NEWARK, N.J. There have been a couple of precious quotes in this series.
You have to get your daily dose of Jacques Lemaire because he is so much fun.
I asked him today at the morning skates whether his Devils got an emotional lift yesterday when they found out that Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne are done for this series.
“I thought it was bullshit, as a matter of fact,” Lemaire told me, amid laughter from the media. “I don’t believe nobody. So I can’t say it gave us a lift.”
Now down the vast, expansive and confusing coordinators of The Rock, you had Marty Brodeur saying the kind of things I swear you heard from the Flyers time and again in the past when teams are on the verge.
“For us tonight, we definitely have to get these demons out of us, especially in a situation like this," Brodeur said.
"That attitude is the first thing you have to have, that swagger even though it's a tough thing to have when you're down 3-1. But you have to show that you're still in control. Show them that we're not riled by what's going on. But it's a tough thing to do.”
Naturally, I've saved the best for last and it comes out of the mouth of one, Chris Pronger.
As many of you know, Ilya Kovalchuk, summoning up the ghosts of Mark Messiers past (yeah, I know he was a Ranger), said this won't be his last game as a Devils because "we're going to win."
Kovie said that yesterday.
Pronger had not heard it until a reporter, looking for a juicy sound bite on camera, asked him.
"Talk is cheap," Pronger said with a stern look.
The sooner the Flyers end this, the quicker they get rest. If it ends tonight in Newark, I predict coach Peter Laviolette will give them Friday and Saturday OFF because the NHL is not starting ANY series before next Thursday.
If the Flyers lose, we may see some collars tighten.
Few hockey teams can survive lose two top 6 forwards. But there's no reason the Flyers can't pull out one win in three tries, even with a depleted lineup. As Anthony SanFilippo pointed out, historically, teams rally 'round the next game after a major injury before reality sets in.
Which is my way of saying the Flyers should win this series, even without Carter and Gagne. Now after that, I don't expect nor would most others that the Flyers could past two rounds without those two players.
Pronger talked about the number of guys Anaheim lost to injury en route to the Final in 2007. But we have to point out, they lost guys along the way, some came back, and some played with bad injuries once they got to the Finals.
To have this happen in the first round is a terrible blow to coach Peter Laviolette.
That said, there's no reason they can't close this out by the end of the weekend.
Wanna know what the Flyers' top two lines look like tonight? You can find the answer inside my story on CSNPhilly.com:
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