Ilya Kovalchuk’s arbitration hearing over the validity of his 17-year, $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils will begin on Wednesday in Boston. Kovalchuk is expected to attend the hearing, which will will continue on to Thursday. A decision is not expected to be reached until Monday.

Since Kovalchuk will be attending the hearing, it is likely that he will be called to testify. Others who may be called to testify include Kovalchuk’s agent Jay Grossman, and officials from both the NHL and the Devils.

The hearing is being held to determine whether or not the NHL was correct when they rejected the contract that Kovalchuk signed with the devils last month, or if the contract does not comply with the collective bargaining agreement.

If Richard Bloch, the arbitrator chosen for this hearing, decides to stick with the NHL’s decision in rejecting the contract, Kovalchuk will then become a unrestricted free agent, and the Devils may be fined. However, if Bloch does in fact rule in favor of the contact, it will then be authorized by the league.

The New Jersey Devils will play their first preseason game against the Flyers on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Not long after the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk agreed to an astounding 17-year, $102 million contract, the NHL rejected the deal. Just one day after agreeing to the longest contract in the history of the NHL, the league dealt a shameful blow to the Devils and Kovalchuk.

The NHL said the contract was used as a way to get around the salary cap for the league. The NHL sent the contract back to the Devils, where general manager Lou Lamoriello will have to rework the contract in order to satisfy the NHL and Kovalchuk all over again.

In the NHL, teams will pay a player more money up front when the player is usually a better asset to the team, and when the player is likely to have retired the team would then pay the player less. The Devils took advantage of this, as the majority of Kovalchuk’s contract would have been paid during the first 10 years of his 17-year long contract.

They would pay him $95 million during the first ten years, and during his last six seasons he would have been paid less than $1 million. The issue for the NHL was that the contract was formulated to where Kovalchuk’s cap would have been brought down to just $6 million a season for the devils.

The New Jersey Devils will play their first preseason game at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Tuesday, September 21, 2010.

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The New Jersey Devils announced that they have hired a new head coach. The new head coach of the franchise is John MacLean, the all time leading goal scorer for the Devils. MacLean was the player who scored the game winning goal that entered the Devils into the playoffs for their first time. He was also on the team when they won their first Stanley Cup in 1995.

The hiring of MacLean came after Lou Lamoriello, the Devils’ general manager decided he was not ready to make any alterations to the current defensive system, even though they have been struggling in the playoffs. For example, since 2003 when the Devils won their last Stanley Cup they have only been successful in winning two playoff series. That’s where the hiring of MacLean comes into play, as he knows a great deal about the system. He will replace Jacques Lemaire who coached New Jersey for one season before his unexpected retirement.

MacLean has played 18 season in the National Hockey League. He scored 347 goals for the Devils, and a total of 413 with the Sharks, Rangers, Stars, and Devils combined before retiring after the 2001-2002 season. John MacLean has been teammates with multiple current Devils players including Martin Brodeur, Brian Rolston, Partrik Elias, and two others.

The New Jersey Devils have high hopes that MacLean will help the Devils after three first-round playoff exits. Get your New Jersey Devils tickets from Select A Ticket now!

When the New Jersey Devils won Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres they also earned the number two playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. The game was tied with three seconds left in regulation and Jamie Langenbrunner took a pass from Zach Parise. Langenbrunner then turned that pass into the game winning goal.

In order for the Sabres to have attained the number two seed they needed to win this game in regulation time. Since this was the case, they wanted an extra skater on the ice to increase their chances of scoring a goal. They pulled Patick Lalime, their goalie, with 10 seconds to go, but that plan fell flat when Langenbrunner scored on an empty net in the last few seconds of the game.

The NHL’s most winningest goalie, Martin Brodeur stopped 22 shots, but it only took one goal for him to earn his fifth William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed. In fact this season New Jersey only gave up 191 goals this season, which is an NHL low.

The New Jersey Devils will face the seventh-seed Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. The Flyers are New Jersey’s long time rivals, and have beat them in five out of six games during this season.

