Devils vs. Ducks, 12/18/19, 7:00 PM ET

[NJDfan1711]

41 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

 

You guys are easy. He didn’t say anything other than the generic things you say when you leave a city. And he didn’t do that until someone called him out in the comments of a previous post for not having said goodby to New Jersey. 

I’m not saying we have to hate him, I don’t and never did, but to get all gushy over that IG post? That I don’t get. 

100% agreed.  After he was traded, I was pretty relieved it was over and that now as a team we can hopefully move on (as has been noted, it seems like in the past two games the team is playing with less pressure), but after I saw someone mentioned that he made some kind of heartfelt post on social media, I was thinking to myself "Wow, OK, maybe we all really misunderstood him, and I'm going to feel differently now" - however after reading that, it's exactly like you said.  It was a typical canned response, merely saying what you're supposed to say.  

Dude was a good player for us, but despite how good that season was two years ago and our only playoff berth in a while, he was still only here for a few years - I don't dislike the guy, but I have I think even less attachment to him than I did Parise, and I don't even think about Parise at all anymore really, unless I see or hear his name mentioned and then obviously there's some recollection from the past, but other than that, this will go down as just another good player who happened to be on our team at some point.  I wish him luck, but I'm hardly sentimental about it/him.

[NJDfan1711]

4 minutes ago, EdgeControl said:

I will say it again, Blackwood has a top notch butterfly technique.. he's just long enough to cover post to post and he keeps his pads flat and flush  not many 5 holes down on the ice ..

possession metrics can be tossed, we traded volleys, like a tennis match

only 20 shots with our one and done style.. that's Shero hockey, now will it work against strong teams, bruins, etc????????

Agree with this on all points too.  Blackwood's great along the ice - we've seen him get exposed up high, and it seems like he's sometimes late reacting and getting his arms up, but we've also seen some crazy good/impossible shots against him, so I remain hopeful that his style of play could really lend itself to him being a solid goalie for us for years to come.

As for our 20 shots - I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to see us be a bit more dynamic on offense, and that has a little to do with it.  We weren't really hard on the forecheck from what I saw last night - I was looking for us to play in the corners and establish a cycle.  I thought we did great entering the zone, and lots of times we had 3 guys at the other team's blue line at the same time as we were entering their territory, but once we got in, it didn't seem like we sustained enough pressure, and I think that attributed to such a low shot total.  Like you, I'm not sure this will hold up against good teams who are capable of putting the pressure back on us, but we'll see.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, mfitz804 said:

You guys are easy. He didn’t say anything other than the generic things you say when you leave a city. And he didn’t do that until someone called him out in the comments of a previous post for not having said goodby to New Jersey. 

I’m not saying we have to hate him, I don’t and never did, but to get all gushy over that IG post? That I don’t get. 

Yeah based on MB3's reaction I thought that it was going to be something much more intense and deep...sure, nice that Taylor said it anyway (and nothing inflammatory), but yeah, pretty much a "I will miss [fill in previous team] and thanks to the franchise and their wonderful fans for everything, but now I'm with [fill in new team] and I can't wait to get going...here we go [insert new team]!!!" generic statement.  Hardly the stuff of emotional insight.

And yeah, no hard feelings here towards him for me, at all.  My two 2016-17 Hall GWs have definitely migrated down my "jerseys to wear to games" list from where they once were, but I'm still OK with wearing them again eventually...2017-18 was an incredibly memorable and special season for him, and I'm glad I got to see Taylor turn in what seems likely to be his career year here...even if that season ended with a whimper for his team come playoff time.  This year Hall handled his situation as well as he could have under the circumstances (he was actually pretty open about it when he did discuss it, and not in a bad way) and didn't rip anyone on the way out...and I thought that whole flap about the booing/"trolling" the fans was a major overreaction.  One of those situations where it simply didn't work out, and due to the current state of the team, it was the right move to deal him.  I have nothing bad to say about him.

Edited December 19, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[T0asterleav1ns]

No hard feelings for Hall, but tbh there was always something about him I wasnt crazy about personality wise. When he called out the fans in the midst of our suckage this season kind of exemplified it. 

Also, love seeing Nico step up the first game with out Hall and Blackwood has been great lately. 

[mfitz804]

1 hour ago, NJDfan1711 said:

100% agreed.  After he was traded, I was pretty relieved it was over and that now as a team we can hopefully move on (as has been noted, it seems like in the past two games the team is playing with less pressure), but after I saw someone mentioned that he made some kind of heartfelt post on social media, I was thinking to myself "Wow, OK, maybe we all really misunderstood him, and I'm going to feel differently now" - however after reading that, it's exactly like you said.  It was a typical canned response, merely saying what you're supposed to say.  

