Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 (edited) One loss = mass hysteria...about par for the course. I'd be a lot more worried about the Devils if the teams trailing them showed any ability to go on a truly threatening run, but none really have. Also easy to forget that the Devils are still very much right there with the Flyers, Pens, and even the Caps at the moment...not saying that they'll definitely overtake any of them, but based on the general reaction in this GDT you'd think things are far more dire than they really are. Yes, would've been awesome if the Devils could've beat the Jackets last night, but they're not going to win every fan-designated "must win" game down the stretch. Anyway really glad that Cory is skating again...though there's been times that I was definitely hoping for another goalie to become part of the mix, I trust Shero enough to assume he had a good reason for not bringing one in...Tri pretty much summed it up, in that it didn't appear that there was someone out there who would have been available at the right price who would've been any kind of guarantee to make that much of a difference. Maybe if Cory looked as though he could've been done for the season, Shero approaches the situation differently. Still in good shape, all things considered. Edited February 21, 2018 by Colorado Rockies 1976 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 8 hours ago, Nicomo said: Except for the manly stud Taylor Hall and his wingman Nico Hischier! Technically speaking, isn’t Hall Nico’s “wing man”? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SterioDesign Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 i'd be a bit less worried if i didn't know what our schedule will be like until the end. We are playing all the top teams. That being said we tend to play a lot better against top teams than against sh!ttier team. So who knows. Maybe that's what we really need in order to not only make the playoffs but to get in on a high after such a though schedule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsMan84 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I was at the game last night and here are my simple observations: Good: 1) Greene looks to be playing better as of late. I think he was pretty good overall last night. 2) Hall is putting in one of the top 3 best offensive seasons of any Devil I have ever seen in my life 3) Nico's father was with a group of extended family and friends from Switzerland in my section (section 1) about 6 rows behind me. There was about 20-25 people with him including 2 guys who each kept ringing the largest cowbells I have ever seen and made the game pretty fun with their enthusiasm. It was great to hear some noise going that didn't including chants directed at the other team and wish they would come back to every home game. Bad: 1) Noesen was all over the place in both good and bad ways. Boyle wasn't a factor either (again). 2) I keep forgetting that we have Gibbons and he was one of the key reasons for our early success. I would much rather have him back than seeing Hayes/Lappin/etc in. 3) I thought Zacha had his weakest game in a while last night 4) Butcher also may need another rest again soon 5) Stafford is back on his 15-20 game disappearing act Ugly: 1) KK really sucked last night. First goal I am more inclined to give him a pass, but damn that second goal was weak as hell. It wasn't too long ago that in games where our offense was anemic for the night and we outshot the opponent 31-19 that we would still win the game 2-1, not the other way around 2) Bratt has pretty much disappeared off the planet. I didn't notice him for an entire period at one point last night. I really hope this is just late-season rookie struggles and not the beginning of the end for a flash-in-a-pan player. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsMan84 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 minute ago, Martyisth3b3st said: I noticed Bratt 3 times last night. Each in a separate period, each for a turnover, each in a crushingly disappointing way. The one that stuck out to me was on the powerplay. I think Butcher found him in "his" area, about 4 feet above the right circle (which is less and less becoming his spot). Earlier Bratt absolutely rockets a one-timer on net. This time he caught / cradled the pass, hesitated, and put a stupidly weak shot into Bob's chest. That was my "oh god, no, Bratt, what is u doin" moment. Yeah when I do notice him these days it is for the wrong reasons. Like you said he seems hesitant or lost out there. It might be just rookie confidence issues but it needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. I think it would be smart of Hynes to sit him to watch the game from the suite for 2-3 games just to observe and to give him some rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsMan84 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Martyisth3b3st said: As much as that sounds nice, who the hell are you giving his minutes to? I still take Bratt over Stafford, Hayes, or whoever the actual fvck "Pietala" is. Wood is coming back the next game. Plus right now Pietila, Stafford and Hayes are doing about as much as Bratt is doing now, so it is a push there. Edited February 21, 2018 by DevsMan84 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicomo Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 2 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said: Wood is coming back the next game. Plus right now Pietila, Stafford and Hayes are doing about as much as Bratt is doing now, so it is a push there. Bratt at least had a couple points against the Flyers. Much rather have him out there any of those guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsMan84 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 