NHL

Devils’ Langenbrunner still won’t say what’s bothering him

ATLANTA — The captain clammed up. And after the Devils’ 3-0 victory over the Thrashers last night, he was nowhere to be found.

A mystery has developed around Jamie Langenbrunner, a week before the playoffs and in the wake of being “rested” by coach Jacques Lemaire on Saturday in Carolina.

Langenbrunner followed Monday’s decision not to talk to the press in Newark by responding with “no comment” to questions about what is bothering him.

“I’ve got no comments at all,” he said after the morning skate.

“About what?” he was asked. “Why?”

“Because I have no comment,” he said.

“Are you angry with [the press]?”

“It has nothing to do with you guys,” he said.

“Are you healthy?”

“No comment,” was the response.

“Are you annoyed at not playing the other night?”

“No comment,” he said.

“Are you still captain?” he was asked.

“No comment,” he said.

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Langenbrunner is still, indeed, captain of the Devils and last night, skated right wing with Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias, playing with grit and snarl. He was captain of Team USA that won the silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics in February, coming within a whisker of winning gold.

Langenbrunner occasionally has had enough of inane questions, but is usually gracious and even willing to turn those inane questions into insightful answers.

Perhaps, to prevent his apparent annoyance from becoming a soap opera, he would have been well-advised to say something to the effect of “I like to play every game,” or “It’s personal, nothing to do with hockey.”

Langenbrunner sat out for the first time this season in Saturday’s 4-0 victory in Raleigh for what Lemaire said was rest. Lemaire seemed stunned at the Langenbrunner mystery.

“I don’t know,” Lemaire said of what’s bothering Langenbrunner. “Maybe it’s personal. I don’t know. I don’t think he was in a bad mood.”

Of Saturday’s rest, Lemaire said, “I thought he needed rest.”