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The New Jersey Devils secured their spot in the postseason for their 13th consecutive season which began in 1997. They clinched their playoff berth by beating the Montreal Canadiens4-2  for the fourth straight time in Montreal on Saturday Night. The Devils and the Pittsburgh Penguins both have 93 points, and are now in a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division.

The Devils could not have done it without their superstar goalie Martin Brodeur. He has been with New Jersey for all 13 postseason appearances. Saturday night was his 41st victory of the season. Brodeur was unbeatable in the third, and made 25 saves throughout the game.

The players who scored New Jersey’s four points on Saturday night were Patrik Elias, Jamie Langenbrunner, Dainius Zubrus, and Brian Rolston. The Devils took an early lead when Elias scored in the first on a power play, as well as Langenbrunner who scored at the beginning of the second period. Zubrus deflected a shot at the end of the second to give the Devils another point. Brian Rolston scored into an empty net with seconds left in the game, as he recorded his 700th career point.

The New Jersey Devils will play their next game in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Sunday, March 28, 2010.

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On Friday night the New Jersey Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins for the fifth straight time. The Devils beat the current Stanley Cup Champions 3-1 with the help of Ilya Kovalchuk who is responsible for one goal and two assists in the game.

After joining New Jersey in a trade in early February, Kovalchuk only had three goals and five assists in his first 10 games as a Devil. In Friday’s game he assisted Andy Greene and Patrik Elias in the Devils’ first two goals, and even made one of his own for his 35th goal this season.

During the five game run of wins against the Penguins, the Devils have outscored them 16-3. New Jersey is now within two points of being in first place in the Atlantic Division, which is where the Penguins currently stand. As the NHL regular season slowly comes to an end, the New Jersey Devils find themselves in a great position for the playoffs.

The New Jersey Devils will play their next game against the Boston Bruins on March 15, 2010.

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After a two week Olympic break the New Jersey Devils returned to the ice with a victory. On Tuesday night the Devils beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3. The game featured a total of 13 players who participated in the Olympic games, three of which were from the devils.

The Devils’ captain, Jamie Langenbrunner was a part of the USA silver medal winning team as was Zach Parise. In the first quarter of Tuesday’s game Parise was praised during a video tribute to all olympians because he scored the tying goal in the last minute of Canada’s win over USA. New Jersey’s goalie, Martin Brodeur also played in the Olympics, and earned the gold medal while playing on the Canadian team.

In the first game after the Olympics, Zach Parise made two assists, and his teammate Jamie Langenbrunner made one assist as well. In the beginning of the game Martin Brodeur barely even got a chance to show his stuff. The Sharks were unable to get past Brodeur until the third period where they made three goals in under three minutes. But those three goals were not enough to surpass the Devils.

The New Jersey Devils will suit up and hit the ice up next on Friday, March 5, 2010 against the Calgary Flames.

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In a trade made with the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday night, the New Jersey Devils have added Ilya Kovalchuk to their roster. He will be a good addition to the Devils, who have recently had a tough time scoring goals. Kovalchuk has played in 49 games this season for the Thrashers, and with 31 goals and 27 assists he has become Atlanta’s leading scorer.

In addition, they have also acquired defenseman Anssi Salmela, who they traded in March of last year for Niclas Havelid and Myles Stoesz. Salmela played in 17 games of the Devils’ last season and had no goals and only 3 assists. During his 29 games he played for the Thrashers he had one goal and four assists.

In the trade, the Devils are going to give up three players. The first is Niclas Bergfors, a rookie winger. The second is Patrice Cormier, who is on suspension for the rest of the season for his hit to Mikael Tam. The third player that New Jersey will give up is defensemen Johnny Oduya. Along with these three players, the Thrashers will be receiving an unspecified draft pick.

The New Jersey Devils will play their next game against their rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, at the Wachovia Center on February 8, 2010.

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It is halfway through the National Hockey League season and it seemed as though the New Jersey Devils were in some sort of slump. New Jersey has lost 4 out of their last 6 games.

