Colorado Rockies 1976

Yeah hear that heh heh. I didn’t partake last night (I never do when I take my daughter to games), but I’ve definitely indulged and sh!t games + booze = miserable morning. Damn being there last night just…sucked. Yet another game where the Devils may have worked hard, but not exactly smart.

I am curious to see what Fitz does. We know his Plan A was to stay the course and NOT tie up money or term in a goalie right now, but I also don’t think he wants to see the 2023-24 season get away from the Devils either. He’ll have some more space to work with now that Dougie’s on LTIR, but not sure if he would try to go for some vet upgrade (and give up the assets it would take to make that happen), or for a much cheaper option, just to have someone else to add to the mix.

I don’t think Meier re-signs if he didn’t think he’d be happy here. He also just got back into the lineup last night, so won’t get on him too much if he was feeling a bit rusty. BUT, very soon I’m going to need to see Timo be the Timo we all hoped that he could be, no more excuses. Through 36 regular season games, he’s put up 14 G and 11 A as a Devil…that’s about 32 G and 25 A per 82 GP, which isn’t that far off what I’d expect from his “low end” of his given points window any given season (I’m thinking he’ll be good for 60-80 points and 30-40 goals per 82 GP for most of his remaining prime years here). But something has been missing and just a little bit off for much of his brief time here. I really just want to see him look fully comfortable and settled already.

I re-read the offseason thread where goaltending was discussed, and I was not rude, strident nor dismissive to you. What I said at that time was that I wasn’t interested in adding Hellebuyck specifically (apparently no other teams were either) and that I also simply wanted to see if VV and Schmid could build off 2022-23, and along with that, if the Devils could possibly develop another young goalie from within. I also was concerned about tying up a lot of money in a 30+ year goalie at that time, and pointed out that, as we saw, that having the more expensive, big-name goalies wouldn’t necessarily guarantee going deeper into the playoffs.

Damn…long, quiet ride home. As disappointing of a loss as there’s been since the start of last season, really. The guy who has to be most disappointed is Fitz, because he clearly believed he had a solid enough goaltending tandem in VV and Schmid…solid enough to decide that Blackwood had become expendable, and enough to tie up his cap space in other areas (like Timo, Bratt, etc). I don’t think he truly thought that he’d have to explore scouring the NHL for someone else…I think he thought his guys were already here, and on cap-friendly deals to boot. Yeah, cap room will open up now that Dougie’s on LTIR…but not like he won’t ever be back on the payroll. Then what? Feel for Fitz…a lot has not gone to plan this year so far. Most of the D has been up and down, the team at times has looked rather disorganized and unprepared…if Jack isn’t fully or near-fully on his game, the guys who should be stepping up more aren’t doing it enough. There’s some positives here and there (Toffoli, Luke, Holtz), but injuries too. Been a very strange start to this season.

Sucks that he’s going to have to consider bringing in another goalie, but these guys are just not getting it going.

Yep. Ugh.

About fvcking time Ondrej

That’s all he’s got.

6 goals in 10 road games heading into this game. Four against the Devils tonight. No words.

Wow. Just wow.

Oh not saying it would ever happen right now. Just that it should.

Jack covering up for the moron.

Fireable offense

As much as I think Lindy is a serious fvcking problem, the players haven’t helped the cause. Jack is having as much of an off-night as I’ve seen him have in a looooooong time.

Every other coach to face this team in their own building knew what to do. Not the Devils’ coach. Apparently this befuddled idiot has his hands full tonight.

Which means Lindy doing Lindy things is winning so far.

I’m here and they got booed pretty good after the third goal

Fire Lindy.

Guess this is going to be harder than it should be.

Just meant that he was on the team that year.

Won the Cup in 2003 with Nieuwendyk. And both came over in trades. They weren’t signings.

Yet another game where the opponent looked more prepared and focused to start the game (the Sharks no less), but at least the Devils didn’t end the period down a goal. If they can just keep doing what they did as that period went on (and Jack can do some Jack things), Devils should find a way.

Happy for Timo. Thrilled for Simon.

Welcome back Timo! Looking forward to seeing Nemec.