Parise ostensibly answered Zubrus’ prayer, jamming the Lithuainian’s centering pass through Montoya’s legs to tie the game at 3-3 with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation. The near-capacity crowd at Prudential Center erupted in unfettered jubilance as the Devils narrowly escaped a defeat in regulation. Referee Dave Jackson emphatically signaled ‘goal’ as Parise’s teammates mobbed him in celebration.

That celebration would be short-lived.

Zach Parise's protestations following his disallowed goal against the Islanders on Saturday afternoon embodied the incredulity surrounding the logic of "distinct kicking motions" and its attendant interpretations.

Despite Jackson’s definitive on-ice ruling, the “War Room” — the non-militant appendage of the NHL’s Toronto offices that reviews all goals scored in every game — initiated a review of Parise’s apparent game-tying goal. Minutes later, after receiving word of the War Room’s official determination, Jackson announced at center ice that Parise had “propelled the puck [over the goal line] with [his] skate,” rendering the goal illegal and sending the Devils to a 3-2 defeat.

In disallowing Parise’s goal, the NHL invoked the notoriously ambiguous Rule 78.5, subsection ii, which prohibits players from using a “distinct kicking motion” to score a goal. Unquestionably, Parise’s right skate knocked the loose puck past Montoya and over the goal line; yet, in accordance with a strict, explicit interpretation of Rule 78.5, Parise could not have possibly directed the puck in with a “distinct kicking motion” as his skate slid firmly on the ice while making contact with the prone puck.

As former Devil Jay Pandolfo looked on helplessly as his ex-teammate stood wide-open in front of the net, Parise lost his balance as he flailed with his stick at Zubrus’ centering feed. Parise’s tenuous equilibrium caused his right skate to slide along the ice and nudge the puck into the net. Deliberately kicking the puck would have been physically impossible with his skate planted on the ice; nonetheless, the War Room determined that Parise’s inadvertent contact with the puck constituted a “distinct kicking motion.”

Saturday’s game was not the first instance in the 2011-2012 season in which the Devils were victimized by the peculiarities of the NHL rulebook. In their October 27 contest with the Phoenix Coyotes, Coyotes forward Patrick O’Sullivan indisputably kicked a puck into the net past a sprawling Johan Hedberg at the 6:18 mark of the first period. The War Room deemed O’Sullivan’s distinct kick a good goal, however, after invoking Rule 49.2, subsection ii, which states that a goal shall be awarded if an attacking player kicks a puck that deflects off of an opposing player and into the net. Evidently, O’Sullivan’s stab at the puck deflected into the net off the stick of Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador.

Both incidents in Phoenix and Newark accentuate the desperate need to clarify league rules pertaining to kicked pucks. While its intent is rather explicit, the rule is inherently subjective; any soccer player would not characterize Parise’s disallowed goal as a distinct kick. Myriad interpretations of Rule 78.5(ii) have comprised an annual league-wide discourse, and without properly addressing the intrinsically abstruse spirit of the rule, controversial rulings such as the one rendered on Saturday afternoon will unabatedly abound.

Legalizing kicked-in goals would seem to be the simplest solution; adding a means of goalscoring would certainly placate general managers, analysts, and fans who have bemoaned the NHL’s precipitous decline in offense since the 2004-2005 lockout.

Conversely, outlawing all goals propelled into the back of the net by skates would eradicate the infuriating subjectivity of Rule 78.5 and would concurrently retain the spirit of the rule by prohibiting the use of skates to score goals. A player’s stick should be the only permissible implement used to score goals; there is certainly no ambiguity in that logic. The NHL can successfully eliminate the pervasive frustration and uncertainty associated with Rule 78.5 by shedding the “distinct kicking motion” stipulation and prohibiting all goals that are directed in off of players’ skates.

Punitive? Perhaps. Excessive? Maybe. Detrimental to goalscoring? Possibly. At the very least, however, the league would be spared of the inglorious controversy that befell Zach Parise and the Devils on Saturday afternoon.

Yet the durability that has defined Zajac’s career thus far is not infallible, as Zajac learned just several weeks ago when he tore his achilles tendon while participating in off-ice workouts. Zajac underwent surgery on August 18, and Lamoriello said that the Winnipeg native would likely miss three months.

“He’s not a guy you appreciate, I don’t think, until you stand behind the bench and coach him – all the little things he does and how solid a player he is in all three zones,” head coach Pete DeBoer said of Zajac, as reported in the Bergen Record. “We’ll miss him, but it’s someone else’s opportunity to jump in there and do their thing and fill that hold until he gets back.”

Travis Zajac's contributions in every area of the ice will be sorely missed as he recovers from an achilles surgery for three months.

Since the defection of Scott Gomez to the Rangers in the summer of 2007, the Devils’ centers corps has been rather punchless even with the inclusion of the reliable Zajac. Without him, the team only boasts two natural centers in Jacob Josefson and David Steckel.

Patrik Elias is slated to skate at center after playing there for the vast majority of the 2010-2011 campaign and will likely anchor the team’s top scoring line until Zajac returns. But DeBoer is still without a second or third line pivot, depending on which line to which Josefson is assigned.

