It is still painful to talk about the implosion that was the final 1:2o of last night’s game. I’m not even sure it has set in yet, that the season is over.

A few things that will stick with me from the aftermath: Realizing my contacts were drying out and my jaw was in my lap when Jokinen scored the tying goal, and looking up from my notes just in time to see Staal and his 3 zip-codes worth of space firing the winning shot; the inability of Colin White to put together a sentence, even after sitting in his locker and answering questions for 20 minutes; Zach Parise’s absolutely despondent look will haunt me in my sleep- I’ve never seen an athlete go catatonic after a loss.

Moments before Jokinen tied the game, I leaned over to Dan Martin of the NY Post and told him that the shot blocked by Nic Havelid was the best thing he’s done since he arrived here … and then he let Jokinen score. Havelid looked like a good player coming from Atlanta leading the team in +/- and blocked shots … but that was on Atlanta, not the Devils. I think the acquisition of Havelid was a bad move overall (easy to say in hindsight), and will force the Devils to use cap space to sign another defenseman. Because I’m sure there will be a riot if the Devils resign the Finn. And I will be at the front, leading the way with pitchfork and torch.

A few quotes from after the game…

Coach  Sutter on Jamie Langenbrunner’s return:  “I thought he played hard in his first game back in Carolina, and tonight I thought he was very good. That line played very well tonight for us, and unfortunately got scored on to tie the game up, but they were without a doubt our best line tonight. They brought it to the table in game seven and Jamie was a big part of that. Those two kids fed off him and he fed off them. Not having him in those two games, lets not kid ourselves, there was something missing.”

‘Canes coach Paul Maurice on playing Boston: “Yeah, we’re real excited we’re going to Boston. I got the job December 4th, and this is the 11th time we’ve played this team in the past four months. I’m really hoping we don’t schedule an exhibition here.”

Jamie Langenbrunner: “We know it’s not in hand, it’s a sixty minute game. We were playing well, eliminating their chances. We got caught out there and couldn’t get the puck out of the zone… We got caught running around at the end and they made us pay for it.”

Martin Brodeur: “Losing like that is shocking, and that’s the bottom line.”

Draft day is in June, and as always the Devils will host a draft party. I hope to be able to attend, and talk to fans about the latest addition to the Devils’ organization as well as thoughts on the season and where the team is headed. Are major changes on the way after another round one loss? We will find out.

Thanks again to the readership for loyalty and encouragement. And in my previous entry, I forgot to thank the Prudential Center staff- a great group of dedicated people who make sure everything runs smoothly everynight. Without them, I would have been lost in the bowels of the Rock way too many times.

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