—pre-game thoughts in this earlier post
—I have already suffered a hockey injury preparing for this game. It involved a corkscrew and poor judgment. You do the math.

—Steve: Hey folks, I’d be lying if I told you’ve I’ve seen any Canucks action since that Sedin Twins commercial last year, but I know this’ll be the type of game I love, because I don’t get bored watching defensive hockey. It’s a mechanism deep within me from watching Devils Hockey since 1995 when I was 6 years old. This is like a holiday for me. Expect NJ to go with 7 defensemen and 11 forwards, they’re 8-1 when they do. Expect to not know anyone outside of Colin White and Paul Martin on the NJD blueline, as they are the only faces on the d-line that Vancouver has seen in red & black. Watch out for BC native Rod Pelley, who’s got family and friend’s going shirtless, painting their chests with the letters “R” “O” “D”. Let’s hope everyone’s in on the joke.

—Steve: Devils reporter calling Brodeur v. Luongo the Mercedes Benz of Goaltending matchups tonight at the Garage…while Chico Resch calls it “Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning”.
—Alanah: Well, it’s not a Volvo match up.
—Steve: Doc Emrick has already finished a bag of GM Place Popcorn.
— Alanah: It’s awesome popcorn!
—Steve: Devil to watch tonight, as pointed out by Emrick and Resch - D-Man Mike Mottau. Played 24 Minutes of Sunday’s win over the Flyers. Sort of a Rafalski esque appearence on the big stage, has quickly emerged as a mainstay in Jersey. Another one of those signings that makes you think “Where does Lou find these guys?”
—Steve: Doc Emrick: “Don’t know what your cable bill is but were not gonna’ steal your money tonight.” That’s why I love Emrick. He says things like that. It makes me feel like my cool uncle is telling me army stories

1st Period

20:00—Steve— Johnny Oduya and Andy Greene sit for the Devils…Jay Pandolfo’s out, so the Devils will go with the common 12 forwards-6 D-men.
19:58—Alanah— “GREAT SAVE LUONGO” (god, it’s already started…)
19:47—Steve— Zajac a steal off the bat, doesn’t quite realize he’s on a breakaway until he’s wasted his move on a ready-for-it Luongo.
18:45—Steve— Mason Raymond went to the University of Minnesota-Duluth…which produced the final goaltender to wear the Captain “C” in college history…Chico Resch.
17:44—Alanah— Aaron Miller scores - 193 games since his last goal… “No Save Brodeur!” (heh)
17:44—Steve— Off the draw, Aaron Miller scores from nowhere! Chico’s excuse: “It went off of Sergei Brylin”. Well, it did, but still…Chico makes excuses for goalies. It had to be said.
16:45—Steve— The Devils apparently have a power play? I didn’t see that happen.
16:00—Alanah— Neither did Luongo…
14:55—Steve— The Devils apparent man advantage is apparently over. They controlled the puck well, but just couldn’t get the bounces. Karel Rachunek is quickly becoming more confident in his shot, and he whipped a few wide during the PP.
14:33—Steve— Mike Brown and Aaron Asham trade haymakers. Takedown to Asham. I call that one an exciting draw, how about you?
14:00—Alanah— Indeed.

13:00?? Alanah—Interrupting this liveblog…. we have a Philly trade just in.
12:30—Steve— Ohlund’s stick betrays him. The Devils getting a power play, they’re storming the offensive zone, and the Nucks touch it.
10:29—Steve— This one’s already a lot more entertaining than any of us felt it would be.
10:00—Alanah— It is. Perhaps we should thank Chico!
9:40—Steve— Weird trade…both players were well liked in their home cities. Philly will love Vandermeer, and Chicago will love Eager.
9:00?—Alanah— Zubrus gets the penalty. Naslund has the flu, AND he’s drawing penalties. Swedes are talented.
8:37—Steve— Canucks finally get a call their way, as the large man Dianus Zubrus goes off for holding.
8:00?—Alanah— Steve just told me on the side that Eager (of the Philly trade above) is a member of MENSA. Sweet geezus….
6:45—Steve— The Freight Train from The Ukraine Vitaly Vishnevski crushes Taylor Pyatt, and the Devils kill the penalty.
6:14—Steve— Doc compares Matt Cooke to somewhat of a Sean Avery, or a Claude Lemieux. Fair?
6:14—Alanah— A bit of a stretch. But he’s just as annoying, probably. Though I think both Lemieux and Avery are pretty much one-of-a-kind in their unique category of rather skilled SOBs.
5:47—Steve— Doc and Chico dig the Nucks new unis. They dig the old Hockey Stick designs moreso.
5:00—Alanah— Geez, I’m starting to dig the names Doc and Chico. Starting to make “Jim and John” on Sportsnet seem a bit dull…
4:30—Steve— Doc Emrick wants an Orland Kurtenbach Nucks sweater.
4:10—Alanah— Who the hell doesn’t? That, or Luongo. I bet Doc secretly owns a Luongo sweater.
4:00—Steve— Can you tell the game’s slowed a bit?
3:32—Steve— How can I reasonably respect any arena that plays “Boys & Girls” by Good Charlotte?
3:00—Alanah— DON’T make me start commenting on the musical contributions of New Jersey! God… Bon Jovi was just in town…
1:40—Steve— Doc Emrick points out there’s 100 seconds left in the period.
1:00—Alanah— Jersey boys are awesome. They can, like, count, and everything…
00:02—Steve— After a long debate, where Steve points out to Alanah that The Jovi once recorded in VanCity, that we also have MCR and Springsteen…and that Vancouver is home to Nickelback…the Devils finish with the stronger effort and the period is over.
00:00—Alanah— shut up.
00:00—Steve—Doc, Chico and reporter Steve Cangialosi want you to eat at the Pru Center with them.
00:00—Alanah— They’re on their own. I need booze.

