Snapped the above picture from my Blackberry. It’s a Prudential Center worker preparing to sew back on netting to replace the one Marty Brodeur cut off after breaking the NHL record for victories last home game (552). Being as much a hockey fan as a hockey writer, I just had to take the picture. Just cool that that was the cage. Funny thing is Brodeur’s such a good guy, he probably would have done it himself if he only knew. I wrote about Brodeur as my Sunday column 

Just got back from the morning skates between the Wild and the team that will be coming out of the East (guaranteed) , and it’s great to be back on the New Jersey, New York, Long Island jaunt.

It’s been since 2005-06 that the Wild’s played here, and because I am exhausted from all this travel (you should have just seen me trying to remember my room number for a waiter; I gave him a room number from like five hotels ago), I’m staying in the N.Y area this weekend so I don’t have to travel back to Minnesota and then back to N.Y., and then to Alberta (good schedule, eh?).

It was my first time inside the relatively brand-spanking new Prudential Center, and what a nice arena. And the Devils are drawing crowds lately in downtown Newark, which is a great thing. They should. I think the Devils are the best team in the East, and the way Boston’s been playing lately, I think Jersey’s the team to beat — despite all the Americans, Minnesotans and former college players it’s got, eh?

Just talking to some of the guys I know well in there today, the Devils continue to be the NHL’s elite as far as first-class organizations. Few teams do it better or treat their players better than Lou Lamoriello and crew. People just love playing for them. Also, walking around their dressing room for a long time today and chatting with players, there’s an energy in there — and it’s not just the big names that are everywhere. There’s a confidence that this could be a special year for this deep, deep team.

It’s one of the most well-balanced teams I’ve seen this year, from the young stars like Zach Parise and Travis Zajac and Johnny Oduya, to the older stars like Patrik Elias, to the older vets like Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik and Brendan Shanahan and Jamie Langenbrunner and Brian Gionta and John Madden to a strong blue line led by Paul Martin to the calming influence of Marty Brodeur, who held court forever this morning.

Rolston got a chance to visit with some of his old teammates. It was good to get to schmooze with him for awhile, too. It’s amazing how much the Wild dressing room has changed by just taking his personality out of there. Things just aren’t as light now, especially because Brent Burns — the life of the Wild’s party — continues to recover from his concussion.

OK, enough gushing about David Puddy’s Devahhhhlllllsss, except there are few classier, better guys than Doc Emrick, the Devils’ play-by-play voice. If you’ve got the Center Ice package, you’ll get to enjoy Emrick and Chico Resch tonight because the Wild’s got no home TV tonight. Emrick and Resch are a great team, and two very nice guys.

Wild looks to be going with the same lineup tonight. Kurtis Foster looks in. Colton Gillies and Craig Weller look out, although Derek Boogaard was on late, too. Marian Gaborik stayed on late today, so he’s not going to be a surprise return. Sunday still looks like the day.

Wild is still ninth in the West, but it’s three points back of eighth. So another huge, huge game.

The team had lots of travel problems yesterday. It was delayed 2 1/2 hours in Minnesota, then finally took off, but instead of landing in Newark, because of weather, they landed in White Plains, N.Y. and had to drive to Newark in rushhour. But the players said their legs felt fine.

Former Devils coach Jacques Lemaire and Lamoriello sat in the stands together during the Devils’ skate, and then during the Wild’s skate, Lemaire stood and talked with his old goalie coach, Jacques Caron, for a long time. Lemaire also talked with the Devils’ writers and media for-everrrrrrrrr.

Wild radio color analyst Tom Reid continues to try to recover from his multiple knee surgeries. Bob Kurtz is flying solo tonight.

OK, that’s it. Sneak preview for tomorrow’s notebook, but I’ll be doing a lot on the NHL’s most underrated star, Mr. Zach Parise. Rolston was phenomenal talking about him, and Parise was great, too.

Also have a good note for tomorrow on Rolston talking about Mikko Koivu.

Here’s some extra Rolston quotes that didn’t make the cut in today’s story. One, of course, is self-serving, but hey, deal with it.

“I do check up on the Wild and [Russo’s Rant’s] often to see how they’re doing. They’re battling for a playoff spot. It’s crazy out West and that was always the case when I was there, too. You were always battling to make the playoffs. I hope we win [Friday], but I also really hope they make it. Playing for that organization was a great experience for me. Good friends on the team. I do hope they do well. Good young core that’s there.”

On shooting slappers at Backstrom: “Hey listen, believe me I’ll be trying to score on him. I don’t know if I will, but I’ll be trying.”

On the four-year, $24 million deal the Wild signed Backstrom to: “That was interesting. I kept on saying to myself, ‘I don’t know how they can let him go.’ He’s just got a great mentality. He’s a terrific goalie. I’m happy he got the deal he got. He deserves it. In a checking system they play in Minnesota, you have to have a great goaltender [because they don’t score a lot].”

Lastly, want to see something funny, but apparently I multi-task well. Click this link. I should send the St. Louis Dispatch a bill.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 20th, 2009 at 12:12 pm and is filed under Pregame skate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.