The New Jersey Devils are in the midst of an adjustment and it is not something the fans or owners want to go through. This has been one of the craziest offseasons for the Devils after playing a season not many thought they could do just yet. The 2011-2012 season saw the Los Angeles Kings win their fist Stanley Cup in their 45 year history. But it also saw a strong New Jersey Devils team force a game 6 in the finals after having their backs against the wall being down 0-3. That team proved to everyone that they deserved to be in the finals after beating the Florida Panthers in 7, the Philadelphia Flyers in 5 and the New York Rangers in the Conference Finals in 6. Everything was clicking for a team many wrote off before the playoffs started, but one player put the team on his back and played his heart out to shut everyone up and prove they were a cup contending team for a reason. Zach Parise.

The captain of the Devils was a franchise player, a leader and a homegrown guy, after the Devils drafted him in the first round of the 2003 NHL draft (17th overall). That is until he, along with Nashville Predators forward Ryan Suter, shocked everyone by signing 13 year deals worth $98 million with the Minnesota Wild. Devils fans were shocked, their captain and heart and soul guy for years signed a deal with another team, after making it to the finals a few weeks prior. Everyone knew he was going to test the waters of free agency after not signing a contract extension during the regular season, but Devils fans thought he would just test the waters, not dive in smiling.

But the worst part is Parise isn’t the only guy who left Newark, NJ this summer. Forwards Alexi Ponikarovsky signed with the Winnipeg Jets and Eric Boulton signed with the New York Islanders while defenseman Matt Taormina signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. And from the coaching standpoint both of the assistant coaches left. Adam Oates left to become head coach of the Washington Capitals and Larry Robinson is now an associate coach of the San Jose Sharks. Yes the Devils signed some guys (including two new assistant coaches) during the summer but the additions don’t add up to the losses the Devils suffered within the span of about a month. The loss of two assistant coaches, a defenseman, three forwards, one of whom was the captain, and losing the Stanley Cup in 6 games…The Devils will have a lot to prove when the 2012-2013 season starts in October.

Ottawa Senator fans can breathe a sigh of relief because their beloved captain Daniel Alfredsson is going to be returning for another season. After taking a few months to think things over, he made his decision official Tuesday, announcing his return to the NHL for his 17th season. After scoring the most goals (27) since the 2007-2008 season (40), in a year in which he had multiple back and other health problems, Alfredsson wanted to make sure his body responded in the right way while training this summer, something that he says happened. Alfredsson has said his goals for this upcoming season are to improve and be more consistent throughout the year, and looking back at his career numbers, he certainty knows how to play at a high level. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played (1,131), goals (416), assists (666) and points (1,082). He is also the NHL’s longest serving active captain after receiving the “C” on October 2, 1999. And don’t think the 39 year old forward is going to play for only one more year. He said he isn’t ready to sign an extension just yet to his current contract, which expires after the 2012-2013 season but he said if his health stays where it is now, he can envision playing beyond this season.

When this years Stanley Cup finals comes to an end, we may look back at the 5:07 mark of the first period of last nights game 3, as the turning point in the series. Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton was skating near the middle of the ice, when he fed a pass to Milan Lucic on the left side, but, with Horton’s head still turned that way, Aaron Rome of the Vancouver Canucks, launched into him at the blue line. Horton’s head hit hard on the ice as the two players spilled to the ground. Immediately after the dirty hit, the raucous TD Garden fans instantly turned into a silent, and anxious fan base. As Horton lay on his back, cameras caught his eyes rolling back; the capacity crowd took a collective breath. Horton, who is second on the Bruins in postseason points, was cared to on ice for an extremely long time before he was finally taken of the ice on a stretcher. Watching this unfold, you had to wonder if this hit was the nail in the coffin for the Bruins, who are searching for their first title since 1973. How would the Bruins respond to watching one of their leaders, lay on the ice motionless?

