Lou and Sutter are delusional

[Pepperkorn]

I'm with you Rowdy! I just had to do my version of the tirade - my reasoning et al.

I support the team and agree it can be built upon -- but how is wanting to go further in the playoffs SPOILED? How is looking for ways to improve the team SPOILED?

I'm not angry with anyone involved in the organization (Except our D -- and , you know ... Scott Stevens because I just like feeling strong emotions with regard to him any chance I get ) I'm not even mad at our D excepting the fact they stink -- yeah -- they just stink --I'm mad at them. I think Oduya is the only one I'm not so mad at... he's where he should be development -wise I can ask more but I'm cool with what I've got.

[Pepperkorn]

i gotta say i dont see how lou couldve done anything with this team. if we were better id say maybe. but this team wasnt really that good

I understand and agree with what you wrote - nonetheless I will deconstruct the oversimplification - not for arguments sake but for the sake of clarifying what happened and what needs to continue to happen - to learn from the loses (no matter how minor some of you think those to be).

FYI - it's Lou's job to make the team better. I don't care HOW. He did an OK job on the surface. The team over-achieved in a sense, but the hard work Lou said it had to take burnt the talent out IMO.

You can win with anything in your holster - but it requires just the right touch and no one found that touch this season. It's basically Lou's job to find the touch via his coach. It could have been found but there was a lot of messing around at the start - seemed like posturing and stuff - and heavy hearts. I don't fault Sutter - I think he's set himself up well to hit the ice skating this fall. Sometimes things take time.

Part of me really thinks part of Lou's short comings this year was assuming it would take time. Assuming a year was needed for rebuilding. He's forgotten A LOT! It can ALWAYS be done.

Sutter and the team messed around A LOT expending a lot of valuable energy not realizing how quickly they'd all click -- somewhere along the line they all noticed they were clicking and they just moved forward without really understand what was going into it all.

THEREFORE no one could see what was NOT happening. Because NOTHING was expected no one had a solid plan. There was just no plan in place it was a throw this at the wall and let the chips fall where they may -- and then as they fell nicely, they got in there and tried to keep it going -- you know, and that more often than not stymies things. But the value of it all was bringing them all together - a lot of growth took place and that's important and THAT is what we need to be happy about.

From THERE you get angry and make a plan and do what must be done. You dont say Hey... we're losers and that's OK. or worse yet Hey - we were AMAZING! this was a GREAT season! Bring on NEXT SEASON BABY - let's finish second and screw the pooch in the playoffs! WHOOHOO!!

That would be a serious mistake on Lou's part - doncha all think?

(Do my NJsatansDevs4627 generic posting young men seriously not understand what i just wrote?)

[SC Devs Fan]

This year was a missed opportunity. msweet had it dead on, anyway you slice. Spin it if you want, but the verity remains.

This team finished right where it should have in the playoffs. You spin it anyway you'd like, this team does not have nearly the talent of the teams that are still skating... if you are still watching you'd notice none of these games looks like a Devils game. There was no missed opportunity this year.

[Beezer34]

It doesn't matter what the standings say, you can't convince me that the team as it was built was capable of making any noise in the playoffs. Maybe if Lou had been able to pull off that second trade on deadline day I'd have a different answer, but we'll never know, will we?

I'm not upset that they put together 99 points or that they got knocked out of the first round, even if it was by the Rangers. I'm upset that if this ragtag bunch was able to do that much, what do you think a better team could have done? And I'm also upset that we were somehow expected to believe that the Bad News Devils had just as legitimate a shot of winning it all as any of the four teams still playing.

Rowdy I don't know if you understand what it is I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to convince anyone that this team would've gone deep in the playoffs as is. I'm saying that their performace durring the season was excellent. If you read some of my prior posts on this topic, I'm agreeing with you. The fact that this team finished as well as they did is remarkable. (and I really don't think the parts were more than above average) I never said anything about the individual talent, I'm talking about the collective. My rant was for the fan that says: "This team sucked, and here's why it's better off Lou didn't do anything" ridiculous. You say in your post:

if this ragtag bunch was able to do that much, what do you think a better team could have done?

EXACTALLY! That is the same sentiment that I'm trying to put together, because that's what the regular season indicated. (Nevermind the weak conference)

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Want an explanation? No team should have to work that hard the entire season. You're burnt by the time playoffs come around.

the team held on by over playing for far too much of the season - they had ZERO fun the majority of the time. That's not a good solid talented team my friend - no matter WHAT the numbers tell you.

