GDT: Honoring Greatness: Your New Jersey Devils (38-15-5) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (23-27-10), 7 PM, MSGSN

[glenwo2]

Yeah, he has a bit of belly (probably only noticeable due to tucked in shirt) but yeah, his face hasn’t aged. Someone else commented on that. And I’m pretty sure he hardly had any hair 15-20 years ago or it was that really thin blonde hair that a lot of blonde guys have.

I thought Langs looked like hell when I first saw him, but then after looking at him a bit more, he didn’t look so bad to me. He’s just really full in the face and significantly gray on the sides of his head. I guess I just remember him looking pretty young still the last he played.

Sarge still looks really good.

The only two guys that stick out as particularly looking like they could get out there on the ice today are Elias and Stevens. Elias is probably one of the youngest guys of that group and Stevens might be the oldest.

It’s not that Nieds looks like he can’t play anymore, he just looks like a skinny middle aged school teacher or office nerd haha. Nieds also looks like he’s holding onto the last bit of his hair. I had to look up pics of him while he was still a player, as I didn’t remember him having thinning/receding hair, but I guess he kind of did then too.

I’m surprised Gomer has stayed thin in his post playing days, as he was lambasted for his conditioning and weight all throughout his career and has always referred to himself as chubby.

Marty’s constantly fluctuated with his weight since he retired. I remember him looking even bigger at his number retirement ceremony than he did last night, but I’ve also seen him thinner in his post playing days too. They’ve shown him sitting down fairly recently and his thighs didn’t even look all that thick.

I’m not sure if Stevens still works out frequently to retain his shape or not, but he’s still got a good set of shoulders and he doesn’t have a gut or anything.

Turner Stevenson looks like he could be part of a Biker gang.

 

[Bleedred]

I had absolutely no recollection of what Jiri Bicek looked like. I can remember him playing here, but couldn’t have even picked him out of the lineup if you gave me the 02-03 Devils yearbook and asked me to name every player. I might only be able to figure out who he was by process of elimination.

He’s one of the most random Devils from that era, as he played 62 games over 4 seasons.

He spent the better part of 7 seasons with the Rats in Albany.

He must have had to go through waivers multiple times over the years and we never lost him.

Pierre Dagenais is another rando that comes to mind from that era. And there were a bunch of them on defense.

 

[Whaddagoal]

I had absolutely no recollection of what Jiri Bicek looked like. I can remember him playing here, but couldn’t have even picked him out of the lineup if you gave me the 02-03 Devils yearbook and asked me to name every player. I might only be able to figure out who he was by process of elimination.

He’s one of the most random Devils from that era, as he played 62 games over 4 seasons.

He spent the better part of 7 seasons with the Rats in Albany.

He must have had to go through waivers multiple times over the years and we never lost him.

Pierre Dagenais is another rando that comes to mind from that era. And there were a bunch of them on defense.

I can't believe he showed up in person (Jiri Bicek), or shall i say, i was very surprised he showed in person - Good for him! Curious at what he does these days.

We didnt even get a Pascal visit, but he had a nice video message.

 

[Bleedred]

Turner Stevenson looks like he could be part of a Biker gang.

They had him on the broadcast quite a long time ago and I mean like in 10-11 or 11-12 and he looked not much different last night then I remembered him looking then.

He’s been out of professional hockey since 05-06. Played his last game at 33 years old. And I’m pretty sure he was a season ending injury that year, as he only played 31 games for the Flyers that year and none in the playoffs.

I remember him missing almost the entire season injured one of the years he played here. Might have been 01-02.

I can't believe he showed up in person (Jiri Bicek), or shall i say, i was very surprised he showed in person - Good for him! Curious at what he does these days.

We didnt even get a Pascal visit, but he had a nice video message.

I figured he may not even be in North America anymore, as he’s been out North American hockey for 19 years and had a very extensive European career which only ended 5 years ago.

I wonder if he came over from Europe just for this weekend?