Prior to Saturday’s game the Devils were not able to play well offensively. In addition, the team realized that they weren’t taking advantage of their power plays. In the last 8 games they were 0 for 23. Niclas Bergfors thinks that the problem is that the team is without structure, and their confidence is down.

Perhaps the Devils’ 4-2 win against the New York Islanders on Saturday at the Nassau Coliseum will boost the team’s confidence. It may also be a start to getting the team out of their mid-season rut. Left wing, Zach Parise scored the Devils’ first and only power-play goal out of the 24 opportunities they had. This win gave the Devils’ their first win in 4 games, and they needed it.

The New Jersey Devils will play their next game in Ottawa against the Senators on Tuesday, January 26 at 7:30pm.

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New Jersey Devils’ defenseman Andy Greene may be giving Team USA some feelings of regret. Last summer Greene was not put on the original Olympic candidates list for USA Hockey. Since he was not on the original list he is ineligible to travel to Vancouver and be on Team USA for the winter Olympic Games in February. He cannot be added to the original list because he has not completed the drug testing.

Andy Greene’s teammates agree that if he played last year as much as he did this year then he would definitely be on that list. Greene was not as prominent a player when Team USA created the list last summer. Although he did not make it on Team USA’s list, he assures us that he’s not disappointed. He admitted that it would be an honor, but his “first responsibility is here with the Devils.”

The 27 year old is ranked first in scoring between the Devils defensemen. This season he had 23 points in 36 games. These points include 5 goals and 18 assists. Among all defensemen in the National Hockey League, Andy Greene is ranked 13th.

The New Jersey Devils play the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.

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Martin Brodeur collected his 103rd shutout on Monday night against the Buffalo Sabres. This 3-0 victory over Buffalo lead to Brodeur tying Hall Of Famer, Terry Sawchuk’s, NHL shutout record.

The Olympic gold medallist and Stanley Cup Champion earned his first shutout in 1993, and Brodeur says that they now come about every 10 games. This was Brodeurs second shutout of the season, and the Sabres made it easy for him during Monday’s game as Brodeur only had to make 22 saves.

Brodeur will have the chance to surpass this legendary record on Wednesday night at the Prudential center when the New jersey Devils host the Carolina Hurricanes. However, Bordeur says he never expects to stop another team completely, and he never plans for shutouts.

A shutout on Wednesday night will put him at 104 shutouts total, and will give Brodeur sole possession of the 45-year old record. But for a successful shutout a few things must occur. The defense has to stay focused, the offense has to take the lead, and Brodeur needs to stop everything.

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Martin Brodeur, the New Jersey Devils goaltender, set a new record on Friday. During the Devils’ 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins, the 37-year old became the NHL’s all-time leader in career minutes played.

The previous record of 60,235 minutes played was held by Hall of Famer, Patrick Roy. Brodeur only needed 20 minutes to tie the record, and he surpassed the record several minutes into the second period. The NHL’s top goaltender has now played for 60,280 minutes while the previous 25 goalies in Devils’ history have only played for a combined total of 67,264 minutes.

The Bruins tied the game early in the 3rd period to bring the score to 1-1, which took away Brodeur’s hope in tying the record for career shut outs on the same night. Brodeur sent the game into overtime by saving a goal from the Bruin’s Marc Savard with just four seconds left of the game on a point-blank shot. Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise made goals for the Devils to take the victory. This season, the Devils are now 4-1 in shootouts.

The New Jersey Devils will play their next game against the New York Islanders on Saturday, November 28.

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The New Jersey Devils opened the 2009-2010 season by winning their first nine games on the road. With this opening, the Devils came within one win of taking the all time record for away wins to open the season. It seems as though now the team suddenly cannot win on the road.

The Devils fell first in Philadelphia to the Flyers, then again in Nashville to the Predators, and then ended their road trip with a loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday, November 21.

Despite these losses, the Devils have had a pretty decent season so far. In their 21 games, they are ranked 20th in the offense with an average of 2.62 goals per game. The Devils are ranked 3rd in the entire NHL with a record of 14-6-1.

