Reflections on Martin Brodeur’s career

Martin Brodeur, No. 29.

It was March 26, 1992.

Two friends of mine — Greg and Nick — decided we were going to go to the Devils-Bruins game at the Meadowlands. It was Greg’s birthday, and in a few months, Nick was moving to Boston to go to Boston College for undergraduate studies. So we had two major reasons to go.

When Bob Arsena got to announcing scratches, among them was Chris Terreri, our favourite goaltender. We were bummed, considering the alternatives. But little did we know that also out was Craig Billington. His name was not announced among the scratches. So who would be the goalie?

It was a mystery.

But when it came time for announcing the starters, which used to happen before the players got on to the ice, it was No. 29, Martin Brodeur.

Who?

You’ve got to be kidding me. Not only is Terreri not playing — it’s some nobody, this guy Martin Brodeur, starting in goal. No way this game turns out good. No chance. It’s over before it started.

The Devils won that game, 5-2, and it was the first of 691 wins Martin Brodeur would get in an amazing career. And I was fortunate (lucky) to have been at his very-first NHL game two years before anyone even knew who he was. No. 29, he wore, no less, that night — and a few other nights he played that season (including a playoff-relief performance against the Rangers that April).

Many people say he was a product of the defense in front of him.

I prefer what Jaromir Jagr said last night about him — that he was the 2nd and a half defenseman most nights.

I often wonder if Brodeur hadn’t been the Devils goalie so long if they would have won a cup in 1995, or 2000 or 2003? Would they have even been in the Finals in 2001 or 2012? And the answer is pretty simple — not a chance.

So many games — too many to list here — along the road, he stole games. Too many nights, the Devils won games they should not have won because he was there.

And here we are, the first year he’s gone, and is it any coincidence the Devils are having the worst season in franchise season since the 1988-1989 season, the last team that did not make the playoffs before Marty became the franchise’s No.1 goalie ?

Is it any coincidence Cory Schneider has slipped quite a bit since Marty left (and since he no longer has a veteran by his side, as he did with Roberto Luongo)?

Is it any coincidence the team is apparently upset Brodeur did not come back to New Jersey for a front-office job, a job he was all but guaranteed, instead choosing to remain with St. Louis for the rest of the year?

Here’s the bottom line — Martin Brodeur is, perhaps, the greatest or close to the greatest athlete to ever play in the tri-state area. (Unfortunately because he played on this side of the river, he will often be skipped in such discussions).

He did what so many goalies before him couldn’t do.

He did what athletes who have played, since 1995, with the Mets, Jets, Knicks, Islanders, Rangers and Nets never experienced — not just one, but three championships. Locally, only the Yankees experienced more championships in that timeframe (5 World Series wins). And the Giants ONLY (go ahead, laugh) only won two Super Bowls in that period.

So yes, he did what a majority of local athletes could not do.

He did it all.

Man am I missing him already.

Man do I miss him getting heckled at Madison Square Garden.

Man will it never be the same for this franchise again.

And I was there to see it all begin. Couldn’t ask for more than that.

Finding God in death is such a great mystery & challenge

By Kevin Canessa Jr.
Publisher

JERSEY CITY —

You’ll forgive me for what I am about to say and write. But it happens to me every time someone is senselessly murdered. And like clockwork, it happened to me again, today, as I watched online the funeral for Jersey City Police Officer Melvin Santiago.

It was the homily (sermon) where it really hit me — as it often does. And it hit hard when I heard the Rev. Kevin Carter, chaplain to the Jersey City Police Department, say it.

The Rev. Kevin Carter, delivering Santiago’s homily.

Speaking to Santiago’s family, Carter said:

“The heart of  God is with you now and for years to come. The heart of the church is with you. The heart of the department is with you. Melvin is with God, now, in complete joy — and he’s alive and well with him.”

It’s that last part I struggle with so often. And it always happens in homilies from Catholic priests.

Now rightfully, Catholics see funerals as a celebration of the deceased’s life, not death. But I find it so hard to believe it when we’re asked to believe that a dead loved one is with God — and that God will be there and present for the family.

And you probably guessed where I am going now — and it begs the question every time: If God is with Melvin now that he’s dead — and God is with Melvin’s family in their most trying days, where, may I ask, was God when Melvin faced his executor … simply by exiting a radio car?

Where was God to keep Melvin safe when a man lay in wait to ambush him?

Where was God to keep the executioner the hell away from Melvin or any other forms of innocent life?

Where was God when this murderous thug decided to go to a Walgreens to lure cops there, only to kill one of them?

Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey City, before the funeral Mass began.

Where was God when another life, the murderer, was taken away, as well?

I struggle with this so often. It reminds me of the time right after Sept. 11, 2001. So many people — including those who were lax — returned to church and to God after the attacks.

“While there will be many who ask, ‘Where was God on 9/11 while close to 3,000 people died,’ we say, instead, ‘God was right there to ensure 27,000 others escaped those buildings,’” priests would say in homilies in the days, weeks and even months after the attacks. “God was right there, extending his hand to those people — and to the first responders, to get them out of the building safely.”

At first, hearing those sobering words was comforting. Because it is indeed true that on Sept. 11, 2001, so many more people got out than were trapped inside the Twin Towers. But there also a comes a time — call it a crisis of faith, or whatever it is you wish to call it — where those words ring very hollow and very inefficiently.

Because there comes a time where I personally asked myself, “Oh really? God was there to get 27,000 people out? Well, how did he decide who the 3,000 were who didn’t get out? Why didn’t he extend his hands to all the people in the buildings? Why didn’t he use his loving kindness to ensure the terrorists didn’t do what they did in the first place?

