newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur isn't happy that his team is unlikely to make the NHL playoffs this year, but he says it could have been worse.

"We don't like not making the playoffs," Brodeur said, according to NJ.com. "It hasn't happened a lot, but (the Rangers) have been through seven years in a row not making the playoffs. We had a great run. This has been a difficult season but those guys, seven times in a row. That's tough. I just can't imagine that."

According to NJ.com, the Devils have made the playoffs each of the last 13 seasons. In that span, the Rangers have made it just five times.

The New York Post reports the Devils visit the Rangers at the Garden tonight still lodged in the NHL cellar despite being 7-1-1 in their last nine, but they say they have found the winning formula and are making a push for their 14th consecutive playoff berth.

The Devils are facing overwhelming odds in that battle.

"It's tough not to move forward and be in the playoffs if April comes and we're not there. Just give us a chance," Brodeur said. "At the end of the (playoffs) there will be one winner and 29 (teams) that will scratch their heads."

NorthJersey.com reports the Devils last missed the playoffs by losing their final game of the 1995-96 season to Ottawa. The Rangers missed them last season when they lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout in their final regular season game.

Brodeur thinks rivalries are always with the fans. "The players feel for it because of the people that care about us and the people that hate us."

"That's what a rivalry is. The players feel it when you do battle for something, whether it's a playoff spot or an important game. When that's not there, I think we get up a little more because of our fans.

For Brodeur, the teams' rivalry turned into a personal one for him for a time. The bitter feud between Rangers instigator Sean Avery and Brodeur continued to the end of their teams' playoff series after the Rangers ousted the Devils in 2008.

The New York Daily News reported the two skated by each other in the post-series handshake line without shaking hands.

"I shook everyone's hand, everyone but one," Brodeur said without mentioning Avery by name. "I don't care how he feels about it."

When asked about the keys to making the playoffs, Rangers coach John Tortorella told fanfeedr.com, "I think the most important thing in making the playoffs is our consistency and staying with our identity. We have found a way that we can be successful. It's a hard way to play. I think we have some skill, but for us to have a chance to make the playoffs we have to be consistent and play as a team."

But Devils coach Jacques Lemaire admitted it would sting if the Rangers made the playoffs and the Devils did not.