Confirmed with Link: Devils get Alexei Ponikarovsky from Jets for 2013 7th & 2014 4th round picks

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

All this ill will and sour feelings towards Parise is just Comming off as childish at this point. If the Devils were your hometown team and they were offering you that money to "come home and play" you wouldn't sign that deal as soon as possible?

Zach gave everything he had every night for the devils and whether its overpayment or not or if he ever lives up to that deal is a moot point, he earned the contract and did nothing wrong in my eyes. He chose another team, a team where his father played, a team that sells out every game despite the less than exciting brand of hockey they play. Good for him and I wish him the best of luck.

I could understand if we were struggling but were not. Let it go. None of us here would turn down that money. Never.

I agree 100%.

The people on this board act like jilted lovers.

 

[CerebralGenesis]

I'm mostly pissed at the golly gee willicker comments by Parise. Not the peacing out for money. Stop ************ to the media, and yes those posts acknowledge the comments are drivel.

Totally in his right to go for money and take his time deciding to do it, that is not up for debate and I agree whole-heartedly there. That isn't what annoys me bout this though.

Nonetheless, blaming Parise for Poni costing 2 picks is silly. Glad to have him back and hopefully he doesn't leave within 5 minutes of UFA to go to another random team cause I will be upset with losing picks again.

 

[manilaNJ]

One way or another, his name needs to stop being forced into conversations.

It's a Poni thread.
Sure, Lou's hands were tied during the Parise ordeal - but that's as much his own fault as anything else.

So we are where we are, time to advance forward with a Devils team that has more than moved on.

 

[OOOOIIIO]

I agree 100%.

The people on this board act like jilted lovers.

The issue is he indicated to many that he was returning only to snub us and later reveal a possible plan put in place with Sutter to sign with the same team. I can understand the hurt. Are people holding a bit to much of a grudge, sure, but lets not flip this the other way around and give him a free pass.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

I'm mostly pissed at the golly gee willicker comments by Parise. Not the peacing out for money. Stop ************ to the media, and yes those posts acknowledge the comments are drivel.

Totally in his right to go for money and take his time deciding to do it, that is not up for debate and I agree whole-heartedly there. That isn't what annoys me bout this though.

Nonetheless, blaming Parise for Poni costing 2 picks is silly. Glad to have him back and hopefully he doesn't leave within 5 minutes of UFA to go to another random team cause I will be upset with losing picks again.

So what's Parise going to say to the media...I have no intention of coming back to NJ, and want to go to MIN? Yeah, that does a lot of good for his bargaining position.

The main issue is that people take him leaving so personally. It's not a slight on the Devils or Devils fans.

 

[manilaNJ]

The issue is he indicated to many that he was returning only to snub us and later reveal a possible plan put in place with Sutter to sign with the same team. I can understand the hurt. Are people holding a bit to much of a grudge, sure, but lets not flip this the other way around and give him a free pass.

Nothing wrong with having a grudge in the matter - being a sports fan has a sneaky way of wreaking havoc on emotions.

There's a lot of anger, though... despite the fact that it's a pretty damn good time to be a Devils fan. That's best to let go.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

The issue is he indicated to many that he was returning only to snub us and later reveal a possible plan put in place with Sutter to sign with the same team. I can understand the hurt. Are people holding a bit to much of a grudge, sure, but lets not flip this the other way around and give him a free pass.

Parise indicated that he liked NJ and was open to returning. He never say he would definitely stay, nor should any UFA be expected to make definitive statements like that.

Blame yourself for getting your hopes up.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I'm mostly pissed at the golly gee willicker comments by Parise. Not the peacing out for money. Stop ************ to the media, and yes those posts acknowledge the comments are drivel.

Totally in his right to go for money and take his time deciding to do it, that is not up for debate and I agree whole-heartedly there. That isn't what annoys me bout this though.

Nonetheless, blaming Parise for Poni costing 2 picks is silly. Glad to have him back and hopefully he doesn't leave within 5 minutes of UFA to go to another random team cause I will be upset with losing picks again.

