Fischler Report: Devils Are the Freshest Cup Contender

The New Jersey Devils last won the Stanley Cup in 2003. They now could win it again exactly two decades later.

And Tom Fitzgerald now leads the NHL in the race for GM of the year.

Conceiving the monster deal that brings Timo Meier to Newark – Fitzgerald now has an arsenal that can beat either the Rangers, Hurricanes or Bruins – depending on how the standings shake out.

Already a fresh, vibrant and extremely NHL power, the Devils – with the possible exception of Fabian Zetterlund – essentially gave up no one of consequence and did it without altering the club's exquisite chemistry.

"Plus," one scout notes, "Fitz also picked up depth pieces to help down the immediate road. And he did it while keeping his crown jewels. His Devils have gone from bottom feeders to Cup contenders in a year."

No, question, whichever the East power, it will have a devil of a time beating Lindy Ruff's sextet. Exhibit A would be an NJ-Rangers "Battle Of The Hudson."

DEVILS VERSUS RANGERS: The Garden Staters have more team speed and skill. New York has the goaltending. Ruff's youngsters can handle the playoff pressure. With or without Patrick Kane, the Rangers are messing up the previous good chemistry.

DEVILS VERSUS HURRICANES: Another beauty, but with the above arsenal – especially the youthful energy – NJ gets the edge. If Carolina is forced to go with Antti Raanta, as they did against the Rangers last year, the C in Canes equals collapse.

DEVILS VERSUS BRUINS: Tough, tough and tougher. But Devils' speed and skill could be too much for the Bruins to contain. AND: The best teams often go down in the first round. See Tampa Bay, Toronto and even Detroit, 1953.

The Predators ownership should hurry up and erect a statue of David Poile in front of Bridgestone Arena. No GM did more for a brand new franchise for more years than this admirable son of ex-NHL star Bud Poile.

As the only GM Nashville ever has had since the franchise's inception in 1998-99, David did what a ton of skeptics said could not be done. In a truly non-traditional market, he navigated the roughest of shoals and turned Music City into a genuine, all-sellouts hockey town.

Now, the estimable GM career, which began at age 32, is coming to an honorable conclusion. Nor am I surprised. When I interviewed Poile in this space a few months ago, he clearly hinted that this season would be it for him.

While all of the hockey seers were wondering where Barry Trotz would coach next, Poile knew that his original bench boss loves Nashville as a place to live and the Predators' managerial job would be a perfect fit for the team and for Barry.

As for David, what is there to say other than – apart from being a hockey gentleman and scholar – he's about the nicest, friendliest hockey guy you'll ever want to know. And, frankly, that's why I'm darn sad he's retiring.

No doubt about it, the Tampa Bay Lightning rank among the elite teams in the NHL. The Detroit Red Wings currently are pretenders to elite status.

So, what happens when the elite Bolts play the Wings, who were winners of five straight  earlier in the month? What you get is a lesson out of Hockey 101: don't bet against a team that not long ago won two Stanley Cups.

Even when stinking out the joint – as they did last night at Little Caesars Arena – the visitors won 3-0. Or, as Tampa coach Jon Cooper generously said, "We played poorly."

So, if Detroit had a massive 84 shot attempts, how come the still sizzling Motor City lads go zilch for their efforts? We go back to Hockey 101 for the answer.

An elite team – to be elite – must have an elite goalie.

Andrei Vasilevskiy taught the young Wings a lesson. He set a personal regular-season shutout record with 45 saves. Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn got goals for Vas, who ate all the biscuits thrown at him.

Winners of seven out of nine games, coach Derek Lalonde's team still is sizzling. It's just that they're not elite hot.

For the first four months of the season, the Red Wings were regarded as an admirable novelty. They were playing better than expected but – not even in management's eyes – not good enough to make the wild card. But in recent weeks, they've become a genuine wild-card threat. Hall of Famer,

Detroit's executive VP Jim Devellano explains why in our email interview:

THE OVERALL REASONS FOR WINGS SUCCESS: "It has been a matter of upgrades made by Steve Yzerman right across the board – in goal, on defense and up front. Plus, young reserves."

GOALTENDING: "Our surprising wild-card chase starts with the goaltender. Ville Husso has been a big improvement for us in the crease. And we got him from St. Louis for only a third-round pick. You include Husso with what we added on defense and you get a major plus at both positions."

DEFENSE: "Our front office did a terrific job with two, key free-agent signings. We got Ben Chariot from Florida and Ollie Matta from Los Angeles. Then, you add to that the two youngsters who are excelling on defense. That would be Filip Hronek and last year's Calder Trophy-winner, Moritz Seider."

FORWARDS: "Yzerman signed three veteran forwards who have contributed in a good way up front. And all were free-agent signings. We got Andrew Copp who had been with the Rangers, David Perron, ex-of the Blues, and Dominik Kubalik from Chicago."

DEPTH PLAYERS: "Up front, two of our young draft picks – centers Michael Rasmussen and Joey Veleno – have taken on bigger checking roles among the bottom six."

COACHING: "Steve Yzerman's decision to bring in Derek Lalonde from Tampa Bay and Bob Boughner from San Jose has made a difference. Each has made a seamless transition to the Red Wings. They've combined to add a new spark to an improving team."

