The Thread Formerly Known as The Reasons for Optimism Thread

[Triumph]

lol okay they missed the playoffs the last two years solely because of goaltending when they had the 29th ranked offense last year and are like 24th/25th this year.

 

Not saying they make the playoffs in all 4 of those years.  Clearly the team isn't good enough for that.  But they make it in at least one more year if they get good goaltending.

[DJ Eco]

Getting to 91 points seems impossible.  But when you look at the schedule remaining, it's not outlandish.  This is by far the easiest 13 game stretch we've had all year coming up.  Don't give up just yet.  

 

BTW, If you wanna bring up the loss to Florida, they just beat the Sharks last night as well.

 

I felt this way before the Florida weekend but then realized we couldn't "just beat the easy teams". This year's Devils wouldn't make things that simple and easy for the fans now, would they...

[Daniel]

Not saying they make the playoffs in all 4 of those years. Clearly the team isn't good enough for that. But they make it in at least one more year if they get good goaltending.

Arguably last year, and this year, we'll see. 2010-2011 was MacLean and Parise being hurt. Unless you're saying that they woukd have made the playoffs if they were getting Vezina caliber goaltending, which is akin to saying, the reason we didn't make the playoffs is because we didn't have Sydney Crosby,

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[Lateralous]

Who are these teams that managed their assets better since 2005 and how did they get to being among the better teams in the league? Stl, Anaheim, Detroit, SJ and Boston have all been very well run in recent years. Otherwise you have teams like Pittsburgh, Chicago, and LA that have cores of top ten draft picks.

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How many GMs for teams not on that list of well managed teams have been able to keep their job for a decade? Sather?

I would also add Phoenix to that list of teams with good management. Given all the hardships Maloney has had to deal with during his tenure that were completely out of his control, it's amazing how competitive they've been for the last 5 years.

[Devil Dan 56]

Getting to 91 points seems impossible.  But when you look at the schedule remaining, it's not outlandish.  This is by far the easiest 13 game stretch we've had all year coming up.  Don't give up just yet.  

 

BTW, If you wanna bring up the loss to Florida, they just beat the Sharks last night as well.

 

Yes. It is outlandish. This team just isn't good enough. And what's an "easy" stretch? They can't beat the best or the worst when the game matters. 

[justdo3043]

my reason for optimism...our future on the back end seems very promising

 

Cory Schneider in goal

Adam Larsson    Jon Merrill      Eric Gelinas    

and if one or two of the following work out i hope we have a very solid top 6 

Steve Santini      Seth Helgeson        Reece Scarlett     Damon Severson    Alexander Urbom   

 

if enough develop into solid d men which takes longer or so ive read we can build enough offense over the next couple years to have a very competitive team in 3 or 4 years

[Neb00rs]

Getting to 91 points seems impossible.  But when you look at the schedule remaining, it's not outlandish.  This is by far the easiest 13 game stretch we've had all year coming up.  Don't give up just yet.  

 

BTW, If you wanna bring up the loss to Florida, they just beat the Sharks last night as well.

 

There it is.

 

To you, every stretch we have is the easiest all year.

[Devilsfan118]

Edit: I misunderstood your post mike

Stick a fork in the Devils, they're done. (Think I stole that from judge Judy)

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Edited March 20, 2014 by Devilsfan118

[2ELIAS6]

...and judge judy is clearly a wise women everyone knows that

[NJDevs4978]

Not to mention Florida needed freaking 52 saves from Luongo to beat the Sharks.  Our goalies ain't playing well enough to do THAT.

[Triumph]

This 'we couldn't beat team X' stuff is very dumb.  I can go through and find plenty of games where the Cup winning Devils lost to a team at the bottom of the standings.

[Devilsfan118]

Delete

Edited March 20, 2014 by Devilsfan118

[Mike Brown]

I felt this way before the Florida weekend but then realized we couldn't "just beat the easy teams". This year's Devils wouldn't make things that simple and easy for the fans now, would they...

 

It happens.  To counter the loss to Florida, I didn't think we would beat Philly.