Dude was a good player for us, but despite how good that season was two years ago and our only playoff berth in a while, he was still only here for a few years - I don't dislike the guy, but I have I think even less attachment to him than I did Parise, and I don't even think about Parise at all anymore really, unless I see or hear his name mentioned and then obviously there's some recollection from the past, but other than that, this will go down as just another good player who happened to be on our team at some point.  I wish him luck, but I'm hardly sentimental about it/him.

Hall and Parise are different to me, because Parise signed that 1 year deal after his injury specifically to showcase himself so he could leave in free agency. He had no intention of returning. 

Hall came and played, despite people calling this year an “off year” for him, he still had decent numbers, could’ve scored more goals but still. He also had no intention of returning like Parise, and that’s why he was traded. 

Not saying Parise should have been traded. But I just don’t like that he used us to get a better deal a year later. 

[mfitz804]

4 minutes ago, MB3 said:

Pretty standard response? I guess. I’ve been on Instagram a while and can’t really remember any former players saying bye to their team and fanbase mid season. I’m probably wrong, but oh well.

that, plus Taylor saying “I’ll always remember devils fans chanting MVP” in his exit presser... I don’t know, I guess I just liked it. He didn’t ever choose New Jersey, he played fewer games for the Devils than guys like Mike Rupp and Stephen Gionta and Miles Wood and Jon Merrill and Anton Volchenkov, but he still made a few comments (that are not required or even expected) about the fans even after what appears to be a bit of a messy breakup. 

i have never seen a season like 2017 Taylor Hall on any team I’ve ever cheered for. Ever. I don’t think I ever will again. That will always have a special place in my heart. 

That I can agree with. 

[NJDfan1711]

5 minutes ago, MB3 said:

Pretty standard response? I guess. I’ve been on Instagram a while and can’t really remember any former players saying bye to their team and fanbase mid season. I’m probably wrong, but oh well.

that, plus Taylor saying “I’ll always remember devils fans chanting MVP” in his exit presser... I don’t know, I guess I just liked it. He didn’t ever choose New Jersey, he played fewer games for the Devils than guys like Mike Rupp and Stephen Gionta and Miles Wood and Jon Merrill and Anton Volchenkov, but he still made a few comments (that are not required or even expected) about the fans even after what appears to be a bit of a messy breakup. 

i have never seen a season like 2017 Taylor Hall on any team I’ve ever cheered for. Ever. I don’t think I ever will again. That will always have a special place in my heart. 

I feel ya - I mean, I specifically got the guy's jersey because I said if he got past 25 games with his point streak that I would, so I did.  If not for that, I wouldn't have a jersey of ours in the new style, and even though I still sort of prefer the old ones, I do like being current and on top of things, and the fact that he's the reason I have our new style jersey, it's kinda nice.  But...despite all that, I still view Hall as just somewhat of an above average player who was here for a brief time.  His MVP season was great, but it was only one year.  I think maybe I've seen too much hockey, because I seem to look at things more collectively.  

[Nicomo]

7 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

I feel ya - I mean, I specifically got the guy's jersey because I said if he got past 25 games with his point streak that I would, so I did.  If not for that, I wouldn't have a jersey of ours in the new style, and even though I still sort of prefer the old ones, I do like being current and on top of things, and the fact that he's the reason I have our new style jersey, it's kinda nice.  But...despite all that, I still view Hall as just somewhat of an above average player who was here for a brief time.  His MVP season was great, but it was only one year.  I think maybe I've seen too much hockey, because I seem to look at things more collectively.  

My Hall is actually the old style jersey. I bought a couple blank authentics from Meigray after we made the switch to the Adidas, and I had it made into a Hall during his MVP season. It’s kind of making my decision a little easier to just keep it as is since it is the old one. Obviously I can’t just slap a new player on it even if we get another decent #9, so my choices would be somewhat limited what player I could redo it with. It would have to be a player that wore the Edge and had a single digit number that would cover 9 well. I’ve thought about making it a White #5, but now I’m thinking about just keeping it as is. 

[DevsMan84]

I have a Taylor Hall 17-18 red set 1 with the NHL100 patch game worn jersey.  Pre-ordered it and lucked out that 1) It was his Hart trophy season 2) Has the NHL100 patch on it as well 3) photomatched and 4) was the last set before Meigray raised the price.

No matter what that is still in my top 5-6 gamers in my collection.

