Save us Jacques Lemaire

[Devil Dan 56]

Even so. Knowing our history of shootouts lately that it's so important we score the first goal why not send the hot handed player out first.

 

I can't blame picking Cammy, but yeah, Jagr just isn't a good choice at all. 

[Devils Pride 26]

I'm tired of waiting for the worm to turn. Cite statistics all you want (to be honest, I've grown fond of them), but this team has no killer instinct and it starts with the head coach.

His "fortunate to get a point" to TG tonight is laughable. I like DeBoer and his system, but a breath of fresh air would do wonders rather than the same quotes over and over.

Losing has become acceptable.

[CarpathianForest]

I'm tired of waiting for the worm to turn. Cite statistics all you want (to be honest, I've grown fond of them), but this team has no killer instinct and it starts with the head coach.

His "fortunate to get a point" to TG tonight is laughable. I like DeBoer and his system, but a breath of fresh air would do wonders rather than the same quo a otes over and over.

Losing has become acceptable.

 

Agreed. When your coach responds to a question about how you plan to contain the other team by saying, "I don't know. Got any ideas." and that we were "fortunate" to get a point he is fostering an attitude of indifference and defeat. I don't think the old LL would have been too happy with those statements.

I agree. When you're coach responds t

[jagknife]

My high school baseball coach used to say to us after a loss, "Losing's easy, winning is tough. You have to want it and fight for it every chance you get."

 

As a poster above said, this team does not have the killer instinct to put away games when they have the chance to do so. Sure, we cruised to wins against Philly and Florida, but in both games the teams stopped fighting back. Fast forward to the Ranger game, we had a chance to put away a good team, but they went into the DeBoer Shell in the 3rd and tried to cling to a lead.

 

I blame the coach and have for years, I still am sticking with 2012 being a fluke until the team proves us wrong. They need to have some damn fight in them and actually go for the throats of good teams instead of hoping to coast to victories.

[caron14]

Save us kovalchuk lol!

Damn i still miss him.

Edited October 25, 2014 by caron14

[devilsrule33]

My high school baseball coach used to say to us after a loss, "Losing's easy, winning is tough. You have to want it and fight for it every chance you get."

 

As a poster above said, this team does not have the killer instinct to put away games when they have the chance to do so. Sure, we cruised to wins against Philly and Florida, but in both games the teams stopped fighting back. Fast forward to the Ranger game, we had a chance to put away a good team, but they went into the DeBoer Shell in the 3rd and tried to cling to a lead.

 

I blame the coach and have for years, I still am sticking with 2012 being a fluke until the team proves us wrong. They need to have some damn fight in them and actually go for the throats of good teams instead of hoping to coast to victories.

 

That is such BS. The Devils played a great 3rd. If you think they went in a shell, you are seeing something that isn't there.

 

The Devils are 3-2-2. Not sure what people expected at this point, but that's not a bad record by any means. The way people are sounding, they are 5 points out of a playoff spot 50 games into the season.

[2ELIAS6]

Save us kovalchuk lol!

Damn i still miss him.

i miss this guy too.. how could you not especially when the team struggles and in departments you know he was great at shoot out ..cough..cough.. i mean the fact that we have not even won one single shootout since he left is mind boggling.. i believe he will be back one day anyway... i hope anyway and for a more reasonable contract

[Devils Pride 26]

That is such BS. The Devils played a great 3rd. If you think they went in a shell, you are seeing something that isn't there.

The Devils are 3-2-2. Not sure what people expected at this point, but that's not a bad record by any means. The way people are sounding, they are 5 points out of a playoff spot 50 games into the season.

We'll be lucky if that's the case

[NJDevs26]

Hah I'm not sure even I'm that negative...yet, although it could get ugly by the end of November.

 

Still it wouldn't shock me if we stuck to the same script we've seen the last two years, win just enough games against teams we're all impressed they beat, lose enough games against the Winnipeg's of the world to tear our hair out, and get enough shootout loser points to keep ourselves in limbo between firmly in a playoff spot and firmly out of it.

