Jump to content

GDT: New Jersey @ Edmonton - 1/11/12


NJCroMag

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 232
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Funny, for all the complaining about the goaltending, in four of the last five games they've allowed only one goal, two goals in a fifth game, and three goals in a sixth. The other two were bretty brutal...6 goals in each one...and the goaltending in Calgary was as bad as it gets. But we keep stressing the importance of being able to save 90% (at the very least) of the shots that come their way...well, here are the save%s over each of those eight games:

.957, .966, .906, .778, .917, .976, .571 (ouch), .957

No one's going to take a gander at the Devils' goaltender tandem and think they've got a couple of brick walls in net, but as we've seen, at least recently, there's reasons to hope their play might be getting better, even if we have to deal with Calgary-type trainwrecks here and there.

I didn't read through the whole thread, but Kovy's second intermission interview really jumped out at me...the guy seemed so focused, almost annoyed that he couldn't stay out there...almost like "Screw this interview sh!t, and this intermission, I want to get out there and I want to keep playing." It's weird, as much as he improved when Lemaire took over, and was trying to improve his shortcomings(and as frustrating as he can be, I don't think not trying was ever Kovy's problem), now that I see the way he's playing lately, it feels like he's being more true to himself, and is more comfortable on the ice as a result. It means we'll have still have to deal with "WTF?" moments, and "WTF?" games, and occasionally even two or three "WTF?!?" games in a row, but if the overall result is what we've been seeing for a while now (13 G and 14 A in his last 22 GP), I'll take it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Canadian media. Ridiculous they didn't include Hedberg.

I found it incredible as well. How do you get one assist in a loss and get the first star? If anything it's almost like they're unintentionally mocking him considering how many chances he had to score and failed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's clear that Kovalchuk hates doing interviews at the intermission - there was one time recently where they said he would be on and then he was bumped 'cause someone else scored.

But yeah, Kovalchuk is well over 4 shots/game now. He's 4th in the league in total shots. This is the player the Devils signed up for - even last season, Kovalchuk was never really well above 3 shots per game in any month besides March. He keeps scoring but his shooting percentage remains largely stagnant - that's because he's shooting so much. It's easy to forget that this is a player who's scored on one of every 7 shots in his career.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was watching that game last night wondering where the heck we'd be if Kovy went out for a month or three, and it wasn't a happy thought. It was actually right before he picked that guy's pocket and scored on the breakaway. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm watching an old GI Joe cartoon. They just lost a couple billion dollars worth of military equipment to Cobra.

Oh and Destro was surely involved in his fair share of orgies in the 70's.

This one? (NOT safe for work!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best part was that he kept staring at the camera and you can tell the guys behind the camera were telling him to be more natural and look at deb too.

Lol it kinda reminded me of the last scene in pee-wee's big adventure.

This is the scene I meant yesterday in my post. It is classic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was watching that game last night wondering where the heck we'd be if Kovy went out for a month or three, and it wasn't a happy thought. It was actually right before he picked that guy's pocket and scored on the breakaway. ;)

Yeah...he's a big part of our success, and even though a lot of our fans nit-pick every mistake he makes, he's really an outstanding player. And if you live outside this area and dont watch Devil games, I'm sure the highlights from the NHL every night show Kovi doing something good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Best thing about last night was, despite the Oilers looking better for a good part of the game, our star players stepped up and carried us. The Kovy goal was the complete anti-kovy type play that nobody thought we would see a couple of years ago. Out working somebody at the point on the PK and burying the goal. Perfect combination of skill and effort. Elias and Parise down low on the power play; great to see.

17 for Kovy and 15 for Zach now. Lets see how hot they can get. In a year where its been a lot about depth players, it was great to see those two play huge in the win.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funny, for all the complaining about the goaltending, in four of the last five games they've allowed only one goal, two goals in a fifth game, and three goals in a sixth. The other two were bretty brutal...6 goals in each one...and the goaltending in Calgary was as bad as it gets. But we keep stressing the importance of being able to save 90% (at the very least) of the shots that come their way...well, here are the save%s over each of those eight games:

.957, .966, .906, .778, .917, .976, .571 (ouch), .957

No one's going to take a gander at the Devils' goaltender tandem and think they've got a couple of brick walls in net, but as we've seen, at least recently, there's reasons to hope their play might be getting better, even if we have to deal with Calgary-type trainwrecks here and there.