I do have a Hall Adidas Indo-made Heritage jersey I got for $70 this summer at Dicks.  I am contemplating changing it to Hischier.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, Nicomo said:

My Hall is actually the old style jersey. I bought a couple blank authentics from Meigray after we made the switch to the Adidas, and I had it made into a Hall during his MVP season. It’s kind of making my decision a little easier to just keep it as is since it is the old one. Obviously I can’t just slap a new player on it even if we get another decent #9, so my choices would be somewhat limited what player I could redo it with. It would have to be a player that wore the Edge and had a single digit number that would cover 9 well. I’ve thought about making it a White #5, but now I’m thinking about just keeping it as is. 

One that I'll say about both my Hall GWs...he was definitely in the sh!t, took his share of abuse.  Plenty of marks and repairs on both. 

It was weird to see the pregame video on the big screen and see him excised from it. 

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

I feel like Hall is leaving on a negative which really didn't need to be the case. On reflection his reaction to the boos just goes to show what his compete level is and how much the guy wants to win. 

His MVP season and that brief playoff encounter have been bright spots on what has otherwise been an incredibly sh!tty patch for this team. Personally it made me feel connected to the team again and it brought out the best in a lot of people. 

Him going is sad because really it shows that the plans Ray and the team had haven't actually come to fruition and we aren't as close as we thought we were. But I still feel steps have been made.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 minute ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

I feel like Hall is leaving on a negative which really didn't need to be the case. On reflection his reaction to the boos just goes to show what his compete level is and how much the guy wants to win. 

His MVP season and that brief playoff encounter have been bright spots on what has otherwise been an incredibly sh!tty patch for this team. Personally it made me feel connected to the team again and it brought out the best in a lot of people. 

Him going is sad because really it shows that the plans Ray and the team had haven't actually come to fruition and we aren't as close as we thought we were. But I still feel steps have been made.

Actually, I think most fans were a little sad to see him go.  I think those were pissed off about his reaction to the boos and his cupping his ear after his goal mostly got over it...and everyone is appreciating the MVP season even more now. 

Agree that it's what Hall being traded represents, probably more than Hall itself...and that's Plan A for 2019-20 falling apart...I do like Ray and am not ready to bail on him, but sometimes he sounds like he can see a mushroom cloud on the horizon and find something positive in it.  As far as steps being made...I think it's more than the Devils aren't really set back, especially financially.  It's not a team loaded with bad long-term contracts.  But the jury is definitely out on the kids who will be coming up soon to replace some of the vets who will inevitably be dealt or allowed to walk...just not sure how many UFAs really want to come here, even if the Devils are in great shape to overpay here and there. 

[RunninWithTheDevil]

NJDevs a month ago: "Why is this fvcker still on the team, trade this diva and career loser"

NJDevs today: "Ah man I'm really gonna miss that guy. Thanks for everything Tay Tay 😘🥰 Good Luck!"

[SterioDesign]

3 minutes ago, RunninWithTheDevil said:

NJDevs a month ago: "Why is this fvcker still on the team, trade this diva and career loser"

NJDevs today: "Ah man I'm really gonna miss that guy. Thanks for everything Tay Tay 😘🥰 Good Luck!"

very typical of this place haha

[Guadana]

1 hour ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Actually, I think most fans were a little sad to see him go.  I think those were pissed off about his reaction to the boos and his cupping his ear after his goal mostly got over it...and everyone is appreciating the MVP season even more now. 

Agree that it's what Hall being traded represents, probably more than Hall itself...and that's Plan A for 2019-20 falling apart...I do like Ray and am not ready to bail on him, but sometimes he sounds like he can see a mushroom cloud on the horizon and find something positive in it.  As far as steps being made...I think it's more than the Devils aren't really set back, especially financially.  It's not a team loaded with bad long-term contracts.  But the jury is definitely out on the kids who will be coming up soon to replace some of the vets who will inevitably be dealt or allowed to walk...just not sure how many UFAs really want to come here, even if the Devils are in great shape to overpay here and there. 

If shero will find new coaching stuff with nhl positive experience who can answer on question “what’s kind of play devils need to be” they will come. If everything will stay on the same line - with or without ufa vets, this devil will name ouroboros. Or Mickey.

Edited December 19, 2019 by Guadana

[titans04]

10 hours ago, Nicomo said:

 

 

I must be jaded but this is what I would expect to see. Didn't hit any nerves but wish him luck like I would any other human.