Edited October 25, 2014 by NJDevs26

[William D'Aquila]

name the last devils coach to miss consecutive playoffs and still have a job.

 

because this team is jam packed with talent.

[NJDevs4978]

name the last devils coach to miss consecutive playoffs and still have a job.

 

Pete DeBoer

 

I don't understand this rationale we can't judge him because of the talent...as if coaches from bad teams don't get fired all the time.  Besides the talent they do have is underachieving right now - Cory, Greene, Elias.  Pretty much everyone but Cammalleri, maybe Henrique and the three kid defensemen have been a dissapointment so far.

Edited October 25, 2014 by NJDevs4978

[Triumph]

Pete DeBoer

 

I don't understand this rationale we can't judge him because of the talent...as if coaches from bad teams don't get fired all the time.  Besides the talent they do have is underachieving right now - Cory, Greene, Elias.  Pretty much everyone but Cammalleri, maybe Henrique and two kid defensemen have been a dissapointment so far.

 

The idea isn't that we can't judge him because of the talent but that people are blind to what's going on on the ice.  19 shootouts lost, and how many of those do you want to put on DeBoer?  Let's say you put 5 on him for his shootout choices - now what about the other 14?  He had to deal with a horrible Brodeur and a worse Hedberg in 2012-13.  Then last year he has the GM talking about 2 starting goalies and all that BS, plus, again, the shootouts.  This is the first year where he has a legitimate starting goalie.  Sure, if the team doesn't make the playoffs, get rid of him, but give this team a chance first.

[Daniel]

name the last devils coach to miss consecutive playoffs and still have a job.

Kind of like asking whether the Yankees ought to fire Girardi for missing the playoffs two years in a row.

Honestly, I'm kind of meh on DeBoer, and would only see a need to get rid of him if there's someone better in mind. On the other hand, if you hate him, this is the year you would want to keep him around. You can always hope for that anomalously terrible (not just bad) year that Tampa had which helped them land Drouin.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[capo]

Kind of like asking whether the Yankees ought to fire Girardi for missing the playoffs two years in a row.

Honestly, I'm kind of meh on DeBoer, and would only see a need to get rid of him if there's someone better in mind. On the other hand, if you hate him, this is the year you would want to keep him around. You can always hope for that anomalously terrible (not just bad) year that Tampa had which helped them land Drouin.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I don't see this.  I think we'll need to see a lot of injuries to miss the playoffs.  Maybe I'm wrong but when you have four solid lines it's pretty hard to miss the playoffs.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Everyone was upset how we started the season last year. 1 win through 10 games. Guess what? --we've won only 2 more this season, with Game No. 7 on Friday. (and a deeper roster) I'm not going to call the game against Dallas a "must-win" ..but if we don't find a way to win, that's 4 losses in-a-row.. with Ottawa & Pittsburgh on deck after.

 

The Devils had six points after 10 games last season, and didn't gain points nine and ten until Game 14.  They didn't win their 4th game until Game 15.  

 

Trying to force this comparison was extremely flawed to begin with, but I think if we were told the Devils would be 4-2-2 after 8 games, I think we'd be pretty happy with it. From the general vibe on the board, I'm not sure what people were expecting (apparently more than I was). 

[Devil Dan 56]

The Devils had six points after 10 games last season, and didn't gain points nine and ten until Game 14. They didn't win their 4th game until Game 15.

Trying to force this comparison was extremely flawed to begin with, but I think if we were told the Devils would be 4-2-2 after 8 games, I think we'd be pretty happy with it. From the general vibe on the board, I'm not sure what people were expecting (apparently more than I was).

People are expecting 8-0. No matter what. If it doesn't happen, someone needs to be blamed

[devilsrule33]

People are expecting 8-0. No matter what. If it doesn't happen, someone needs to be blamed

 

Pretty much. I'll take 4-2-2 every time. It's going to be a long season with the hate Deboer has in the Devils community. Insane expectations from some fans who have to remember with any additions the Devils made, they are relying on a 42-year-old Jagr, and a 38-year-old Elias to be just as good as they were last year.