I'll survive even if he does if it means another deep run. Worth the price of admission.

 

[DEVILS ALL THE WAY*]

We're on top of the East whitout Parise, who never brought this team anywhere to begin with, so I'm actually glad we broke the bank for the player who helped us get to the finals on one leg and not invest in a guy that's all about hard work during the regular season and who's a total ghost when it matters the most.

The end.

 

[CerebralGenesis]

So what's Parise going to say to the media...I have no intention of coming back to NJ, and want to go to MIN? Yeah, that does a lot of good for his bargaining position.

The main issue is that people take him leaving so personally. It's not a slight on the Devils or Devils fans.

you don't have to say anything I believe. You don't have to say you are coming back. You don't have to indicate a return in any capacity. You don't have to say you like bochi ball. Status quo every answer.

I don't necessarily feel slighted but I don't feel inclined to wish him success in the future either.

 

[Sir Fenwick Corsi]

Who is this Zach Parise you guys speak of?

 

[DEVILS ALL THE WAY*]

you don't have to say anything I believe. You don't have to say you are coming back. You don't have to indicate a return in any capacity.

I don't necessarily feel slighted but I don't feel inclined to wish him success in the future either.

As soon as he signed that one year deal, it was pretty obvious he wasn't coming back.

By signing a one year deal, he was taking a MASSIVE gamble cause he could've cashed in big time but he prefered to wait a full year, cross his fingers that he'd be injury free and see what was available on the open market.

When Lemaire took over for you know who (don't want to say his name anymore), we went on this massive run and proved to everyone that Parise, despite his skillset, wasn't the heart and soul of this team and it said right then and there that we could be as good if not better whitout him.

I understand that looking back at things, it's easy to second guess anything, but that contract negotiation took forever and all we got out of it was a one year deal. If Lou would've moved his ass, we would've gotten a solid return almost ala Phil Kessel, wich would've put this franchise in the drivers seat for the next decade. Just look at Boston now, there team is stacked from top to bottom, they have a fantastic mix of veterans and upcoming youngsters and they've been looking like SC contenders ever since that move.

Anyways, he's on Minnesota, they're playing .500 hockey and they're currently on the outside looking in.

 

[CerebralGenesis]

As soon as he signed that one year deal, it was pretty obvious he wasn't coming back.

By signing a one year deal, he was taking a MASSIVE gamble cause he could've cashed in big time but he prefered to wait a full year, cross his fingers that he'd be injury free and see what was available on the open market.

When Lemaire took over for you know who (don't want to say his name anymore), we went on this massive run and proved to everyone that Parise, despite his skillset, wasn't the heart and soul of this team and it said right then and there that we could be as good if not better whitout him.

I understand that looking back at things, it's easy to second guess anything, but that contract negotiation took forever and all we got out of it was a one year deal. If Lou would've moved his ass, we would've gotten a solid return almost ala Phil Kessel, wich would've put this franchise in the drivers seat for the next decade. Just look at Boston now, there team is stacked from top to bottom, they have a fantastic mix of veterans and upcoming youngsters and they've been looking like SC contenders ever since that move.

Anyways, he's on Minnesota, they're playing .500 hockey and they're currently on the outside looking in.

You are attracting fire with the rest so I'll stay clear but I agree 100% with the bolded part. I called it a worst case scenario and it happened. No spin can make things clearer when someone signs 1 year to go to UFA from RFA.

 

[feerlessleadr]

All this ill will and sour feelings towards Parise is just Comming off as childish at this point. If the Devils were your hometown team and they were offering you that money to "come home and play" you wouldn't sign that deal as soon as possible?

Zach gave everything he had every night for the devils and whether its overpayment or not or if he ever lives up to that deal is a moot point, he earned the contract and did nothing wrong in my eyes. He chose another team, a team where his father played, a team that sells out every game despite the less than exciting brand of hockey they play. Good for him and I wish him the best of luck.

I could understand if we were struggling but were not. Let it go. None of us here would turn down that money. Never.

