414 replies to this topic

[Jas0nMacIsaac]

Right, sorry.

Who said we're doomed? However, when one tries to rank goaltending based on GAA you start to question their understanding for the game.

Edited by Jas0nMacIsaac, 11 January 2012 - 04:54 AM.

[LucifersDog]

Our goaltending let us down. Both were bad, Marty more so than the Moose. But it is only one game and it is better to have them both bad in one game than each in a different game. It's only one loss. It does make you wonder what our GM was thinking re: goaltending.

[ZeroGravityFat]

I blame the time change to the sluggish start, hope they can adjust for tonight, brodeur is again primed for angry prove himself game, start him.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

What they're supposed to do? See this is the attitude that CR76 is talking about. Are we supposed to win just because we're the Devils? I don't understand it. You KNOW the team is average to above average every night. Why is it just to be assumed that we should win.

Forest, whatever you say. Obviously goaltending cost us this game. But some people on here continuosly flip flop on their feelings about what this team is.

Just read through the thread...the (over)reactions are about par for what I was expecting, especially from ScoreMoreThan3. SMT3, if you've been watching the Devils as long as you claim to, when are you going to learn that the team with the better record doesn't always beat the team with the worse record? Did you happen to catch the Islander-Red Wing game last night? The Devils are a competitive team most nights, but not elite. You have to stop it, with this thinking that the Devils should be automatic victors whenever they face the Calgaries of the NHL.

The only minor quibble I have with the game was DeBoer pulling Marty after the second goal, only because Marty has bounced back before, and had given up just one goal in 3 out of his last 4 games. But I understand why DeBoer did it...he rolled the dice and was hoping to fire up his team, get something going...sometimes moves like that pay off and sometimes they don't. I do give the Devils credit for not mailing it in, especially with the goaltending letting them down...this team clearly has flaws, but they do play hard almost every night.

We all know what the goaltending situation is...Hedberg and Brodeur now have a combined .898 save%, and yes, that's bad. What do the Devils do about it? Realistically, what can they? Brodeur has been showing signs of playing a little better lately, but I'm guessing he won't top last year's overall .903 mark. It's too bad, and it's great that some fans around here had the foresight to look at last year's terrific second half showing and say "Brodeur's not going to be very good this year." He and the Devils understandably thought he had something left, and he was on the last year of his contract. He deserved one more season. All we can really do is hope that the three-out-of-four stronger games he put up before last night is a sign of things to come. I'm not asking him to be elite anymore, but if he can get through this second half giving the Devils at least competent goaltending, I'll take it.

Clearly the once sizable gap between Hedberg's and Brodeur's season numbers have narrowed, and sadly it's because Hedberg's numbers have been steadily declining, as opposed to Brodeur getting hot for an extended stretch. But again, what are the Devils to do? Does anyone really think the Devils are going to say "Thanks for everything Marty, now retire immediately and piss off?" I was all for Hedberg getting a shot at the #1 when he was outplaying Brodeur early, but that ship has sailed...I'm not sure one is all that much better than the other at this point, even if the overall season numbers say otherwise.

Anyway, the point of all of this is we can all bitch about the goaltending all we want, but I think the only choice we realistically have is to hope one or both of these guys get hot, or at least play better for an extended stretch. Marty's not going anywhere, and who is out there that's available at a reasonable price tag that's going to be a good quick fix?

[overtime98]

Some or most devils fans are so Bi polar..... we win a few games and everyone is like WOOOO Kovalchuk Parise, Marty is the best we are better than everyone........ we lose 1 or a couple and its changes better be made, parise is walking, Marty is old.... LOL

[overtime98]

Its all Kovy's fault.... Every Devils loss is Kovy's fault because of his contract.

[Legion15]

Some or most devils fans are so Bi polar..... we win a few games and everyone is like WOOOO Kovalchuk Parise, Marty is the best we are better than everyone........ we lose 1 or a couple and its changes better be made, parise is walking, Marty is old.... LOL

THIS. I have been noticing the same thing for quite a while. Everyone's quick to throw certain players to the wolves for having a bad night, or, as Doc and Chico once put it, "snakebitten" for a streak. It's not like they're machines out there, they're human, they're GOING to make mistakes. You just hope it's not at a critical time, but if it is, there really isn't anything you can do about it. Ranting about something a player does or doesn't do won't make it better. You don't know what was going through their mind when they made some play you don't agree with, only they really do...just accept what happened and move on.

[SS-SS]

Some or most devils fans are so Bi polar..... we win a few games and everyone is like WOOOO Kovalchuk Parise, Marty is the best we are better than everyone........ we lose 1 or a couple and its changes better be made, parise is walking, Marty is old.... LOL

Its not only Devils fans. Any fans are the same. I live in Montreal and when they win 2 or 3 games in a row all the players of team are Gretzky's and they are talking about Cup, when they loose 2 in a row, the whole team needs to get traded.