 

Some were upset that Deboer had Larsson scratched for Severson in game 1. I heard "why keep fvcking with Larsson when Severson has options and Larsson doesn't." Haven't heard anyone say, "sh!t we were wrong and Pete was right, Severson is the best rookie the Devils have had in 15 years at least, and already the Devils best defenseman."

 

Nothing Pete has done so far is outrageous. If there are things to be disagreed on. just give it more than 7-8 games. We are already seeing Severson's minutes sky-rocket. We have already seen Merill's minutes go up. Zubrus and Ryder's minutes were cut. Brunner is getting more opportunities.

 

The one problem that we will be hearing all year is Salvador in the lineup. He isn't getting scratched anytime soon for Larsson, but let's see where his minutes go in the next 10-20 games.

 

And lastly for Beezer: Stop bringing up Pete's time in Florida. It's irrelevant. The job he did was good enough to get him a job in New Jersey. Every team, situation, season is different, and while other people want to explain reasons for why he is doing a good job, you just answer with people making "excuses" yet you fail to give a good reason why he should be fired other than 1 playoff season is 6 years.

Edited October 27, 2014 by devilsrule33

[NJDevs4978]

Pretty much. I'll take 4-2-2 every time. It's going to be a long season with the hate Deboer has in the Devils community. Insane expectations from some fans who have to remember with any additions the Devils made, they are relying on a 42-year-old Jagr, and a 38-year-old Elias to be just as good as they were last year.

 

Some were upset that Deboer had Larsson scratched for Severson in game 1. I heard "why keep fvcking with Larsson when Severson has options and Larsson doesn't." Haven't heard anyone say, "sh!t we were wrong and Pete was right, Severson is the best rookie the Devils have had in 15 years at least, and already are best defenseman."

 

Nothing Pete has done so far is outrageous. If there are things to be disagreed on. just give it more than 7-8 games. We are already seeing Severson's minutes sky-rocket. We have already seen Merill's minutes go up. Zubrus and Ryder's minutes were cut. Brunner is getting more opportunities.

 

The one problem that we will be hearing all year is Salvador in the lineup. He isn't getting scratched anytime soon for Larsson, but let's see where his minutes go in the next 10-20 games.

 

And lastly for Beezer: Stop bringing up Pete's time in Florida. It's irrelevant. The job he did was good enough to get him a job in New Jersey. Every team, situation, season is different, and while other people want to explain reasons for why he is doing a good job, you just answer with people making "excuses" yet you fail to give a good reason why he should be fired other than 1 playoff season is 6 years.

 

Problem with the bolded is people were saying the same thing about Larsson early in his first season too.

 

My issue with Severson over Larsson was twofold, both because you were essentially trashing Larsson before you had to and because Severson had had maybe a handful of pro games before this season (and they'd rushed Larsson, Matteau and Josefson in the recent past) so really they'd better be right with him if he's going to play as a 20-year old and you were probably going to lose Larsson over it.  And yes so far it looks like it's going to be worth it cause Severson looks special.  But it was certainly fair to question it given the staff's assertion that it was 'close' between them.  If it was really close there was nothing to lose by keeping Severson in the AHL for a month and giving Larsson a real chance considering he was playing well before getting banished last year.  Obviously they were fibbing about that though.

 

As far as the last paragraph, it's just amazing the blind faith/cache Pete does have with some people considering the record.  That's what's puzzling considering how guys like Lemaire got ripped to high heaven around here. 

Edited October 26, 2014 by NJDevs4978

[NJDevs4978]

The Devils had six points after 10 games last season, and didn't gain points nine and ten until Game 14.  They didn't win their 4th game until Game 15.  

 

Trying to force this comparison was extremely flawed to begin with, but I think if we were told the Devils would be 4-2-2 after 8 games, I think we'd be pretty happy with it. From the general vibe on the board, I'm not sure what people were expecting (apparently more than I was). 