Back soon for the 2nd.

2nd Period

Steve: Steve Cangalosi thinks it’s tough that Luongo plays in a city that…you know…cares about hockey.
Alanah: He might have a point. I bet Dan Cloutier never got death threats after he moved to LA, you know…
Steve: Call me biased, but I feel the Devils were a little better in that period, despite being down 1-0. Overall, a great road period for a team playing it’s first game west of Pittsburgh this season.
Alanah: Biased.
Steve: Roberto Luongo’s averaged 21.9 Wins per season in his first 8 years. That’s going to kill him when they rank him in the Top goalies of all time. Those Isles/Panthers years will hurt him in the stats. Chico thinks that Roberto will not win more than Marty.

20:00 Alanah— Hughson just said the scoring chances were 3-2 for Jersey in the first… and that was overly generous. I have to agree.
20:00 Steve— Period begins
19:00 Steve— Brodeur robs Kesler, but someone knocks it in.
19:00 Alanah— Apparently… Brodeur robs Kesler and Kesler Strikes Back! 2-0 Vancouver.
18:50 Steve— Good effort from Kesler, looks like he got his own rebound there.
18:00 Steve— Madden rings iron with a shot.
17:15 Alanah— Linden scores. Either than or I drank too much wine. 3-0 Vancouver? Holy crap. Good freakin’ wine…
17:15 Steve— Linden rips one of Brodeur’s glove…and this one is quickly 3-0
16:00 Steve— The Canucks dominate play for really the first time tonight
15:00 Alanah— Yes, for the ‘first time’. What was it called with the 1-0 lead and the 2-0 lead… just “keeping up”? (Ha! Damn, I’m funny…)
14:40 Steve— Sutter’s getting desperate, Elias-Gionta-Parise are back together as a line.
14:30 Alanah— Nothing freakier than a Desperate Sutter. Geezus, I wish I had the same kind of insults handy for Brent as I do for Darryl…
14:13 Steve— Doc Emrick found out the Trevor Linden has worn 11 of the 13 sweaters the Canucks have donned in their history.
14:00?? Alanah— I’m pretty sure I just heard Sportsnet’s John Garrett give the recipe to make a good Caesar. Drunk Garrett.
14:00 Steve— Kitimat is the home of Devs center Rod Pelley…he was Ryan Kesler’s Best Man at his wedding.
13:30 Alanah— Weird. I’ve been to Kitimat… didn’t know there were people from Kitimat before.
12:50 Steve— Most of this info courtesy of the Saskatchewanian Chico Resch
12:10 Steve— Doc and Chico remind you that Brendan Morrison used to play hockey. Or I should say, for the Devils. Good block by Edler on a bid from Langenbrunner.
12:00?? Alanah— Naslund scores. “Daniel to Henrik to Markus.” It’s a Swedish Christmas! (Oh, and such great wine, too. Australian in fact… my new good luck charm…)
12:00 Steve— Beautiful play, Naslund, 4-0. Enough for Marty. Not all his fault, but Get Weekes some time out there.
10:50 Steve— Marty stays in. Brodeur hasn’t played bad, but it’s just one of those games where he’s not on. Those are so few and far between, that they are extremely frustrating for the Devils fan.
10:00 Alanah— Conversely… so satisfying for a Canucks fan… :)
9:15 Steve— New Jersey apparently had dinner reservations for period 2, they are sure not playing hockey. Brodeur leaves without desert, coming back to rob Mason Raymond.