 

[TheUnseenHand]

A coworker of mine who is just getting into hockey went to the game last night. It converted him and his wife to Devils fans lol. He snagged one of the replica rings for me. Also said he was chatting with Nieuwendyk before the game, but had no idea who he was until he saw him on the ice for the pregame ceremony

 

[JimEIV]

A coworker of mine who is just getting into hockey went to the game last night. It converted him and his wife to Devils fans lol. He snagged one if the replica rings for me. Also said he was chatting with Nieuwendyk before the game, but had no idea who he was until he saw him on the ice for the pregame ceremony

That's a helluva first game experience.

 

[Whaddagoal]

I figured he may not even be in North America anymore, as he’s been out North American hockey for 19 years and had a very extensive European career which only ended 5 years ago.

I wonder if he came over from Europe just for this weekend?

I was thinking the same...

 

[TheUnseenHand]

That's a helluva first game experience.

Couldn't ask for a better game to gain fans that were neutral.

 

[NJDevs26]

There were definitely a lot of 'event goers' there last night, people who were standing up and walking around all throughout the game in my section, chatting themselves up, not sure where to sit.

 

[Billdo]

Unless he doesn't want to be here there's no reason he wouldn't sign long term with a fair offer. You have to sign him. It's the only choice. He's not going to get more as a UFA and we're not getting back adequate value for him in a trade. You have to sign him.

See this is where I'll disagree. It's entirely possible he just doesn't want to be here. He can say it to the media that he does but unless Fitz is offering him some crazy like 6x6 deal, why hasn't he signed? What's fair becomes subjective. If he balls out next year he absolutely could get more in UFA than if he signs today.

 

[Hisch13r]

See this is where I'll disagree. It's entirely possible he just doesn't want to be here. He can say it to the media that he does but unless Fitz is offering him some crazy like 6x6 deal, why hasn't he signed? What's fair becomes subjective. If he balls out next year he absolutely could get more in UFA than if he signs today.

I mean I said it's possible he doesn't. Seems to me Bratt wanted what he thought was fair and that was definitely over 8 when Kyrou and Thomas get over 8. Fitz was offering under 8. I think Bratt wants to make what he thinks he should make and isn't going to waver or take less. As long as we're willing to pay then he's not going to get more as a UFA. The difference between 7 and 8 year deals is big.

 

[Billdo]

Why does everyone say so and so can't get more than Jack? Jack signed a massive deal as a child, he'll get another before he turns 30. It's not like he signed a 8 year 32 million deal.

I mean I said it's possible he doesn't. Seems to me Bratt wanted what he thought was fair and that was definitely over 8 when Kyrou and Thomas get over 8. Fitz was offering under 8. I think Bratt wants to make what he thinks he should make and isn't going to waver or take less. As long as we're willing to pay then he's not going to get more as a UFA. The difference between 7 and 8 year deals is big.

Where was this written? I think I missed it.

 

[Guttersniped]

How many does Hannu Kamppuri have?

My friend that I've brought up before (Carey Price looking guy built like Jagr) just now in the other thread is a big fan of Hannu, who played for the Devils when he was 1-2 years old.

He has an extremely random picture of Hannu as a Devil on his wall at his house and has had this picture on his bedroom walls since he was a kid, along with some other players, but Hannu Kamppuri is easily the most random guy on there.

He claims the first game he ever watched featured Hannu Kamppuri in net for the Devils. His memory is even better than mine ever was to be able to watch a guy that last played a game with the Devils/in North America before his second birthday.

He says his memory of it isn't strong, but that he heard the name and kept saying Hannu as a little kid and his parents knew he was fond of this player.

He's said that before he dies he really needs to scour the world for Hannu Kamppuri to get him to sign the picture.

He's probably the biggest fan of Hannu Kamppuri on this side of Finland. He used to pretend to be Finnish and tell people he was of Finnish descent when he was a little kid because of Hannu Kamppuri. He even gave himself a Finnish variation/alias of his name. In recent years he took a couple of the DNA tests, which came back a small percentage of Finnish and he was really excited. He's PUMPED about that and even tries to speak with a Finnish accent.

