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GDT: Islanders @ NJ Devils 1PM 11/26/11


newarkdev01

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Yeah, turning the puck over 10-15 feet from the net with no one behind you, while pointing the PP, totally brilliant. Just because he does the same stupid sh!t all the time makes it okay.

Most of the time he pulls by that guy with no problem. It's not okay, but if he beats that guy it's probably a free entry into the offensive zone, and most of the time when the puck is turned over, it's in a corner or otherwise non-threatening.

Basically he's the offensive answer to Devils Bob Carpenter. The best he can do is a draw. If he doesn't do what he's supposed to do, it's a waste of time.

Not disagreeing, but you and I have a much different understanding of what it means to 'do what he's supposed to do'. This year I've been really impressed with his passing. It's only a matter of time before the puck starts going in off his stick.

Granted I would have a good laugh at that play if it wasn't for his awesome effort after getting sticked. Play dead, saunter back, don't backcheck, argue with the ref instead! Of course do it in a manner that they can't even change him off the ice. Totally brilliant!

Yeah, I'm sure this is what happened. He did stay down and he did coast back, but he changed pretty quickly after that.

Edited by Triumph
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I find it hilarious that people in the forum are still sticking up for Kovalchuck. He looked like he didn't even want to be on the ice right before Larrson scored his goal. When he's on defense (granted he's a goal scorer) he literally has the look on his face of

'I don't give a fvck what happens.' If you people don't agree or can't see it you're either in denial or you're a fvcking idiot.

21 goals in 45 games.

Please stop playing armchair psychologist, you don't know sh!t about how the man feels, stop pretending you do. You sound like an idiot.

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Most of the time he pulls by that guy with no problem. It's not okay, but if he beats that guy it's probably a free entry into the offensive zone, and most of the time when the puck is turned over, it's in a corner or otherwise non-threatening.

Not disagreeing, but you and I have a much different understanding of what it means to 'do what he's supposed to do'. This year I've been really impressed with his passing. It's only a matter of time before the puck starts going in off his stick.

Yeah, I'm sure this is what happened. He did stay down and he did coast back, but he changed pretty quickly after that.

It took a couple of seconds for him to even get T'd up, and he still didn't leave, I think he had to be tugged back to the bench. It was awful and it was a nasty flashback to dumbass Langs, who couldn't contain his anger in those situations to save his life. The major problem here was that the puck was in the defensive zone for most of this sequence. Hell, if the Isles scored.... well, no one would be talking about the mental error. Which is what it is. Frustrating but it wasn't like it was the only time they had said "hey, Grabner, want a goal?" in that game... it was just the ugliest

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Haven't people learned yet what Kovalchuk brings? He's a defensively-challenged sniper that will reliably put up 40+ goals a season. Even last year, in which he started abysmally and the team floundered for half a season, he put up 31 goals. This season he's shooting at 6.9% which is non-sustainable and he's still at an almost point-per-game pace. As Tri said, when he suddenly starts scoring goals in bunches, noone will make a peep.

Kovalchuk is much greater than the sum of his "visible" parts and it shows in the production of his lines and the points he's generating even when he's not scoring goals. The sooner people realize that he's going to be floating around for half the game and making high-risk-high-reward passes, the sooner most of you will stop bitching and focus on other aspects of our team.

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Haven't people learned yet what Kovalchuk brings? He's a defensively-challenged sniper that will reliably put up 40+ goals a season. Even last year, in which he started abysmally and the team floundered for half a season, he put up 31 goals. This season he's shooting at 6.9% which is non-sustainable and he's still at an almost point-per-game pace. As Tri said, when he suddenly starts scoring goals in bunches, noone will make a peep.

Kovalchuk is much greater than the sum of his "visible" parts and it shows in the production of his lines and the points he's generating even when he's not scoring goals. The sooner people realize that he's going to be floating around for half the game and making high-risk-high-reward passes, the sooner most of you will stop bitching and focus on other aspects of our team.

Hot or cold, it's his complete lack of forecheck and backcheck that stands out to me. Not to mention, he is constantly cruising rather than hussling back on defense. Are these basic skills that difficult to learn and apply?

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Hot or cold, it's his complete lack of forecheck and backcheck that stands out to me. Not to mention, he is constantly cruising rather than hussling back on defense. Are these basic skills that difficult to learn and apply?

Again, who cares? This is who he is, and he still puts up a point per game. Lets stop focusing on who we wish he was and accept what he is - the very same player that we saw in Atlanta for 8 years and who will be here for the rest of his career. There's no perfect player in the league, and yet it seems everyone wants Kovalchuk to be one.

