Little Devils

The New Jersey roster gets by on liberal listings

So, I'm out at the Devils training camp the other day, when suddenly I start feeling very large. Not Alice-in-Wonderland-I-just-ate-a-magic-piece-of-cake large. Not Mo-Vaughn-I-just-swallowed-Timo-Perez large. But, for a sportswriter visiting an NHL training camp, I was feeling biiiiig.

Maybe that's because there were a bunch of little Devils scurrying around the locker room. Suddenly, a New Jersey team that has bruised its way through the Eastern Conference and played in three finals over the past seven years is a small and sprightly bunch.

I looked around: No 6-foot-4, 220-pound Jason Arnott. (He was traded to Dallas last spring.) No 6-2, 210-pound Randy McKay. (He was traded with Arnott.) No 6-4, 230-pound Bobby Holik. (He was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.)

Rather, I had to be careful not to get 5-7, 175-pound Brian Gionta (who came up last year) stuck on the bottom of my Doc Martens. I turned and saw with great satisfaction that New Jersey's newly imported forward Jeff Friesen (who's listed at -- wink, wink -- 6-foot) and I see eye to eye.

OK, time out: I know it's only September. You have pennant races to tend to, NFL passing stats to dizzy you, and the World Arm Wrestling Championships are coming up. But, hey, hockey has to start sometime. And in case you missed it (most normal people did), it started this week.

Of all the remaking of teams in the past year -- Dominik Hasek's departure and Cujo's arrival in Detroit, Bill Guerin gone down south, Ed Belfour gone up North -- none is more intriguing than the slimming down, and speeding up, of the Devils. This is a new team, and not just because they're suddenly working for that distinguished general Pat Burns.

Maybe I'm geographically challenged, but it looks to me like these Devils belong in the Western Conference. They're all about being quick little imps instead of angry giants. They have three puck-moving defensemen -- slender Scott Niedermayer, tiny Brian Rafalski and svelte Oleg Tverdovsky (acquired from Anaheim) - who could bust out of a bear trap, never mind the neutral zone.

It's a group that now has Friesen's jet speed to go along with the swiftness of Patrik Elias and the darting quickness of Scott Gomez. Did I mention Elias weighs just 195? Did I mention that Gomez is 5-11? When is Theo Fleury going to show up, anyway?

"I really like the look of our team," says New jersey general manager Lou Lamoriello, who knows what he's doing. "OK, Bobby Holik's not here and we're a little smaller. But we're faster and we're still tough. You watch us."

As the Devils went through their first drills this week, Lamoriello was there, watching closely. Maybe he's not done shaping his roster. Maybe the Devils will add some big body up front to go with third-liner Turner Stevenson (6-3, 230) and part-time pugilist Jim McKenzie (6-4, 230). Maybe they'll bring someone in to help 5-11, 190-pound center John Madden with the checking duties.

Or maybe they'll stay small and quick and under Burns, a three-time Jack Adams Award winner, be a delight to watch. In any event, you can go out and see this team Thursday at South Mountain Arena in spectacular West Orange, N.J. Bring your kids and go to the zoo next door. Buy a soda. Browse through the midget league sign-up sheets. Watch a scrimmage. Live large.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Kostya Kennedy takes sides every Wednesday at CNNSI.com.

 

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