 

In a way it almost feels like it's 2-4-4 cause of the home record and being at all three games

 

Yes you're right 4-2-2 is fine at this point though I don't expect them to win 80% of their road games this year (obviously they won't lose all their home games either).  I just don't know how much of this success is going to be sustainable if they keep getting outshot most of the time - god help me I'm one step away from citing advanced numbers

[devilsrule33]

Problem with the bolded is people were saying the same thing about Larsson early in his first season too.

 

My issue with Severson over Larsson was twofold, both because you were essentially trashing Larsson before you had to and because Severson had had maybe a handful of pro games before this season (and they'd rushed Larsson, Matteau and Josefson in the recent past) so really they'd better be right with him if he's going to play as a 20-year old and you were probably going to lose Larsson over it.  And yes so far it looks like it's going to be worth it cause Severson looks special.  But it was certainly fair to question it given the staff's assertion that it was 'close' between them.  If it was really close there was nothing to lose by keeping Severson in the AHL for a month and giving Larsson a real chance considering he was playing well before getting banished last year.  Obviously they were fibbing about that though.

 

As far as the last paragraph, it's just amazing the blind faith/cache Pete does have with some people considering the record.  That's what's puzzling considering how guys like Lemaire got ripped to high heaven around here. 

 

I don't have blind faith with Deboer (not sure if you are saying I do...doesn't matter anyway). I've been pissed at a bunch of his personnel decisions, but it is knowing what can be controlled and what can't. Some people want to compare the team's of the last few years to the greatest Devils teams in history when it comes to the coaching changes Lou made.

 

That's where the argument is irrelevant to Deboer.  You don't think Lou knows he dealt Pete with a bad hand with the loss of Parise, the loss of Kovalchuk, the Brodeur situation last year, and to a lesser extent, the loss of Sykora and Clarkson? You think Lou is happy with the job he has done over the last 5 years or so? I doubt it.  Lou knew from 1994 to 2003, the Devils were an elite team that had all the pieces. Throughout those years, they heavily underachieved or went on some awful runs that put a lot of fear in Lou.

 

If people can't trust Lou to have a pulse on the Devils and know when to fire a coach, then you might as well be asking for him to be fired along with Deboer.

[Triumph]

Yeah, Larsson did look good that first season, but he looked like an average defenseman.  That's still hard to do, because most defensemen that young are trainwrecks.  We knew he was terrible on the power play and had to be taken off that.  And of course he didn't play most of the playoffs, though it's easy to attribute that to the fact that he hadn't played an NHL type schedule before.  He was still slow, though, and we knew that too, we just assumed the skating would get better.  It still doesn't have to be great for him to be good.

 

Severson is different.  All of the tools are here now.  You still don't know what a player is going to be until you see him playing in real NHL games - I mean yeah from the preseason stuff, Severson looked good, but I wouldn't've predicted anything like this.

 

As for the Devils being outshot, they've been outshot by 29 shots in 8 games.  That's not good, but you have to consider A: They've taken 7 more penalties than their opposition and B: they've been leading in most of the games they've played.  It's going to take several more games to see what this team really is.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

In a way it almost feels like it's 2-4-4 cause of the home record and being at all three games

 

Yes you're right 4-2-2 is fine at this point though I don't expect them to win 80% of their road games this year (obviously they won't lose all their home games either).  I just don't know how much of this success is going to be sustainable if they keep getting outshot most of the time - god help me I'm one step away from citing advanced numbers

 

Tri pretty much summed it all up in one sentence:

 

It's going to take several more games to see what this team really is.

 

BUT, the good news is they haven't dug themselves a hole to start the season, which after last season represents a step forward.  That's why I'm bit surprised by some of the negativity around here...I shouldn't be, because there's always been a good bit of that, and it was only going to go up with the Devils missing the playoffs in three out of four seasons, but still, even with some frustrating moments (like the loss against the Rags), there's been some terrific stories already (like Severson).  And of course, the good early 4-2-2 record...I could only imagine what it'd be like here if the Devils had Carolina's or Buffalo's record at this point.

 

Speaking of Buffalo...thank whomever that Lou didn't bring Brian Gionta back, which was a big fear of mine.  0 goals in 9 games (1 point).  Maybe some of it is bad puck-luck, but I'm just glad he's not here. 