Edited by Amberite
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I find it hilarious that people in the forum are still sticking up for Kovalchuck. He looked like he didn't even want to be on the ice right before Larrson scored his goal. When he's on defense (granted he's a goal scorer) he literally has the look on his face of

'I don't give a fvck what happens.' If you people don't agree or can't see it you're either in denial or you're a fvcking idiot.

If that's your actual analysis then you're such an idiot that its not even worth getting into... Right, he looked like he didn't give a crap... That's the dumbest comment on the boards this year... Stop embarrassing yourself by posting this garbage

Edited by Colin226
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The Devils getting Kovy is like buying a Ferrari with now engine. It's all nice to have such a player of quality but we don't have any of the pieces to make him successful. That's why it would have beena good idea to go after Peverly when he was UFA instead of trying to plug other guys in with him in an attempt that we might be successful.

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The Devils getting Kovy is like buying a Ferrari with now engine. It's all nice to have such a player of quality but we don't have any of the pieces to make him successful. That's why it would have beena good idea to go after Peverly when he was UFA instead of trying to plug other guys in with him in an attempt that we might be successful.

This is silly. Most of the league's best players have to make due with linemates that might not be a perfect match. Kovalchuk's lack of goal scoring this year has nothing to do with who he plays with - it's all about luck, and he simply hasn't had it yet (6.9% shooting). Throughout his career he's always had a near 1/1 correlation between goals/assists, and so far this year he's 4/9. That tells me his linemates are just fine, and it's a matter of him finding the back of the net that's a bit off.

During the second half of last year when he started scoring in bunches, noone batted an eye because that's the type of player he is.

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-26, 885 out of 891 players ranked. Dig hard enough and you can spin it anyway you want with numbers.

I ain't digging. I'm going from the time Lemaire took over, essentially.

Which, by the way, in that same span of 21 goals in 45 games from January 1st on, Kovalchuk was an even 0. Starting from the exact date of Lemaire's first game last year, 22 goals in 49 games and a -4.

So he compiled a -22 under John MacLean.

Are we placing sole blame on Kovalchuk considering that entire team sucked ass under MacLean? Doesn't seem fair.

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Watched the replay a hundred times. Parise's leg moved forward (no arguing that) and the puck went into the net. Since the rules are vague, it allows for the NHL to call it this way. I can see why it was and if you can't you're being a homer. I'm a homer 99% of the time but I let up every blue moon and this is it.

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carpathianforest's comment is even more dumb when you consider that peverley never went UFA.

He was traded. Whatever, who gives a sh$t. Still doesn't change the original point.

When Zajac returns the only way the lines should be:

Parise-Henrique-Clarkson

Kovalchuk-Zajac-Tedenby

Elias-Zubrus-Sykora

Janssen/Boulton-Carter-Pelley

IMO. Palmieri needs to stay in Albany this season and be called up on an as needed basis.

Josefson, I'm not sure how long he's out, but he's still pretty green. He may need some time in Albany.

Edited by CarpathianForest
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This is silly. Most of the league's best players have to make due with linemates that might not be a perfect match. Kovalchuk's lack of goal scoring this year has nothing to do with who he plays with - it's all about luck, and he simply hasn't had it yet (6.9% shooting). Throughout his career he's always had a near 1/1 correlation between goals/assists, and so far this year he's 4/9. That tells me his linemates are just fine, and it's a matter of him finding the back of the net that's a bit off.

During the second half of last year when he started scoring in bunches, noone batted an eye because that's the type of player he is.

Sorry, but Kovy can't generate offense with any Tom, Dick and Harry. Guy doesn't create that much on his own. Why do you think he has the most amount of giveaways this season? He needs chemistry and there really hasn't been anyone to help him with that except for Zajac. This idea that he's some sort of lone superman dynamo is absurd.

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Sorry, but Kovy can't generate offense with any Tom, Dick and Harry. Guy doesn't create that much on his own. Why do you think he has the most amount of giveaways this season? He needs chemistry and there really hasn't been anyone to help him with that except for Zajac. This idea that he's some sort of lone superman dynamo is absurd.

Actually Kovalchuk DOES create that much on his own. If you've been paying attention, his career-long MO has been taking everything on himself, and one of the biggest concerns people had when we signed him is if he could integrate into the more team-first mentality that the Devils employ. In fact, last year he took a lot of flak for trying to pass when he should have shot, in an attempt to force himself into our system.

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I find it hilarious that people in the forum are still sticking up for Kovalchuck. He looked like he didn't even want to be on the ice right before Larrson scored his goal. When he's on defense (granted he's a goal scorer) he literally has the look on his face of

'I don't give a fvck what happens.' If you people don't agree or can't see it you're either in denial or you're a fvcking idiot.