Dainius Zubrus remains a viable option at center after playing admirably there for parts of the ’08-’09 and ’10-’11 seasons, but he is most comfortable playing his natural position at right wing; following Brent Sutter’s hasty resignation as head coach, Zubrus conceded that he felt misused as a center under the team’s most traitorous bench boss. Assuming Zubrus occupies right wing on one of the Devils’ top two scoring tandems, the team’s most plausible and competent option could be rookie Adam Henrique.

Henrique, who shifted to wing last season in Albany and tallied 25 goals, is a natural center and told Gulitti that he is “very comfortable” at both wing and center. Henrique admitted to Gulitti that his performance in training camp last year was nothing short of lackluster, but he said that he is eager to make amends and validate his on-ice worth.

“I’m looking forward to getting in there and getting on the ice with all the guys,” Henrique told Gulitti. “I feel physically ready and mentally ready to get back in the swing of things and get the season rolling again. I’m looking forward to starting the season and, hopefully, starting the season in New Jersey.”

In his interview with Gulitti, DeBoer described Henrqiue as “a pretty versatile kid” and said that he would be given appreciable consideration for a NHL job. By all accounts (including those of hockey oracle Jacques Lemaire), Henrique’s innate hockey sense, acute defensive zone responsibility, and faceoff prowess make him more than capable of playing as an everyday NHL center.

Henrique’s contributions notwithstanding, Zajac’s loss leaves an irreplaceable void down the middle of the Devils’ depth chart. Further compounding matters is the predicament in which Zach Parise finds himself, as he will be without his career-long center at the season’s outset while returning to the lineup from arthroscopic knee surgery. Whether Parise can excel offensively without Zajac will remain a persistent conundrum as training camp resumes and line combinations are established.

For once, Travis Zajac is a source of uncertainty.

The Devils have reportedly signed ex-Kings defenseman Peter Harrold, adding to New Jersey's plethora of NHL-caliber blueliners.

According to Capgeek.com, the Devils signed former Los Angeles Kings defenseman Peter Harrold to a one-year, two-way deal worth $550,000. While Tom Gulitti could not officially corroborate Capgeek’s report of the signing, Harrold is listed under the Devils’ active roster on the team’s official Web site. Neither the Devils nor General Manager Lou Lamoriello have announced the signing.

In 164 career games with the Kings, Harrold was a -9 and recorded 8 goals and 26 points. Harrold’s most sustained NHL playing time came in the 2008-2009 season, in which he appeared in 69 games and was a -13 with 4 goals and 8 assists. Last season, Harrold played only 19 games with the Kings while recording a mere 4 points.

Harrold, 28, adds another right-handed shot to the Devils’ defense, a component that has been conspicuously absent from New Jersey’s blueline since the departure of Brian Rafalski in 2007. Harrold joins rookie sensation Adam Larsson, the promising Mark Fayne, and the oft-injured Matt Corrente as the Devils’ most notable right-handed defensemen in their system.

Signed to a two-way deal with an AHL salary of $105,000, Harrold will likely serve as a top six defenseman for the Albany Devils, but his NHL experience will garner him consideration for the big club come September’s training camp. With his reported signing, Harrold becomes the eleventh defenseman that could conceivably crack the Devils’ 23-man roster; Anton Volchenkov, Henrik Tallinder, Andy Greene, Bryce Salvador, Larsson, Fayne, Alex Urbom, Matt Taormina, Mark Fraser, and Corrente are all capable of playing NHL minutes.

Whether Harrold contributes to the Devils in a meaningful capacity, however, is immaterial to the Devils’ sheer breadth of NHL-ready defensemen. While organizational depth is certainly an asset, Lamoriello may try to parlay one of his many young defensemen into a veteran blueliner or offensive defenseman via trade. Harrold’s signing may precede the imminent departure of another blueliner deemed expendable by the team’s defensive excess.

Strength might be a misnomer, however, to describe the Devils’ overabundance of bottom six forwards. The Devils’ bottom six candidates are a melange of face-off specialists, brutish enforcers, unproven talent, and marginal NHLers utterly incapable of finding the back of the net — not exactly the epitome of invaluable scoring depth.

When training camp opens in September, DeBoer will be tasked with forming viable third and fourth lines with, feasibly, nine players vying for a bottom six role.

David Clarkson will assuredly occupy a spot on the third line, but who else will join him in the Devils' bottom six group of forwards?

Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello compounded the uncertainty surrounding the team’s final six roster spots when he signed beloved ex-Devil Cam Janssen and former Thrashers agitator Eric Boulton on consecutive days in mid-July. Janssen and Boulton speak with their fists rather than their sticks on the ice, and Lamoriello essentially signed two players to fulfill the very same role in an already crowded bottom six picture.

Just a season removed from their emasculation at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Lamoriello emphatically addressed the Devils’ desperate need for physicality and abrasiveness with the additions of Janssen and Boulton, whose hat trick against New Jersey on December 18 in Atlanta was arguably the defining embarrassment in the Devils’ abysmal 2010-2011 first half.

