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The Senators. The Hurricanes. And now the Devils. If the NHL wanted to give the Kings a bye week, this was as close as it gets. Minus the part where they are actually playing hockey still.
These three teams all suffer from looking the same, being forgettable, and having been moderately talented when the sport was at its lowest points. The Hurricanes rode an improbable hot streak from a career shitastic goaltender, then won on another run because Canada is awful. Ottawa put together a miracle run, which resulted in the worst Stanley Cup Final in history. New Jersey was competitive when interference wasn’t a penalty.
Life could be worse for the Devils though. Of these three teams, they are the least likely to move or fold. They’re also in better shape than the New York Islanders. Their jerseys are easily redeemable if they switch back to wearing green as their accent. They have young players. They do face a major drawback if Paul Kariya finally remembers enough of being obliterated by Scott Stevens and sues their ass for putting him in a coma for 20 years.
The Kings and the Devils have something of a rivalry with Ilya Kovalchuk. Certainly not from 2012, since the Kings kicked their teeth in. Both franchises also have a strong disdain for Jeremy Roenick. On the other hand, who doesn’t?
Also...uh...well...
Okay, so that’s about all there really is to say about New Jersey. It’s sort of funny they got Sami Vatanen from the Ducks, in that Vatanen hated Orange County and then got sent to frozen even worse Orange County.
Prediction!
I forget there is a game and don’t watch.