True. Kovalchuk's facial expressions say it all. Kovy's version of Prozac is scoring goals. He needs to score in order to be happy...making a good defensive play or playing the PK well isn't good enough...

We're in for trouble if his scoring drought continues...

He also may be jealous that Henrique has more goals and points than him....

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Actually Kovalchuk DOES create that much on his own. If you've been paying attention, his career-long MO has been taking everything on himself, and one of the biggest concerns people had when we signed him is if he could integrate into the more team-first mentality that the Devils employ. In fact, last year he took a lot of flak for trying to pass when he should have shot, in an attempt to force himself into our system.

Kovy doesn't create that much on his own if a good opposing coach knows how to shut him down. His problem is is that he takes too much on himself to create the offense. He can't do that. That's why he continually gives the puck away when trying to bring it into the offensive zone. Just stand him up and, bam, turnover. He needs a good set up man. Zajac was the best we saw last season. Hopefully DeBoer puts them together again. No one else works.

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Kovy doesn't create that much on his own if a good opposing coach knows how to shut him down. His problem is is that he takes too much on himself to create the offense. He can't do that. That's why he continually gives the puck away when trying to bring it into the offensive zone. Just stand him up and, bam, turnover. He needs a good set up man. Zajac was the best we saw last season. Hopefully DeBoer puts them together again. No one else works.

Come on, have you ever even watched Kovalchuk before he came to the Devils? He's made a career off of creating his own offense and opposing coaches have never been able to shut him down completely. You need to realize that Kovalchuk's style leads to turnovers and failed 1-on-1s, but it also only needs to succeed once or twice a game to suddenly create space and allow himself or his line to score a goal. This is what makes him successful, but it can also make him frustrating to watch if you're expecting him to play a patient, grinding game.

As for Zajac, sure, there's always a chemistry aspect, even when you're talking about Kovalchuk. But the reason why he's only scored 4 goals this year has nothing to do with his linemates. Just take a look at the amount of shots he's getting per game. Playing with Zajac may give him a few more points over the course of an entire season, but you're not talking about any drastic change.

Edited by Amberite
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Haven't people learned yet what Kovalchuk brings? He's a defensively-challenged sniper that will reliably put up 40+ goals a season. Even last year, in which he started abysmally and the team floundered for half a season, he put up 31 goals. This season he's shooting at 6.9% which is non-sustainable and he's still at an almost point-per-game pace. As Tri said, when he suddenly starts scoring goals in bunches, noone will make a peep.

Kovalchuk is much greater than the sum of his "visible" parts and it shows in the production of his lines and the points he's generating even when he's not scoring goals. The sooner people realize that he's going to be floating around for half the game and making high-risk-high-reward passes, the sooner most of you will stop bitching and focus on other aspects of our team.

Some problems:

We haven't seen him be a reliable 40+ goal scorer HERE yet.

In 125 games as a Devil, he has 45 goals and 55 assists for 100 points. Dating back to last season, it's 35 goals and 38 assists in 98 GP, with a -30 rating. No matter how one chooses to spin it, this is not what ANYONE was expecting when the Devils re-signed him. His offensive production this season (13 points in 17 GP is NOT a PPG pace BTW) is even less impressive when you factor in the insane amount of minutes he's been logging.

I don't know how anyone can't be disappointed with Kovy to this point. Even if you wanted to be incredibly diplomatic and say that his good moments and contributions are about a wash with the bad ones, I think we were all expecting a much better ratio of good-to-bad than that.

Everyday I hope it will get better with him, I really do, and I know that every last Devils fan, from the Kovy fanboys who will bendover backwards to make new excuses for him to his harshest critics are united on that front. But God I hope I see it soon, because he is becoming harder to take by the game.

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Some problems:

We haven't seen him be a reliable 40+ goal scorer HERE yet.

In 125 games as a Devil, he has 45 goals and 55 assists for 100 points. Dating back to last season, it's 35 goals and 38 assists in 98 GP, with a -30 rating. No matter how one chooses to spin it, this is not what ANYONE was expecting when the Devils re-signed him. His offensive production this season (13 points in 17 GP is NOT a PPG pace BTW) is even less impressive when you factor in the insane amount of minutes he's been logging.

I don't know how anyone can't be disappointed with Kovy to this point. Even if you wanted to be incredibly diplomatic and say that his good moments and contributions are about a wash with the bad ones, I think we were all expecting a much better ratio of good-to-bad than that.

Everyday I hope it will get better with him, I really do, and I know that every last Devils fan, from the Kovy fanboys who will bendover backwards to make new excuses for him to his harshest critics are united on that front. But God I hope I see it soon, because he is becoming harder to take by the game.

+1

This is what I tell other people as well when asked about him. I really, really want to like him, and see him thrive. We all do. But it just has not been happening...

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