Snowman On Fire

New Jersey in the summer time: going down the shore, temperatures that resemble FM radio stations, enough humidity to create clouds inside ice rinks. A perfect time to be thinking about hockey.

And why not? Gomez is signed, at least for a year. The EGG line of Elias, Gomez and Gionta looks like it should be reunited for an entire season. August is a mere two days away, and while most of the Garden State looks for Big Blue and Gang Green to take shape in training camp, some of us are thinking about South Mountain Arena. The big Devils and small Devils will share camp time and space through the dog days of August.

I love the end of the summer. It’s a time when new hockey pants and a backpack style bag generate as much excitement as new khaki pants and a school backpack, when anything is possible (except for the Rangers) and everything is new. As a kid, I always got depressed by Labor Day, an artificial boundary on the calendar between the time when there were no rules and schedules and when the school cadence re-established all structure. But as a hockey parent, and hockey player, and hockey manager, I love Labor Day. Another year will have gone by, yet the things that give us joy are the same.

There’s something quite cool about it.

The Devils Due blog over on nj.com has a great discussion of Elias’ signing. Patrik’s willingness to pass up a richer offer from the Rangers, his team spirit, and his no-trade clause all scream “winner.”

The fans are happy, Lou is happy, the team is happy, and hopefully Patrik is happy enjoying some kolachi back in the Czech Republic.

Patrik Elias just demonstrated everything that I have wanted to ever teach about sportsmanship and loyalty. He signed with the Devils for $42M over 7 years, netting him a cool six million a year. While it’s a nice jump over where he is now, you have to frame it within two endpoints: during Elias’ first contract years, he felt like the Devils were underpaying him (they were), and most recently reports out of Montreal said that Bob Gainey had put an offer on the table to pay Patrik upwards of $7M a year. Elias could have asked a team for up to $8.8M a year, the maximum under the current salary cap.

He took a home team discount. He put loyalty and team above wallet.

In these days of free agency and market pricing, there are very few players who chose to stay wit h the team in which they make the show, let alone the team that drafted them. Patrik’s contract signing reminds me of Number 8 himself, Willie Stargell, who played his entire 21-year career with the Pirates, from being signed as an 18-year old to playing in their farm system to eventually having his likeness engraved in bronze in front of their stadium. Stargell was the heart and soul of the Pirates in the 70s, and Patrik will be the same for the Devils in the nineties, the naughties, and the teens.

All of our Czech merchandise is ready to be worn again, including the 3-by-6 foot Czech flag that I picked up in the Prague airport this week. You never know when you need to say mokrat dekuji, Patrik (Thanks, Patrick) visually from row 8 in the Meadowlands. I’m just thrilled we’ll be able to do that for the next few years.

Free agency season is here. With the salary cap in the NHL, teams are faced with paying their best players market value, limited by the other players who demand market value. In theory, this prevents the escalating salaries that got various teams into financial trouble in the past few years, but it has a chilling effect on those of us who have favorite players. The upside to salary caps and free agency is that it’s a controlled market. Unfortunately, sometimes it works as well as a Soviet-era planned economy.

We are die-hard Patrik Elias fans in our house. We have a Czech phrasebook so we can cheer in his native language. We have Czech Olympic and Russian league jerseys, in addition to Devils wear of all shapes and sizes. My son lives in his Ceska Hokey hat, autographed by Patrik. The last thing we want is for Elias to end up somewhere other than in a Devils sweater in the upcoming season.

The questions, then, are what matters more: market value or home value? Turn up as a free agent in a new market, and there’s no assurance of fan loyalty: you’re representing salary cap space that could have been used for someone else if you go into a slump. Count the number of times you can read Elias’ name in the Meadowlands; he’s well represented on the backs of the fans who do come to the games. What’s the team chemistry? Who will feed you the puck, and who’s there for the other end of the pass? Is there a local Italian place where you and your fiancee can enjoy good gnocchi? Will you miss your golf friends and your social circles? The home team discount isn’t about being nice to the guys who have been paying you; it’s about valuing what counts as home for nine months of the year enough to turn down the price on another housing market.

We’re all waiting to see what Lou can do with Patrik and Jamie Langenbrunner, as well as a host of restricted free agents. Take all of the first-round draft picks you want, I’d rather keep Gomez. And keep him on a line with Elias.