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GDT: Devils @ Pens 7:00 4/20


Jerzey

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8 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

This really is the 80s Devils all over again.  That team was building strictly through the draft, and giving guys like Jan Ludvig a look for the hell of it.  Until further notice, looks like this franchise will be content to do the same.  Hopefully they hit on these picks.  

I have felt that way for some time.  But is that really so bad?  After all, look at what all that patience led.  The Devils of the ‘90s-00s were arguably the best team of their era (the only competitor is the Red Wings and a good case can be made for them).  
 

Anyway, look at the bright side.... we have managed to avoid the Alain Chevrier phase of this rebuild, right?

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7 hours ago, Nicomo said:

You’re not kidding. I just looked out of curiosity, and his highest save % on the season was .902 (6 GP/4 starts). He’s been awful. 

If that was not the case, I don’t imagine he would still be here for last nights game. He probably would have been moved. 

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10 hours ago, Jerrydevil said:

I'm not going to tell you that you're wrong, but I would give the head coach and GM some more rope.

I have a theory I've been thinking about for the past few days that Fitzy undermined Ruff the day he hired him by keeping Nas for that "continuity" bs excuse. Gonna post in the season thread if I can ever make the thoughts come out coherent.

10 hours ago, Nicomo said:

I think so, yes. Jack scored. Nico scored. Sharongovich had an awesome goal. Foote got his first...

I don’t care about wins/losses right now. I just want to see the young guys playing well. 

I'm all for the youth getting experience, regardless of forward or defender. That being said, I still do not understand in what universe a 30 year old, trash journeyman like Matt Tennyson is getting preference over ANY other defender in the A or Taxi. I couldn't care less if he is a "good soldier" down there, he isn't part of this future and, frankly, has no business being on the active roster. Admittedly I only watched a few minutes of this game but every time I see a 7 on the ice now, I cant help but wonder if its tennyson or the ghost of the end of Tallinder's career that was also a freaking pylon.

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8 hours ago, elias2600 said:

We need more than a couple adds. Fitz has his work cut out for him in the FA market.

Shockingly, we need goaltending most of all.

 

Reliable goaltending (something we have not received from Blackwood this year barring his first few games) has to be the backbone a team that will still be young and inexperienced even if we bring in a few veteran skaters through FA.

Next year is an important year for Mac.  He's looked very good at times, not so good at others.  Hoping he's the answer, because as far as I can tell, there's no obvious candidate from within to push him.  

4 hours ago, AEWHistory said:

I have felt that way for some time.  But is that really so bad?  After all, look at what all that patience led.  The Devils of the ‘90s-00s were arguably the best team of their era (the only competitor is the Red Wings and a good case can be made for them).  
 

Anyway, look at the bright side.... we have managed to avoid the Alain Chevrier phase of this rebuild, right?

Chevrier...yikes.  I remember when he was pissed that Burke was more or less given his job, with Sauve serving as backup...Chevrier was basically flat-out forgotten, and with good reason.  He was not good...87-88 would've been yet another season that started great and then fell apart in the final months, had Chevy still been in the fold.

If they want to commit to building almost entirely through the draft and make stopgap or low cost/low reward types of moves, so be it...but they better hit on a lot of those picks...and not be afraid to make gutsy moves when necessary, if they're lucky enough to build up a surplus of solid youth.  They also better realize that some good players are going to get tired of what's going to feel like a lack of urgency on management's part, if they're just kinda making meh moves and waiting for kids to come up and fill holes, and not really exploring any other options to speed things up.  Nico is already going to be 23 years old in 2022, and in Year 5 of his career....not saying he's been awesome to date (still believe in him though), and the Devils did take care of him with a nice long-term deal, but if this thing isn't moving along in a couple of years, does he get fed up?   

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Since it’s official that the rest of the games don’t matter, I don’t care what the results are. I want to see things like we saw last night. Don’t give up. Score goals. Let’s see if the guys who are supposed to be our “core” are capable of that. Let’s evaluate the rest of the kids and see who is NHL material, who can contribute, etc. 

I think we have a lot of work to do in terms of adding pieces from the outside. But these games are about looking over what we’ve already got. 

I won’t root for losses like some people, but if we have a good showing, even if we have a bad showing like last night and show some fire and ability to come back, that’s good news. If we happen to lose and our draft position improves, happy to move up. 

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11 hours ago, MB3 said:

I would rather the team leave New Jersey and become something else entirely than have to deal with 5 more seasons of cheering for a fvcking laughingstock. 

I always enjoy your rants whether I agree or not but this is easily the worst thing you've ever said lol

I'd be 100% done with the NHL entirely if this nightmare scenario ever actually happened. 

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32 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Next year is an important year for Mac.  He's looked very good at times, not so good at others.  Hoping he's the answer, because as far as I can tell, there's no obvious candidate from within to push him.  