Interesting point you bring up...the whole "fun" aspect. I've been thinking about that a lot since the Devils got eliminated, and whether or not playing Devils hockey these days is "fun". (I know, in a perfect world the fact that these guys are getting paid several hundred thousand to several million dollars to play a friggin' GAME should be more than enough to ensure that they're having fun. But we all know that money and fun do not necessarily correlate.)

One thing I've noticed about Gomez's and Rafalski's post-Devil careers so far (I'm not talking about numbers, salaries or performances here)...they seem to be having flat-out fun playing the game. I think when the Devils got to three Finals appearances in four years many players were willing to put aside the "fun" aspect because they were enjoying success (clearly some players, especially Elias, Arnott and Sykora, were having an absolute blast being one of the best lines in the NHL in 2000 and 2001). I think Elias really misses those days in a big way...he looks like a guy who flat-out isn't having fun most nights. Actually, outside of Madden, this team really looked like they were joyless most of the time...even Brodeur, usually the poster-boy for happy NHL players, seemed sick of it all by the end of the season. Maybe that did come from having to work so hard for most of their victories, and for having almost no margin for error night after night; by the end of the season they just looked so emotionally and physically spent.

[sundstrom]

CR - great points. i also noticed what you're saying. again, it may be a case of not seeing what's really happening. also, the devils weren't very good at the end of the season. they weren't scoring and there really wasn't much cause for celebration or glee. remember back to right before the trade deadline when they were flying and you were hearing quotes about how great the room was and that nobody wanted to be moved or to have anyone else moved.

a tough stretch changes people's moods and perspective.

[Devils731]

Maybe the guys have less fun when even their own fans are quick to point out how much they stink, that they're not good enought to compete with other teams, get repeatedly booed by their home town fans even while winning games, and finishing 4th in the conference didn't make some fans get off their back? They're human, they read the newspapers and such. I am really being over the top on purpose here but I know I don't have as much fun playing when I'm performing well and playing my best only to be told I am not doing enough or despite my performance I'm sure to lose tomorrow.

Edited May 9, 2008 by Devils731

[Pepperkorn]

Yep - I agree CR... and sundstrom too AND 731! Sure, there were many reasons to not be happy - but I think they should have been. They were correcting the negative as opposed to building on the positives. That crushes the momentum. They just played like they were expecting too much of themselves. They never gave themselves credit - and the fans kind of never did either -- but fans are like that everywhere!

Elias i felt like was toying with "playing angry" - I think it started rolling for him too.

I just hope they can all come out happy next season.

[RowdyFan42]

Want an explanation? No team should have to work that hard the entire season. You're burnt by the time playoffs come around.

I'm with you Rowdy! I just had to do my version of the tirade - my reasoning et al.

Rowdy I don't know if you understand what it is I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to convince anyone that this team would've gone deep in the playoffs as is. I'm saying that their performace durring the season was excellent. If you read some of my prior posts on this topic, I'm agreeing with you.

Eh, you're probably right. I think it was just something in the way I read that post sparked that rant. There's so many people posting here nowadays that I don't really pick up on most people's track records and instead go by individual posts.

[Shtikl]

Lucky for you the dinette set doesn't include a hutch, eh, Rowdy?

[95Crash]

Add me to the list of fans who think the Devils achieved just about all they could this season with the current bunch of guys.

As for them being booed at home -- did that happen a lot? I don't remember too much of it. ... However, I am one Devils fan who believes that the home fans as a whole don't cheer our players enough. It's usually either Rangers suck chants or dead silence. Or a few Let's Go Devils chants that die out in two seconds. ... But that's a topic for another thread, I guess.

[SS#4-Life]

hell yeah man. ive always wished our fans were louder and our arena was filled more. i hear you man

[RowdyFan42]

Lucky for you the dinette set doesn't include a hutch, eh, Rowdy?

Not that he'd ever come here, but with the way this board likes to pile on people they suspect are trolls, the first time he gets into it with someone would probably spark a Vortex so classic that not only would it draw spectators from all around, but he'd also end up getting banned within a day.

(And I really do hope you were talking about what I think you were talking about, because if you weren't, you're probably looking at me like I have 5 heads right about now. )

[Shtikl]

Yes, Rowdy. Gotta be careful about referring to he-who-must-not-be-named.