Marty is putting the team first again

[nj_cup]

Just curious who you think is more "team first", Marty or Kovy? Completely unrelated to all the comments previous.

ummmm hmmmmmmm marty? i think? im still just curious why is kovalchuck being brought into this?




EVERYONE has to get over the kovalchuk contract its over and done with! the team needs him and are better off with him on this team! its amazing the amount of hate for the guy. tisktisk

 

[MCDevils]

Well to be fair, if we're going to nitpick over whether or not the single greatest Devil in history who has constantly put the team first is being selfish because he has his initials and number on his forehead, I feel like we can steer this towards other players now that we've exhausted the Marty scenario.

Kovy keeps taking blame for the team playing badly, which I think is a mature thing to do, and I really applaud him for committing to defense under Lemaire when he realized that he couldn't survive the dry spells on offense with a fan base that cares about winning above personal achievement.

However, I do have a few things that I would like to point out:

1st: He 100% took full advantage of the Devils during FA. Now, this isn't inherently an issue because that's the point of free agency, but when the Devils offer is $40M more than any other team and you keep going back to LA saying, "if you raise your offer, I'll come to you instead", it doesn't make me happy.

2nd: MacLean sucked, but Kovy was a total dog for him. If you watched the games you could totally tell that he hated JMAC. We all hate JMAC now, but the benching for not showing up on time, obviously broke something between Kovy and his then coach.

3rd: Swapping Kovy for Parise will be a devastating mistake. Until they're both locked up longterm, the comparison will always be made. People can talk as much as they want about how Parise wants to leave which is pretty much the most ridiculous statement imaginable, because it's totally based in fallacy.

Nothing Parise or Lou have ever said indicated either party wanted anything besides a long term deal. Something weird is going on. I don't honestly believe the Devils are better without White and Rolston, so there's an obvious monetary concern. It has to be ownership related, and if it is, you have to look at Kovy's $100M and say to yourself, why isn't Parise getting that?

-fin.

Anyway, I like Kovy. I don't like when he tries to carry the puck and the lesser fans start to get all agitated in their seats and cheer because he's carrying the puck over blue line, because we're all aware that he's a turnover machine. I don't like when he decides it's not his job to do anything on defense which I've shown through video evidence he's likely to do.

Elias isn't going to be here forever, and just like Parise needed an Elias level player to be his 1A, Kovy is going to be that in the future. Parise needs to get signed though, and despite the fact that everyone likes to say that the money's there, no one actually knows that's true.

Hardcore fans have known this since day 1, so we'll see where this ends up, but anything other than a long term Parise ending means he'll never be loved by a HUGE majority of the fan base.

 

[MCDevils]

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.159512960793280.40708.113935718684338&type=1

What a selfish bastard!

 

[MCDevils]

And again, I don't hate Ilya, I love things like this:

‪Ilya Kovalchuk breakaway goal 2/18/11‬‏ - YouTube

‪Ilya Kovalchuk goal while falling down 3/2/11‬‏ - YouTube

LOVE IT. I just can't stand it when he stick handles himself into trouble.

 

[devs30rko]

Thank you kindly!

I'm slightly confused with the Bold. I would interpet that a sign of leadership from Kovy. He took accountantability as you mentioned but I can't really link that with a "me first" personna. Maybe to me, "me first" is a selfish stat padding individual who's in it for the fame and glory rather than the championship.

oh no i was trying to say how i believe he is truely team first, not me first.

if thats what you mean.


btw, were you over on the espn boards? how'd you find SportsHoopla?

 

[devs30rko]

and as for the parise thing, i don't think anyone is intending to or even thought of swapping kovy for parise at any point. i've said since before kovy was traded here.

the only way zach leaves is if he wants to leave, and i really cannot understate the fact that i truely believe it largely hinges on success this year. he needs to see this team take a step forward. if he does, then i bet you see him resign long term at no more than a 6.5 mil a year deal. i truely believe that.

the flip side to that coin? if there isn't that step forward i fully expect him to leave.

 

[nj_cup]

ok i see where i think your off here. i never said that marty is selfish. i said taking a team emblem off the most visible part of your helmet and putting your initials on it is self promotion and flies in the face of everything the devils stand for. agree or disagree? i dont care what charity work he does or doesnt do i dont care. do you agree or disagree with the above statement?

come to think of it i dont think i have ever heard marty take blame for a bad goal or bad game. come to think of it game 7 against the canes i dont think he ever took blame for those 2 fluke wrist shot goals from the half boards that cost the devils the game.

