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Colorado Rockies 1976

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Speaking of the Isles…now 1-7-3 in their last 11 GP with just 18 goals scored (36 allowed).  This is “Change the coach and hope for the best”-type sh!t.  Really does feel like Lou’s out of magic.

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1 minute ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Canucks are still having a season. The game against Seattle was bad and the Seattle crowd was changing "Bruce, there it is" lol.

i BET ALL THOSE sEATTLE FANS WERE PREVIOUSLY cANUCKS FANS.

Edit:  It seems as though I left caps lock on 🧐

Edited by Crisis
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@Devilsfan118 re:  Lou needing to retire (discussing it in here because it's more relevant), yeah, feels like it's time.  It would be easy to point to his age as a primary reason (he's 80), but it just feels like the game has finally and completely passed him by, regardless of how old he is.

Given what he inherited, it's impossible to say he's done a good job since taking over the Islanders.  He snatched up Trotz as soon as he became available, and that's really the one move over any other that led to the already-talented Islanders making some noise, as Trotz implemented a much-needed system for on-ice success...but it's gotten to the point where due to Lou's past (especially his pre-2013 Devils body of work), people almost assume it must be ALL Lou whenever one of his teams is winning.  I think other GMs could've done as much, if given as much to work with.  Lou was obviously very smart and proactive in jumping at the chance to hire Trotz, but I gotta think several other GMs would've done the same.  

Really, outside of bringing in Lehner for one year and smartly cutting bait, and replacing him with Varlamov at reasonable coin, what else has he really done that's all that impressive?  I guess Parise's been kinda-sorta cost-effective but geez when you're paying a guy $750k, you're probably not going to underperform with regards to your contract.  Palms should've been signed to a one (maybe two max) year "show me" deal...were there many (any?) bidders willing to go longer?  And for such a meh team, they're not only costly, but they don't have all that much coming off next year...according to Capfriendly, they'll have about $10.5 million to spend (Varlamov is the biggest hit coming off, at $5 million AAV).  Maybe Lou can make some trades to open up more cap space, but if you're an Islander fan, do you have much confidence in Lou to get creative at this point in his career?  Or that he'll have the answers?  I wouldn't...not in 2023, and not based on what I've seen him do as the Isles' GM to date.   

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@devlman re:  Lou "destroying the team", the one question that he absolutely needs to answer is why the hell did he can Trotz?  It's not like Trotz didn't have a 13-game road trip to start the season...sure, they didn't play terribly well at home initially (and I think they also dealt with at least one Covid breakout), but it's not like their season went completely down the tank...after a 5-10-5 start (includes that insane road trip of course), they went 30-20-4 before faltering at the very end.  There was more than enough there (especially with the previous seasons' work) to justify Trotz getting another season...there were reasons to write off last season as being more of an anomaly, than an indictment on the head coach.

Basically, if you're going to make that kind of a move, you better be DAMNED sure about it, and it better pay off.  It hasn't.  And things are getting worse.  This one falls COMPLETELY on Lou.   

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Yeah it looks like Lou is done. He (well, Trotz) got them to the conference finals a couple of times  but Lou was never able to build on that. You have to think they could have got something better than Palmieri and Zajac for that 1st they gave us for example (not complaining though) or better than Romanov at the draft for the 13th (?) overall, 12th? Whatever it was. I know he’s big on team chemistry and ”everyone has a role” but just like it was time for him to move on from here, it’s probably time for him to move on from hockey. Enjoy retirement, let the Devils honor you, live the rest of your life as a legend. 

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8 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

Yeah it looks like Lou is done. He (well, Trotz) got them to the conference finals a couple of times  but Lou was never able to build on that. You have to think they could have got something better than Palmieri and Zajac for that 1st they gave us for example (not complaining though) or better than Romanov at the draft for the 13th (?) overall, 12th? Whatever it was. I know he’s big on team chemistry and ”everyone has a role” but just like it was time for him to move on from here, it’s probably time for him to move on from hockey. Enjoy retirement, let the Devils honor you, live the rest of your life as a legend. 