Lamoriello claimed that both Janssen and Boulton were signed to be lineup regulars, but as fighters first and hockey players second, Janssen and Boulton will likely be consigned to a fourth-line rotation in which the majority of their playing time would come against divisional rivals and more physical opponents.

Another impediment to the playing time of Janssen and Boulton is a crop of more talented and versatile wingers jockeying for spots, led by the feisty David Clarkson. Clarkson’s $2.66 million cap hit is incommensurate with a third-liner, but his established relationship with DeBoer, dating back to their days together with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, could yield an expanded role — possibly in the form of powerplay duty — for the belligerent right winger. Entering his fifth full NHL campaign, Clarkson will be relied upon to wreak havoc in front of opposing goaltenders and exhibit the offensive touch that he demonstrated in the 2008-2009 season, when he registered a career-high 17 goals. While he does not possess the talent to crack the top six, Clarkson will be a key contributor on the third line.

Clarkson’s solidified spot leaves three wing vacancies for five competent options: Janssen, Boulton, Nick Palmieri, Vladimir Zharkov, and Adam Henrique. Palmieri showed promise last year while playing alongside Ilya Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac during the Devils’ second half surge, netting 9 goals and finishing as a +9 in 43 games. While he lacks the offensive deftness to regularly play alongside the likes of Kovalchuk and Zajac, Palmieri demonstrated a knack for timely goalscoring and a propensity to drive the net hard, two key intangibles of which the Devils have been deprived since their last Stanley Cup in 2003. Equipped with a half-season of NHL experience (under the tutelage of hockey guru Jacques Lemaire, no less), Palmieri will likely earn a return trip to the NHL club this season.

Meanwhile, Zharkov and Henrique will vie for playing time with Janssen and Boulton. Zharkov has been nothing short of a mystifying enigma for the Devils, exhibiting impressive talent and an innate sense for the game while scoring just 2 goals in 78 career games. His dearth of offensive production could very well cost his lineup spot to Henrique, the promising natural center who predominantly played the wing in Lowell last season while scoring 25 goals in 73 games. Henrique appeared in the Devils’ season finale against the Boston Bruins on April 10, firing three shots on goal while catching the watchful eye of Lemaire, who lauded the 21 year-old for his natural ability. ”He didn’t look like he played in his first game in the NHL,” Lemaire said of Henrique to the Bergen Record’s Tom Gulitti. “He’s going to move the puck, can skate, sees the ice well, and I’m sure he’s got a touch of scoring.” DeBoer would be wise to strongly consider Henrique for a bottom six spot.

Jacob Josefson hopes to raise his arms triumphantly a few more times as the Devils' probable third line pivot.

Under consideration to center the multitude of wingers will be David Steckel, Jacob Josefson, and Rod Pelley. Steckel, acquired from the Capitals in the Jason Arnott deal, was rather underwhelming in his 18 games with the Devils, scoring just one goal and appearing rather inept in the offensive end. But Steckel’s face-off prowess should garner him a spot on the third and fourth line, and a full training camp will help appreciably in further acclimating him to the Devils’ style.

Of the three candidates for center, Josefson unequivocally has the most potential. The talented Swede was a mainstay on the Devils’ third line in the latter quarter of the season, notching 3 goals and appearing exceedingly comfortable on the ice. Josefson’s offensive promise and reliable two-way play — both of which drew praise from Lemaire — should land him a spot as the team’s third-line center.

The odd man out down the middle appears to be Pelley, whose only substantive contributions include the occasional big hit or fight. The 5’11″ British Columbia native has minimal offensive talent, a distinction that renders him inferior to Steckel and Josefson. While Pelley may be retained as an extra forward, he will likely begin the season in Albany.

Whether it’s a “strength in numbers” or an overabundance of marginal players, DeBoer will have to trim the field of prospective third and fourth liners to six by the start of October. In doing so, DeBoer can hopefully provide the Devils with two lines capable of contributing offensively and playing a steady two-way game, an essential balance of scoring depth and reliability that helped the Boston Bruins to their first Stanley Cup in 39 years. Of course, DeBoer will attempt to capture the invaluable asset of depth within the parameters of a 23-man roster.

Quite simply, nine’s a crowd.

Just last year, the longtime Devils General Manager struggled to fit Ilya Kovalchuk’s satanic $6.66 cap hit under the team’s salary cap before the start of training camp. Placing defensemen Bryce Salvador and Anssi Salmela on Long-Term Injured Reserve constituted Lamoriello’s temporary solution, but even the removal of the salaries of Salvador and Salmela could not extricate the Devils from their cap conundrum. Unable to make adequate room, the Devils began the campaign with an undermanned roster and were even forced to dress just fifteen players for their October 11 matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lamoriello, the first NHL general manager to hire a capologist following the implementation of a salary cap in 2005, uncharacteristically appeared unprepared and even incompetent when confronted with last season’s financial uncertainty.

After the developments of the last several days, however, Lamoriello has evidently learned his lesson.

Brian Rolston's trade to the Islanders saved more than $3 million in salary cap space.

