Raymond Mencke Jr

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Devils look to advance to Finals tonight

May 25th 2012 21:33

18 years ago today the Devils had a chance to play for the Stanley Cup Finals but they lost a game 4-2 to the Rangers who forced a game seven with the win. This was the famous Mark Messier guarantee game where he said the Rangers would win. He happened to have a hat trick that night as well.

In net that day was a 22 year old goalie named Martin Brodeur. Brodeur will again be in goal tonight trying to knock the Rangers out while advancing to his fifth Stanley Cup Final. He has won three (Red Wings, Stars, and Ducks) while losing one to the Colorado Avalanche. This could very well be his last chance at a Cup as the goalie turned 40 years old during the playoffs.

I’m not worried about the Rangers coming back this time. These Rangers don’t have a Mark Messier, Brian Leetch or Adam Graves coming onto the ice tonight. I saw Mike Richter play unbelievable in the playoffs and I’m not so sure Henrik Lundqvist is as good. The Rangers team in 1994 was a solid group of veterans who had won before. It’s almost like the Rangers were the old in Edmonton Oiler team.

The Rangers just played arguably their best game in the series but still lost Wednesday night by a 5-3 score. The Devils will play just as desperate tonight and since they are home they get the last line change. I expect to see a Devil team with an intense forecheck tonight. I expect Martin Brodeur to play his best game of the season as well.

We’ll find out tonight at 8:00 pm.

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Devils 1 Win Away from Stanley Cup

May 24th 2012 19:11

The Devils nearly blew a 3-0 lead last night to the Rangers but held on for a 5-3 victory to pull within one game of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Devils scored three goals in the first ten minutes of the game before the Rangers tied the game up at three early in the third period. The Devils can close out the Rangers tomorrow night at the Rock.

Stephen Gionta got the Devils started with the first goal less than three minutes into the game. He came in all alone to put a rebound by Henrik Lundqvist. Patrik Elias increased the lead to 2-0 less than two minutes later with a goal in front of the net that actually went in off the skate of a Ranger. The Devils looked to be in total control when Travis Zajac scored his seventh goal of the postseason at 9:49.

The Rangers answered with a goal by Brandon Prust late in the first period to go into the first intermission down 3-1. The Rangers really outplayed the Devils from the ten minute mark of the first period all the way until the last five minutes of the third period.

They cut the deficit to 3-2 thirty-two seconds into the second period when Ryan Callahan scored a goal off his skate. The Devils were having a very hard time establishing their forecheck at this point of the game as the Rangers were dominating puck possession. The Rangers tied the game on an awful blunder by Martin Brodeur seventeen seconds into the third period.

Brodeur came out of the net to handle the puck when he inexplicably left it in front. Marian Gaborik picked up the puck and shot it at Brodeur who kicked it in himself to tie up the game.

The Rangers had all the momentum at this point and the crowd was going insane. Much like the whole playoffs, the Devils fourth line played a huge role in the outcome. Ilya Kovalchuk took his man to the corner on a dump in which allowed Stephen Gionta to get to the puck. He threw a pass out to the front of the net that connected with a wide open Ryan Carter who hammered it home to give the Devils a 4-3 lead. Zach Parise finished the scoring with an empty net goal.

This was a great win for the Devils after blowing a huge lead. We have seen the team struggle with a 3-0 lead before like they did in the regular season and against Florida in the first round of the playoffs. Maybe the experience of blowing leads helped them in this situation. This would have been a devastating loss that I’m not sure they would be able to bounce back from.

It’s good to know that even when they don’t play very well they have the resolve and character to find a way to win the game. I don’t know how much better the Rangers could have played outside of the start. Unlike 1994, the Devils need to end this series in game six tomorrow night.

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Mets Win Series in Pittsburgh

May 23rd 2012 21:01

The Mets played the final game of their road trip today with a 3-1 victory in Pittsburgh over the Pirates. They finished the road trip at 3-3 losing two in Toronto to begin the trip. They should have swept the Pirates but they blew a 4-0 lead with Johan Santana on the mound Monday night.

Jon Niese pitched very well today going 7.2 innings allowing just the one run. Bobby Parnell came in with two runners on in the eighth inning and struck out Andrew McCutchen. Frank Francisco pitched a perfect ninth inning for the save. Francisco now has retired nine batters in a row.

With the win, the Mets improve to 24-20 on the season which is pretty remarkable considering they’ve gotten no production out of Ike Davis. It seems inevitable now that Davis will be sent down to the minors as he is hitting around .150 for the season.

