Quinn01 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 ""When it worked we had the same guys together all the time," said winger Patrik Elias. "We had a five-man unit (usually five forwards). We did the same thing every time. In every situation, we knew what we were suppose to do. "But now Jacques likes to implement more guys and you have to adjust. Sometimes, it's a little out of place. I think that's the biggest difference. "Before, we had our position, we had our plays. We worked on them and that's what we did every time. Now, we're kind of a little out of place."" ""We had one unit that took all the key players," Lemaire said. "I left it there for I think three games and then I asked (assistant coach) Adam (Oates) if we can go by lines so the guys are all fresh when we sent them out. "The first three games we didn't score (on the power play). I saw certain guys were staying on after their shift because that was the unit. But when you go with the lines everybody is fresh.'"" -Star Ledger The key in this article is Elias saying "We knew what we were suppose to do." You can see that some of the players, Elias included, feel out of place in some of the lines. What worked worked and it should have been left alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpathianForest Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I thought Lemaire was the coach not Elias. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroGravityFat Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 i've been unhappy with the line shuffling for the past year or so. if a line doesn't seem to be producing for a few games, they shuffle, you can't just switch stuff and hope for a spark, especially if the previous line was producing but has a slump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I agree 100% with Elias. This was on of the many mistakes JL made last year before the team just tuned him out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCdevil Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 (edited) i've been unhappy with the line shuffling for the past year or so. if a line doesn't seem to be producing for a few games, they shuffle, you can't just switch stuff and hope for a spark, especially if the previous line was producing but has a slump. The line shuffling has been going on for four years and it drives me crazy. Sutter did it all the time, Lemaire has taken it to a new level (MacLean was guilty of it too). Edited January 6, 2011 by BCdevil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpathianForest Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I like Elias, but Elias should STFU. What lines? You mean those lines and plays that have made it possible for us to be the lowest scoring team in the league? Perhaps we should have no caoch at all and just let the players coach themselves like a bunch of guys playing football in the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils731 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Isn't Elias talking about thePP lines in that quote and not even strength lines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Isn't Elias talking about thePP lines in that quote and not even strength lines? When Devils used to play at their best they rolled units of five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mddevsfan Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I'm going to have to side with Elias. The Devils had a PP late in the Minnesota game, and JL sends out Sestito? I like the guy, and he was having a good game, but on a key PP, why on earth would you send out a 4th liner who I'm sure doesn't even practice the PP? All the effort in the world doesn't help if you don't know where to be and where to go with the puck. As a result, I don't think the PP even registered a shot on goal. If you're going to improvise with the lines to avoid having tired guys on after the PP, switch up the even strength lines for a few shifts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils731 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 When Devils used to play at their best they rolled units of five. No they didn't, it just appeared that way at times because the line matching at forward and defense would line up. The forwards and defenseman were still separate line changes. Funny, people hated the PP early in the season and thought Oates needed to be fired, now it's a travesty that anything was changed to try and improve the teams 5 on 5 play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 No they didn't, it just appeared that way at times because the line matching at forward and defense would line up. The forwards and defenseman were still separate line changes. Oh it just "appeared" that way. The forwards and defense always have to be separate since they are situational. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils731 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Oh it just "appeared" that way. The forwards and defense always have to be separate since they are situational. So now the 5 man units the Devils use played at different times in a split up of 3 forwards and 2 defenseman? Come on, the Devils never played 5 man units at even strength, nobody does that. They played lines of 3 forwards and pairings of 2 defenseman. Elias seems to be talking about the PP to me, but people are taking his quote as if he is commenting on even strength, and those are separate issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpathianForest Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I'm going to have to side with Elias. The Devils had a PP late in the Minnesota game, and JL sends out Sestito? I like the guy, and he was having a good game, but on a key PP, why on earth would you send out a 4th liner who I'm sure doesn't even practice the PP? All the effort in the world doesn't help if you don't know where to be and where to go with the puck. As a result, I don't think the PP even registered a shot on goal. If you're going to improvise with the lines to avoid having tired guys on after the PP, switch up the even strength lines for a few shifts. There's merit to what you're saying but I think Lemaire was rewarding Sestito's play that night. The 4th line was the only line that wasn't putting up a s%it show that night and Kovy wasn't exactly keeping it in at the point. In addition, 4th liner Rod Pelley has seen some action on the PP lately and has been producing. If you got a chance to listen to JL's bench interview during the game he said we spent most of our time in the defensive end even on PP. The 4th liners were seemingly the only crew to be able to forecheck until the Kovy line finally got it going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe B Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Isn't Elias talking about thePP lines in that quote and not even strength lines? I read it as talking about the PP as well. link anyone? Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Gee, Patty's getting grumpy this year...first his Kovy comments now this. He does happen to be right about the PP though, Lemaire 'fixed' the only thing that was working (specifically by changing the PP QB from Zajac to Kovy) and now it no longer works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSkirt Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I'm going to have to side with Elias. The Devils had a PP late in the Minnesota game, and JL sends out Sestito? I like the guy, and he was having a good game, but on a key PP, why on earth would you send out a 4th liner who I'm sure doesn't even practice the PP? All the effort in the world doesn't help if you don't know where to be and where to go with the puck. As a result, I don't think the PP even registered a shot on goal. If you're going to improvise with the lines to avoid having tired guys on after the PP, switch up the even strength lines for a few shifts. I'll go with meritocracy: the guy who has won 8 SC's, twice coach of the year, another cup as coach with us, 2010 Gold Medal coach.... "Lemaire is known for his unorthodox coaching style for several reasons: first, he prefers a defensive-minded system, often using a strategy called the neutral zone trap, Second, Lemaire rarely uses permanent lines preferring to use mixed line combinations during games. Lemaire is also regarded as one of the best teaching coaches - developing young players while working well with veterans" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moustic Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Did i just read a comment from a player of the worst team of the NHL to his coach ? Where he asks him to let the player do as they were doing previously ? Really ? Elias. Shut up ! As if you were free to bully in the press anyone ! This team hit a new... low point ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxpower Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 he's talking about the PP and he's right, the only thing they had going for them before Mac left was the 9 forward PP, but from a coaching perspective, having 9 forwards on the PP probably makes you want to die. Zajac did a solid job playing the umbrella point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpathianForest Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 It's weird with JL coaching now, every time I read about a Devils player complaining about JL, I think of JL as the Godfather in this scene: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxpower Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 and just to add, this goes back to my theory that Lemaire did not watch the team before taking the job last year and has not watched them much this year, because it was clear as day this worked. just as last year, it was clear as day what Parise could and could not do offensively but Jacques did everything on the PP with him, except what he *could* do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrydevil Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I'll go with meritocracy: the guy who has won 8 SC's, twice coach of the year, another cup as coach with us, 2010 Gold Medal coach.... ... and lame-duck interim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moustic Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Who care if PP was working if 5 on 5 was putrid ?! You have to look at the big picture.. not only our PP... Having rested player at 5-5 (with not having the whole "stars" in the same PP unit) Anyway... With the way this team play this year... Players are always wrong so they shut up ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxpower Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 they've been putrid all year 5 on 5, no matter who played on the PP. it's a strawman. like I said, Jacques probably saw them play 2 or 3 times, if that. who in their right mind would sit through that if they were unaligned with the team? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils731 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Maybe JL watched the start of the year when the same PP wasn't scoring at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpathianForest Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Jacques has been pretty right on with his observations of their play if you read his comments. The PP was getting better before Jacques fiddled with it but we were still losing. Like I said before guys like Sestito and Pelley are getting PP time because of their effort and ability to susatin a presence in the offensive end during a PP. You can have the old lineup on the powerplay but once those guys get rushed by a defender they typically make awful decisions and boom! the puck gets tossed out of the zone. No offensive pressure from the regualr cast of folks on the powerplay. Add to that the fact that Zubs was out, he's the only guy that can really get down low with puck possession and not get shaken and you've got to give other guys a chance. It's all moot though. 5 on 5 should be the concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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