 

[devs30rko]

well lets try to stay away from whose more of a team player or not.

i think more what you were intially going for is how taking that logo off came off? correct?

 

[nj_cup]

exactly. you take a TEAM LOGO off the face of the helmet and replace it with YOUR LETTERS. (something as pointed out by your pictures) no goalie has! how is that not considered self promotion? i dont care how many discounts he gave the team how great he is. thats not the devils way of doing things right?

 

[devs30rko]

i don't think he did it saying 'hey everybody look at me, fuck the team its all about me'

but i did raise an eyebrow, and called it selfish. partly cause i like the old helmet so much more but thats not the point. whether it was or wasn't i understand how one could view it that way.

 

[nj_cup]

for all the kovalchuk hate on this board (which is insane) the team needs him. just look at every game 2nd half of the season last year. he was a beast he was a force he made people get out of their seat. every game he could've been a star of the game. and this is taking nothing away from parise at all they are 2 different players. but when have you seen parise ever do that?

or this coast to coast like buttered toast
‪Ilya Kovalchuk OT winner 2/10/11‬‏ - YouTube

or in and out
‪Ilya Kovalchuk dances, scores with wicked wrister 2/16/11‬‏ - YouTube

or this
‪Ilya Kovalchuk Incredible Rush vs Philadelphia Flyers (April 14th, 2010)‬‏ - YouTube
(yes i know he missed) but still an incredible rush

again not taking anything away from parise but you need a player like kovalchuk on your team if you want to take the next step. without him last year devils probably finish with the worst record drop in the history of the nhl! man if they had him on this team when suter was coach wow! parise and him easily would have over 100pts

 

[nj_cup]

and yes you are going to have times when he turns the puck over or messed up it happens even to crosby or ovenchkin even wayne messed up.

 

[Vadered]

Back to the topic at hand, it's a freaking goalie mask. As long as it is within the legal dimensions, adequately protects the player's face, and doesn't have anything illegal on it, it doesn't matter. The extent of "team first" a mask does or does not entail is limited to whether or not the guy paints the thing bright yellow and forces his teammates to look at the thing during practice.

 

[TiLoBrown]

ok i see where i think your off here. i never said that marty is selfish. i said taking a team emblem off the most visible part of your helmet and putting your initials on it is self promotion and flies in the face of everything the devils stand for. agree or disagree?

Disagree

Back to the topic at hand, it's a freaking goalie mask. As long as it is within the legal dimensions, adequately protects the player's face, and doesn't have anything illegal on it, it doesn't matter. The extent of "team first" a mask does or does not entail is limited to whether or not the guy paints the thing bright yellow and forces his teammates to look at the thing during practice.

Blah...we got Flyer fans in here now?

 

[nj_cup]

O tilo I would love to hear your explanation. if you can....if not its ok

 

[TiLoBrown]

Since you asked ever so nicely. But like already said. I liken it to a baseball player's bat. Its his bat, he puts his number on it because its his. It doesn't stay with the team if he gets traded. Same with Marty's mask and pads. They're his equipment, not team property. On top of all that he kept the Devils colors and devil tail in the logo, so he was still Devils "branded".

 

[nj_cup]

Yeah but this isn't baseball. It's hockey. Also how often do u really see a baseball players bat? Close enough so you can read it? It's no shock either he changed it the exact time his new website came out!

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Well technically the MB30 mask still has the Devils tail, which is all the other mask was. In my opinion neither player is selfish and we shouldn't be hating on them. We should be focusing our attention on players that suck (I'm looking at you Fayne, although I'm willing to give him a clean slate to start the season).

 

[TiLoBrown]

Yeah but this isn't baseball. It's hockey. Also how often do u really see a baseball players bat? Close enough so you can read it? It's no shock either he changed it the exact time his new website came out!

yea, well you asked me why and I gave you what I think are valid reasons. You're free to disagree.

edit: and actually the domain for the site went up around the same time, but website itself didnt open for about 4 months after.

 

[MCDevils]

and yes you are going to have times when he turns the puck over or messed up it happens even to crosby or ovenchkin even wayne messed up.

I accept that. BUT it was a league leading 104 times for Kovy.