“He's PUMPED about that and even tries to speak with a Finnish accent.”

This story is so hilariously goofy I don’t even know what to say.

The National fixation reminds of Breaking Away, where a Townie high-school competitive biker in Bloomington, Indiana is obsessed with the Italian Racing Team and Italians in general.

Breaking Away is from 1979 so it might be an obscure reference now. It’s a minor masterpiece, the fantastic script won an Oscar (beating Manhattan no less).

Great cast including a young Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern, and just the best f***ing Paul Dooley performance imaginable.

 

[Guttersniped]

Just got home, first game in about 4 years...what a game. Couple things I noticed:

- Haula talks to the ref literally every stoppage. Its kind of weird.
- Nico does SO many little things that I never even noticed before. Stick positioning, board positioning, etc just such small things that sometimes go unnoticed.
- seeing JAck's speed in person is something else
- how about offensive juggernaut SIEGS!?
- 4th line was great tonight
- Philly is REALLY bad. They gave up in the third period.

Nico’s attention to defensive details is crazy good and you do have see it in person to pick it up.

Marino and Bastian also really impressive defensively (the former obviously being more important but both are delights lol).

The other very fun thing is watching Dougie, at times you can really tell when he’s seeing everything on the ice. You don’t get a sense of a player’s on-ice vision as much on tv.

 

[JimEIV]

“He's PUMPED about that and even tries to speak with a Finnish accent.”

This story is so hilariously goofy I don’t even know what to say.

The National fixation reminds of Breaking Away, where a Townie high-school competitive biker in Bloomington, Indiana is obsessed with the Italian Racing Team and Italians in general.

Breaking Away is from 1979 so it might be an obscure reference now. It’s a minor masterpiece, the fantastic script won an Oscar (beating Manhattan no less).

Great cast including a young Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern, and just the best f***ing Paul Dooley performance imaginable.

That was such a weird movie.

Like Vision Quest.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Just wanted to get in and say how great it was to see the boys respond to the 2003 Celeb.

It was a really great thing seeing all the guys again and it reminds you how likable that team was from top to bottom. I liked that the big names propped Colin White as a big piece bc he's terribly underrated, especially since he hung on so long to play above his pay grade with Motteau. Guys like Albelin, Stevenson, Marshall... Good feels.

 

[Guttersniped]

That was such a weird movie.

Like Vision Quest.

Breaking Away is much better movie but it’s the same genre, the coming of age sports movie. There’s a ton of them.

 

[JimEIV]

Breaking Away is much better movie but it’s the same genre, the coming of age sports movie. There’s a ton of them.

All the Right Moves was my favorite

 

[Guttersniped]

Lots of great photos obviously

Spoiler: 2003 Cup 20th Big Dogs & Group Photos

Mood

Should be a Conn Smythe but whatever.

Spoiler: The Rest of 2003 Player Intros

Albelin

Marshall riding that one goal forever lol (good for him, no complaints from me.)

HockeyDB only has one photo of Rafalski because he’s always looked exactly the same.

Turner Stevenson looking like he used play left guard for the NY Jets.

Joe Nieuwendyk looks like he’s the Governor of Colorado. (Canadians can use whatever their equivalent of this is.)

f*** yeah, Jiri Bicek!

First thing I thought of when I saw him.

Rupper looking like the guy who will tell you about his Cannibis investments at a party.

Even from the crowd you could see how Little G still exudes positivity and energy.

On the other hand, every time I see Jamie he looks like he’s seen some shit.

Whitey! Got to love Colin.

Oh my.

Ultimate Devils’ cult hero.

Still a crazy amount of charisma.

The best obviously.

Spoiler: Fight! Fight! Fight!

Give him what for Mikey!

Spoiler: Goals! Goals! Goals!

One!

Two!

Three!

Four!

Five!

Six!

And a Swiss Shutout too!

Spoiler: Wait, didn’t Jack score too?

Oh f*** yeah he did.

Spoiler: More lighthearted fun from the ass-kicking

Kevin Hayes is very large.