BOTTOM LINE: "It appears, after six seasons out of the playoffs, the Red Wings are a much more competitive team and are on the rise."

*Women's hockey star Chelsey Goldberg is orchestrating a Jewish Heritage Night prior to the March 14, Isles-at-Kings game.

*Chelsey's T-shirt spells out 'Chaim, translated: a good life; also good luck.

*The NHL should strike a trophy for "Best Over 35 Player." My choice for this year's winner would be Buffalo's ageless goalkeeper Craig Anderson.

*Beating Florida, 3-1, on Friday night, the 41-year-old Andy made 53 saves. Being Andy, he shrugged it off as just a good night's work.

*On Saturday night, the Devils feted their third Cup-winning team (2003) for the 20th anniversary.

*Among the honorees were Hall of Famers Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer and Scotty Gomez. Bobby Holik, who starred for the 1995 and 2000 champs, calls Sergei (All 3 Cups) Brylin the "best Devil of all."

*"That's not a putdown of the Hall of Famers," Holik explains, "It's because Brylin did everything – penalty-killing, power play, regular shift, you name it."

*In honoring the memory of his late father, one part Alex Ovechkin said can apply to most hockey parents. His line about his dad went like this: "He gave me everything; all his heart and all his time."

*Goalie GMs who, ironically, have goalie problems: Ron Hextall in Pittsburgh and Jim Rutherford in Vancouver.

*The good news in Raleigh is that Antti Raanta is winning a ton for the Canes. It's some of his all-time best goaltending.

*The bad news is that there's no way that Rod Brind'Amour can count on him in the post-season.

*Not only must Freddie Andersen get healthy, but he has to stay healthy if the Canes expect to beat the Rangers or anyone for that matter.

*No one can label the Devils (39-15-5) first-half wonders anymore. After John Tortorella's Flyers were spanked 7-0 Saturday night by New Jersey, Torts' comment was: "The Devils are that good."

It's called Down and Back: On Alcohol, Family, and a Life in Hockey and is available in paperback, audio, kindle and hardcover. 

It took a heck of a lot of guts for Justin Bourne to write it because it's about him, his four-Cup-winning dad, Bob Bourne, and a battle with himself that, happily, Justin has won.

Before going on, let me say that Bob Bourne was one of my favorite Islanders. I covered the team since the fleet left wing was a rookie and through the dynasty years. I loved watching him in action and enjoyed our interviews.

I met and interviewed Justin for the first time while doing a Devils game in Phoenix and have known the family, including Justin's mom, Janice. The minute I heard that Justin's book was out, I asked if he'd do an interview. He agreed, and our email exchange follows, with the topics and Bourne's answers:

"I was two years into my sobriety when I started mulling the topic and began work a few months later. When considering the topics, a few things presented themselves: One was my Dad's hockey story – and mine to a much lesser extent – were interesting and unique.

"But, two, our struggles off the ice weren't public and contained common threads to which people could relate. I wanted to present a different view, that there's a vast grey area of hockey in which people are doing their best to both love the game of hockey and protect people as best they can. But with risks."

"It was a period of time where I couldn't get sober, thanks, in part, to giving up on trying. I probably had alcohol in my system for five straight months. Everything I valued in life was deteriorating; my relationships, my work and my health. I was able to turn it around because my wife and mom gave me the opportunity to, and I had to leave Bri to go into treatment for a month. Our son was 2.5 years old and Bri had to keep working because my employer stopped paying me while I was gone. My mom flew into Toronto (from British Columbia) to offer support. Together, they allowed me the time I needed to get right."

"It affected the quality and frequency of my writing, but – more than anything – I earned a reputation as a flake. I'd make plans, and bail; pitch stories and not write them; get invited to events and not attend. I just couldn't be counted on. While I met the minimum requirements of the written portion of my work, I had shrunk my world and eliminated the chance to move up in the hockey world. Fortunately, Sportsnet believed in me and – fresh out of treatment – offered me opportunities to see what a better me could do."

"Unfortunately, Dad was fighting his own battle with drinking and was in and out of treatment for a run of years where it became tough to count on him. In some cases, I was uncomfortable not knowing what to expect when we would talk. He wasn't able to be present, but I was flaky at times too, and we were never really able to reconcile some tougher things from our past. The book has helped us tremendously. It's allowed us to have some tough conversations and have a better place with a fresh start. It's the best thing to come from this book.

"Mom remains a gift. She's been there – often physically – despite us living a five hour flight away. She's been with me every step of the way, often, and whenever called upon. I'm forever grateful to her for helping me – and, in turn, my family – find the best version of what our life could look like."

"The trust had gone in my marriage. But Bri always believed that I could find the person she had married. I pushed her to a point where she almost left but she wanted to exhaust every chance we had to be a family. I thank the heavens above I was able to find help before it reached the worst-case scenario. She's been there every step, including both our kids – Charlie is six and Molly is almost three – while I spent a day a week writing the book for a long time. She's my rock."

"I'm a co-host with Nick Kypreos on the 'Real Kyper and Bourne' radio show and podcast from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET every weekday. I'm on Sportsnet's TV coverage twice a week, and I write two articles a week for Sportsnet.ca. I'm keeping busy."