The Devils’ newfound fiscal responsibility began last Thursday when Lamoriello shipped beleaguered left winger Brian Rolston to the Islanders for the equally beleaguered right winger Trent Hunter. The move initially saved the Devils approximately $3.062 million on the cap, and more importantly, Lamoriello offloaded Rolston’s contractual albatross (4 years, $20.25 million with one year remaining) to a team desperately seeking to reach the $48.3 million salary cap floor.

On Monday, Lamoriello shed even more salary, buying out the remaining year of veteran defenseman Colin White’s contract as well as the remaining two years of Hunter’s preexisting deal with the Islanders. $1 million of White’s contract will count against the Devils’ cap for the next two seasons, while $666,667 of Hunter’s deal will remain on the cap for an additional four seasons. The buyouts spare the Devils $3.3 million of cap space until the summer of 2013.

Rolston’s second career stint with the Devils was replete with underachievement. After suffering a high ankle sprain in November of 2008, Rolston was relegated to third-line duty for the balance of his three-year reunion with the team that drafted him 11th overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. Rolston enjoyed a renaissance of sorts last season playing alongside Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus following the return of Jacques Lemaire, recording 14 goals and 20 assists in 65 games.

Yet with a surplus of talented left wings on the roster, there simply was not enough room on the Devils’ roster to accommodate Rolston’s desire to play top six minutes; it would have been nearly impossible for Rolston to supplant Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise, or Mattias Tedenby on the team’s top three lines, and consequently, his tumultuous return trip to New Jersey ended with his trade to Long Island, where he will likely occupy a spot in the Islanders’ top six group of forwards.

White’s buyout was an unequivocal surprise. The Nova Scotian native had one year remaining on his 6 year, $18 million deal and was destined to anchor the Devils’ second defense pairing. However, with the ascent of Mark Fayne and Matt Taormina, and with the immeasurable promise of first-round draft pick Adam Larsson, White’s services became expendable. The trade of White may be indicative of the trust Lamoriello and assistant coach Larry Robinson have invested in the organization’s highly-touted defensive prospects.

Buying out two-time Stanley Cup champion and career Devil Colin White was prompted by an opportunity to create more salary cap space and bequeath a lineup spot to a talented rookie (ADAM LARSSON).

White’s departure completes a rather extensive exodus of the Devils’ veteran core. Ex-captain and locker room cancer Jamie Langenbrunner, Jason Arnott, Rolston, and White have all been jettisoned to make way for the talented and youthful likes of Mattias Tedenby, Jacob Josefson, Nick Palmieri, and possibly Larsson. Only Patrik Elias and Martin Brodeur remain from the Devils’ 2003 Cup-winning roster, further accentuating the transition from a group of veterans largely responsible for the organization’s stagnant growth and playoff disappointments to a crop of energetic, dynamic youngsters eager to, and capable of, contributing in a meaningful capacity.

Meanwhile, Lamoriello has created more salary cap space to make additional alterations to the roster before training camp begins in September. Lamoriello may be wise to seek veteran help on the blueline, perhaps in the form of unrestricted free agents Bryan McCabe and Scott Hannan. Or, perhaps, Lamoriello is content with the progress of his young defense and will leave the current defense corps intact without making an addition.

Regardless, Lamoriello has finally achieved some semblance of financial stability under the salary cap.

On Friday, a prudent settlement agreed upon by the Devils and Parise eliminated the possibility of an arbitration hearing, but unequivocally provides more time to negotiate a longer deal.

General Manager Lou Lamoriello announced Friday afternoon that Parise had signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Devils. Under his new contract, Parise garners a $1 million raise from the $5 million he earned last season, during which he missed 69 games due to a torn meniscus in his right knee.

Zach Parise said Friday that signing a long-term contract with the Devils remained "the ultimate goal."

Alarmists may deem the one-year deal both disconcerting and indicative of Parise’s ostensibly tenuous allegiance to the Devils, but upon closer examination, the settlement seems both reasonable and palatable for both the Devils and Parise. Wade Arnott, brother of former Devil Jason Arnott and Parise’s agent, characterized the deal as a sensible compromise between his star client and the Devils.

“It’s a one-year deal and it’s a deal that currently makes sense for both the player and the club,” Arnott told the Bergen Record’s Tom Gulitti on Friday.

Parise echoed his agent’s sentiments.

“This was the best-case scenario for this situation. This is what we agreed upon,” Parise told Gulitti. “Everybody was very professional about the way it was handled.”

Friday’s mutual resolution was infinitely more amicable than a potential arbitration hearing, which can breed irreparable acrimony between players and teams. Instead of taking the Devils to arbitration in an effort to finagle more money from an arbitrator, Parise selflessly came to an agreement with Lamoriello. Similarly, Lamoriello could have used Parise’s surgically repaired knee to depreciate the awarded salary in a hearing, but instead negotiated a fair deal commensurate with Parise’s goalscoring prowess.

Moreover, both Parise and Lamoriello reiterated their intentions to come to a resolution on a long-term pact before Parise becomes an unrestricted free agent next July. Lamoriello vowed to continue contract talks with Arnott and seemed to intimate that he would be willing to abandon his longstanding refusal to negotiate contract extensions midseason for the sake of inking Parise to a multiyear or lifetime deal. By avoiding arbitration with the one-year contract, Lamoriello told Gulitti that there was a mutual “understanding and intent to take whatever time is necessary to get a long-term deal.”