9:00 Alanah— If I was a good person, I’d be more sad for the Jersey fan. Oddly, I’m not that sad. Weird.
8:30 Alanah— Burrows goes after Vish (Viz, Vichey, Vichi?) -nesky…. and now Burrows takes the penalty for roughing.
8:30 Steve— Vishnevski did what the Freight Traine from Ukraine does. A Scott Stevens special. Step 1: Cut a hole in a box…er,nevermind. Step 1: Player (Burrows?) with his head down, Step 2: Destroy
7:50 Steve— It’s a clean hit, and Burrows attack for retribution gets him 4 minutes.
6:30 Steve— Bobby Lou’s first highlight reeler is on Gionta, as Luongo comes out and cuts the angle nicely.
6:10 Alanah— 4on4 for some reason right now. Explain?
6:00 Steve— The Devils are served with a 2 many men penalty. Get it under control Sutter, who’s initials are BS in case you didn’t know.
5:50 Alanah— I wish I could enjoy that “B.S.” thing more. If only “D.S.” had the same subliminal message… I actually kind of like the Brent brother.
4:30 Steve— Devils not doing so much on what’s left of the Double Minor to Burrows
4:00 Alanah— New Devils in the West slogan: “What could we do? It’s Bobby Lou!”
3:20 Steve— I do like Brent, though I feel like he’s going to do something stupid in the playoffs. Sergei Brylin (!) draws a penalty, because that’s what Sergei Brylin does.
2:50 Steve— This is pretty much your game folks
1:50 Steve— Chico’s super impressed with Edler.
1:45 Alanah— Well, then Chico would fit in well in Vancouver. We’re all super impressed with Edler. The boy has been a shocker….
00:36 Steve— It’s a shame Patrik Elias is so talented. I’d like him a lot more if he were just some schmo grinder.
00:00 Alanah— It’s a shame Patrik Elias is so talented. He’d make less money and Vancouver could steal him and exploit him.
00:00 Steve— Great Period from Vancouver, they will win the game because of it. It should be fun to just watch some good athletes in the 3rd period without the score of the game in question
00:00 Steve— Trevor Linden is the post-period interview. He thinks they’ve gotten a few breaks. Has he seen the officiating? For realsies, you get luck when your going good.
00:00 Steve— Looking back, that was a real scud move from Burrows after a clean hit from Vishnevski.
00:00 Alanah— Canucks are 4-0. Enough said. (Well, “Canucks are kicking ass”. NOW… enough said.)
00:00 Steve— It must be real easy for Vancouver to have a slanted opinion on Brodeur, not just having his heir apparent. Brodeur will go to 6-9-0 against VAN with tonight’s loss…his only losing record against any NHL team
00:00 Alanah— It’s not a “slanted” opinion so much as… the reason we LIKE him. :)
00:00 Steve— Rod Pelley had never seen an NHL game till college.
00:00 Steve— ...in person. Doh!!
00:00 Steve— Commercial: Ryan Hollweg and Blair Betts had asthma. If you know what I mean…but seriously, they do have asthma.
00:00 Steve— Highlights…brilliant play by Kesler on that 2nd goal…knucklepuck action on Linden’s goal…Madden completely mindfu#ks himself on the 4th one.

3rd Period

20:00 Steve— Hey, there’s still a hockey game going on.
19:30 Alanah— Wow. Are all Jersey boys so obsessed with detail?
19:00 Steve— Clarkson and Pyatt come close, but don’t go all the way. So to speak.
18:20 Alanah— I like liveblogging with Steve…he’s really

