Devilsfan118 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Wanting what's best for this team going forward doesn't make anyone less of a "fan". That win over Pittsburgh, for example, was a complete and total waste. Padded Cory's stats, but that's about it. That being said, I'm over being annoyed when this team wins games it shouldn't. It's become apparent that this Devils team just can't help itself. But at this point, what's the difference between drafting 7th, and 10th. You're not getting a supreme talent anymore, and the kid won't be NHL ready for multiple years anyway. (What a waste..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDfan1711 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Wanting what's best for this team going forward doesn't make anyone less of a "fan". That win over Pittsburgh, for example, was a complete and total waste. Padded Cory's stats, but that's about it. That being said, I'm over being annoyed when this team wins games it shouldn't. It's become apparent that this Devils team just can't help itself. But at this point, what's the difference between drafting 7th, and 10th. You're not getting a supreme talent anymore, and the kid won't be NHL ready for multiple years anyway. (What a waste..) Why were you annoyed to begin with? IT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. Not with this team, and not for 90% of the others in the league. You look at the teams that truly do seem to "tank" for a better draft pick, and they are almost overwhelmingly all perpetual underachievers and bottom feeders. Why? Because to have that mentality at all is not the attitude of success and contention. It's not in the Devils to throw in the towel and mail it in, be it 20 games left in the regular season, or 2 games left, and as I've said before, I'm glad it isn't. Realistically, in each and every draft there are maybe 5 players that might be worth getting immediately excited about and seeing their impact on the team and at the NHL level right away the next season. This year there appears to be 2. Anyone who has paid attention to any draft in the last 20 years or so knows that picking 6 through 30th in Round 1 isn't all that different. It's a crapshoot, and so are rounds 2 through 7. This isn't like the NFL draft where picks 1 through 32 in Round 1 can all be quite good and play immediately -- that's because A) there are so many more positions, and so many roster spots. One team might need a good Left Tackle, while another needs a Safety, or DE, or WR, etc. That spreads the picks out and there's less competition and fighting for a select few 'elite' prospects. In the NHL though everyone is fighting for the top guy in just three categories of forwards, defensemen, and goalies, and hell, even goalies are seldom sought early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteyvegas51 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Marginal players want to stay in the league. Are they supposed to worry about what's good for the team? Even if it means that they'll not be playing in the NHL? I dont think so. Players will not tank. Only the management can. Put in only marginal players. Bring up AHL players. Mix up the lines that seem to be working. You cant get players to tank. They dont want to lose their jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpathianForest Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 We'll definitely lose both against the Rangers. We seem to always lose against them late in the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRASHER Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 There's a thing I refer to as "Sports team Purgatory" is that team that year in and year out is always right near the bottom of the playoff hunt (in the NHL I consider that 7th to 10th place every year)...teams that end up in that clump have a VERY tough time getting out of that Purgatory and usually have to blow the whole damn thing up to get better.....this is the place I dread the Devils ending up with this "get just enough garbage to try to make a playoff run" mindset, I'd rather bottom out NOW and be done with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDfan1711 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Marginal players want to stay in the league. Are they supposed to worry about what's good for the team? Even if it means that they'll not be playing in the NHL? I dont think so. Players will not tank. Only the management can. Put in only marginal players. Bring up AHL players. Mix up the lines that seem to be working. You cant get players to tank. They dont want to lose their jobs. Excellent points. And in our particular case, I think it's pretty clear that management doesn't want to tank either, so we have the rare case where talent is sub-par, management may be as well, yet both are trying and putting forth effort, yet the results are of course not there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilsfan118 Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 There's a thing I refer to as "Sports team Purgatory" is that team that year in and year out is always right near the bottom of the playoff hunt (in the NHL I consider that 7th to 10th place every year)...teams that end up in that clump have a VERY tough time getting out of that Purgatory and usually have to blow the whole damn thing up to get better.....this is the place I dread the Devils ending up with this "get just enough garbage to try to make a playoff run" mindset, I'd rather bottom out NOW and be done with itAbsolutely 100% agree with you. And this year would've been the perfect year to bottom out. Shame. Instead, we'll draft an above-average kid between 7th and 10th overall