Furthermore, Lamoriello flatly denied any presumptions that the one-year deal signified Parise’s desire to field offers as an unrestricted free agent next summer, emphasizing that Parise “has given every indication that he wants to remain a Devil.” Parise said himself that he was “excited about [the deal]” and that inking a long-term deal with the Devils remains “the ultimate goal.”

Parise’s positive evaluation of the deal, which was devoid of any bitterness toward Lamoriello or the Devils, certainly does not suggest a discontented player angling for a change of scenery. Rather, the deal and Parise’s subsequent response should only affirm his steadfast allegiance to the Devils and his unwavering desire to finish his career with the Red & Black. For Lamoriello, a one-year deal allows the Devils to determine whether Parise is afflicted with lingering effects this season stemming from his knee surgery before making an exorbitant investment in a long-term contract.

Both Parise and Lamoriello understand the undeniable symbiosis of their relationship. Notorious traitors Scott Gomez and Bobby Holik wholeheartedly believed better statistics and more success awaited them in Madison Square Garden’s greener pastures only to realize that they were incompatible cogs in the Rangers’ system. Parise would be wise to heed the rather ignominious precedent established by Gomez and Holik and understand that he is unquestionably capable of remaining a prolific scorer in a Devils sweater. As for Lamoriello, his team can ill-afford to lose Parise’s indispensable goal output, a fact that was accentuated by Parise’s conspicuous absence for the majority of the 2010-2011 season when the Devils’ punchless offense was laughably anemic.

Moreover, both sides have a firm grasp of the complications of a salary cap world replete with comparable inflated contracts that must be considered by the player and his agent when negotiating a new contract. It is Parise’s prerogative to compare himself to other long-term deals signed throughout the league to determine his value, while Lamoriello must juggle the possibility of adding another titanic contract to the Devils’ payroll alongside Ilya Kovalchuk’s 15 year, $100 million hedge fund. Thanks to several expiring contracts, the Devils will have approximately $20 million of salary cap space next offseason, during which they can better accommodate Parise’s financial demands while maintaining a semblance of fiscal responsibility.

Signing Parise long-term, appeasing the fan base, and retaining salary cap space all remain part of Lamoriello’s “ultimate goal.”

More than three months after Lemaire announced his departure, Lamoriello claims to have found another head coaching gem from junior hockey; fortunately, he does not appear to be homesick.

At a 3:30 press conference held at Prudential Center yesterday, Lamoriello introduced former Ontario Hockey League bench boss and ex-Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer as the Devils’ fifth head coach in five years. Plagued by a relatively weak roster facilitated by an ambivalent ownership group, DeBoer posted an unspectacular 103-107-36 record as Florida’s head coach from 2008 through this April, when he was unceremoniously dismissed by incoming General Manager Dale Tallon. In the OHL, however, DeBoer compiled a rather impressive resumé, guiding the Plymouth Whalers to the Memorial Cup Finals in consecutive seasons before finally capturing the Memorial Cup with the Kitchener Rangers in 2003.

New Devils head coach Pete DeBoer at his introductory press conference yesterday in Newark.

DeBoer served as an assistant coach under Sutter on Team Canada’s 2005 World Junior Hockey Championship club and fostered a close relationship with his coaching counterpart; according to DeBoer, the two shared beers together over a month ago, and during their meeting, Sutter offered DeBoer an assistant coaching position with the Flames.

Distinct similarities have emerged between Sutter – whose uptempo style and emphasis on a dogged forecheck yielded a career year for Zach Parise (45 goals, 49 assists) and a franchise record for wins in a single season (51) in the 2008-2009 campaign – and DeBoer, who contended several times yesterday that the Panthers posed a legitimate challenge to their opponents on a nightly basis as a hard club to play against during his tenure.

When asked to define his style, DeBoer categorized himself as a “hybrid” who emphasized a lockdown defense and a steady forecheck. DeBoer expressed his desire to retain the Devils’ traditional defensive structure that has been in place since Lemaire implemented his infamous neutral zone scheme in 1993, but he also vowed to cajole more goals out of a punchless offense that mustered just 174 goals last season. With multiple elite snipers (Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Patrik Elias) and a talented ensemble (Travis Zajac, Dainius Zubrus, Mattias Tedenby, and Brian Rolston) at his disposal, DeBoer figures to reap more benefits from his offensive approach than the meager dividends he collected in South Florida.

Some will understandably chastise Lamoriello for stringing out a deliberate hiring process to three excruciating months, and some will criticize his selection of an unproven coach over more respected and established candidates (Guy Carbonneau, Michel Therrien, Craig MacTavish, and Ken Hitchcock), but the hiring of DeBoer is an emphatic commitment by Lamoriello to the long-term stability of his beloved franchise. While Carbonneau or Therrien may have been safer, more predictable options, DeBoer clearly demonstrated his coaching potential when he led an underwhelming Panthers squad to a mere tiebreaker short of a playoff spot in the 2008-2009 season. DeBoer deemed his time with the Panthers an invaluable learning experience, and he asserts he has consequently improved considerably as a coach; likewise, Lamoriello hoped the Devils would be the “beneficiary” of DeBoer’s three-year learning curve with the Panthers.