Well, the Bruins did not score on the ensuing five-minute power play, nor did they tally a goal in the first period. It looked like they were physically tired, and emotionally spent. But then in the locker room, in between periods, something happened. Reports came in from Massachusetts General Hospital that Horton was “moving all his extremities.” The Bruins were finally able to take their mind for a little bit, off their fallen teammate and onto the task at hand. Bruins Coach Claude Julien implored his team to respond in a way that would make Horton proud. This was one of the moments that you usually only see in movies. One of those rare moments that can draw a team together and propel them forward. The Bruins seized this moment and never looked back.

It was time for the Bruins to finally get some payback. They decided not to respond with fists, but with something that hurts much more…. Goals. They rallied around Horton, their battered teammate. They propped up their embattled coach, then cashed in on their chance at redemption behind their goaltender Tim Thomas, who was again, in the words of Daniel Sedin, “beyond unbelievable.” The Bruins were finally playing with a purpose, as they went on to blow the Canucks out 8-1. They played such a hard-nosed, physical game, something we hadn’t seen in this final yet from the B’s.

There was no better moment that exemplified the Bruins’ play last night than when Henrik Sedin, who leads the Canucks with 21 playoff points, attempted to bat down the puck right in front of the Bruins’ crease in an array of third-period activity. Tim Thomas sized up the young center, then sent him to the ice with a cross check that sent one message. Not in My House, and Certainly Not Tonight.

As the Bruins left the Arena last night, there were a lot of questions to be answered. They didn’t know how their teammate was doing, or how they are going to play without Horton for the rest of the series. The one thing they did know though, was that they represented Horton in a way that would make him proud.

Sunday night, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 7-4 to take a 3-2 series lead in the Stanley Cup finals. After letting up three goals in the first period, the Flyers put in backup goalie Brian Boucher to try to stop the bleeding. However, he had just as much failure as Leighton had.

So far, each game has been won by the home team. On Tuesday night, the series heads to Philadelphia, where the Flyers look to take back control.

Dustin Byfuglien tallied two goals and two assists for Chicago. For Philadelphia, Chris Pronger had a +/- of –5, which is the worst of his career, counting both playoffs and the regular season.

by David at the Sports Fan Blog Network

Entering Wednesday night, the Philadelphia Flyers found themselves in a 2-0 series deficit against the Chicago Blackhawks. While the Flyers became the third team in history to come back from a 3-0 series lead just two rounds ago, losing game three would have essentially sealed the Stanley Cup going to Chicago.

With the game all tied up, Patrick Kane scored quickly in the third period, which sent the Philadelphia crowd into panic. However, Ville Leino answered a mere 20 seconds later, sending the crowd into a frenzy. In overtime, it looked as if Simon Gagne won the game for the Flyers. With the red light on and the players celebrating, the puck never crossed the line, and thus the potential game-winning goal was taken away. With the Philadelphia crowd in a nervous state, Claude Giroux sent that nervousness away when he scored in overtime, which gave the Flyers a 4-3 victory.

Now down 2-1 in the series, Philadelphia looks to even it up. If they do not, Chicago is in serious command.

by David at the Sports Fan Blog Network

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For years, the National Hockey League has been searching for answers. While there are many hardcore hockey fans, unfortunately, the casual fans are decreasing as time goes on. Only a few games a year get respectable television ratings. Simply, the answer to their problem is Versus. This year, it looks as if the Stanley Cup is going to feature Chicago and Philadelphia; two big sports markets. However, this will not really do anything for the NHL. On May 24th, the Flyers have a chance to win the Eastern Conference Championship. Is the game on a legitimate television network? No, it is not on regular cable, which is a complete joke. The NHL continues to dig themselves into a hole, and Versus is a big reason. It is impossible to garner the interest of fans when they cannot even watch the league’s games. The NBA (except for this year, because Lakers-Celtics has a great chance of happening), NFL, and MLB would be more than happy with the idea of Philadelphia vs. Chicago. But for the NHL, it won’t change anything, if nobody can even watch it.

by David at the Sports Fan Blog Network