Martin Brodeur, goalie for the New Jersey Devils is just 1 shutout away from tying the record. The NHL record is now held by Terry Sawchuk with 103 career shut outs. Brodeur can hope to tie this record on Wednesday, November 25 against the Ottawa Senators.

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After 21 seasons former NJ Devil, Brendan Shanahan, is retiring from the National Hockey League. He has not played this season, and decided to leave the Devils after being told that he did not have a spot on their top three lines. He made the announcement on Tuesday.

The 40-year-old NJ forward has had had many achievements throughout his career. He is ranked 11th on the NHL’s career goal list. With 656 regular-season goals, he is the only player to ever have 600 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes.

Brendan Shanahan is an 8 time All-Star who has won three Stanley Cup Championships with the Detroit Red Wings, a Canada Cup with Canada, and an Olympic gold medal.

His playing days may be over, but the NHL is not ready to say goodbye to him yet. It is a possibility that Shanahan could be a fit for the NHL Players’ Association. During the NHL’s 04-05 lockout Shanahan organized a summit which led to rule changes and a new agreement was reached.

The New Jersey Devils have started the season 14-5-1. Their next game is on Saturday, November 21 against the Dallas Stars.

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On Saturday, October 31 the New Jersey Devils celebrated a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Devils extended their winning streak on the road to seven straight games, which is the second longest in NHL history.

The win did not come easy as it was left up to a shootout. David Clarkson scored the winning goal for the Devils in the fourth round of the shootout.

Devils’ goalie Martin Brodeur made 18 saves. He was close to tying Terry Sawchuk’s NHL shutout record of 103, but with just 5 minutes into the third period Tampa’s Steven Samkos scored.

From the first two weeks of the season, the NHL made an announcement that among all NHL teams, the New Jersey Devils had one of the biggest jumps in attendance and also had a high increase in local TV ratings.

Spokesman Bob Sommer said that during the Devils first 4 games of the 2010 season, the average attendance has been 16,114 compared to last years season average of just 15,790. Price drops on tickets, increased presence on social networking sites, and other marketing efforts said to be the cause.

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Brendan Shanahan, a veteran right wing for the New Jersey Devils, said on Thursday that he will not be playing with the team this season. This would have been his 22nd NHL season. On Wednesday, he was informed that he would not be a part of the Devil’s top three lines, and left the team the following day.

In a statement Shanahan said, “When I signed this past summer… I agreed that if we were unable to find a suitable fit in which I would be able to compete and contribute at the level I expect from myself, then I would simply step aside.”

He said that the decision was reached with the devils amicably and mutually. Lou Lamoriello, the Devils’s general manager has not ruled out the possibility of Shanahan coming back to the team later in the season, and of course he may even end up playing for another team.

Shanahan began his Devils career after being the number 2 overall pick in the 1987 draft. He has 656 career goals, which puts him 11th on the NHL list. He is 23rd in career points with 1,354 points under his belt.

The Devils may have lost their season opener to the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 on Saturday, but now they are getting ready to play their next game against the New York Rangers on October 5 at 7 p.m.

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Devils 1, Flyers 0. On Saturday, September 26, the New Jersey Devils were successful in shutting out the Philadelphia Flyers at the Prudential Center. The New Jersey Devils center, Dainius Zubrus, scored his first goal of the preseason past Flyers goalie Brian Boucher.

The NHL’s all-time winningest goalie, Martin Brodeur, made his second start of the preseason, and played hard to earn the shut out for the Devils. He stopped all 21 shots that were attempted. After Thursday nights game when the Flyers claimed a 2-1 win in overtime over Brodeur and the Devils, it was time to get back at them. Brodeur is on his way to breaking more records as he is just three shut outs behind Terry Sawchuk, who holds the record.

The New Jersey Devils are only one preseason game away from opening night. They will be hosting the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

There are only 4 days until the New Jersey Devils have their opening night at the Prudential Center. The game is Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 7 p.m. once again, against the team’s rival, the Philadelphia Flyers. This game is expected to be Martin Brodeur’s 1,000 NHL game.

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