BTW here was Nico's group with their giant cowbells 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDfan1711 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I thought about this the other day, and Bratt really needs to be on the 3rd line. He's too young and too inexperienced to be logging the minutes he's getting right now. If Johannson was healthy and we had maybe one more player to slot on that line, I think we'd be OK. But with an injury and a lack of depth, he's forced to be asked to play above his head. I think if he wasn't logging as many minutes (therefore not as exhausted) as well as playing against lesser competition (the opponent's 3rd line rather than 2nd), he'd be more effective. He's similar to Hischier right now, in that he's young and raw, and also a very small guy so he gets pushed off the puck a lot, but also not as skilled as Hischier, which is why his struggles are more noticeable, since he's not showing up on the scoresheet. I'm really not seeing anything at all with Pietila. He just doesn't seem to have much of anything -- not that fast, no great shot, no great moves. Just seems like a pretty ineffective player, barely deserving of 4th line minutes. Yesterday may have been a rarity, but I actually thought Hayes had a decent game. He seemed to have some wheels out there and was pretty quick on the puck. Not saying I want him in there all the time, but if Gibbons were to come back and push some guys down the depth chart, I'd rather see Pietila back in the minors rather than Hayes. Boyle is another guy who's been MIA for a while now. The thing that is most frustrating and noticeable though is that he's not winning many faceoffs anymore. The only positive I saw out of him last night is that he was using his stick and long reach to disrupt the play a lot, which was good. Other than that, he hasn't contributed much of anything, and he hasn't been effective on the Powerplay like he was earlier in the year. I'd take him out and put Zajac in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 5 hours ago, Devils Pride 26 said: This team, this fan base needs real progress. What are the odds of a 3rd round pick becoming a 100 game player again, sub 10%? Flip a couple of 3rds for a goalie to make the playoffs. If it doesn’t work, at least they took the blinders off and tried, I’m fine with that. Make the dance. If they get bounced in the first round, so be it. This isn’t 2010 coming off 4 straight under achieving playoff duds. The perception of this franchise NEEDS this. This team will have made real progress. They have 70 points now, they had 70 points all last season, and there's still 22 games left. They already lost their 3rd round pick trading for Vatanen, so now you're talking about doing something like trading a 2nd and getting a 4th back. There's no guarantees at all that Mrazek is better than Kinkaid or that he will be the difference, and again, Schneider is coming back soon if there are no setbacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostondevil11 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 hour ago, Triumph said: This team will have made real progress. They have 70 points now, they had 70 points all last season, and there's still 22 games left. They already lost their 3rd round pick trading for Vatanen, so now you're talking about doing something like trading a 2nd and getting a 4th back. There's no guarantees at all that Mrazek is better than Kinkaid or that he will be the difference, and again, Schneider is coming back soon if there are no setbacks. Mrazek is not on the block anymore. Flyers picked him up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 minute ago, bostondevil11 said: Mrazek is not on the block anymore. Flyers picked him up. Well yeah, this discussion hinged on Shero not doing enough to get him; I'm arguing that it wouldn't've been worth it to get him specifically and that there aren't a lot of options. So just change 'is' to 'would've been'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikepeluso8 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Any timeline on Johansson? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muevelos Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Mzrazek sucks. Might as well keep KK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 hour ago, CarterforPresident said: Mzrazek sucks. Might as well keep KK Except against us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aitchmack Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 7 minutes ago, mfitz804 said: Except against us. That applies to 99% of goalies in the league. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 21 minutes ago, Aitchmack said: That applies to 99% of goalies in the league. Fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleBallofHate Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I read or heard somewhere Hynes mentioning MoJo being back in time for the playoffs and remember being surprised he made it sound so "matter of fact"... I have no idea where or when I heard/read it so sorry about that. Anyone want to see the cowbells in action? Gave me a good chuckle... Ian Pulz Retweeted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicomo Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 13 minutes ago, LittleBallofHate said: I read or heard somewhere Hynes mentioning MoJo being back in time for the playoffs and remember being surprised he made it sound so "matter of fact"... I have no idea where or when I heard/read it so sorry about that. Anyone want to see the cowbells in action? Gave me a good chuckle... Ian Pulz Retweeted He told @Martyisth3b3st that before the game in Tampa. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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