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Race To The Top Thread


NJDfan1711

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I know how this looks, and I don't mean it to come across as being a sarcastic nose, which I know may seem hard :-p, but in all seriousness, I'm tired of being negative and focusing on what is going wrong and what may come of that.  Maybe it's just because the last 3-4 years of hockey has been hard on us as fans, I'm not sure.  All I know is I want to look at the positives for a change, even if they are few and far between.

So, let's use this thread to talk about the things that are going right.

For starters, most teams have caught up to us in games played now, so it's a pretty apples to apples comparison when you look at the standings.  Looking at it from a positive perspective and assuming Toronto loses their next game to put us both at 55 GP, we're only 5 points out of a playoff spot.  Our overall record is just above .500, and both our home and away records are almost equal, with both of them also being just above .500.  That's not too bad, especially the away record.  You figure throughout a given season, if you have an above average home record like most teams are "supposed" to have, and a .500 away record, chances are you'll end up in a playoff spot.  So really all we need to do is continue playing decent on the road, and go on a small little streak at home, and we have a puncher's chance.  

On top of that, in terms of the upcoming schedule, it's still pretty loaded with home games as most of us have talked about, with a few of the games being favorable and/or important.  We have one against Colorado tomorrow which is very winnable.  Two games coming up against Ottawa which may be tough, but there are also two games against the Islanders in there, back to back.  Those will be big.  Splitting doesn't do us much good.  We'd need to take 3 out of 4 points, or even 4 out of 4, to really propel us to where they are in the standings.  On the bright side, does anyone remember where they were just 2-3 weeks ago?  They were dead last in the conference.  They fired their coach (let's not get into that debate just yet!), and all of sudden I think they're like 7-2-1 in their last 10 since they let him go.  It's been quite the turnaround, and true they're not in the playoffs yet themselves, but they're certainly a lot closer.  I'd feel better if we were in their position, but we're not that far off at all.

Another bright spot is Cory's play as of late.  Dude's been on fire and really seems to be tracking and stopping the puck quite well.  I really wish his level of play was inspiring some of the guys around him to raise their game.  Everyone always talks about how a less-than-amazing team can go on a deep playoff run if they ride the back of a hot goalie.  If we were to grab a 7th of 8th spot, and Cory continues playing the way he has as of late, who knows what could happen.

So what  do you think?  What else is positive that we can talk about and look towards, either right now, or in the near future?  Maybe this thread becomes irrelevant and/or dead if/when we are mathematically eliminated come late March or April, but I'm hoping that's not the case, and even if it is, hopefully we can continue posting in this thread next year and in years to come as we continue the race to the top.

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I'm usually one of the more optimistic fans out there (one of the reasons that I pointed to the "easier" schedule coming up once the Devils got through that brutal stretch), but there's nothing wrong with tempering optimism with realism.  One doesn't have to be over-the-top positive for the sake of doing so.

The Devils have a point% above .500.  They are NOT a game over .500, as far as wins and losses go.  They've won 23 games and lost 32 (sure, 10 of the losses came after regulation, but they're still losses).  They're pretty damned close to last place, though to be fair, there isn't that true bottom-feeder in the East, like in the West.  From a pure mathematical standpoint, everyone in the East is still kind of in it.   

As far as the "five points out of a playoff spot" argument goes...sure, that's what the standings say, but that team (the Leafs) has a game in hand on the Devils.  There's also four teams ahead of them in the standings.  Unfortunately in that situation, it can feel like it's impossible to move up with any real significance, even with a nice little 6 or 7 game burst...the 2010-11 Devils found this out when they started to get closer.   

If you want to play the pure optimist's card (and I'm not saying I'm completely against that), then I think it's fair to set a probable playoff cut-off point total, as far as points for the season goes, and shoot for that.  Right now, the Leafs are on pace for 93 points.  So let's say 94 gets the Devils in, just to pick a number.  That means the Devils need 38 points over their final 27 games...that means a point% of .704 from here on out.  That's a record of 19-8-0, 17-8-2, 16-7-4, etc.  So there you go, as far as a goal.   

Here's what the Devils will need to have even a remote chance of that happening (among other things, though these are the ones I would hope for):

Cory to leave November and December further and further in the dust (basically be a .930+ guy through the rest of the season).

Zacha to both continue AND expedite his progress. 

Henrique and Palms to flirt with 30 goals each on the season (yes, they'll both have to get very hot to do this).

And for the D-men who are making us all crazy (we know who they are) to stop doing that.

If all of the above happens, then it's going to be one exciting stretch run for sure. 

 

As far as "pure positives" go for this season...glad to see a 19-year-old Zacha stay with the big club and show progress, glad to see Santini with the big club as well, happy for Cory in that he's recovered from two of the roughest months of his career, and glad that Taylor Hall is here.   

 

 

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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1 hour ago, Toasterleavins said:

It's pretty simple. Id rather trade one or two seasons of first round exits, or barely missing the playoffs, for a legit shot at winning a cup and if you are lucky, building a dynasty. I don't get how people have such a problem with this philosophy.