Lamoriello’s hiring process was thorough and methodical, and considering the Devils’ recent luck with coaches, that was the only means of entrusting a new head coach with the reins of a highly talented roster and a franchise unfamiliar with its recent dearth of success. In DeBoer, Lamoriello has found a competent tactician with a multifaceted playing style who can capably serve as coach for the foreseeable future; or beyond December, that is. With yesterday’s hire, Lamoriello decisively signaled what he hopes will be the beginning of a stable coaching era under DeBoer.

In other words, the carousel stops here.

Instead, he was more interested in his blue-paint adversary from New England.

Roberto Luongo does here what he did 23 times during the 2011 Stanley Cup Final: watching the puck entering his net whilst helplessly lying on the ice

Luongo used Maxim Lapierre’s game-winning goal in the third period to exemplify the differences between himself and the Bruins’ Tim Thomas, a swashbuckling, unconventional netminder whose attempts to stop the puck are often nothing short of unorthodox. Thomas’ aggressive play spearheaded the Bruins’ dramatic Cup run, including a Game 7 victory in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and a Game 7 shutout over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final. In spite of Thomas’ stellar run defined by his aggressve style of play, Luongo pointed to Lapierre’s goal – a serendipitous tally that began with a wayward point shot, included a carom off the end boards from one post to the other, featured Lapierre’s fortuitous Johnny-on-the-spot positioning and his hastily-taken shot, and ended with the fluttering puck ricocheting off of Thomas’ paraphernalia and agonizingly rolling several inches across the goalline – to distinguish himself as the steadfastly responsible goaltender juxtaposed with the reckless Thomas:

“It’s not hard if you’re playing in the paint. It’s an easy save for me, but if you’re wandering out and aggressive like he does, that’s going to happen. He might make some saves that I won’t, but in a case like that, we want to take advantage of a bounce like that and make sure we’re in a good position to bury those.”

The following morning, Luongo clarified his remarks, again emphasizing the contrasting styles in play of Thomas and he; he even took the time to extol his prowess as a mechanic:

“I said also that he might make some saves that I don’t, so I was just saying on that particular play I would have played it different and that’s the difference between me and him.”

“I’ve been pumping his tires ever since the series started, and I haven’t heard one nice thing he had to say about me, so that’s the way it is.”

Unfortunately for the Canucks, Luongo exhibited infinitely more gumption in front of the microphone than in the crease. After inextricably shoving his foot in his mouth with his comments on Thomas, Luongo allowed 7 goals on just 29 shots in Games 6 and 7 combined, a ghastly performance that reverberated throughout British Columbia and allowed the Bruins to snatch the revered silver chalice from the Presidents Trophy winner.

Of course, Thomas had the last laugh, earning an historic Game 7 shutout and capturing the Conn Smythe for his unworldly postseason play. Yet Luongo’s comments following Game 5 warrant further discussion about the expected decorum during the Stanley Cup Final and the deluded, backwards style of goaltending commonly referred to as the butterfly.

Luongo’s petulant remarks about “pumping tires” and the supposed amount of unconditional love he offered to Thomas without receiving any in return is as absurd as it is laughable. The Stanley Cup Final is the consummate war of attrition, featuring the bloodshed, personal sacrifice, and physical duress commonly witnessed on battlefields. There is absolutely no time to laud the opponent when the most storied trophy in sports is up for grabs. Specifically, in the Vancouver-Boston bloodbath that featured finger-biting, headshots, taunting, facewashing, and incessant trash-talking, not a single player felt obligated to extend an olive branch – and rightfully so. Praise and accolades are reserved for postseason gatherings and have no place in the Stanley Cup Final; of course, it was Luongo’s first trip to the finals in his fruitless eleven-season career, so perhaps he was unfamiliar with the universally-understood code.

Secondly, how could Lunogo deem himself worthy of “pumping tires” and analyzing the styles of other goaltenders? This was Luongo, who has been adopted as the Chicago Blackhawks’ personal postseason whipping boy; Luongo, whose unsuccessfully spasmodic attempt to snatch at a soft wrist shot in the waning moments of the 2010 Gold Medal game at the Winter Olympics resulted in Zach Parise’s game-tying goal with 24.4 seconds remaining in regulation; and Luongo, who allowed a staggering 15 goals in Boston, suffered the ignominy of being yanked from Game 6 after allowing 3 goals in 3:04 in the first period, and an unsightly four-spot in the most important game of his career during this year’s Stanley Cup Final. Evidently, Luongo was so preoccupied with pumping the tires of Tim Thomas that he forgot to pump his own.

Tim Thomas' aggressive play earned him that big, silver trophy which every young hockey player dreams of hoisting.

Most importantly, Luongo revealed a pervasive misconception about the art of goaltending: that conservative, butterfly goaltenders are better suited to succeed than standup or hybrid goaltenders (i.e., Thomas and the incomparable Martin Brodeur).