Santiago’s immediate family leaving the church.

This is a crisis I am afraid I will face forever — especially when a 23-year-old police officer, in the prime of his young life — is taken away so violently.

I understand it was Carter’s job to offer comfort. I understand it’s important to SAY that God is there with the family.

But I can’t, even on days when my faith is at its highest levels, continue to listen to people say God is with you, family of Melvin Santiago, when God was absolutely nowhere to be found at 4 a.m. Sunday.

This is a crisis of faith, indeed, for me. And I often wonder how many others out there — including those reading this — feel the same way. How do we call upon the same God in times of grief and expect he’s listening, when we’re in moments of despair in the first place?

We’ll never quite know, that is, of course, unless we do get to some form of an after-life … heaven or wherever it is.

I so want to believe God is here with me right now as I write this, thinking, “There you go, again, Kevin, doubting me like an everyday Thomas.” I really do want to believe that.

I really do want to believe God is looking over Melvin’s mom, step-dad, brother and step-sister (whom I just found out yesterday, I know personally, as her former teacher).

But you see, the thing is, I can’t right now. Maybe you can’t either.

And it all leaves me with the most basic of questions, one we find ourselves asking so often at times like these.

Why?

A very touching moment

Officer Santiago was a Yankees fan, but he was also a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles. As the recessional commenced at St. Aloysius Church today, on West Side Avenue, the cantor sang “On Eagles Wings.”

It’s a common Catholic song for funerals, but it was ever poignant for the Eagles’ fan, Santiago, as he was taken to his final resting place.

As his step-dad recessed down the aisle at the beautiful church, someone (not sure who it was) extended his hands with a green and white jersey.

It was a Philadelphia Eagles jersey.

And the name on the back.

Santiago.

All while “On Eagles Wings” played magnificently.

Maybe God was there after all.

What are your thoughts? Comment here, on Google+ or on our Facebook Group. 

It’s much more than fatherless homes causing hate for cops on the streets of the inner cities in America

By KEVIN CANESSA Jr.
Publisher

JERSEY CITY, N.J. —

This is one of those topics that is next to impossible to talk about. And yet, former News 12 NJ reporter Sean Bergin did it — and it in essence cost him his job.

Following the shooting death of Jersey City Police Officer Melvin Santiago, Bergin equated a community’s disdain for the police to a generation of Black men growing up in fatherless homes.

He hit a nerve with the public.

At first, he was suspended. Then he was demoted to a point where he’d only be able to make $300 a week. Then, on his own, the reporter resigned his post at News 12 and has since spoken out (we’ll get to why he quit later).

But this also hit a nerve with me, personally.

On The Hill, there is a lot of this -- burnt out properties.

I grew up in a fatherless home. And I think I turned out OK — for now, at least.

There’s a staggering statistic that 1 of every 3 children in this country lives in a single-parent household, and a majority of those households are fatherless, not motherless.

Experts say that leads children to having “disdain for authority,” as one conservative pundit said on Fox News the other day.

And he may be right.

But these comments are blanket statements. They suggest every child who grows up in a fatherless household will wind up hating cops. They suggest Black kids who don’t have dads are worse off, immediately, because they don’t have fathers. They suggest every child is worse off for not having a dad.

Oh really?

Let me share my own fatherless-household story.

My parents divorced around 1978 when I was just 4. In reality, I don’t recall what life was like having two parents. I was just too young when my father was around. And even then, he was too busy going out, drinking and living it up without giving any help to my mother.

Many years later, my father, with whom I share a first name, spent years living on the streets or in storage units. He is bi-polar and rarely, if ever, realizes how much medication can help him.

And boarded-up buildings next to empty lots.

He finally get help in 2011 from the Veteran’s Administration — he’s a Navy vet (was a cook) — and it seemed he was getting his life in order.

A few months ago, I got a Google alert — he was in jail. It was on a warrant … not sure what the warrant was for.

So the cycle came full circle — the dad I don’t know and haven’t seen since I was 6 — that was 1981 — went from being a heavy drinker who didn’t care to help my mom. He’s the father who just decided, in 1985, to stop paying the child support he was ordered to pay until Sept. 21, 1992. He’s the father who hasn’t been around in 32 years. He’s the bi-polar dad who generally refuses to take care of himself. He’s the dad just coming off a stint in a Louisiana jail.

And experts will tell me I am worse off because this man wasn’t in my life?

I think it’s pretty clear that there are cases — likely plenty of them — where single-parent households are much better and much stronger than households where there is a useless father in it. So often, the experts forget there are plenty of dysfunctional two-parent households where the dad is there, but invisible.

So I have a very hard time believing that a blanket statement that says fatherless households are to blame for the Black community’s disdain for the police.

Think of the guy who murdered Officer Santiago. He lay in wait to kill police. He was believed to be involved in another murder. If he had children, do you suppose the kids would be better or worse were he involved in the children’s lives?

And closed businesses.

I’d say if such children existed, they’d be much better off without him.

So what does this all mean? Especially for the Black community?

Let’s say this.

I once taught at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, from 1998 to 2002. When I’d occasionally drop kids off at home — many lived in a neighborhood nicknamed “The Hill,” that is also known as Greenville — they’d always say some variation of this when I’d get to their homes.

“After you drop us off, get the hell out of here — and run red lights if you have to.”

These were wonderful kids saying this. Yeah, some of them came from broken homes, too. They knew how unsafe “The Hill” was, and wanted me to use unthinkable caution when I was in the neighborhood driving alone.