 

Yes. It is outlandish. This team just isn't good enough. And what's an "easy" stretch? They can't beat the best or the worst when the game matters. 

 

Why isn't this team good enough?

 

There it is.

 

To you, every stretch we have is the easiest all year.

 

Find me another 12 game stretch that doesn't include the Bruins, Penguins, Blues, Ducks, Sharks, Avalanche, Kings, or Blackhawks, and in that stretch 65-70% of the games are at home.  I'll make it easy for you.  There isn't one.

 

We only have one game left with an elite team, and that's the final game against the Bruins.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Mike Brown

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

Why isn't this team good enough?

 

 

 Have you actually watched them this year?

 

There are too many reasons, but the main ones are lack of consistent play from anyone not named Jagr and players not reaching expectations/potential.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1) It happens.  To counter the loss to Florida, I didn't think we would beat Philly.

 

 

2) Why isn't this team good enough?

 

 

3) Find me another 12 game stretch that doesn't include the Bruins, Penguins, Blues, Ducks, Sharks, Avalanche, Kings, or Blackhawks, and in that stretch 65-70% of the games are at home.  I'll make it easy for you.  There isn't one.

 

We only have one game left with an elite team, and that's the final game against the Bruins.

 

1) Tri is right in that fans tend to make too much of losing to a poor-record opponent like Florida, but the fact is the Devils have not shown any ability to be consistent, and have yet to show that any game on their schedule should be penciled in as a win for them.  That's how you get to be two games over NHL-.500 at this point in the season.  Teams like the Devils are frustrating because they tease, unlike teams that are, say, 10 games under.  You get a 5-2-0 burst after the break, everyone gets hopeful, then the next thing you know, three straight losses...just like that, the Devils are 5-5-0 in their last 10, at a time when they need points desperately.  If the Devils go 4-0-0 or 3-0-1 in their next four games, I'll start to have a glimmer of hope again, but not unless that happens. 

 

2) and 3) I'm sorry, but if you still can't figure out why you continue to get on some people's nerves, look no further than your question in #2.  Are you really this dense that you need this explained to you?  10 different people could probably come up with various detailed and accurate posts as to why this is team isn't good enough, from top to bottom, with lots of by-the-eyes and statistical data to back it up, and you would probably respond with "Yeah, but why isn't this team good enough?"  Look, until a team is mathematically elimated, there's always a chance.  I'm not sure how much you know about the '87-'88 Devils, but they squeaked into the playoffs after looking like they were completely dead...a 4-10-0 drought had them at 28-34-6, then seemingly out of nowhere, they went 10-2-1 to close out the season, including, of course, the OT win in the last game of the year that propelled them in.  Sure, crazy sh!t sometimes happens, but that's the only case anyone realistically has anymore, as to how and why the Devils can make the playoffs.  There's no way you can make a compelling case for them otherwise.  They need a LOT of guys to start playing a LOT better, RIGHT NOW. 

 

AGAIN, stop listing the quality of opponents...that has not been a factor for the Devils...like others have noted, for the most part the Devils tend to be competitive within most games, regardless of the quality of the opponent, but this teams ranks 22nd out of 30 teams in points, and can easily fall to 25th by the end of the season if they fall apart.  What exactly constitutes an "easy" stretch for a team like that?       

Edited March 20, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Mike Brown]

 Have you actually watched them this year?

 

There are too many reasons, but the main ones are lack of consistent play from anyone not named Jagr and players not reaching expectations/potential.

 

Several factors come into play regarding the consistency thing.  The sheer number of back to backs is one.  We now have a chance to get some consistency with 9 of 13 games being at home, and only one more back to back.  Also Deboer has to stop trying to fix things that aren't broke.

 

How are Henrique, Zajac, Elias, and Clowe not reaching expectations?

 

AGAIN, stop listing the quality of opponents...that has not been a factor for the Devils...like others have noted, for the most part the Devils tend to be competitive within most games, regardless of the quality of the opponent, but this teams ranks 22nd out of 30 teams in points, and can easily fall to 25th by the end of the season if they fall apart.  What exactly constitutes an "easy" stretch for a team like that?       

 

Oh really?

