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Devs3cups

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5 minutes ago, Devs3cups said:

Fitz has been GM for like 18 months. He’s made some real good things in the short period he’s been here. Not sure I would blame him still.

Unfortunately as a GM you’re directly tied to who you bring in as coach. And he not only went with a pretty unpopular choice in Ruff, he also kept Nas over from the previous regime. 

Neither move really feel defensible to me at this point. 

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Nowadays once the season starts it’s almost impossible to make any moves to improve the badly constructed teams, the time for moves is almost exclusively 1) Trade deadline 2) Off-season.
 

Fitz has been active in both for 2 years, nevertheless there’s just not enough in top 6 talent in the org even if bottom 6 depth is reasonable. Probably better coaching would help though 

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5 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Unfortunately as a GM you’re directly tied to who you bring in as coach. And he not only went with a pretty unpopular choice in Ruff, he also kept Nas over from the previous regime. 

Neither move really feel defensible to me at this point. 

And not firing them and admitting you fvcked up is even less defensible. AFTER this clown told us he wanted ‘meaningful games in March’. He can fvck off into the sun AFAIC. All talk, just like the rest of this organization.

Edited by MadDog2020
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4 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Unfortunately as a GM you’re directly tied to who you bring in as coach. And he not only went with a pretty unpopular choice in Ruff, he also kept Nas over from the previous regime. 

Neither move really feel defensible to me at this point. 

I mean, we said the same thing about DeBoer and Hynes too, look how their teams are doing right now. 

Maybe Ruff is part of the problem, maybe our depth is an even bigger problem, and another coaching staff wouldn’t do better. I feel like this young team needs stability. I’d honestly be surprised if Ruff is here next year, given the criticism, but I’m not sure changing the coach in the middle of a season where we have trouble getting NHL goaltending, there’s COVID and all, etc. is gonna change a lot for this group, or is even the right thing to do.

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7 minutes ago, Devs3cups said:

I mean, we said the same thing about DeBoer and Hynes too, look how their teams are doing right now. 

Maybe Ruff is part of the problem, maybe our depth is an even bigger problem, and another coaching staff wouldn’t do better. I feel like this young team needs stability. I’d honestly be surprised if Ruff is here next year, given the criticism, but I’m not sure changing the coach in the middle of a season where we have trouble getting NHL goaltending, there’s COVID and all, etc. is gonna change a lot for this group, or is even the right thing to do.

Oh I don’t really care if we fire Ruff in the middle of the season or not. We’re already sunk, and pretty much a guaranteed lottery team. I just don’t think he was a good choice in the first place, and that’s 100% on Fitz. And Nas certainly shouldn’t have been kept around. Especially after last season when we had a historically bad PK for much of the year. 

 

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6 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

If he is playing hurt, I think he needs to be shut down for the rest of the season. I find that a much more likely scenario than anything else. 

Bring him back in the fall when he’s healthy, and if he sucks, ship him out. 

those numbers show a pretty significant slide over 3 seasons (heavy downward the last 2). Wasn't hurt last year was he?

My personal opinion his biggest injury and weakness is between the ears everything else is secondary. 

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6 minutes ago, titans04 said:

those numbers show a pretty significant slide over 3 seasons (heavy downward the last 2). Wasn't hurt last year was he?

My personal opinion his biggest injury and weakness is between the ears everything else is secondary. 

Well, he had surgery in the offseason, and he never looked quite the same after coming back from COVID. I don't know when he was injured, as we know they don't always tell us that. 

People questioning him mentally base it most on something that isn't really related to hockey at all. Especially on this board. 

But like I said, if he's healthy and he's still having significant issues, then he needs to be replaced. 

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I guess if he were to get a pass last year and this year on the heel those numbers are meaningless. I don't give him the entire benefit of the doubt but that's just me.

Guess what I'm ultimately saying is if they continue to believe he's a #1 I think they're making a mistake. However I would  bet they burn away yet another season next year on this experiment and some other long shots.  As many other have pointed out the lack of urgency is apparent while apathy and complacency has settled in pretty solidly.

Edited by titans04
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49 minutes ago, titans04 said:

I guess if he were to get a pass last year and this year on the heel those numbers are meaningless. I don't give him the entire benefit of the doubt but that's just me.

Guess what I'm ultimately saying is if they continue to believe he's a #1 I think they're making a mistake. However I would  bet they burn away yet another season next year on this experiment and some other long shots.  As many other have pointed out the lack of urgency is apparent while apathy and complacency has settled in pretty solidly.