Edited October 27, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[redruM]

 

 

Some were upset that Deboer had Larsson scratched for Severson in game 1. I heard "why keep fvcking with Larsson when Severson has options and Larsson doesn't." Haven't heard anyone say, "sh!t we were wrong and Pete was right, Severson is the best rookie the Devils have had in 15 years at least, and already are best defenseman."

 

 

My disgust was NEVER with severson, it was and still is with Salvador & Gelinas & Gionta for that matter!!

 

Severson has been great and I have LAWAYS been about letting kids play.. but Larsson has gotten a raw deal, Salvador is easily the worst Dman on this team, yet we keep sneding him out there,,,,

 

And BTW abother blown 3rd period lead ove the weekend...

 

seems to be PDBs legacy..

[Pepperkorn]

FYI -- There is no one out there I prefer over DeBoer and he's not beyond hope.  But he needs to be managed - with care - because he's very artful at deluding himself.  He's very wily about shuffling around the words, praise, criticism, even observations to suit his own picture.  He's an expert arguer - and paints a desirable picture. This is a problem once that picture diverts too far from the reality of the situation. Why do I suspect this --- because when the Devils get on a strong run, it seems to me that DeBoer doesn't actually see why -- he DECIDES why.  and he's wrong so he cannot repeat his success or grow off of his failures.

 

What's annoying is that he knows how to lose his cool at an appropriate moment but it's still not reflecting the reality of ... well Part of me wants to call it his system.  Because his system is not a system but a survival plan built for himself above and beyond the team.  He's picking up the wrong things with each team he moves to.  I don't think he understands that is what he's doing though.  Coaching is not about handling people -- and he's handling people too much. He's being a people person not a hockey person and that's a problem.  Because no one can trust what he's going to do then. He has not picked up the winning path like Pat Burns -- but rather the winning argument as to why he is correct.   but he's not correct ad he can't find correct until he surrenders to hockey.  to the game of hockey not his own value system.  I don't disapprove of his value system at all by the way.  but he's got to allow his own vulnerability and fallibility.

 

He just needs to take another step that I dont think he is able to take.  I want everyone to be a superstar.  To my mind, if you are not - it's your choice your doing.  Once you reach a certain point success or failure is in your own hands.  If there is ANY way Lou can help him down the right path I'd like him to do so, rather than fire him.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Pepperkorn

[sundstrom]

 

 

Some were upset that Deboer had Larsson scratched for Severson in game 1. I heard "why keep fvcking with Larsson when Severson has options and Larsson doesn't." Haven't heard anyone say, "sh!t we were wrong and Pete was right, Severson is the best rookie the Devils have had in 15 years at least, and already are best defenseman."

 

Nothing Pete has done so far is outrageous. If there are things to be disagreed on. just give it more than 7-8 games. We are already seeing Severson's minutes sky-rocket. We have already seen Merill's minutes go up. Zubrus and Ryder's minutes were cut. Brunner is getting more opportunities.

 

 

i was one of those questioning loudly why severson for larsson when you had options. that was because i couldn't have possibly expected severson to be this good this early. now, it's possible he regresses or hits a wall. i certainly hope not, but it's possible. for now, i totally get how there really isn't room for larsson unless it's at the expense of gelinas and that's tough. for all of gelinas' defensive warts, his shot, skating, and PP ability are ++ attributes. larsson has good vision and more often than not makes the smart play. those are his + abilities, but they aren't ++.

 

it's as clear as day that if you took the names and the C off the sweaters, larsson is probably in for salvador. but you can't and they won't. so that's the problem with larsson's time right now.

 

i'm a big larsson fan - i remember Anton telling me from his first practice, "he's the real deal" and I got his jersey before he even played a game for us. it stinks because, for now, without injury, there really isn't a place for him. his game is different than salvador's supposed game which is toughness and PK ability. honestly, i think it will take something like zidlicky not returning, gelinas moving into that role and larsson coming into the spot where gelinas is playing.