 

VS top 10 teams: 9-11-4 (.458 PTS%)

VS middle 10 teams: 11-9-6 (.538 PTS%)

VS bottom 10 teams: 9-7-3 (.553 PTS%)

 

Our schedule consists of 1 game against a top ten team, 5 games against middle ten teams, and 7 games against bottom ten teams.  And while yes I agree that our record vs the bottom 10 teams should be better, let's not make it seem as if the quality of opponent has been a non factor.

 

There is a reason why I put "easy" in quotation marks btw.  We have a favorable schedule with only one set of back to backs, and 9 of 13 games at home.  We have yet to have a portion of our schedule this favorable until now.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Mike Brown

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Oh really?

 

VS top 10 teams: 9-11-4 (.458 PTS%)

VS middle 10 teams: 11-9-6 (.538 PTS%)

VS bottom 10 teams: 9-7-3 (.553 PTS%)

 

Our schedule consists of 1 game against a top ten team, 5 games against middle ten teams, and 7 games against bottom ten teams.  And while yes I agree that our record vs the bottom 10 teams should be better, let's not make it seem as if the quality of opponent has been a non factor.

 

There is a reason why I put "easy" in quotation marks btw.  We have a favorable schedule with only one set of back to backs, and 9 of 13 games at home.  We have yet to have a portion of our schedule this favorable until now.

 

 

Those point%s are not THAT different between top 10, middle 10, and lower 10, and you know it...that's really reaching on your part.  Wow, the Devils are an awesome 20-16-9 combined against mid-10 and bottom-10 teams.  I can totally see why they can go 10-2-1 or something like that now that the schedule is "favorable"...please.  Like I and others have pointed out, when you've done what the Devils have done in 69 games, it's hard to expect them to suddenly figure it out...for them, there is no favorable.  I'll throw a point% out there for the rest of the season...let's say something around .667, for the hell of it, which would be a quantum leap over ANY of their performances against mid-10 and lower-10 teams to date this season.  That would amount to about 17 points, which would give them 88 on the season.   

 

Just face it...I said early on in this thread that the Devils couldn't afford a losing streak and couldn't afford any 500ish stretches if they wanted to make this happen.  Well:

 

3-game losing streak

5-5-0 in the 10 games since the break 

 

That alone has made the "favorable" part almost insignificant at this point. 

[redruM]

1) Tri is right in that fans tend to make too much of losing to a poor-record opponent like Florida,

They were winning 3-1 and lost 5-3...

thats a BAD loss...

[RizzMB30]

Even Parise thinks the Devils will make playoffs.  Lol, come on guys. 

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=710326&navid=nhl:topheads

 

 

"They've got a fantastic coach, and I still think they're going to make the playoffs. I think they'll be all right. I am a big fan of Pete [DeBoer] and how he coaches. I think they've got good players there. I just have a feeling that they will make it."

Since the wounds have healed a bit and I've read what Parise has said.  It's extremely difficult for me not to respect the guy. 

['7']

It's easy for Parise to be complimentary of us. He just wants to sort of quell the tidal wave of boos coming his way. The Devils fan base is bitter and angry as of right now.

 

"I love deboer, I think they'll make the playoffs, they'll be all right...good players etc..........oh by the way I signed in Minnesota"

[Devils Pride 26]

It's a hell of a lot easier for Parise to say "Yeah, I think they'll make the playoffs" 

 

I don't think he's a terrible person despite being broken hearted with the decision he made. Honestly, Parise has always been a nice guy, I wonder if somewhere he feels like a dick and somewhat responsible for what the Devils have become now without him. Not like "damn this is all my fault" - more of "Damn, those were my guys for so long - I hate seeing Travis, Marty and them struggle like this... Would it have been the same if I was here?"

 

As far as everyone saying "I'm over Parise leaving" - it's obviously not true. It's like a girlfriend leaving you. For a while you might want their life to be miserable. But once you go on and see life goes on without them, you really stop caring. The only way to get to that point is making the playoffs. The sad thing is that it hurts like hell right about now as a Devils fan thinking about the Parise era compared to now missing the playoffs two years in a row. 