And I think of those 500 or so kids I knew over the years. I miss them. In many cases, I’ve kept in touch with them. Most live wonderfully successful lives now. Some are even cops in Jersey City. And again, many lived in homes where dad wasn’t there — and where mom did it all.

And no, they don’t all have disdain for the police.

So what does this, now, mean?

It means we’re afraid, as a society, to discuss why this violence really continues in the inner-cities, and it’s not because of fatherless homes, it’s because these kids are born into circumstances no one would dare ask for — and the opportunities for things to get better do not exist.

Thugs run the streets up on “The Hill.” When it’s all you’ve ever been exposed to, how do you break the cycle? Some have, thankfully. But not everyone has that chance.

And homes fortified by bars -- on multiple floors.

In Jersey City, there are apartments | condos that sell for $2 million, with the most beautiful views available (of Manhattan) available anywhere in the country. It’s rather safe there. It’s also rather safe in the north of the city, the Heights and Western Slope, where it’s actually desirable a place to live.

And yet just a couple miles away — travel along Kennedy Boulevard to see the stark difference — rests “The Hill,” where the people are forgotten, where there are few police patrols, where there are no foot patrols, where there are few bike patrols — where the police presence is minimal and the drug-trade presence is everywhere.

So much has been done to improve Downtown Jersey City — the police’s East District. And so little has been done for the South and West districts, where crime is at its worst.

The people have been forgotten by the city’s leader for decades, whether it was Mayor Jerry McCann, Bret Schundler, Glenn Cunningham (RIP), Jerramiah Healy and now, Steven Fulop.

Fulop ran on a platform that he’d increase police presence in the neighborhoods that need it most — and yet, it hasn’t happened to date. There are 820 cops on the books in Jersey City, the second-largest city in New Jersey, with a population of 255,000, just 22,000 fewer than the state’s largest, Newark.

Newark, by contrast, has 1,004 cops on the job, and there are plans to increase that number to 1,400 -- and even that is not enough.

There must be more cops in Jersey City. They have to be on foot. They have to be on bikes.

And they must not be feared as they often are. They must be seen as partners in solving the city’s problems.

A dear friend of mine gave me tremendous insight as to why the mistrust is so great. And it’s psychologically based.

Think of this.

All Jersey City police cars are mostly black.

The cops — save for the superior officers — all wear very dark, navy-blue uniform from head to toe.

The sirens blare and are intimidating.

The commonality here?

It’s all dark — and there’s a notion that this darkness creates a distinct separation between the community and police.

Give them white shirts. Make the cars less intimidating. Create a system where the community sees the police as partners and not as the enemy — and perhaps things change some.

Even if you aren’t speeding, doesn’t this sight still get your nerves up?

Have you ever been driving along, knowing you’ve done nothing wrong — and boom! There’s a cop hiding on the side of the road, sitting there waiting behind a tree or something else that causes the car to be shielded or hidden. Tell me your stomach hasn’t dropped every time that has happened — even knowing you weren’t speeding and didn’t do a thing wrong!

Tell me whenever you need to speak to a cop, it doesn’t cause you some sort of angst or anxiety?

It doesn’t require one to live in a bad neighborhood for this to happen. The bottom line is that no matter how hard departments have tried — especially beginning in the 1990s when Community-Oriented Policing programs began in earnest — cops are never seen as partners. They’re always seen as the antagonist. They’re never seen as approachable.

Take all of this — and add it to bad neighborhoods — and you’ve got what we have in Jersey City right now … a community that does not trust the police, a community where a cop killer’s wife says she wishes her dead husband had taken our more cops in his wake.

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop

Until leaders step up and make significant changes, this will always exist. It matters not one but whether a family is led by a mom, a dad, or a mom and dad. It matters not one bit whether the father is present or on the streets dealing drugs.

Mayor Steve Fulop has his hands full with this most awful crime. He will either make or break his mayoralty (perhaps unfairly) by how he handles the aftermath.

I hope and pray, more than I can express properly in words, that his leadership results in significant change here. I want nothing more than to see “The Hill” get better.

I won’t be holding my breath though.

And no father or lack thereof could change my thinking on that.

What are your thoughts? Comment here, on Google+ or on our Facebook Group. We hope you’ll consider sharing posts you enjoy with other Devils fans on Facebook, Twitter and Google so that we can continue to grow.

Things never change in Jersey City because animal, low-life thugs are allowed to run the damn place

By Kevin Canessa Jr.
Publisher

It’s my City.

I grew up there.

I am  old enough to know what the place was like when we left in 1985 and I was 11. And now, Jersey City, my place of birth, the place I love, the spot I visit whenever I come back from Florida to visit, is controlled by savage animals. It’s overridden with disgraceful human beings who can only settle things by killing their enemies. It’s no longer a place I am proud to call my hometown.

The latest, the death of 23-year-old Police Officer Melvin Santiago, who by all accounts was a wonderful young man who wanted to make a difference in his community. He was on the job for just six months.

It all happened this morning at around 4 a.m. when he was called to the 24-hour Walgreens at Kennedy Boulevard and Communipaw Avenue, in a neighborhood most wouldn’t dare venture out into after the sun goes down.

The report: a robbery in progress. As he got out of the police car he was a passenger in, the suspect, whose name we will never use, shot him in the head, killing him. He becomes the 33rd Jersey City police officer to die in the line of duty.

According to some reports, Santiago asked to work the toughest neighborhoods in Jersey City after he finished the police academy. Imagine that. While he might have asked to be assigned to an easier place — like the Heights or Downtown, he instead asked — on purpose — to be assigned to the district that includes Communipaw and the Boulevard.

That’s how much he wanted to make a difference.

And it cost him his life.