dirty!
17:00 Steve— Wow, the pace is almost uncomfortably fast.
16:58 Steve— Yeah, cuz that’s a departure to those of you who read Alanah’s liveblog regularly
16:30 Alanah— HEY! *burp*
16:10 Steve— I’d hate to be Elias’ wife. When he gets frustrated, he starts shooting at anything and everything.
15:50 Steve— Brown gets a penalty. Whenever I hear the name Brown, I keep thinking It’s Devs/Van former D-Man Sean Brown
15:30 Alanah— Safe to assume you’re the only one, Steve…
15:00 Steve— Parise and Kesler have gone at it at least twice tonight.
14:10 Steve— A futile Devils power play pretty much kills any hope of scoring a goal tonight.
14:00 Alanah— I’m pretty much okay with killing the hope of Devils fans.
13:53 Steve— 0-for-6 on the Power Play tonight is pretty much the difference in the game. The Devils were given a few chances to run away with this one early, but they failed, as they sometimes do.
13:00 Alanah— Yellowtail Chardonnay. I know thousands of you (MILLIONS even) were wondering.
12:00 Steve— Rod Pelley’s dad said some people drove 17 hours to watch Rod play. Rod’s parents will be with him in Edmonton and Calgary, let’s hope the Devs show up too…as Markus Naslund’s just made it 5-0
11:00 Alanah— I’d be celebrating obnoxiously about the 5-0 thing right now… but Hughson just mispronounced Matt Cooke’s name quite fantastically…
10:50?? Steve— And the Canucks begin chanting the name of the goaltender with 3 Cups, 2 Vezinas, a Gold Medal, and the virginity of 34% of my high school graduating class.
10:00 Alanah— Whatever. (Did I graduate from high school…? Yellowtail.. yummmm)
9:00?? Steve— Doc hating on the million dollar scoreboard not showing the penalty time, instead showing off the mascot talking to fans. “I mean it’s a scoreboard right, there should be some score”. Gotta love Doc
8:49?? Steve— While Alanah and I jab about overweight goaltenders and women…the Devils get a 5-on-3 drill as they’ve taken way too many penalties for me to count…like, 2 or something!
8:30?? Steve— Even in a bad game, Marty Brodeur still gives you something to make the price of admission passable, robbing Naslund.
8:00 Alanah— Oh yeah… ROBBERY! (Too bad Naslund already burglarized his house twice before Brodeur locked that garage basement window door…)
7:30? Steve— Edler gets into Brodeur’s snatch. I’ll be here tomorrow night folks, tip the waitress on your way out.
7:20 Alanah— I hope Naslund can turn a trick. So to speak.
7:00 Steve—They’re running this weird commercial about rednecks going from TV’s with the bunny ears and the antennas switching to cable. I guess nobody north of DC owns those TVs anymore
7:00 Steve— In retrospect, I think Sutter will look at playing Marty 4 games in 6 nights prior to a 3500 mile road trip a “Rookie Mistake”
5:00 Steve— Doc poses the question, if a Canuck is a derogatory term. I think it’s more annoying that two teams are named after nicknames for people from Canada.
4:00 Alanah— Huh?
3:50 Steve— Chico experiments with seeing if mentioning a shutout will jinx Bobby Lou
3:48 Steve— I’ll play along…If Luongo SHUTS OUT the Devils, they will have been SHUT OUT for the 7th time this season, tying the record for SHUT OUTS in Devil history.
3:00 Alanah— Ignore him, Canucks fans. Just drink Australian wine. Excessively. It makes all your superstitions drift away. Like magic….
2:15 Steve— This’d probably be an awesome time to plug the “Chico-ism” T-Shirt, available online now.
2:30 Steve— Canucks/Canadiens: Eh?
1:30 Alanah— Eh? Huh? Australians never say “Eh…”
1:27 Steve— Roberto Luongo is this much time away from a SHUT OUT

00:00 Alanah— Okay. Luongo has KINDA BROKEN RIBS and half the team is barely out of the infirmary (for godsakes; including Naslund, playing with influenza tonight) and Vanouver gets a 5-0 effort against the Devils. OBVIOUSLY the Canucks are headed to the Stanley Cup.

00:00 Steve— A well deserved SHUT OUT for Luongo. Oh wait, it’s really a shut out now. Ah well. New Jersey natives The Bouncing Souls cover of “Ole” greats the Canucks fans in their victory. The Devils have been shut out in 7 games out of 34 this season. This is a weird freakin’ team. Yet, New Jersey still tops the Atlantic Division, and has 3 games to get ready for Edmonton, as if the schedule maker said “They’re gonna need it!”

00:00 Alanah— You are going to need it. Luongo is undoubtedly emotionally traumatic for any goalie to face. But fear not, Devils’ fan… I’m rooting for you to kick the Oilers’ asses.

00:00 Steve— Willie Mitchell would rather have Bobby Lou in net because he’s hungrier. I don’t think anyone is hungrier than Marty Brodeur…if you know what I’m saying.

00:00 Alanah—Thankfully, I have no idea what you’re saying. If I did, I suspect I’d need a shower right now.

Nice work, Canucks!

00:00 Steve— Vancouver has Dallas Thursday night…a complete role reversal from the Devils defensive style, I mean A 360 DEGREE TURNAROUND I SAY!

00:00 Alanah— What do you care, Devils fan? Just beat Edmonton, and I’ll offer sainthood to Marty later this week…

00:00 Steve— I may be joining Alanah for that Dallas/Vancouver game (Yahoo! Simulcast, Amen). I say if the Canucks blow it Thursday, Alanah has to tell us the sappy quote from John Lennon she loves, but is too sappy to admit on her Facebook! There, I said it.

.Ah well, I had so much fun doing this, I will come back tomorrow [Thursday]. It made me slightly less suicidal about tonight’s game. Remember, New Jersey is where the word “Emo” was invented.

00:00 Alanah— “Emo”... is that something you should admit to???

Good night, all. :)