I'm curious to see what he does next season. Young goaltenders tend to be inconsistent, so I'm not worried about him. The talent and potential are there, and he's shown great things in front of a sub-par defence. I think people sometimes don't realize that Mac has less than 100 games played in the NHL and has never actually played a full season (based on circumstances with the 2 COVID seasons but still). I'd like to see him in "normal" circumstances and with a half decent defence before passing judgement on him. With all that in mind, I've been pretty happy with him and his development. 

I'm not ready to say that next season is the "end all, be all" season for Mac, he's been put in weird situations these last 2 seasons, and he's been affected by COVID in a pretty big way IMO. But the rest of his contract is important.

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10 hours ago, NJDevils1214 said:

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I see where you're coming from on one hand, but like Fitz said there is no way that not covering guys, fvcking up passes, not hitting the net, letting in ground balls, etc is in the game plan. They seem to make those mistakes, get burned, and then find a way to dig deep and battle back a lot of nights. I feel like the latter is more on the coach than the former.

The other night Kuokkanen missed like 7+ shots though 2 periods against the Rangers. If they were setting up for endless shots from the point that were just getting blocked every time then that is on the coaches for not adjusting the game plan, but I don't see how someone can blame the coaches for a player just not hitting the net over and over. Where do you draw the line between coach's responsibility and players? Is it also the coach's fault Johnsson didn't score for like 30 games or that Goose had to be terminated he was so bad? 

Recchi and Nas need to go, but I don't think there is a better option than Ruff at this point and his track record with young guys seems to be legit-- not that there aren't mistakes, but most of our young talent is playing well for him. I can't think of many Devils teams that would have battled back after being down 6 in the 3rd.

Speaking of which, you guys remember this game against Toronto? I think if they had pulled it off tonight the comeback would have rivaled this one:

 

Nice video.  Some things I noticed..

Zajac 300th game

Mottau wearing #27 🤮

No horn when time ran out so some players were still playing

18 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said:

I don't get why people root this way either way, it's not like this team needs any imaginary help to lose, they have lost 7 straight in regulation and only have 4 home wins all year. They got losing covered lol

I was kinda sorta rooting for the Devils to lose by 2 (only if they didn't win!) but the comeback really fvcked up my parlay.

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1 hour ago, Satans Hockey said:

I don't get why people root this way either way, it's not like this team needs any imaginary help to lose, they have lost 7 straight in regulation and only have 4 home wins all year. They got losing covered lol

As opposed to rooting for winning, which obviously influences the results of the games LOL.

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Fitz is a rookie GM so the book is still out on him but Lindy is not a loser. He’s had a winning record just about every season as a head coach and was the last coach to be over .500 in Buffalo - a decade ago. They aren’t the problem, the problems go beyond them starting with ownership and their lack of urgency or hockey knowledge, right on down through Shero whose lack of effective moves and blind spot with Hynes caused rebuild 2.0 and a ‘process’ roster this year exacerbated by a COVID schedule and outbreak.

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Watched only a little bit of this game.  Wedge had a really rough game and more evidence why he is at best a backup goalie.  To his credit though, the defense in front didn't do him any favors.

I really don't know anything about the Blackwood or Smith injuries, but I have a feeling for the rest of the season we will have these completely random and mysterious injuries to our players.  Management is really putting their money all-in on Power I guess.

Foote looks to have the shot and finish we need.  Hopefully this carries over into next season.  Ditto on Sharangovich; he has looked good this past month and that goal he scored was quite impressive.  If we can get someone better than Kuokkanen with him and Hughes that line I can see some big things next season.

Blackwood's big goal between now and the end of next season is to build up some consistency.  He cannot do these stretches where he is hot for 5 games and then cold for 5 games.

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7 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

They aren’t the problem, the problems go beyond them starting with ownership and their lack of urgency or hockey knowledge, right on down through Shero whose lack of effective moves and blind spot with Hynes caused rebuild 2.0 and a ‘process’ roster this year exacerbated by a COVID schedule and outbreak.

Speaking of Shero..... is dude still alive? The Devils fired him in January of 2020, and I swear, I haven’t seen a quote, an interview, a sound bite or anything whatsoever from him since his firing. He went completely off the grid.

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3 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Speaking of Shero..... is dude still alive? The Devils fired him in January of 2020, and I swear, I haven’t seen a quote, an interview, a sound bite or anything whatsoever from him since his firing. He went completely off the grid.

Yeah I’ve posted about this too...it’s weird.  

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Shero is still under contract - even though he was fired - and so he most likely has to abide by a gag order or risk not getting paid what is owed to him.  He will come alive as soon as his present contract with the NJD comes to an end.

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7 hours ago, Mitico12 said:

Shero is still under contract - even though he was fired - and so he most likely has to abide by a gag order or risk not getting paid what is owed to him.  He will come alive as soon as his present contract with the NJD comes to an end.

Do we know when that is?

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