What perhaps makes this story even more disturbing is that the suspect is alleged to have beaten an armed security officer before he fired at Santiago. He is alleged to have stolen his gun. And then, in as brazen a way as possible, he did nothing else until police arrived.

He did what he did, that savage animal, to draw police there to engage them in a gun battle.

And in as barbaric an act as is humanly possible, the moment Santiago opened his cruiser door to ensure everyone else’s safety, the suspect opened fire.

He never stood a chance.

What’s incredibly upsetting here is that no matter who leads the city — Jerry Healy, Steve Fulop, whomever — the results of crime in the city remain the same. Innocent people, many of whom are not police officers, are losing their lives simply because they live in Jersey City and have no place else to go or turn to.

They are dying because they take their trash out and bullets fly.

They are dying because they live in neighborhoods where the police don’t rule things, but instead, they live in neighborhoods that are flooded with drug-dealing low-lives who have no regard for human life.

They are dying because they want to try to pretend to not be petrified of where they live.

And no matter what any leader does, or tries, it never, ever gets better.

A Google Maps image of the Walgreens where Melvin Santiago was murdered.

It never gets better because the same residents who lose family members violently are unwilling and unable to open their mouths when they see a crime committed and know who committed the crime. They simply cannot because if they do, they’ll be next.

It never gets better because the city is grossly under-patrolled. There are only 800 or so officers on the streets of the state’s second-largest city.

It never gets better because leadership will not do all that it takes to ensure the streets ARE patrolled properly — by radio cars, and foot-patrol units, and bicycle units.

It never gets better because no one seems to be willing to grow the balls to make it better.

The mayor can say all he wants that he wants to be tough on crime. And yet a year into his first term, nothing has improved.

The residents can cry out every single day about the conditions in Jersey City — and they can do it until they’re blue in the face — but until they’re willing to speak out and help to put away the thugs who control this city, nothing will improve.

Steve Fulop, mayor of Jersey City

I never expect the day will come, in my lifetime, that things will be better on “The Hill” as it’s known, in Jersey City.  Because I have no faith in the leaders. And I have even less faith the people will step it up and start talking.

I want to be wrong. I so want to be wrong. I want the city I love so much to return to how it was decades ago, when my grandmother and grandfather saw it fit to raise a family of seven there, without a second thought that maybe it would be better elsewhere.

I want the killing to stop.

But I can’t hold my breath while waiting, because every time it happens — like it did with Marc Dinardo or Domenick Infantes before Santiago — I always say I hope and pray this is the last … and it never is.

I woke this morning and learned that Melvin Santiago was violently taken from this world. It shook me then — and it still has me sick to my stomach. He didn’t need to die. Nope. Not one bit. But he did.

And that’s because Jersey City is run and controlled by savage animals.

And this time, I can’t say I hope this never happens again.

I know, not too far from now, it will.

And it will again and again and again.

And again.

Rest in peace, Police Officer Melvin Santiago. You will be forever missed, even by those who never knew you.

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Rooting for the NYR caused me more stress than I would have had were the Devils playing for the Stanley Cup

LOS ANGELES —

I tried.

I really did.

And I tried harder when it was challenging.

I really did.

And yet, it all fell apart about 10 minutes after Alec Martinez scored in double overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings their second Stanley Cup in three years. And it did so because a handful of people decided that when I said two weeks ago that I was pulling for the Rangers to win the Stanley Cup — for the sake of my uncle for the most part — that I was lying to get a rise out of people.

For starters, here is what I said before the start of the series. I won’t repeat the entire post, but will share the part that explains the most in the simplest of terms.

“So yeah, as I push 40, I stand here almost humbled. Maybe I have early-onset senility. Maybe it’s just that as guys who I love and admire — like my Uncle Mugga and Bob Gelb — get older, the chances of them getting to see one beyond ’94 are becoming slimmer. One thing is for sure — unlike 1994, if the Blueshirts win a Stanley Cup, I won’t be sulking for days on end with intense anger. Instead, somewhere, there will be a smile — a genuine smile. Plus, I mean, what’s better than hearing a pro-Rangers crowd loudly chanting ‘Marty,’ even if it’s not for the right Marty, right?”

Mugga

Pretty simple. Uncle Mugga is about to turn 55. Mr. Gelb isn’t getting younger. And there were a lot of others who I’d mentioned previously, as well, for whom I would be happy had the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately for them, the Kings won it — and it was the same ending, as it has been every other year in his career, for Henrik Lundqvist, a world-class goalie who just can’t seem to find a stretch of good luck that allows him to be the victor in the final game of an NHL season.

Yet it’s been the reaction of some — I won’t name names here — that has baffled me the most. It started before Game 1 was even played when one person spent more than an hour telling people on a Rangers forum that I was, indeed, “trolling” around, waiting for the first opportunity I could find, to change my avitar to something anti-Rangers, or to make a faux newspaper front page to rip Lundqvist for always seemingly ending games flat on his ass.

For all the times I’ve made fun of him, it hit me yesterday: I really like ‘Regis’ Pierre McGuire

‘Regis’ Pierre McGuire

I don’t quite get why “REGIS” PIERRE McGUIRE is so reviled across the country. Maybe it is jealousy because he gets the best standing seat in the house at NBC and NBCSN games. Perhaps it’s because sometimes, he asks silly questions.

But the other night, aside from when he uses the French pronunciation of Alain — you’re from Englewood, N.J.,  remember, Regis — it hit me: This guy is actually as good as it gets in a sport that doesn’t always get he most attention.

Sure, I’ve known he sometimes seeks out players who call him “Pierre” after his questions are over. He definitely loves when MARTIN St. LOUIS says “Thanks, Pierre.” After all, why else would he put a mic back at a player after the interview is over other than to see whether the player calls him by name.