[Mike Brown]

Those point%s are not THAT different between top 10, middle 10, and lower 10, and you know it...that's really reaching on your part.  Wow, the Devils are an awesome 20-16-9 combined against mid-10 and bottom-10 teams.  I can totally see why they can go 10-2-1 or something like that now that the schedule is "favorable"...please.  Like I and others have pointed out, when you've done what the Devils have done in 69 games, it's hard to expect them to suddenly figure it out...for them, there is no favorable.  I'll throw a point% out there for the rest of the season...let's say something around .667, for the hell of it, which would be a quantum leap over ANY of their performances against mid-10 and lower-10 teams to date this season.  That would amount to about 17 points, which would give them 88 on the season.   

 

Just face it...I said early on in this thread that the Devils couldn't afford a losing streak and couldn't afford any 500ish stretches if they wanted to make this happen.  Well:

 

3-game losing streak

5-5-0 in the 10 games since the break 

 

That alone has made the "favorable" part almost insignificant at this point. 

 

No it hasn't.  We're playing 9 of 13 games at home with only one set of back to backs.  Our record is significantly better against the lesser teams than it is against the better teams.  Regardless of how good we've been against the lesser teams, it still doesn't change the fact it's still better to have these games against the lesser teams than the better teams.

 

1. 12 of 13 games are against lesser teams.

2. 9 of 13 games are at home.

3. Only one set of back to backs.

 

All of this equates to a favorable schedule.

 

1) Tri is right in that fans tend to make too much of losing to a poor-record opponent like Florida,

They were winning 3-1 and lost 5-3...

thats a BAD loss...

 

It was a bad loss, but the Panthers also just beat the Sharks in San Jose.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1) Tri is right in that fans tend to make too much of losing to a poor-record opponent like Florida,

They were winning 3-1 and lost 5-3...

thats a BAD loss...

 

Of course it was.  I was more speaking in generalities.  Fans tend to make a big deal out of losing to teams lower than them in the standings, but don't tend to do the same when they beat teams a good bit ahead of them.   

[RizzMB30]

It's easy for Parise to be complimentary of us. He just wants to sort of quell the tidal wave of boos coming his way. The Devils fan base is bitter and angry as of right now.

 

"I love deboer, I think they'll make the playoffs, they'll be all right...good players etc..........oh by the way I signed in Minnesota"

Quell the wave? Maybe that's on his mind, but no you're wrong.  He said in the interview that he doesn't care if he gets booed.  Which he shouldn't, he's a professional. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

No it hasn't.  We're playing 9 of 13 games at home with only one set of back to backs.  Our record is significantly better against the lesser teams than it is against the better teams.  Regardless of how good we've been against the lesser teams, it still doesn't change the fact it's still better to have these games against the lesser teams than the better teams.

 

1. 12 of 13 games are against lesser teams.

2. 9 of 13 games are at home.

3. Only one set of back to backs.

 

All of this equates to a favorable schedule.

 

 

It was a bad loss, but the Panthers also just beat the Sharks in San Jose.

 

Jesus H...you are the absolute epitome of "talking to a friggin' wall".  You are incapable of listening to anyone about anything and can't ever admit your logic could possibly be flawed.    

 

The Devils are roughly 4-5-1 on average in 10-game increments against top-10s (.450 point%).  They're roughly 5-4-1 on average in 10-game increments against mid- and bottom-10s (.550 point%).  You can come up with other .450 and .550 W-L-OTL records, but the difference amounts to one win.  Yeah, one whopping win over 10 games is such a huge difference.  How the fvck is that "significantly better"?      

 

And that 3-game losing streak was extremely costly, and yeah, it's sucked a lot of the juice out of these next 13 games, regardless of the more favorable aspects of those matchups.  Not sure how you downplay that one.   

 

Who gives a flying fvck about what the Panthers did against San Jose?  It's been pointed out multiple times by me and others that it's not unheard of for lower-echelon teams to beat good teams in the NHL.  The difference is San Jose can overcome a loss like that...they're not fighting for their playoff lives.  The Devils are.  Do you really need that one explained to you as well?   

Edited March 20, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976