That's just it though, you have to be REALLY lucky. There's teams like the Blue Jackets that have made the playoffs like 2 times in 17 years,  and piled up a ton of high draft picks, and they're just now putting a team that looks like a contender on the ice. 

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15 hours ago, Nicomo said:

That's just it though, you have to be REALLY lucky. There's teams like the Blue Jackets that have made the playoffs like 2 times in 17 years,  and piled up a ton of high draft picks, and they're just now putting a team that looks like a contender on the ice. 

Yeah exactly, it's a crapshoot no matter how you look at it.  Edmonton is perhaps the best example.  Would you really want THAT?  That's f'ing miserable.  A Cup win is the ultimate goal, and probably trumps anything, but it's really hard to sit through 5, 10, 20+ losing seasons trying to get there, especially when it's never a guarantee.  I'd rather see my team try, and compete, and be close to or just inside the playoffs and give themselves a shot even if it's a slim one, rather than getting crushed and being bottom feeders for 5-10 years before they finally have enough draft picks and star players that forms a team that may or may not be capable of easing their way into the playoffs and competing for the Presidents trophy, rather than competing for the 8th seed.

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It is kind of jarring that we're approaching very likely 5 consecutive years of no playoffs. I honestly never thought we'd see it get this bad for this long...playoffs next year is a must. Though the Devils have never been piss poor over the past 5 years. They've had bad luck, and they've been unwatchable from an entertainment standpoint at times...but they've never been a sad sack doormat. We're just good enough to not be made fun of but we're not quite good enough to matter.

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On 2/14/2017 at 0:29 PM, '7' said:

It is kind of jarring that we're approaching very likely 5 consecutive years of no playoffs. I honestly never thought we'd see it get this bad for this long...playoffs next year is a must. Though the Devils have never been piss poor over the past 5 years. They've had bad luck, and they've been unwatchable from an entertainment standpoint at times...but they've never been a sad sack doormat. We're just good enough to not be made fun of but we're not quite good enough to matter.

it could be worse, we could be the rangers, only winning 4 cups in 90 years, with almost 1/2 of the time there was only 6 teams.

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4 hours ago, bobilly45 said:

it could be worse, we could be the rangers, only winning 4 cups in 90 years, with almost 1/2 of the time there was only 6 teams.

Hell, the team up the road from me (the Jackets) have never even won a playoff SERIES! Let alone a Cup. That might change this year, but you have to keep things in perspective. 

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Pretty great night if you're on team miracle's side with Toronto, Detroit, Philly all losing... Florida was up 3-1, now tied 3-3 with the Sharks seemingly dominating play after 2. Would be nice if the Sharks pull out the W.

Nevermind that on the Sharks... now down 5-3. So in the past 9 days, they have lost to: Buffalo, Boston, Philly, and now Florida while only beating the Devils. thanks for nothing PDB!

and now as I add this edit in, the Sharks tie it 5-5 in the last 3 mins with two Pavelski goals AND Luongo gets injured... WOW

and Florida wins it 6-5 in overtime, Jones 6 GA on 22 shots... good sh!t... I guess 3 favorable results out of 4 isn't bad.

Edited by Steven M.
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Here's something random but a nice thing to think about.  We have a home game against the Canadiens in two weeks.  Looking purely at their record, and based on their play for most of the season, at 31-19-8 they would appear to be superior to us by quite a bit, when we're 24-22-10.  But, if you consider our two games in hand, if we were to win both of them, instead of being 12 points behind them we're 8 points.  And if we beat them in regulation next week, we're 6 points behind them.    If you told me we could possibly be just 6 points behind the Canadiens, a team that's basically been in first place in their division the entire season, I'd take that all day long.  

Edited by NJDfan1711
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I think overall, we're in pretty good shape going forward.  Up front we have 1 clear 1st line player in Hall and Zacha certainly looks like he'll be a second one within a year or two,   Palmieri Zajac and Henrique are good 2nd line players and I don't think it's a stretch to say we should be able to fill out a strong middle six in 2 years with those 3 plus some combination of Speers, McLeod, Q, Wood and Blandisi.  The back end is a little uglier but Severson is a 2-3, Sanitini looks like a 2nd paring guy so far and Merrill has improved enough to be a 3rd pairing fixture IMO.   Basically between our 1st rounder this year, a shrewd trade or two around the expansion draft and getting a free agent with our pile of cap space, we need to add 1 first line player and two top 4 defenseman.  That would slot everyone else named above into their proper roles and this team would look pretty damn good IMO.  

All that being said, getting lucky in the draft lottery certainly wouldn't hurt.   

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1 hour ago, NJDfan1711 said:

Three games yesterday, Florida lost, Philly lost, and Boston lost.  

The "race" for the final WC spot gets uglier by the day...it really does.  Florida had won 8 out of their last 9 though.  Guess they're due for some losses.

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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I'm gonna keep posting some updates in here as it impacts our potential shot at the playoffs and/or draft positioning.  Over the past few days the results continue to favor our playoff chances, much to the dismay of most of the people here.

The Sabres, Panthers, and Hurricanes lost yesterday.  The Bruins were the only winners that of consequence.

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