The art of butterflying, championed by goaltending “guru” Francois Allaire and popularized by Patrick Roy, entails plopping to one’s knees – oftentimes before a shot is even released – to protect the bottom of the net and conceivably give the shooter a considerably smaller margin for error. Simply, instead of reacting to a shot after it has been taken, butterfly goaltenders often anticipate where the shot is headed by covering the lower corners of the net and tentatively playing an unproven law of averages.

As goaltending pads have ballooned – in Luongo’s case, he may very well need his tires to be pumped, as the expanse of his pads is commensurate with those of the Michelin Man – butterfly goaltenders have become increasingly comfortable living in the confines of their crease, rarely daring to travel to the edge of the paint to challenge a shooter. Instead, devout butterfly netminders such as Luongo and the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist spend the majority of sixty minutes deep within their creases.

While the butterfly technique has been widely heralded as the most efficient and reliable goaltending method, it is brutally uninspiring and even depraved. Goaltenders are not meant to be hermits; Jacques Plante and Glenn Hall would watch with reluctant disgust if they were able to view today’s current goaltending scene. As the likes of Plante, Hall, and Brodeur – all goaltending legends who employed a standup approach – have demonstrated, aggressive goaltending gives the shooter fewer holes at which to fire and often forces forwards to fine-tune their shots in order to hit smaller and finer holes left by a standup netminder. Standup goalies are significantly less prone to high shots, as they are intelligent enough to wait until the shot has been taken before reacting; conversely, butterfly goaltenders are continuously susceptible to shots above the shoulders, as they have already committed down-low well before a shot is released.

Perhaps Luongo is right, though. Maybe Lapierre’s goal would have been an “easy save” for him, given the fact that he would have clung to his goalline and would have been swimming in the blue paint, thereby jamming the lower part of the net with his Macy’s Day Parade balloons for pads.

Yet as Thomas consistently exhibited throughout his run to the Cup and Conn Smythe, aggressive goaltending is hard to solve for opposing offenses. And thanks to his sufficiently pumped tires, he bested the conservative, tentative, and ultimately underwhelming Luongo.

Fortunately, if goaltending fails, Bobby Lu could have a future as a mechanic pumping tires.

When General Manager Lou Lamoriello axed beleaguered head coach John MacLean on December 23, the Devils were 9-22-2 through 33 games and had mustered a paltry 20 points, good for dead last in the entire NHL. The team’s nightmarish start evoked memories of the laughable Devils clubs that warranted “Mickey Mouse” comparisons in the 1980′s.

But beginning with the re-hiring of former head coach Jacques Lemaire to replace MacLean, Lamoriello delivered an ironclad edict from above that the Devils would not fold nor surrender during the rest of the season in order to obtain a high draft pick. Under Lemaire, they would attempt to extricate themselves from the cavernous hole into which they dug themselves and would return some respectability to the Devils’ crest.

As forgettable as their first 33 games were, the Devils’ remaining 49 contests were just as unforgettable.

Ilya Kovalchuk's flair for the dramatc carried the Devils during their astounding second-half run.

Thanks to a renewed dedication to team defense, the Devils sent seismic waves throughout the NHL by winning a staggering 23 of 28 games from January 9 to March 17. With timely goalscoring, stifling defense, and spectacular goaltending from the senior dynamic duo of Johan Hedberg and Martin Brodeur, the Devils ascended to within 6 points of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference before succumbing to eight of their final thirteen opponents and eliminating themselves from playoff contention.

The Devils’ exceptional play from January through the middle of March diminishes the sting of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1996, when the Devils failed to defend their first Stanley Cup championship. Lemaire, the architect of the suffocating neutral-zone scheme that defined the 1995 Devils, reestablished the Devils’ defensive identity en route to their 23-3-2 run. Working with a defense corps compromised by injuries and rookies, Lemaire relied on a five-man approach to defense in order to frustrate the opposition and keep the Devils competitive in every game.

The Devils’ achilles heel throughout the season remained their offense, which faltered and sputtered en route to an anemic 174 goal output, the fewest in the league. The scapegoat for the Devils’ offensive woes was Ilya Kovalchuk, whose $100 million contract carries unworldly expectations. After Kovalchuk’s infamous beginnings on an ill-conceived line with Zach Parise and Travis Zajac to his temporary demotion to the checking line, the Russian sniper looked hopelessly lost under MacLean.

As he did with the defense, Lemaire turned water into wine with Kovalchuk, converting an offensive juggernaut into a two-way player cognizant of his defensive responsibilities. Kovalchuk reaped the benefits of his newfound approach, finishing the year with a respectable 31 goals and 60 points. Kovalchuk was ubiquitous throughout the Devils’ second-half surge, and playing alongside Zajac and rookie right winger Nick Palmieri, the reinvigorated superstar scored 6 game-winning goals in twelve games from February 6 to March 4, including two overtime goals.