Yeah if anything people can look back on his time with the Isles and say "Hey even near the end he still got his team to a couple of Conference Finals!"  Even if he really didn't have THAT much to do with it.  At least it's not like it was embarrassing by any stretch.  

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10 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Lou needs to retire so he can assume his rightful place in the Ring of Honor. 

If anything it would be nice to see that fired up again...hopefully after Lou, others might follow.  Right now it's the Panel of Honor.

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43 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

If anything it would be nice to see that fired up again...hopefully after Lou, others might follow.  Right now it's the Panel of Honor.

I’m telling ya, they are waiting on Lou. I believe ownership rightfully believes the next person to receive that honor after Dr. McMullen is Lou. After Lou, we can talk about adding players. But there are no Cups, and quite frankly, there are no New Jersey Devils, without Lou.

Edited by MadDog2020
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Remember that Islander game in early December when Jack Hughes had the monster shift with the goalie pulled and the Islanders played great and won 6-4? 

It's a looooong season. 

Is their problem depth scoring? Or is it they don't have studs with big production? I thought Barzal had the talent to be a bigger threat, but maybe not. Possibly, he doesn't have enough around him. I don't really know. 

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4 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

@devlman re:  Lou "destroying the team", the one question that he absolutely needs to answer is why the hell did he can Trotz?  It's not like Trotz didn't have a 13-game road trip to start the season...sure, they didn't play terribly well at home initially (and I think they also dealt with at least one Covid breakout), but it's not like their season went completely down the tank...after a 5-10-5 start (includes that insane road trip of course), they went 30-20-4 before faltering at the very end.  There was more than enough there (especially with the previous seasons' work) to justify Trotz getting another season...there were reasons to write off last season as being more of an anomaly, than an indictment on the head coach.

Basically, if you're going to make that kind of a move, you better be DAMNED sure about it, and it better pay off.  It hasn't.  And things are getting worse.  This one falls COMPLETELY on Lou.   

The Trotz firing made absolutely no sense. Lambert was supposed to be a Trotz disciple but why trust him when you have the real deal Trotz himself? The old retread signings, lack of support for Barzal. What a disaster.

It’s completely on Lou.

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6 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Tage Thompson looks unstoppable.

Jagr or Lemieux vibes...I'm telling you. He could easily score 50 once Buffalo is as good as NJ. 

I envision some wild playoff series between New Jersey and Buffalo in the next 3-4 years with what they are building there. 

Imagine a playoffs series with the d corps and future d corps of both squads. 

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19 minutes ago, RizzMB30 said:

Jagr or Lemieux vibes...I'm telling you. He could easily score 50 once Buffalo is as good as NJ. 

I envision some wild playoff series between New Jersey and Buffalo in the next 3-4 years with what they are building there. 

Imagine a playoffs series with the d corps and future d corps of both squads. 

My best friend is a Sabres fan and we haven't been able to watch a series against each other yet, so I definitely hope so.

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2 hours ago, RunninWithTheDevil said:

I don't think anyone on this board has ever really discussed it but I thought Lou did a decent job his last few years in NJ

You-know-who is desperately trying to find a way to scale the alligator-infested moat, landmines, barbed-wire fence and sniper-laden brick wall so he can lend his unique insight on this very topic…

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1 hour ago, RizzMB30 said:

Jagr or Lemieux vibes...I'm telling you. He could easily score 50 once Buffalo is as good as NJ. 

I envision some wild playoff series between New Jersey and Buffalo in the next 3-4 years with what they are building there. 

Imagine a playoffs series with the d corps and future d corps of both squads. 

Pretty sure he’s on pace to score almost 60 this season. 

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2 hours ago, Devilsfan118 said:

He doesn't get nearly enough hate, honestly.  Dude is an absolute clown.

Seriously, just keep playing in your stupid band, STFU, and stay in the background.  And keeping thanking whatever deity you might believe in that the right daddy was responsible for half your chromosome count…though with the way that this guy acts, I wouldn’t be surprised if an extra chromosome or two was floating around in there somewhere…

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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