who might make the team as a bottom 6 forward a couple years from now, and be in this exact same position next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devils102 Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Actually, it's pretty simple, and been brought up before. When a guy is playing as well as Cory, you're going to win some games that you really shouldn't, and we've seen our fair share of these over this 17-9-4 burst. I'm afraid this is the truth. The biggest difference between this team at the beginning of the year and now is Mr. Schneider. Still feels good to beat Pittsburgh though. No matter the circumstance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck the Duck Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 I'm afraid this is the truth. The biggest difference between this team at the beginning of the year and now is Mr. Schneider. Still feels good to beat Pittsburgh though. No matter the circumstance. True. But the defenseman and their d zone coverage has improved as well, as has the pk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Actually, it's pretty simple, and been brought up before. When a guy is playing as well as Cory, you're going to win some games that you really shouldn't, and we've seen our fair share of these over this 17-9-4 burst. Dallas has largely been getting poor goaltending all season. Philly has been getting strong puck-stopping when Mason has been in net, but awful play from Zepp and Emery. The latter two have appeared in 38 games, which says plenty. The Devils look like they're going to finish somewhere from 6th to 9th overall. 1-5 is out of reach, but the only way the Devils were going to be in play for one of those spots was for Cory to either be lousy or hurt. Remember that the schedule is brutal down the stretch. After tonight (@Sabres), they have 11 games left. Check this out (bolded are playoff bound or hopefuls...Devils' record against each team in parenthesis): 3/21 Islanders (0-1-2) L 3/23 Kings (1-0-0) L 3/26 @Capitals (1-3-0) OTL 3/28 @Hurricanes (2-0-1) L 3/29 Ducks (0-1-0) L 3/31 @Blue Jackets (2-1-0) OTL 4/3 Canadiens (0-2-0) SOW 4/4 @Rangers (0-1-1) L 4/7 Rangers (0-1-1) 4/9 @Lightning (2-0-0) 4/11 @Panthers (2-0-0) Of course, anything can happen, and there's a chance that the Devils can somehow do better during those final 11 games than any of us could possibly expect, but suffice it to say that several of those teams are going to be looking at the Devils and thinking to themselves "These are two points we need to come away with." We've seen that the Devils often don't play well against upper-echelon teams this season (they're 6-9-4 against the bolded teams). Everything is pointing to the Devils having a very rough time down the stretch, starting with the Isles, who haven't played since Tuesday and will probably come out flying. 1-5-2 in their last seven. This is why it was kind of dopey to just assume the Devils were going to "screw up" their draft position, first by ignoring everything that led to their 18-9-4 surge (brick-wall goaltending, luck, some lesser opponents, and a sh!tload of home games) and then ignoring the fact that the schedule to end the season was going to be very tough. Playoff-bound teams look at teams like the Devils and see two fairly easy points...sure, they still have to earn them, but as many of these teams have shown, if they bring anything resembling their A games, it's more than enough to beat the Devils. Looks like the Devils will draft 6th, and under the circumstances, that's about as high as we could've expected them to pick. Thank God the down-the-stretch sched did exactly what many expected it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgeControl Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Looks like the Devils will draft 6th, and under the circumstances, that's about as high as we could've expected them to pick. Thank God the down-the-stretch sched did exactly what many expected it to. I would like to offer a special thanks to the blue jackets, panthers, and yes the flyers...for staying infront of us! the pathetic leafs can go screw themselves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I would like to offer a special thanks to the blue jackets, panthers, and yes the flyers...for staying infront of us! the pathetic leafs can go screw themselvesThe way this year has gone for us, you know some team behind us (probably Philly or Columbus) will win the lottery. You just know it. Since the 2012 Finals, it's been one kick in the nuts after the next for the last three years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsMan84 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 The way this year has gone for us, you know some team behind us (probably Philly or Columbus) will win the lottery. You just know it. Since the 2012 Finals, it's been one kick in the nuts after the next for the last three years. Maybe we are due for some good news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgeControl Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 The way this year has gone for us, you know some team behind us (probably Philly or Columbus) will win the lottery. You just know it. Since the 2012 Finals, it's been one kick in the nuts after the next for the last three years. philly winning the lottery is unthinkable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Maybe we are due for some good news.It would certainly be nice, and a much needed change of luck. But I'm expecting the worst. philly winning the lottery is unthinkableWouldn't shock me. Nothing seems to go our way anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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