The Mets now head home for an 11 game homestand against the Padres, Phillies and Cardinals.

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Devils Tie Up Series

May 23rd 2012 01:04

The Devils evened up the Eastern Conference Finals yet again with a dominating 4-1 victory last night in a very physical game against the Rangers. Bryce Salvador once again scored a goal after not scoring at all in the regular season. Salvador opened up the scoring at 8:10 of the first period. It was a huge goal for the Devils after being shut out in the last game.

Zach Parise and Travis Zajac executed a perfect 2 on 1 odd man rush with Zajac finishing it about 12 minutes into the first period to give the Devils a 2-0 lead in the game. The Devils were able to get their forecheck game going again and the Rangers had no answer

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Mets Drop Two of Three over the Weekend

May 21st 2012 20:50

It wasn’t a very good weekend for the Mets as they dropped two out of three games in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Jon Niese only pitched three innings on Friday night giving up four homeruns in a blowout victory by the Jays. Niese is now 2-2 on the season with a 4.85 ERA.

David Wright got the day off on Saturday and the Mets offense took the day off as well. The Mets were shutout 2-0 on Saturday. The offense only managed three hits off Toronto starter Brandon Morrow who went all nine innings. The only highlight of the game was the relief effort by Jeremy Hefner was who just called up from AAA. Hefner only gave up two runs in his five innings of relief

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Game 3

May 19th 2012 11:29

The Devils and Rangers meet up today in a pivotal game three of the Eastern Conference Finals. The series now shifts to the Prudential Center in New Jersey for the game today and game four. The series is currently tied at one game apiece.

The Devils will look to continue with their forecheck attack which lifted them past the Flyers in the last round. When the Devils play aggressive on offense they can prove to be a lot to handle. It seems when they drop back that leads to trouble. They played very well in the first and third periods in the last game. They will need to minimize the penalties today as well. The Rangers have scored three power play goals in the two games thus far

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Mets Badly Beaten

May 19th 2012 03:02

The Mets got destroyed tonight by a score of 14-5 to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays played homerun derby off start Jon Niese. Niese gave up four homeruns in three innings of work. His final stat line was three innings, eight hits and eight runs allowed.

The Mets bullpen was again as Manny Acosta gave up five more runs in his two innings of work. How this guy is still in the major leagues is beyond me. His ERA for the year is currently at 10.53. The best line of the night had to go to backup catcher Rob Johnson who pitched a scoreless eighth inning with a strikeout

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Devils Even Series

May 17th 2012 20:53

The Devils defeated the Rangers by a score of 3-2 last night in game two of the Eastern Conference Finals. The series is now tied at one game each with game three to be played at the Prudential Center on Saturday. Game time for Saturday is 1:00 pm ET.

This was a much better effort on the Devils part. The Rangers blocked ten less shots and the Devils actually outshot the Rangers in the game. The Devils scored the first goal of the game on a power play by Ilya Kovalchuk. The Rangers would get the next two goals also on the power play. The first power play goal was some bad luck when a puck hit Bryce Salvador went behind him and hit the boards and came back and hit Martin Brodeur and went in. Marc Stall was credited with the goal

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Devils Look to Even Series

May 16th 2012 18:33

The Devils will try to even up their series with the Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers blanked them in game one on Monday night. The game tonight will be played at 8:00 pm ET.

The biggest key to a potential Devils victory tonight will be the ability to get pucks pass the Rangers defense and into Henrik Lundqvist as the team blocked 26 shots the other night. It seems as though Peter DeBoer is switching up the lines for tonight

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Rangers Win Game 1

May 15th 2012 16:52

Eastern Conference Finals: Devils vs Rangers

The Rangers topped the Devils last night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals by a score of 3-0. The Rangers were unbelievable in blocking shots as they posted 26 in front of Henrik Lundqvist who stopped all 21 shots that got through his defense. Game 2 is tomorrow night at MSG.

The story of the game was the Rangers defense that showed no signs of being fatigued after their seven game series ended Saturday night. This was the type of game where you felt whoever scored first might win. The Devils won all four games last round against the Flyers when they gave up the first goal

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Comment by Anonymous
on Mets Injury Woes

April 25th 2012 13:36

I think you're right, it's unbelievable the amount of injuries. I was just looking at your blog, good stuff.

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Comment by Raymond Mencke Jr
on Changing my mind on Dwight Howard

March 1st 2012 14:08

Thank you, I appreciate it

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Comment by Raymond Mencke Jr
on The Streaking Devils

February 24th 2012 20:00