Side note: The one time I really think McGuire loused things up bigtime was when PETER DeBOER and JOHN TORTORELLA screamed at each other between benches. He is where he is to report — and he didn’t report what they said — despite having an obligation to do so.

(For the record, ALAIN VIGNAULT says“Pierre,” whilst DARRYL SUTTER does not).

Yet aside from his little quirks, the guy loves this sport. And he loves explaining the game to others.

It seems in the world of announcing, no one is ever satisfied.

I still do not know anyone who likes JOE BUCK in baseball or football.

What hockey fan wouldn’t give anything for this ‘seat’ on a nightly basis?

I’ve yet to hear someone say “AL MICHAELS is great.”

Many say “GARY THORNE screams too much.”

I’ve even heard people say “I cannot stand BOB COSTAS doing baseball games.”

Even some people detest DOC EMRICK (those people are clearly mentally disturbed).

And McGuire is no exception to this rule.

But I guess I am the greater exception here — “Regis” Pierre McGuire really isn’t all that bad. And I just decided I wanted to say that.

Who is your favourite hockey announcer? Your least favourite?

Share your responses on Facebook, in the comments section or on Google+

What an utter disappointment these Finals have been

Canessa

The Canessa Commentary
By KEVIN CANESSA Jr.

NEW YORK —

There were 18,006 people supposedly in Madison Square Garden last night. Were I a betting man, I’d say there maybe 20,000 there — and legions of others who will claim to have been there years down the line.

And yet, with the bat of an eyelash — as the new-sounding buzzer went off at MSG to signify that the first period was over — so, too, was the series I really believed would be won by the New York Rangers. And with it went the hopes and dreams of so many diehards — and significantly more front-runners who couldn’t tell you the difference between interference or icing ... or who couldn’t pick Henrik Lundqvist out of a police lineup.

At the end of one period, on a goal with .7 seconds left, the Kings had a 1-0 lead, and for all intents and purposes, the series that had so much promise to be epic — instantly became a dud.

Now in fairness, since by wins and losses, this series has a total parallel to the Finals in 2012, I should note I don’t think this series will necessarily end tomorrow night.

But come on. This is been absolutely fu**ing brutal to watch. And the Rangers. Well, they just look outmatched and outclassed in every facet of the game — from coaching to the goalie. From center ice to the blue lines.

This was a series that was supposed to be competitive.

But the Rangers power play?

This was a series that was supposed to go long.

But Jonathan Quick?

This was a series that could have had 1994 written all over it.

This guy’s post-season has been
nothing short of brilliant.

Instead, it reeks of 1995.

Yet the truth is, we all should have seen this coming. When the Kings get going as they did against San Jose, by coming back from an 0-3 deficit, we still weren’t sure they were legitimate.

After they won Game 7 in Chicago in overtime, some believed they would be exhausted from playing 21 of 21 possible games in the first three rounds.

Yet this is the Kings. This is the team that lost but once on the road in the 2012 playoffs (Game 5 of the Cup Finals). This is the same team that has 17 players who knew what that team did. This is a team some of us forgot about.

We forgot that frankly, they’re the best team in hockey, and are on the verge of forming a dynasty.

And yet, the Rangers, whom no one expected to be here, have every reason to look at the 2014 season fondly.

And yet further, can the season be seen as a success if they ultimately don’t win the Cup?

But this guy — just wow!

Back in 2012, me mate Joel asked me — was the 2011-12 season a success for the New Jersey Devils? My answer was quick — it was a failure. Nothing other than a championship matters.

And yet, I still look back at that 2012 run with amazement. It shouldn’t have happened.

And perhaps the same should be said of the Rangers.

Which is what makes this all the more difficult. When you’re a team that hasn’t been to the finals in precisely two decades, getting there has got to seem like a genuine joy. But part of what separates the Rangers and the Devils is that far too often, the New York organisation as a whole is content raising a DIVISION CHAMPIONS banner. Or in October, an EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS banner.

In October 2012, that same conference-champs banner wasn’t raised at all. It started the season already lifted among the hoards of other banners.

And perhaps that is what should happen at MSG in October.

Because the minute a team gets complacent raising banners other than the big one, it becomes that much more impossible to get back to the Finals.

And with the talent this Rangers team has — and the great stories of Martin St. Louis and Dom Moore — there is no reason why this team cannot get back to the Finals again.

Then again, is there anything sweeter for fans of not the Rangers than knowing that once again, Henrik Lundqvist will have lost his final game of the season?

Now that it is almost over, it’s time to look ahead.

Nice little run, Rangers. Nice little run, indeed.

Unfortunately, it makes not one difference, though.

And it won’t, perhaps, until it’s 2048.

And now, save for the clinching game and eventual parade to cover, it’s time to get back to the team we know and love most.

And to hoping that somehow, it improves — and soon, we’re back in the Finals, too.

Only instead of getting there and being awe-stricken by the opposing goalie, we find a way to win a game, or two, or three — or definitely four.

A wish-list for 2014 — your name could be in this piece! (UPDATED)

It’s time for my annual Wish List — this time, of course, for 2014. So without delay, here it goes. (Note: If I didn’t include you on the list, it wasn’t on purpose. I try to remember as many people as I can, but sometimes forget because there are so many to remember).