I just find it hard to believe that a goalie looks one way, then had COVID and a heel injury, and looks another way, and the reason for that difference is just lack of talent. We saw exactly this with Cory Schneider, whom we all accused of having forgotten how to play hockey, meanwhile he was playing through a hip injury, which is especially bad news for a goalie. 

I'm not one to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, but I also don't know if I am prepared to pass judgment on a guy's entire career based on a handful of games, especially where it seems a bunch of the games in that handful he was at less than full capacity. 

If it turns out I'm wrong, ship him back to Thunder Bay with a bow on his forehead. 

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gotcha.

I also find him based on seeing and listening to him speak to be weak between the ears.  That's not just based on his whole position on doing his own research etc.  For example listening to him after the last game I thought was indicative of a guy who was tone deaf to what had happened and took very little if any responsibility for his performance.  If I recall properly it literally took Amanda of all people to call him out saying something along the lines of well shouldn't/couldn't of you played better or what's it gonna take?  He had a bag full of excuses. 

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3 minutes ago, titans04 said:

gotcha.

I also find him based on seeing and listening to him speak to be weak between the ears.  That's not just based on his whole position on doing his own research etc.  For example listening to him after the last game I thought was indicative of a guy who was tone deaf to what had happened and took very little if any responsibility for his performance.  If I recall properly it literally took Amanda of all people to call him out saying something along the lines of well shouldn't/couldn't of you played better or what's it gonna take?  He had a bag full of excuses. 

I don’t really consider a lot of things hockey players say and I don’t spend a lot of time listening to press conferences. He may have made a ton of excuses. But this whole “he’s weak mentally” thing started immediately after he was discovered to be the vaccine holdout. 

If we are going to judge guys’ mental competence based off their interviews, there’s plenty of really bad ones out there. 

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2 minutes ago, EdgeControl said:

the organization knew then needed a significant plan B for blackwood, they just failed miserably at it.. who will they bring in next year ??? fricken cary price, lundqvist?? 

The UFA market for goalies is pretty grim this year. 

https://www.spotrac.com/nhl/free-agents/2022/goaltender/ufa/

 

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8 minutes ago, EdgeControl said:

the organization knew then needed a significant plan B for blackwood, they just failed miserably at it.. who will they bring in next year ??? fricken cary price, lundqvist?? 

You probably saw my post, re:  Devils drafting goalies for the past 30 years or so.  Their track record there has been awful...scary to think what would've happened if Marty hadn't been as good as he was for as long as he was.

Bernier made sense as a solid 1A/1B option, but goddamn it seems like solid on-paper moves made by Shero and Fitz have a way of not working out.  

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3 hours ago, Devs3cups said:

Fitz has been GM for like 18 months. He’s made some real good things in the short period he’s been here. Not sure I would blame him still.

His inability to build a group of wingers to surround Nico/Jack has been a failure. We must have the worst crop of wingers in the league.

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33 minutes ago, devlman said:

His inability to build a group of wingers to surround Nico/Jack has been a failure. We must have the worst crop of wingers in the league.

It’s pretty brutal. Bratt is the only one that would be top 6 on a good team. 

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I’m to the point with Fitzgerald that if I see him on the concourse at a game, I’m putting him up against the wall by his collar and demanding he fvcking do something or resign. I’ve had it. I’ll count on all of you to crowdsource my bail money 😄

Edited by MadDog2020
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4 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

I’m to the point with Fitzgerald that if I see him on the concourse at a game, I’m putting him up against the wall by his collar and demanding he fvcking do something or resign. I’ve had it. I’ll count on all of you to crowdsource my bail money 😄

This would be Gionta vs Chara all over again…

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4 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

I’m to the point with Fitzgerald that if I see him on the concourse at a game, I’m putting him up against the wall by his collar and demanding he fvcking do something or resign. I’ve had it. I’ll count on all of you to crowdsource my bail money 😄

I don’t condone such actions MD (lol), but maybe Mfitz can represent you in court. We’ll try to track down some goalie pucks to cover his fee. 

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1 hour ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Bernier made sense as a solid 1A/1B option, but goddamn it seems like solid on-paper moves made by Shero and Fitz have a way of not working out.  

Bernier made sense until you realize he had a lower body injury , before we signed him. And then bam, he's under the knife..  

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