AGE WISDOM: Coach Pete DeBoer (right) has helped Devils like 40-year-old goalie Martin Brodeur stay fresh by scheduling frequent rest days throughout the playoffs. (Getty Images)
Two philosophies of rest and recuperation clashed in the Battle of the Hudson.
Rangers coach John Tortorella repeatedly ridiculed the suggestion his overachievers might be worn out. Devils coach Pete DeBoer freely admitted his squad, the eldest in the NHL, was battling the effects of fatigue, regularly giving them a day off between games.
That DeBoer and the Devils are headed to the Stanley Cup finals, starting Wednesday against the Kings in Newark, does not prove the merits of DeBoer’s rest-and-rehab strategy, but it sure looks good.
One constant covering six Stanley Cup winners with three different franchises has been that the closest confidants unanimously confess, “I’m so happy … and so tired.”
The signs of fatigue were visible among the Devils back at New Year’s. They were so mediocre, 13-12-1 on Dec. 6, that no player was selected for the regular All-Star team. The rookie skills competitors, Adam Henrique and Adam Larsson, stayed home, too.
The Devils rested for a week then went 9-1-1 when they returned, the first hint of things to come. DeBoer is quick to point out the additions of Steve Bernier and Alexei Ponikarovsky gave them needed depth and perhaps the biggest factor was Andy Greene’s return from lengthy injury at that point, but the rejuvenation also clearly was there.
After they knocked off the Rangers in Game 6 on Friday, DeBoer gave the Devils off Saturday. Then he gave them off yesterday, too.
During the Battle of the Hudson, he would say, “I don’t think you can get too much rest at this point.”
It is bizarre the NHL would allow its television partner to dictate such a schedule for the finals. There are two days between Games 1 and 2 on Wednesday and Saturday in Newark and only one day to travel coast-to-coast before next Monday’s Game 3.
The league did give the teams two days between Games 4 and 5, but it’s another one-day break between Games 5 and 6 with another transcontinental flight included.
DeBoer had never been to the Stanley Cup playoffs, let alone the finals, but he certainly has not made a wrong turn yet. A tough guy might break his players like a drill sergeant. DeBoer is saving their energy for the games.
Somehow, the old-timers won the final two games in the first round, the final four games against the Flyers and the last three against the Rangers.
There’s no point losing the Stanley Cup on the practice rink.
* In case anyone forgot, four-time Vezina winner Martin Brodeur has yet to win a Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, despite three Cups. In his last one, a concerted voting campaign among Western scribes denied it to him and awarded it to losing goalie J.S. Giguere.
* Though they suffered an epidemic early this season, the Devils have not been plagued much lately by short-handed goals. That improvement will be tested by the Kings, who have feasted on foes’ power plays, scoring a playoff-high five short-handed goals while allowing only five power-play goals — an astounding net zero goals against in 57 times short. The postseason record is 10 short-handers by the 1983 Oilers with the 1981 Islanders second with nine.
At 8-0 on the road, the Kings already have tied for the fourth-most road victories in a playoff season. The record is 10, shared by the 1995 and 2000 Devils and 2004 Flames. The Devils were the road team in the 1995 and 2001 finals and home team in 2000 and 2003.