Some late additions after realizing how easy it is to forget some with so many on Facebook. This may need to be updated again, and again, and again...:

n For Rosemarie Villanova, continued success in real estate, and thanks for understanding that when I was young, I was obnoxious -- and I left all of that behind in the '90s.

n For Jim Todd, a leading role on a well-known TV show or in an A-List movie.

n For Pat Alder, a very prominent gig writing comedy. You are way too funny not to be doing more of it.

n For Lynn and Duane, the best of your new life at the shore -- and safety, among all other things, in the new house.

n For Eric Benzenberg, admission to the law school of your choice -- and great success once you are there.

n For Timmy Schenck, at least ONE Mets home playoff game in 2014.

n For Steven Schaffer, a brand-new Islanders jersey that says "WE STILL SUCK AFTER ALL THESE YEARS" with the number 83. Maybe even one of those funky outdoor game jerseys that totally ignores Long Island on the chest.

n For Brendan Mannion, a switch over politically to "D," and much health and happiness with your beautiful family.

n For Derrick Ammons, a year filled with peace -- and of course, enjoyment of all your great sports franchises.

n For Dennis Molfese, a great year of health and happiness, and of course, another great year of mutually making fun of Republicans.

n For decorated FBI veteran Jack Garcia, a life-time supply of any bacon and bacon-related product you’d like and much gratitude for always being a great friend.

n For Sean McCarthy -- less stress at school, and less stress with your sports teams. Let’s hope 2014 is better than 2013 was. Couldn’t be much worse though, could it?

n For Kyle Mayer, an unexpected playoff birth for the Calgary Flames.'

n For Betsy Smith, all the happiness with your beautiful family.

_______________

n For our New Jersey Devils, a trip to the playoffs, and, of course, a nice long run in those playoffs.

n For my dearest mother and Mike, nothing but joy and happiness in 2014. The two of you deserve nothing less.

n For my grandma, continued health as you approach 93. I hate that I don’t get to see you as much as we both get older, but I am always with you, in spirit.

n For the rest of my family, that same joy and happiness. It is well deserved.

n For Joel McGuirk, an extra hour on your show — and continued success on the radio. And a Dolphins’ playoff game would be nice, I am sure, too.

n For Kayley Meyer, a better appreciation for the cold. I know how much you hate it, and I wish I could make it warm for you in New York.

n For Carter and Paige — just a little slow down to your growing up so fast. Uncle Kevin misses you, and wishes he was there as you get so big, so far.

n For nephew Michael, all the love and the world, and to get to see you sometime in 2014. I cannot believe how fast you’re growing up, too. And for Michael’s mum, my sister, April, all the love in the world as you raise such a beautiful little boy.

n For Auntie Annie — some feckin’ sleep. Shite.

n For Ashley, a huge win on a scratch-off lottery ticket. For all those damn losing tickets, it’s about time you hit one big.

n For Say, the understanding that you really are a great human being.

n For Nicole and Jimmy Neubig, two, one-way tickets to West Palm Beach International and a home in Port St. Lucie.

n For Bill Scardefield, a Flyers Cup. (Oh that was painful). ADDITION: And a nice, huge, 10-pound box of boxed Taylor Ham to enjoy in Arizoner.

n For John Roberts, a Phillies World Championship. (Oh that was painful,too).

n For Butch, a Broncos Super Bowl win in, of all places, East Rutherford, N.J.

n For Matty Harrison, the same as Butch — and a trip here and a trip for me to New Castle to visit you in the U.K.

n For Laura Cifelli-Pettigrew, a chance to relax and not have to worry about town council or school board stuff — and of course, a wonderful 2014.

n For Barbara Cifelli-Sherry, continued good health, and all the luck in the world in your first term on the Kearny school board. And patience, too. Lord knows you’ll probably need it on that board!

n For Derm, continued happiness in Texas and maybe even a new puppy.

n For Lyss and David — a wedding.

n For Manny Ventoso Jr., a nice Stanley Cup for us both to enjoy.

n For Sheri Zorns, some nice Chicken Murphy from Belmont Tavern — and a few more great political debates.

n For Eddie M., a resolution.

n For Dave Dumas, a political figure you can admire — and of course, a Cup to enjoy.

n For Mark Donatiello, great success in law school — and of course, a Cup to enjoy.

n For Jim Schmeideberg — a guest appearance on “Law & Order SVU,” and a new goalie.

n For X-Ray Burns, more airtime!

n For Carl Bergmanson, the state house.

n For Jen Sherman, a trip to Florida.

n For Leslie Gold, more airtime!

n For Marc Eisenberg, continued on-air success without interruption from another stupid, has-been athlete, who has no business being on the radio.

n For Sean McDonald, Sue and the kids — a nice home on the Treasure Coast here, haaah?

n For Kevin M. Cocca, ’92 — a great full year of marriage, and a customer better than Ilya Kovalchuk.

n For Robert Pezzolla, the best year of growth at The Observer in history.

n For Tom O’Connell, a Jets championship.

n For B-rod, a Yankees championship.

n For E-rod, a Rangers … oh never mind that one.

n For Caitlin Campbell, a job with the Canadian Press as a lead hockey writer.

n For Dorothy and Roy — a chance to relax and enjoy all of Florida.

n For Eric and Melissa, a great 2014 that sees your relationship grow stronger.

n For Big J, Bit, Bertika and JJ, success as we await the return of DarpaTV!

n For Uncle Mugga, a Rangers win over the Islanders at Yankee Stadium.

n For Shawn Andrew, more leading TV roles.

n For Kristen Lynch, much love as your family continues to grow and get more beautiful.

n For Rob Keiley, more TV roles, also.

n For Leanne Gibbons, many hockey tickets to take Colin to see games.

n For Ali Stymacks, a year without a tuition hike.

n For Bob Gelb, a great year to call on the NJ Devils!

n For the Oofman, the woman of your dreams.

n For Vicki Levin, a full year of great health. To hell with 2013, and cheers for a gret 2014.

n For Zach Gelb, a great gig on a great, powerful radio station.

n For Lauren Blann, less animal cruelty and the end to any and all kill shelters.

n For Timmy Gillette, a switch over to a “D.”