I agree 100%.

The people on this board act like jilted lovers.

Why is it that people keep saying that it was within Parise's right to explore his options and to leave for the most money, but Devils fans aren't allowed to be pissed that he left?

He had a right to explore free agency and say and do whatever he wanted in the media about his intentions.

It is my right as a fan to hate his guts for it, regardless of his rights.

 

[Gentleman of Verona]

Who is this Zach Parise you guys speak of?

I'm not sure, but I think they might be talking about this guy:

 

[DEVILS ALL THE WAY*]

You are attracting fire with the rest so I'll stay clear but I agree 100% with the bolded part. I called it a worst case scenario and it happened. No spin can make things clearer when someone signs 1 year to go to UFA from RFA.

I don't care what anyone says... When he signed that one year deal, after what, 6 or 7 weeks of "negotiations", it was as clear as can be that he was heading to free agency and if your star player is willing to gamble his career just to wait 12 more months, how can that not be a glaring sign?

I know several posters were spinning it every wich way, so that at the end, we'd resign him to a LTC cause Lou wasn't certain that he'd come back the player he once was and whatnot, but sometimes you have to face reality and the reality was that he was already set to play elsewhere after that 1 year deal.

 

[The Grinder]

Why is it that people keep saying that it was within Parise's right to explore his options and to leave for the most money, but Devils fans aren't allowed to be pissed that he left?

He had a right to explore free agency and say and do whatever he wanted in the media about his intentions.

It is my right as a fan to hate his guts for it, regardless of his rights.

And I was just stating, without singling out anyone, that in my opinion, to "hate" a player for reasonably leaving your franchise is childish.

Hate is one of those words overused nowadays. I hate nazis, rapists, and going to the dentist. I don't hate a player for accepting a boatload of money to play for their hometown team.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Poni thread.

Zach threads are so last year.

 

[CerebralGenesis]

All the women I have had a umm affinity with lately have some kind of connection to dentistry or dental hygienics. I must be a masochist.

I mean. Poni is win.

 

[manilaNJ]

That being said, how long does the Poni experiment on the top line last?

I don't see it sticking, but having someone who can do the heavy boardwork with Zajac will definitely help out a lot to get that top line producing.

Kovalchuk also enjoyed playing with him in the short stinted "USSR" line.

 

[devilsblood]

Lou made a comment that we were waiting on another player and during that time Poni decided to sign else where.

Lou also said that they wanted to re-sign Poni.

AKA We were waiting to see how much money we had left after Parise

So Poni could have waited. Instead he took a one year deal, for not that much money, on the first day of FA.


That's on Poni, not Parise.

But he'll have his chance to make amends this offseason.

 

[Gentleman of Verona]

That being said, how long does the Poni experiment on the top line last?

I don't see it sticking, but having someone who can do the heavy boardwork with Zajac will definitely help out a lot to get that top line producing.

Kovalchuk also enjoyed playing with him in the short stinted "USSR" line.

Maybe I'm nuts, but somehow I'd prefer Butler on the top line for speed, with Poni adding the size to Josefson's line.

 

[manilaNJ]

Maybe I'm nuts, but somehow I'd prefer Butler on the top line for speed, with Poni adding the size to Josefson's line.

Consider me just as nuts as you - because that's exactly what I want to see, as well.

Except with Matteau in, and not Barch.

 

[devilsblood]

And I was just stating, without singling out anyone, that in my opinion, to "hate" a player for reasonably leaving your franchise is childish.

Hate is one of those words overused nowadays. I hate nazis, rapists, and going to the dentist. I don't hate a player for accepting a boatload of money to play for their hometown team.

Perfectly acceptable to hate a player who bolts your squad. Now there is certainly a difference between Nazi hate, and sports hate. And it's not "bolted to the Rangers" hate. But it's still worthy of some level of hatred.

 

[devilsblood]

Consider me just as nuts as you - because that's exactly what I want to see, as well.

Except with Matteau in, and not Barch.

So it's JJ, Barch and Butler again? Blah.