Joining the redemptive bandwagon was embattled veteran Brian Rolston, who had been placed on re-entry waivers earlier in December and went unclaimed by twenty-nine teams. Following his return to the Devils, Rolston resembled the consistent thirty-goal scorer for whom the Devils doled out $20 million in the summer of 2008. Playing alongside veterans Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus, Rolston finished with 14 goals and 4 game-winning goals. On defense, Henrik Tallinder reclaimed his steady form under Lemaire, impressively finishing as a -6 and erasing memories of a defensively porous start to the season.

With the exorcism of petulant captain Jamie Langenbrunner and mid-season deserter Jason Arnott, lineup spots became available to the Devils’ pool of talented prospects. Swedes Jacob Josefson and Mattias Tedenby provided legitimate optimism for the future with their electrifying offensive play, while Palmieri served as a reliable sidekick to Kovalchuk and Zajac. Defensively, Mark Fayne demonstrated solid play and a penchant for putting the puck on net from the point.

From Kovalchuk’s resurrection to a modest youth movement, the Devils’ second-half surge was replete with excitement and energy. Under the guidance of Lemaire, the Devils regained their defensive prowess and most importantly, their confidence. While missing the playoffs is an unsightly blemish for a prideful organization, the Devils certainly missed out on postseason play in style.

The first 33 games were indelibly etched into Devils history; the final 49 games were immortalized in stone.

Condra’s second goal of the game with 2:13 remaining in regulation eluded Martin Brodeur and gave the Senators a 2-1 victory, snapping the Devils’ four-game win streak in the process and delivering a potentially fatal blow to the Devils’ slim playoff aspirations.

Patrik Elias, whose fifteenth goal of the season tied the score at a goal apiece 4:01 into the third, committed the fateful neutral zone turnover that led to Condra’s game-winner. Preparing for a line change, Elias deliberately skated toward center ice and attempted to lift the puck behind the Senators’ defense and into their defensive zone.

Erik Condra's (second from right) second goal of the game downed the streaking Devils.

Instead, the Sens intercepted the halfhearted dump-in and turned the puck up-ice to Jason Spezza. Spezza waited for reinforcements as he stalled at New Jersey’s blueline, and sensing chaos in front of Brodeur’s crease, Spezza flipped a pass toward goal that caromed right to the stick of the on-rushing Condra. Condra deftly deflected the bouncing puck past an understandably stunned Brodeur, scoring his fourth goal of the season in support of the suddenly surging Senators, who have won five of their last eight games.

The NHL’s last place team largely stymied the Devils throughout their duel last night, as their up-ice rushes were encountered with neutral-zone traps and stingy defensive coverage. While New Jersey mustered 32 shots on Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson, the team did not generate many valuable scoring opportunities and failed to score more than a goal against one of the league’s weakest defensive teams.

The Devils were afforded a glorious opportunity in the second period to shift the momentum in their favor after Condra opened the scoring with his first goal at 4:45. Zack Smith’s hooking minor gave the Devils a brief 5 on 3, which only resulted in a Brian Rolston slapshot that harmlessly struck Anderson squarely in the chest. Seconds later, the veteran defenseman Filip Kuba was found guilty of hooking speedy winger Mattias Tedenby, sending the Devils to their second consecutive two-man advantage.

Unfortunately for New Jersey, the Devils’ second 5 on 3 powerplay was as fruitless as their first. Their best opportunity came when Elias threw a shot near the feet of Anderson, who alertly kicked the puck out to the mouth of his crease. Dainius Zubrus, who was parked in front of the cage to screen Anderson, had several whacks at the loose puck before sliding a shot off the outstretched pad of Anderson. The puck eventually came back to the point for Rolston, who unloaded a laser that once again found the Senators’ crest on Anderson’s chest. The Devils’ futility on the man-advantage infuriated head coach Jacques Lemaire, who said after the game that the team’s inability to score on not one, but two 5 on 3 powerplays was inexcusable.

Elias appeared to tie the game on the ensuing 5 on 4 advantage, but the nearby referee ruled that rookie Jacob Josefson had played the puck with a high stick before the puck crossed the line. The puck fluttered near Josefson’s stick before striking the ice and landing on the stick of Zubrus, who maneuvered the puck over to a wide-open Elias. As the Czech winger slid home the potentially game-tying goal, the referee emphatically signaled ‘no goal’ despite Josefson’s vehement protests; Josefson contended after the game that he never touched the puck as it floated in mid-air, but the referee saw differently and correspondingly waved off the goal.

Despite their staggering 20-3-2 run over their last 25 games, the Devils have continued to struggle offensively, and last night’s performance was an exercise in offensive futility. While Elias scored on a beautiful backdoor play from Rolston on New Jersey’s lone goal, the Devils admittedly did not generate enough sustained pressure to create any quality scoring chances. Ilya Kovalchuk’s line with Travis Zajac and Nick Palmieri was largely contained by Ottawa, whose concerted defensive effort paid great dividends.

At this juncture of their unlikely playoff pursuit, the Devils can ill-afford to drop games to inferior opponents, particularly to the last-place team in the league. With the Sabres and Maple Leafs both losing last night, the Devils missed an invaluable opportunity to draw closer to a seemingly inconceivable playoff spot.

And they have an unsung Ottawa rookie to thank for that.