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New Jersey Devils European League Roundup: Week 9

Some Thanksgiving week action along with a shake up in the power rankings!

Al Bello

First and foremost, Happy belated Thanksgiving! Although there is no hockey, there's plenty to be thankful for: Gary Bettman's receding hairline, A Devils Stanley Cup Finals Appearance, and a mostly healthy and productive group of Devils playing in Europe. Finally, the NHL and NHLPA are supposedly only $40 Million apart per season. Who knows if they can close this $40 Million gap, but its better than no negotiating and a lost season, right? Anyways, the New Jersey Devils players who are playing in Europe had a strong week, even without a little thanksgiving turkey.

Stats

Player League Team GP G A P PIM +/-
Anton Volchenkov KHL Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 0 0 0 4 -2
Vladimir Zharkov KHL CSKA Moscow 24 3 1 4 2 0
David Clarkson Bundesliga EC Red Bull Salzburg 5 2 1 3 18 -1
Artur Gavrus Belarus HC Neman 12 5 3 8 0 6
Marek Zidlicky Czech Extraliga HC Kladno 21 1 17 18 24 10
Ilya Kovalchuk KHL SKA St. Petersburg 19 10 18 28 10 16

Updates

There were two Devils who did not play a game this week. David Clarkson and the EC Red Bulls did not play a game this week. Anton Volchenkov is still out with a broken ankle and there has been no news about his condition.

The rest of the Devils playing abroad played two games this week. Vladimir Zharkov picked up a goal in a blowout game where CSKA won by five goals. Marek Zidlicky picked up an assist in each game he played while also going minus one. Artur Gavrus tallied two goals and a +2 for a very impressive week in the Belarus league. Last but not least, Kovalchuk scored a goal and an assist and was +2 this week. Check out the video of Kovalchuk's 10th KHL goal in 19 games.

Kovalchuk's 10th KHL Goal


A beautiful shot that goes through a few players and beats the goalie far side...I miss Kovalchuk.

Power Rankings

Power Ranking: Week 9 Change
1 Gavrus Gavrus continues to impress in Belarus (2G,+2) +2
2 Kovalchuk Kovalchuk is disturbing KHL goalies (1G,1A, +2) 0
3 Zidlicky Zidlicky is fourth in scoring for HC Kladno (2A, -1) -2
4 Zharkov Mediocre performance this season (1G, +1) +1
5 Clarkson No Games -1
6 Volchenkov Injured 0

Through nine weeks, the Devils in Europe are showing that they can adapt to playing conditions abroad and succeed. Hopefully this success will carry over to the NHL if the lockout ends. Thanks for reading.