[DevsMan84]

What is the Devils record against Calgary since our last cup in 2003? I feel like they always give us trouble and have our number since then.

[Devs4LordStanley]

KINKAID! KINKAID! KINKAID! KINKAID! KINKAID! KINKAID! KINKAID! KINKAID!

[thelastonealive]

What is the Devils record against Calgary since our last cup in 2003? I feel like they always give us trouble and have our number since then.

Not sure, but I read an interesting/quirky stat saying we've never beaten the Flames in Calgary in the month of January. 0-5-2 or somesuch.

It's a ridiculous stat, but still. The Flames give us fits, especially in Calgary.

[Steven M.]

Some or most devils fans are so Bi polar..... we win a few games and everyone is like WOOOO Kovalchuk Parise, Marty is the best we are better than everyone........ we lose 1 or a couple and its changes better be made, parise is walking, Marty is old.... LOL

This... I think my problem is when we're losing I should just avoid the GDT, because common sense seems to be thrown out the window. It becomes an irrational sh!t-slinging fest. Some people voice legitimate concerns about the team and that's fine, obviously none of us are happy about that performance last night, but there are others who come to tell us how they are the voice of reason, the prophets that saw this coming, and then they ridicule every slight positive post and try to insult you, because this is the internet where you can be faceless.

It's like I said... we win... everyone is all happy and there is nothing to talk about. The thread will go about 7 pages and the last page will just be comments like "good win." We lose, the thread goes 18 pages, we need to trade Parise, I predicted Marty would suck this year, trade Kovalchuk for Bryzgalov, and all this other random nonsense... but as someone else said, you can't say that Devils fans are like this, because all fans and people in general are like this.

We are what we are. We're getting there but not quite there. On most nights we'll compete, and we'll be right in the running for the playoffs and that's all I can ask.

[thelastonealive]

This... I think my problem is when we're losing I should just avoid the GDT, because common sense seems to be thrown out the window. It becomes an irrational sh!t-slinging fest. Some people voice legitimate concerns about the team and that's fine, obviously none of us are happy about that performance last night, but there are others who come to tell us how they are the voice of reason, the prophets that saw this coming, and then they ridicule every slight positive post and try to insult you, because this is the internet where you can be faceless.

It's like I said... we win... everyone is all happy and there is nothing to talk about. The thread will go about 7 pages and the last page will just be comments like "good win." We lose, the thread goes 18 pages, we need to trade Parise, I predicted Marty would suck this year, trade Kovalchuk for Bryzgalov, and all this other random nonsense... but as someone else said, you can't say that Devils fans are like this, because all fans and people in general are like this.

We are what we are. We're getting there but not quite there. On most nights we'll compete, and we'll be right in the running for the playoffs and that's all I can ask.

That's really the problem with instant access, no-need-to-think, twitter-sized platforms where people can say whatever they want sans filter, really. It gets magnified by losing.

Honestly, the first period sucked obviously, but I thought they looked really good in the second and third periods. But, my opinion is probably null and void because I don't hate one of Kovalchuk, Brodeur, or Parise.

[hargsy]

Yeah I think we're over critical, we expect to win three out of every four games (especially when our neighbors are playing better than us), but with all the injuries I guess we're doin OK, plus I think Lou thought one of Napalm, or Teddy would be doing better than they are, hopefully one of them will pick it up a little and we get healthy soon, then we'll see a better more consistent team.

[njdevil26]

Waited til this morning to post my thoughts so my comments don't sound as panic laced.

Goaltending has become an issue. Hedberg seems to be more consistent than Marty at this point. Marty has been able to steal a game or so but if you look at the big picture, it's one in eight games that he is able to do that. This team has too many defensive lapses. Years ago, the Devils could have a horrible game defensively and Marty would bail them out. This year, when they screw up, Marty ends up letting in a goal he should normally stop.

How to fix: This is probably the hardest problem to fix. Sure we have young goalies in the system. Clermont and Wedgewood can't come up to the NHL. Kinkaid is 100% unproven. Marty is still getting paid a lot of money and has his legend status. There's no way he's being sent to Albany or scratched obviously. Hedberg can't be sent down and also has a no-trade clause if I remember correctly. I doubt management is willing to make a big decision with any of the vet goalies to bring up an unproven youngster to possibly fail. Let's face it. Marty and Hedberg are going to be in goal the rest of the season barring an injury. If someone is hurt, however, Kinkaid will get a start or two because it's about time they see what this kid can do in the regular season.


Defense: I thought Larsson played well last night. Volchenkov looked pretty good for missing the time he did. It'll take a few games for him to get back in the rhythm and hopefully he doesn't get hurt again. Foster has been decent on the point for the power play. The problem with him is that he's soft and does not provide any effectiveness in the defensive zone. Salvador is not being as effective as I'd like him to be. He has no offensive upside and is not throwing the big hits that we've seen from him in the past few years. He is the most replaceable guy back there it seems. Fayne is hot and cold. He can have offensive flashes but I have seen him a few times watching the puck go behind our goalie and just standing there. He's 6 foot over 200 pounds. He needs to learn how to use his body.