Edited December 19, 2019 by titans04

[NJDfan1711]

2 hours ago, MB3 said:

Well that's a pretty silly thing to say. He put up 208 points in 211 career games as a Devil. You know who else, in the history of the franchise, averaged that many points per game? 

Nobody else.

How's that silly?  I said he was above average.  You want me to call him elite?  Amazing? Prolific?  I don't overuse those designations, and prefer to save them for players who have accomplished similar feats/numbers, but for longer and more significant periods of time.  A guy scores 50 goals for a season....is he elite?  Not in my book.  Now if he scored 50 goals 7 times over a 12 year career, then yeah, that's different.  200 games is kind of a small sample size if you ask me.  

 

3 hours ago, Nicomo said:

My Hall is actually the old style jersey. I bought a couple blank authentics from Meigray after we made the switch to the Adidas, and I had it made into a Hall during his MVP season. It’s kind of making my decision a little easier to just keep it as is since it is the old one. Obviously I can’t just slap a new player on it even if we get another decent #9, so my choices would be somewhat limited what player I could redo it with. It would have to be a player that wore the Edge and had a single digit number that would cover 9 well. I’ve thought about making it a White #5, but now I’m thinking about just keeping it as is. 

Ah, that's cool.  I'd probably feel the same way and just keep it if I had him on an old one too - but since I don't have any other new ones, and I don't feel like buying another one right now, I might still opt to remove him and get someone else new.   Glad you mentioned having to cover up the number though....stupidly I completely forgot about that part - I was just thinking, naively, that it would simply peel/remove off without any trace or residue behind.  Guess I gotta start thinking about who/what number would make sense there...

Edited December 19, 2019 by NJDfan1711

[mfitz804]

2 hours ago, RunninWithTheDevil said:

NJDevs a month ago: "Why is this fvcker still on the team, trade this diva and career loser"

NJDevs today: "Ah man I'm really gonna miss that guy. Thanks for everything Tay Tay 😘🥰 Good Luck!"

 

2 hours ago, SterioDesign said:

very typical of this place haha

You forgot "Trade that guy for some assets instead of losing him for free" and then "What? Only 3 of their top 9 prospects and two draft picks???"

[Devilsfan118]

Man I guess I was just ready for this trade to happen because I'm feeling very little sadness about his departure.  I absolutely wish things had gone differently and that he'd have ended up playing here for the next decade or whatever but.. it is what it is.  

If I'm being totally honest, I expected him to take some shots on his way out the door about the team and fan base.  But he mostly avoided doing that, so kudos to him.

[Devs1965]

Nothing like a couple wins to make you go Taylor who? All kidding aside I wish him the best and he did give us some great hockey especially 2017 but I never felt he was a true Devil or he truly wanted to be here. Really hoping the new effort we are seeing on the ice gives us a better second half of the season. The last 3 games the players just look more focused and into the game. LGD!!!

[SterioDesign]

59 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

You forgot "Trade that guy for some assets instead of losing him for free" and then "What? Only 3 of their top 9 prospects and two draft picks???"

How could i forget? lol

or fans whining that a coach is not doing anything when he's not shuffling his lines... but when he's shuffling his lines they whine that the players cannot build chemistry cause he's changing the lines lol 

[SterioDesign]

Not important. But Hall always reminded me of what my buddy Nick Diener would look like say he'd eat something and had an allergic reaction or if he got stung in the face by a bee... he's the singer here lol

 

[mfitz804]

3 hours ago, MB3 said:

You said "somewhat of an above average player" while he was here, which I think is a silly moniker to apply to the guy who will hold the most points-per-game in a Devils sweater in franchise history for a long time. If that's not elite production, I don't know what the fvck you were expecting. You also said "I think maybe I've seen too much hockey, because I seem to look at things more collectively." which made me laugh, because it implies that everyone else in this discussion hasn't. 

Also, 50 goals doesn’t make a player elite, but that’s a pretty elite fvcking season. 

[Nicomo]

2 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Also, 50 goals doesn’t make a player elite, but that’s a pretty elite fvcking season. 

I’d say. There’s only 6 active players right now that have done it (Ovi, Crosby, Stamkos, Malkin, Perry, Draisaitl). 

With the exception of Perry, who was pretty close at one point (Hart Trophy winner), those guys are all unquestionably elite players. 

[mfitz804]

10 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

I’d say. There’s only 6 active players right now that have done it (Ovi, Crosby, Stamkos, Malkin, Perry, Draisaitl). 

With the exception of Perry, who was pretty close at one point (Hart Trophy winner), those guys are all unquestionably elite players. 

Yup. Scoring 50 is not easy to do if you aren’t.