If A Player sets a record in shithole of a town in a sport noone cares about, does it make a sound? (A Devils/Blackhawks diary)

Pregame thoughts:
-They just showed the ending of the game in Montreal. Classy move by the Frenchies, giving their native son a standing Almost wish I was watching instead of being at a bar. But Devo, don't bars have tvs? No, my fake, italicized friend, Arlo & Esme is too winnerrific for tvs...but that's another story for another time.

-I remember listening to the first two innings of Game 7 of 2003 ALCS, and thinking that in a potentially historical game such as this, the announcers should rock tuxedos. I completely feel the same way tonight. In related news, I'm dressed to the 9's in my sweatpants and undershirt. Woo! History!

7:10-Wow. Langenbrunner. 1-0 NJ. SO much for my 6-1 Chicago theory. Right when you think this team is going to have a letdown game, they look just as dominant as ever.

7:13-Reason #2 why this team is so good-61 straight games for the Langenbrunner/Zajac/Parise line. Delay penalty coming up. Elias gets the points record here. Mark it.

7:14-Apparently the Blackhawks have been sucking recently, in 4th place 'mostly due to their fast start'. Hrmm, I had no idea. Speaking of which, not only is Nikolai Khabibulin still in the leagu-

7:16-Did i tell you or did i tell you? 2-0, Zajac from Parise and Martin. I think Martin's the only one of those trio above the age of 23.

7:17-As I was saying, Not only is Khabibulin still in the league, but he's playing in Chicago and still good, apparently. Who knew?

7:23-Now that nothing is happening, let me just say that if this game goes to a shootout, I'm rooting for the Blackhawks. Let Marty get the record Friday vs. Minnesota.

7:24-#28 Nicholas Havelid. If the Devils are going to trade for an aging defenseman, would it kill them to get Teppo Numminen? Somewhere in the top ten reasons I love the NHL are names like Teppo Numminen and Kimmo Timmonen.

7:27-So I'll ask. In light of the fact that he's the captain on the best team in the NHL, who would you rather have: Jamie Langenbrunner or Chris Drury? I say PROBABLY Drury, but if salaries are being taken into consideration, I take Langenbrunner, and there's really not even any argument you can make for Drury.

7:33-Yup, it's your daily Bobby Holik penalty. I can't even begin to explain how much this doesn't worry me.

7:36-Ok, the power play ended two minutes ago and the puck hasn't left the devil end. And...no goal. Sorry 2nd City, Marty aint giving up shit tonight.

7:39-20 down. 40 to go. 2-0 And really, the only issue is whether Marty will share this night with Elias. (presently tied with Johnny Mac for total points as a Devil)

7:50-A more Indian or Yinzer version of myself would probably smirk every time Daneyko says "the Devil fans here are going crazy." Go ahead guys, make your 'wow, the fans are going nuts? Both of them?' joke.

7:57-Aaaaannnndddd, the Blackhawks commit a penalty, all of 13 seconds into the period. 3-0. Mark it.

7:58-So with Nikolai "the Boulin Wall" Khabibulin, aka "the Boulin Wall" in net, at what score can I start making "Coach Quennville, tear down that wall!" jokes? I'm going with 5.

7:59-Remember when Dainus Zubrus was relevent on this team? Yeah, that was a fun few weeks. Time to move Rolston up to the 2nd line.

8:10-Yeah haven't been paying attention rcently. This game's pretty much over. Now Elias needs to get point #702 so that he's not continually pressing for that record setting point.

8:12-Another point worth bringing up because this game is fairly boring: Remember when the Bruins were running away with the #1 seed? Well now they're six points ahead of the Devils...and the Devils have 3 more to play. And the Devils have the tiebreaker in wins. Devils are gonna be the #1 seed. Mark it, dude.

8:16-"The Blackhawks have a chance to get back in this game on the power play." And I have a chance to be president if roughly 250 million people die first. And as I write this, Elias misses a 3 on 1 shorthanded chance and Marty makes two great saves. Yup, I missed the only good action of the period. FML

8:24-Gionta just took a one-timer slapshot from like 10 feet in front of the Boulin wall. For a very good player I've learned to really enjoy, this is still the worst shot in the NHL. It never works-either it hits the goalie in the numbers, or it gets deflected into the netting. Where was that awfulness in the '01 beanpot?

8:27-Wow. And as I say that, Gionta scores on a one-timer slapshot, on a pass from YOUR ALL-TIME NEW JERSEY DEVIL POINT LEADER, PATRICK ELIAS!

8:28-Marty's shutout is done, 3-1. Ok, he'll continue his quest for the shutout record another day.

8:32-A quick word about the dueling Devil records as we enter the second intermission...
So as far as my favorite athletes-I've always been a bigger fan of guys who make up the supporting cast than the fan favorite. And in the same way that I've never liked Derek Jeter as much as Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez, I was always a bigger fan of Niedermayer, Elias, Arnott, and Langenbrunner than Brodeur. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I'm thrilled that Brodeur has the 2nd or 3rd most important record in hockey, it's pretty freakin cool that Patrik Elias set the Devils points record and will go down as the greatest offensive player in Devil history...until Parise breaks his record in 2018. ONTO THE THIRD!

8:54-Penalty kill done. In the same way that the Devils ALMOST gave up a shot, I ALMOST got nervous.

8:55-And just like that, Rolston's stick was slashed out of his hands. Power play Devils.

8:57-And after 4 Lemieux-on-Draper level hits by the Blackhawks, Langenbrunner got called for a bs dive. For Langenbrunner's efforts, he gets sucker punched by Versteeg, which I believe is Norweigan for "Tie Domi."

9:03-So lost in all of these milestones and records is the fact that the Devils have manhandled one of the better Western Conference teams through 47 minutes of play. Afternoon games always have an awkward feel because everyone's schedule is off, but the game this Sunday afternoon in Boston should be ridiculous.

9:21-Ok, this blog is done. Congrats to Brodeur and Elias, the greatest Goalie ever and greatest Devils forward, respectively.

9:22-Goal. Soft one. 3-2. This figures. 2 minutes to go.

9:24-Me:"Sports history about to be made, you may want to watch."
Mom: (without looking up from her newspaper): "Mmm hmm"
Apparently my mom speaks for 99% of America. Who knew?

9:26 Take it away Mr. Drama...