My main problem with the defense is now almost 6 years old since our playoff series with Carolina in 2006. Our defense does not make life hard on opposing forwards in our own zone. The opposing team thinks they can run in the zone, dump the puck in and beat our defenders to it, then set up plays. No one clears out the front of the net... they just get tangled up with the forward and make things harder on the goalie. Sad to say, we need one of our defensemen to develop Mark Frasers attitude. Mark didn't have much skill... but he was a sonofabitch to play against. Offensively, Larsson is the best guy back there but he lacks the speed. His skating still looks quite awkward... What we're missing there is someone with Paul Martin esque vision and hands.




Offense: Kovy is playing great lately. Parise and Henrique are two of the toughest guys to play against in the league. After that, it's downhill. Elias is still playing very well but Zubrus and Sykora are not giving him much help. Tedenby just looks too small right now. He's knocked off the puck easily. I think management is keeping him around hoping that Zajac will help him and I think he will. A Tedenby-Zajac-Clarkson line with time to gel can be dangerous. Zalewski has been a pleasant surprise as well. He is good in the faceoff circle and has shown he can provide chances on offense. I liked Nick Palmieri's game last night. He threw a hit or two which he needs to do and was close to scoring a goal. Dare I say... the power play is looking better. Penalty killing is still amazing. I think it was a great decision to send Josefson to the minors so when he comes back up, he's less rusty.


Off the ice: Sign Parise. I know this is a no brainer... but this has to be taken care of. I wonder if there are still financial issues with the franchise holding this up. The fact is, regardless of what Parise says, this is a distraction. Every Devils fan is on edge about it and the internet is flooded with it. There are articles in every newspaper about it, and every reporter is asking him about it. There's no way it's NOT on his mind.

I think it's very possible that Greene gets traded. This team isn't too much better with him and not much worse without him. But guessing trades around here is just pointless and time wasting. When everyone is healthy I'd like to see this as the lineup:

Parise-Henrique-Kovalchuk
Sykora-Elias-Zubrus
Tedenby-Zajac-Clarkson
Carter-Josefson-Palmieri

Boulton, Janssen

Tallinder-Fayne
Salvador-Larsson
Vochenkov-Greene
Foster

[Steven M.]

That's really the problem with instant access, no-need-to-think, twitter-sized platforms where people can say whatever they want sans filter, really. It gets magnified by losing.

Honestly, the first period sucked obviously, but I thought they looked really good in the second and third periods. But, my opinion is probably null and void because I don't hate one of Kovalchuk, Brodeur, or Parise.

Agreed... I was at least happy that they kept going at them, because I'm thinking that they'll be pissed off and try to build off the way they closed out the game going into Edmonton tonight. That's probably a good thing, that they don't have to dwell on this and get a chance at redemption tonight.

[Quinn01]

“He makes his own decision on it,” Brodeur said of DeBoer. “Definitely I’m not going to say I deserved it or whatever. He probably felt it worked once in Ottawa and he’d try to do it again. I don’t know his thinking process on that one.

“Especially games like that you have to give me a chance to play. Seven minutes into the game, it’s not over yet. Maybe he tried to spark the team or something. It just didn’t work this time.”

-Mary on Deboer pulling him.

DeBoer doesnt know who he is playing tonight.

NJ.com

[DevsMan84]

-Mary on Deboer pulling him.

DeBoer doesnt know who he is playing tonight.

NJ.com

I am at least glad DeBoer had the guts to pull Brodeur when he did. I couldn't say the same with other past coaches when Brodeur had games where he was stinking up the place.

[Quinn01]

I am at least glad DeBoer had the guts to pull Brodeur when he did. I couldn't say the same with other past coaches when Brodeur had games where he was stinking up the place.

I dont think things would have gotten any easier for Marty last night if he was left in. I am glad that DeBoer pulled him when he did as well. You have to stop the hemorrhaging when you can, even though thats not how it went, you have to atleast try. I think leaving Marty in net would have sent a message saying either A)I Have a sh!t ton of faith in Marty or B)I dont give a fvck. Pulling Marty when he did and putting Moose in was, to me, saying that he still had faith in the team to come back.

Edited by Quinn01, 11 January 2012 - 10:22 AM.

[caron14]

Seriously Deboer made the right move last night... Brodeur got score on 2 shots (and bad one...) The problem is that Moose suck when he cames in ...

Anyway it was the first time both goalie suck

6 Goal on 14 shots...

But they will bounce back

If im deboer Marty gets the start tonight! (Angry and all that stuff)

But again whoever is in the net they just need to forget last night game


Seriously we dominate the flames on the second half of the game