I didn't read through the whole thread, but Kovy's second intermission interview really jumped out at me...the guy seemed so focused, almost annoyed that he couldn't stay out there...almost like "Screw this interview sh!t, and this intermission, I want to get out there and I want to keep playing." It's weird, as much as he improved when Lemaire took over, and was trying to improve his shortcomings(and as frustrating as he can be, I don't think not trying was ever Kovy's problem), now that I see the way he's playing lately, it feels like he's being more true to himself, and is more comfortable on the ice as a result. It means we'll have still have to deal with "WTF?" moments, and "WTF?" games, and occasionally even two or three "WTF?!?" games in a row, but if the overall result is what we've been seeing for a while now (13 G and 14 A in his last 22 GP), I'll take it.

Exactly. Thanks for pulling the individual game numbers together like that. The distribution is off, which presents skewed results.

The Devils seasons stats at this point present a pretty classic statistical "lie" right now. Unfortunately we've got a few fellow fans in our midst who apparently have just enough understanding of statistics to be dangerous, and not enough to recognize the impact that the distribution spread can and does have.

I don't blame goaltending for our goals against problems this season. The problem is clearly the defense corp, and this illustration helps to highlight the issue. Goaltenders do not go from having .920 save percentages to .650 save percentages without help.

I agree with your analysis of Kovy as well. The way that he acted during that interview really hit me, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funny, for all the complaining about the goaltending, in four of the last five games they've allowed only one goal, two goals in a fifth game, and three goals in a sixth. The other two were bretty brutal...6 goals in each one...and the goaltending in Calgary was as bad as it gets. But we keep stressing the importance of being able to save 90% (at the very least) of the shots that come their way...well, here are the save%s over each of those eight games:

.957, .966, .906, .778, .917, .976, .571 (ouch), .957

No one's going to take a gander at the Devils' goaltender tandem and think they've got a couple of brick walls in net, but as we've seen, at least recently, there's reasons to hope their play might be getting better, even if we have to deal with Calgary-type trainwrecks here and there.

I didn't read through the whole thread, but Kovy's second intermission interview really jumped out at me...the guy seemed so focused, almost annoyed that he couldn't stay out there...almost like "Screw this interview sh!t, and this intermission, I want to get out there and I want to keep playing." It's weird, as much as he improved when Lemaire took over, and was trying to improve his shortcomings(and as frustrating as he can be, I don't think not trying was ever Kovy's problem), now that I see the way he's playing lately, it feels like he's being more true to himself, and is more comfortable on the ice as a result. It means we'll have still have to deal with "WTF?" moments, and "WTF?" games, and occasionally even two or three "WTF?!?" games in a row, but if the overall result is what we've been seeing for a while now (13 G and 14 A in his last 22 GP), I'll take it.

Nice post and it's nice to see someone who is generally anti-Chuk to at least acknowledge it when Kovy is playing well...very well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exactly. Thanks for pulling the individual game numbers together like that. The distribution is off, which presents skewed results.

The Devils seasons stats at this point present a pretty classic statistical "lie" right now. Unfortunately we've got a few fellow fans in our midst who apparently have just enough understanding of statistics to be dangerous, and not enough to recognize the impact that the distribution spread can and does have.

I don't blame goaltending for our goals against problems this season. The problem is clearly the defense corp, and this illustration helps to highlight the issue. Goaltenders do not go from having .920 save percentages to .650 save percentages without help.

What? This is total blather. No one has control over goals against distribution - this is why goal differential tends to be more predictive than a team's record halfway through a season. Teams don't have control over winning or losing one goal games.

If you go back over the entire season, which apparently despite your monumental statistics knowledge, you didn't bother to do, you'll see that the Devils' goaltending has been poor throughout the season, not just in blowout losses. And you can't just walk away from blowout losses and blame them entirely on the defense, either.

The Devils have been fortunate in this recent stretch to only have their poor goaltending affect them significantly in one game, but there's no reason why we would expect that to be some sort of trend, or something to count on. The Devils' goaltending is bad, there's no reason for us to expect it to get better, and it's something the team is going to have to deal with.

Edited by Triumph
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.