give theirs up in 2013 or 2014).

So that leaves the Devils with two realistic choices: Semin or nobody.  Now, Semin is always associated with two things: awful jokes regarding his last name and lackadaisical on-ice play.  There's not much anyone can do about the first one, but hopefully a few facts will change your mind about the second part.