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 | Posted on Mon Aug 22 2011 3:50am
New Jersey and Toronto are both going to be without important contributors for a significant period of time, but there is always the chance that others on the roster will rise to the occasion. Wes Welker Jersey . In 2008-2009, I wrote about the New Jersey Devils likely fade from playoff contention when Martin Brodeur was injured. Kevin Weekes represented a significant drop in performance in goal and the Devils shouldnt have been able to make the postseason with a goaltender stopping fewer than 90% of the shots he faced (as Weekes had for three years running). Enter Scott Clemmensen, the career minor-leaguer, who took the reins and handled the starting job in Brodeurs absence, going 25-13-1 with a 2.39 goals against average and .917 save percentage (Weekes, for the record, had a .920 save percentage as the backup). So with news that Zach Parise, the Devils best player, is out for three months following knee surgery, its easy to write off New Jerseys hopes considering what has already been a miserable start to the season, but there will be opportunities for others to step into the spotlight. Naturally, Ilya Kovalchuk will be the one expected to pick up the offensive slack with Parise out, but Kovalchuk was already expected to be a significant offensive contributor. That he hasnt been yet has only made the rest of the teams problems -- injuries, poor power play and shaky goaltending among them -- even worse. Certainly, proven performers like Patrik Elias and Travis Zajac will |