Yes, it's still training camp.
Yes, a lot of teams are far from close to having their opening day rosters complete.
But non the less, HOCKEY IS BACK!!
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| Damien Bruner (red) in his first skate with Devils |
Let's quickly recap a very progressive day for the boys in red and black over in Newark, New Jersey.
Monday, September 16th, was all the New Jersey Devils organization and their Devils Army fan-base could ask for, and for plenty of reasons.
Let's not save the best for last, simply because I'm too excited to not type about it right now.
About three hours or so before puck drop of the Devils first pre-season matchup, multiple reports leaked that Damien Brunner and the Devils reached an agreement on a player tryout (PTO).
Moment's later, Lou Lamoriello addressed the positively fired up media and confirmed the great news.
"He'll be here and will practice tomorrow," GM Lou Lamoriello stated. "We had inquired about him early in the year. We certainly have seen him in Detroit. We know a little bit about him from the Swiss League. We thought through the summer he would be signing. We said if it did not work out we'd be very interested in taking him to camp. When it looked like he hadn't gotten a contract we communicated, kept our word and he's here."
I was 100% on board with bringing in Damien Brunner from the beginning.
At 27 years old, and 5'11'' 184 lbs, the kid can fly. In 44 games with the Detroit Red Wings last year, he recorded 26 points (12 goals, 14 apples)
Although he's not currently signed to the New Jersey Devils and is only signed to a tryout, I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't signed by the end of camp. All signs point up, as he's currently skating with the team at camp on a line with LW Patrick Elias.
The next bit of good news comes from that other new guy in town.... what's his name? Oh yea- Cory Schneider.In his first (unofficial) start with the New Jersey Devils, Schneider debuted with a two period shut out against the cross- Hudson rivals, New York Rangers. Stopping all 22 shots he faced and earning a standing ovation from Los Diablos and co.
The future of the New Jersey Devils is very bright with Schneider in between the pipes.
Last but not least, the final bit of good news comes from the likes of Mattias Tedenby and Eric Gelinas.
In his new and flashy no. 9 uniform, Mattias Tedenby buried home a rebound "feel-good" goal against Henrik Lundqvist to put the Devils up 1-0. Let's face it, any goal against Lundqvist is a feel good goal, but given Tedenby's situation as a first round draft pick consistently riding the roller coaster between the AHL and NHL for a few years now, last night's goal may have served as a tremendous confidence booster and can potentially jump start the young lad's career going forward... only time can tell.
Eric Gelinas scored the second of the two NJ goals, scoring 31 seconds into the third period.
It's no secret the Devils are looking for a young defenseman to produce offensively from the blue line, and last's night goal was the first good impression for Eric Gelinas.
"It's good to show what I can do out there," Gelinas said. "I'm shooting defenseman and that's what I was trying to do tonight. I was trying to keep it simple and not get myself carried away. I guess it worked out pretty well."
The competition for that one spot will more than likely comedown to Gelinas, Merill, and Urbom, but right now Gelinas seems to be in the lead.
The Devils defeated the Rangers 2-1. Their next pre-season matchup is at home on Thursday night vs. the New York Islanders at 7:00pm.
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