Late night open thread

Not a good night in Miami Florida tonight for the Devils. They lost to the Panthers 4-0. Who to blame? Elian Gonzalez's cousin in law Marisleysis of course.

Time for Jersey City, After Dark

St. Peter's Peacocks are on a three game winning steak

Jersey City's own St. Peter's Peacocks are on a three game winning streak in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and have improved their record to 9-17 with a 6-10 conference record. The latest victory was over Marist College 72-62 and unlike the last two victories, the Peacocks salted this one away earlier than their last possession. Some great defense held Marist without a 2 point field goal for the first 13 minutes. St. Peter's coach John Dunne said defense is the thing that's driving the team; "We are defending a lot better, we are focusing on our game-plan a lot better..."

Akeem Gooding had 23 points for St. Peter's.

St. Peter's is home again at the Yanitelli Center February 27, vs league foe Iona. They next play on the road at Youngstown State on Feburary 21.

Woe be to the legislators who do the right thing to address the 'senior driving' incident like we had in Union City yesterday

Moises Calo, 28, of Bergenfield was run down in Union City and killed by the wayward car of senior driver Harry Pierce, 80, of Union City. Pierce lost control of his car on 8th Street, hit four buildings, five parked cars and sadly, hit Calo, killing him by pinning him between 2 cars.

It is the opinion of the Jersey City Desk that all, yes ALL seniors 75 and over should be retested every year to keep their driving privileges. We see far too many of these types of situations again and again and again. But woe be to the state or federal legislator who would ever dare to speak up on this and take the lead. They'd be out of a job the next election cycle as the AARP and other senior-interest lobbying groups would have their heads. This is too bad.. For the sake of everyone else, they should be retested yearly.

Late night open thread

A President's Day trivia question. Who was the only President elected with all the electoral votes?

Answer here.

Time for Jersey City, After Dark

Since today's a federal holiday, and the interns are nowhere to be found

Johnny's gonna take the day off too. You can't expect him to make the coffee, do the reporting AND do the writing. His interns are slackers, no doubt about it.

Late night open thread

Another big win for the Devils at The Rock this afternoon. They led, then fell behind, then led, the fought back to win a wild 6-5 decision over West leading San Jose. Kind of a strange game, some bad goals let in by Clemmensen, which has not normally been a problem for him at all this year. Johnny's been thinking long term for the Devils, and as the NHL trading deadline approaches, he'd suggest a veteran grinder who can pot a goal or two and a defenseman who wouldn't cost them a lot to get who was a great outlet passer and could put in some solid time on the powerplay. The defenseman we'd suggest Devils fans get a look at, because face it if Johnny is suggesting it chances are the Devils brass already are looking at, is Jordan Leopold (6G 13A and averages 18 minutes a game) of the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs will more than likely be seller in a couple week and Leopold is a great passer who would give the Devils some depth and another offensive option on the powerplay. He's only making $1.5 million which is salary cap friendly number. If you want to make it a two player deal with Colorado, the forward we think would fit in well might we suggest New Jersey fans check out the resume of right wing Ian Laperriere (5G 9A 96 PIM with good size at 6' 1" and 205). You'd be getting some grit at forward and an offensive upgrade on the blueline and obvious depth in both places.

Ah hockey, nothing Johnny loves more...You wanna sit down and talk some puck he's your man. As we get closer to the trading deadline and the playoffs we'll start a regular 'State of the Devils' feature once a week.

Time for Jersey City, After Dark

Devils have another marquee name coming to The Rock this afternoon

Current Western Conference leading San Jose invades the Prudential Center for a 3pm game today, another great measuring stick game for the Devils. Coming off of Friday's 1-0 blanking of east leading Boston, the Devils can measure themselves against one of the west's top teams. The Sharks will offer a different type of challenge for New Jersey, a run and gun offensive game with shots coming from everywhere. The Sharks defensive corps is very offensive minded and will test the Devils forwards to stay alert as they jump into the play.

Another reason the game is important is for playoff seeding purposes. The Devils are currently tied with Washington with 75 points for the #2 overall seed in the Eastern Conference and should the first round matchups play out as planned, the #2 seed would have home ice advantage over the #3 seeded club in the second round.

Today's game marks the return of one Claudette Lemieux (Hey, Johnny's blog Johnny's opinions) to New Jersey. The former Devil and disgraced turtle of a man who is known for hitting players from behind then not being able to defend his own honor or that of his team. The 43 year old Lemieux signed a contract earlier this year with San Jose.

Once again, a whole lotta shakin going on out in Morris County

As you may recall, Morris County had a small trembler earthquake earlier this month, well, they had another small quake yesterday. While this one wasn't a 3.0 on the Richer Scale, it was around a 2.2 or 2.4 as county officials await the final word from the seismic experts. Local residents called police saying they thought there had been some kind of explosion under their homes. The quake's epicenter was some six miles north of Boonton.

The Jersey City Desk would like to reiterate, if you guys have a 7.0 earthquake, it it breaks some of Johnny's stuff, you're paying for it.

Late night open thread

Ah, Valentine's Day. Love is in the air everywhere. How can we best share the spirit of this day with all of you?

How about a schlocky love song before bed tonight. Yes, we said schlocky...

Ay yie yie

Time For Jersey City, After Dark

Redevelopment lagging around the Prudential Center in Newark

A fine article in Friday's New York Times on the lagging development immediately around the Prudential Center in Newark. While The Rock itself is a beautiful facility, hosting a lot of events and making that area of Newark well travelled, there are still huge holes in the development of that area. The gist of the article is that the purchasing of the land around there wasn't done before the Prudential Center opened making the plan kind of bass ackwards.

It's a worthwhile read.