I may have forgotten some — and if you’re one I forgot, I am sorry. I tried to remember many of the people I talk to on a regular basis. But an omission doesn’t mean I care any less about you.

This was a good year, 2013 was, for me, and I hope 2014 is the best ever for one and for all.

Happy New Year! (Not happy New Years or Happy New Year’s).

At 41, Marty is still the very best

By Kevin Canessa Jr.

 

If you’re a fan of the New Jersey Devils, please don’t tell me there wasn’t a time in the last few months where you’ve said the following: “Marty is done.” I know I am guilty of it — and many of my fellow Devils-fan friends are, too.

 

And yet, here we stand, a month-and-a-half into the season, and Martin Brodeur has once again shut up ever single solitary critic of his by simply putting on another stellar season in what has otherwise been maybe not so stellar.

 

It’s very unfortunate that in Cory Schneider, the Devils have one of the best young goalies. And yet, the guy has just one win — and the offensive support he’s gotten has been non-existent. In fact, in most games he’s played, he’s played well enough to be a star of the game, and he has certainly done his part to win.

 

Call it some really bad misfortune.

 

But Marty. Marty. You’ve got to be kidding here.

 

His record: 6-3-2. Two shutouts. Ordinary, you say. OK. But we cannot forget: This man is 41 years old! Forty-one! And perhaps even more ironic, the best two players on this team this year are both that age.

 

There’s no question Jaromir Jagr has been the best offensive players all season long. And Marty’s been the best in net.

 

I don’t want to get too deep here, save to say that we’re witnessing another magical season from Martin Brodeur. It doesn’t matter if he’s 19 or 41, whenever he puts on a uniform and pads and grabs a helmet and a stick, anything special could happen.

 

And folks, given that number of 41, there won’t me too many more magical moments or memories from Marty when he eventually decides to hang it up.

 

So for now, continue to enjoy this ride. No one — myself included — ever expected to get to see this. What we are seeing is the best of all time showing why he’s the best of all time.

 

And all the while, he’s supposedly the new backup.

 

If that’s the case, excuse me if I am giddy every time my backup goalie plays. Because no one — and I mean no one — has or ever will do it better.

 

We may never truly realize just how lucky we’ve been since 1992.

 

And you can take that to the bank with you, so-called King. Maybe one day you’ll be half the goalie Marty is. Yet until then, we welcome you to sit back and watch how it should be done.

 

Maybe one day.

 

Probably not.

A quick look at some things happening in the NHL ...

I haven’t done a hodge-podge in a while, so since it’s been a ho-hum week, I thought I’d give it a try now.

n  Earlier this week, Marty Brodeur announced that he believed Cory Schneider had endured himself as the no. 1 goalie for the New Jersey Devils. As hard as it is to envision this — or accept it — it’s true. Sadly, Marty has looked every bit his age this season. But that doesn’t mean he won’t turn it around. He’s done it numerous times before in his career.

n  There’s been a lot of talk that it’s time to fire Peter DeBoer. Fine. But I ask: Who’s the replacement? Are there really any NHL-type coaches out there and available? The only one who comes to mind is Peter Laviolette, but he’s of the same quiet mold as DeBoer. That would be the equivalent of replacing one apple with another.

n  Tonight’s game against Vancouver may be the lowest-attended game in two years. As of 4 p.m. today, there were thousands of seats still available — both in the lower and upper tiers.

n  Speaking of attendance, I still don’t get why the fans of the Buffalo Sabres are still going to games in droves. Their crowds have all been in the high 17,000s — and that team has done nothing to entertain them at all.

n  Still no word on whether the Devils and Rangers will wear special sweaters when they play each other at Yankee Stadium in January. I’m sticking with my hope that they were their original white, red and green jerseys with some modifications to give it a classic look.

n  I’m starting to believe, more and more, it’s going to take one NHLer killing another on the ice before something serious is done with these horrible hits and cheap shots.

n  While we’ve had little to be happy about as Devils fans, at least it’s happening concurrently to bad seasons for the Flyers and Rangers. Aside from Pittsburgh, the Metropolitan Division has thus far been brutal.

n  Back to attendance really quick. We were told when ownership issues were settled in Phoenix, things would get better, attendance-wise, for the Coyotes. Their last home game: barely 10,000 showed up. New owners. Same ole’ Coyotes.

n  And it’s also the same ole’ Islanders, too. Despite a nice season last year — and making the playoffs — they’re still drawing miserably. Three games were at 10,000 and one was just a tad over 13,000. I expected more this year from their fans.

n  Tell me you haven’t asked yourself this at one point: Will Adam Larsson ultimately be a no. 4 pick bust?

n  Can someone tell me how the Edmonton Oilers aren’t one of the best teams in the Western Conference? And yet, they’re not even ordinary. Would love to figure out what the hell is going on up there. Whatever it is, the fans have got to be at their wit’s end.

n  Someone told me the World Series is happening this week. You’d never know. Game 1 was an absolute snooze fest. The Red Sox, meanwhile, haven’t lost a World Series game since … Oct. 27, 1986 — the seventh and final game of the 1986 World Series.

That’s all for now. Let’s just hope things start to improve for our favourite hockey team. It couldn’t get much worse than this now — could it?

Were last year’s sellout numbers simply a fluke? Sure seems so

NEWARK – Just a season ago, the New Jersey Devils sold out 18 of 24 home games at the Prudential Center. The sixth game of that season was the first non-sellout dating back to the season before that’s next-to-last home game. (They sold out the final game of the year and all of their games through the Stanley Cup Finals).

Now, one game into the new season, the Devils were 1,001 short of a sellout. Attendance was 16,624 and the capacity is 17,625.

This is a huge disappointment, based on several factors:

• First, it’s Opening Night. Opening Night should sell out everywhere (though it often doesn’t in the NHL).

• It was a Friday night. No excuses about it being a school night or anything of that nature at all.

• The game was against the resurgent New York Islanders – and there’s finally a rivalry developing between these two teams.

We wonder: How did the Devils sell out 18 of 24 last year? Was it a fluke?

• New ownership, new players, new goalie, new direction – there was a lot for people to get to see last night – and not too many did.

I don’t want to come across like some Oliver Stone conspiracy theorist, but there are a lot of questions based on the team not selling out last night.

• Was last year simply a fluke? Were people simply excited after the prior year’s run to the Finals? See how good attendance was by reading this Wall Street Journal piece from February. http://goo.gl/51pPRm

• Was it simply a matter of people missing hockey last year after the prolonged lockout?

• Were the Devils seriously marking down ticket prices – or giving loads of tickets away – to induce people to come to the arena for games last year?

• Would attendance have been anywhere near as good as it was last year if it hadn’t been a shortened season?

Truth be told, I think it’s a combination of all the aforementioned. The Finals run of 2012 and the shortened season made the Devils hot. 

And I wonder, now, if we’re going to see crowds of 11,000 on weeknights again this year? And if we do, I think it’ll be safe to say last year was an utter fluke.

But I am willing to give it time before making a total judgment. It is, after all, just one game. The problem is, however, that it was Opening Night – and if Opening Night is any indication of what lies ahead, I’m not so sure I want to see that.

Odds and Ends

Devs fans will need to get their share
of saying the word suck elsewhere now
that the team’s goal song’s been changed

The Devils finally got rid of “Rock & Roll Part II” as their goal song. But it seems fans at the game last night weren’t pleased by it at all. I mean, chanting “suck” about the Rangers and “swallow” about the Flyers isn’t enough.

These fans need to chant “you suck,” after every freaking goal. 

I wrote it before (http://goo.gl/IYHUhy) – and I will say it again – that chant is sophomoric and it makes every single solitary Devils fan look idiotic. Management made the right call getting rid of the Gary Glitter song – and I hope they don’t cave in here. 

Sure, the new song may not have been the best choice – and perhaps they do need to consider choosing a better one – but if they go back to “Part II,” all they’d be saying is sure, we’re fine with our fans looking and sounding like complete and utter asses.

To make matters worse, there were some on Twitter last night who said they wouldn’t stop bitching about the change until the Glitter song came back.

Here’s to hoping said people are bitching for a long, long time. Get over it. Move on.

Find some other way to make yourself look like a sophomoric ass.

Canessa Commentary for Week of May 6, 2013: Politicians were right not to fund Sun Life Stadium upgrades

Lundqvist deserves much better than his teammates have given him

Perhaps unfairly at times, I’ve been rather critical of New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Since he entered the NHL in the 2005-06 season, he’s had some great regular-season numbers — but when it comes to the post-season, he’s accomplished nothing.

He’s only got a handful of series victories — and only once, last year, did he ever win two series in one season.

And up to a few weeks ago, I wrote, in this same space, that it was somewhat embarrassing that the so-dubbed “King” was far from being a king, given his incredible lack of playoff success.

And then yesterday happened.

And then it hit me — as it did many other hockey fans.

This guy is the reason — the only reason — the Rangers were in Game 2 against the Caps yesterday afternoon at the Verizon Center. This guy is the only reason that game wasn’t 8-0. This guy would already have multiple championships if he played elsewhere, somewhere where his teammates backed up his incredible play with — oh, you know — scoring an occasional goal.

In two games, the Rangers have a grand total of one goal. While I understand the Caps don’t exactly have a ton more — they’ve only scored four — this team’s offense has just disappeared. 

Lundqvist has single-handedly carried this team in two games in Washington. He’s done it so many times before. And quite frankly. he deserves so much better.

Perhaps it’s because I am getting older — but I just feel badly for the guy. Here’s a man who, day in and day out, shows up. Even in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, which our team won in six games, the guy was barely at fault for the four games his team lost. When Adam Henrique scored on OT in Game 6 to win it for the Devils, Lundqvist was practically left out to dry by his teammates, many of whom were flat on their asses when the puck crossed the goal line.

Steven Schaffer is a buddy of mine I met over a year ago on Facebook. He’s as big and loyal a Rangers fan as I’ve ever known. And he’s likely the most intelligent Rangers fan I’ve ever known, too. After yesterday’s game, here’s what he said about Hank.

Henrik Lundqvist deserves so much
better than his teammates have
given him over the years.  

Perhaps it was sarcastic. Perhaps it wasn’t. But it was striking, nonetheless.

“I hope Hank leaves as a free agent and goes to a team and wins a cup,” Schaffer wrote. “They don’t deserve him.”

Regardless of the intent of this statement, it’s true. The guy has played well enough over 8 or so years to win a Cup. Multiple Cups, practically. And yet every post-season, his teammates let him down.

One thing’s for sure. 

Our team has an aging goaltender. He’s likely a year or perhaps, at most, two, away from retiring.

And if Henrik Lundqvist really wants to win a cup, I am sure Lou Lamoriello would be more than happy to offer him a nice incentive to cross the river.

Hey — a man can dream, can’t he?