njbuff Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 If the Devils all of a sudden get hot and barely miss the playoffs……. If I was the owner, I’m cleaning house because waiting too long to fire Lindy and getting a competent goalie is inexcusable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButlerBulldog Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 12 minutes ago, njbuff said: If the Devils all of a sudden get hot and barely miss the playoffs……. If I was the owner, I’m cleaning house because waiting too long to fire Lindy and getting a competent goalie is inexcusable. The Devils making the playoffs would be the ultimate test of whether Fitz has learned anything from this season. If he fires the coaching staff (minus Sarge, of course) and brings in Berube and Soros, we’ll know that he has. If he retains Green and makes only fringe changes to the coaching staff and roster, we’ll know that he hasn’t. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButlerBulldog Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njbuff Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 1 minute ago, ButlerBulldog said: I have my issues with Marty, but it was nice to not really worry about the goalie position for 20 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButlerBulldog Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 2 minutes ago, njbuff said: I have my issues with Marty, but it was nice to not really worry about the goalie position for 20 years. For roughly a decade, the Devils didn’t have to worry about their own zone, period. It would be nice to get back to that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 Jack has 8 points in his last 5 games, 19 points in his last 15 games. Overall, his PPG pace (1.25) is nearly identical to last season (1.27), granted his even strength production has been down. Still, pretty impressive when it's pretty clear he's playing banged up. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 (edited) 5 minutes ago, nmigliore said: Jack has 8 points in his last 5 games, 19 points in his last 15 games. Overall, his PPG pace (1.25) is nearly identical to last season (1.27), granted his even strength production has been down. Still, pretty impressive when it's pretty clear he's playing banged up. Yeah guys like Jack and Nico are not the problem here. Coaches who insist on not only on keeping Smith in the lineup but make sure to stick him with Nemec to boot…THAT’S a fvcking problem. Edited March 28 by Colorado Rockies 1976 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagknife Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 7 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said: Yeah guys like Jack and Nico are not the problem here. Coaches who insist on not only on keeping Smith in the lineup but make sure to stick him with Nemec to boot…THAT’S a fvcking problem. These big brained coaches who think that they can force things because they “know more than the average person” will cost our team if Fitz doesn’t nail this hire. exhibit a: Timo has been on absolute fire since our coaches took the leash off of him and let him play his game. fitz brought guys in for specific purposes, and it would behove a wise person to use them for their strengths. and as for Smith… just 9 more games, 9. More. Games. Of that a$$hole 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagknife Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 13 hours ago, ButlerBulldog said: Yeah… Marty can stop. Game has changed significantly. Even he couldn’t keep up (yes age was a huge factor). He was also a freak in net so it was a massive help. on the flip side, Marty the executive hasn’t exactly been nailing it. His obsession with Rogalski giving that useless turd what appears to be immunity AND botching the easiest third jersey design ever are two massive fouls against him in my eyes. That’s not even approaching his personal life, which is none of my business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButlerBulldog Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 28 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said: Yeah guys like Jack and Nico are not the problem here. Coaches who insist on not only on keeping Smith in the lineup but make sure to stick him with Nemec to boot…THAT’S a fvcking problem. If you look at the postgame performance breakdown that @Nicomo shares, Nemec’s recent struggles started the moment he was paired with Smith. [sarcasm]It’s as if requiring a 20-year-old rookie to do the work of two people is asking too much.[/sarcasm] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicomo Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 13 minutes ago, jagknife said: Yeah… Marty can stop. Game has changed significantly. Even he couldn’t keep up (yes age was a huge factor). He was also a freak in net so it was a massive help. on the flip side, Marty the executive hasn’t exactly been nailing it. His obsession with Rogalski giving that useless turd what appears to be immunity AND botching the easiest third jersey design ever are two massive fouls against him in my eyes. That’s not even approaching his personal life, which is none of my business. The days of the workhorse #1 might be long gone, but he’s right about how volatile the position is now. You can count on one hand how many guys teams would be comfortable paying big money/term to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satans Hockey Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 36 minutes ago, jagknife said: Yeah… Marty can stop. Game has changed significantly. Even he couldn’t keep up (yes age was a huge factor). He was also a freak in net so it was a massive help. on the flip side, Marty the executive hasn’t exactly been nailing it. His obsession with Rogalski giving that useless turd what appears to be immunity AND botching the easiest third jersey design ever are two massive fouls against him in my eyes. That’s not even approaching his personal life, which is none of my business. Lets be real, Marty had absolutely nothing to do with the 3rd jersey, the team used him as a marketing tool with that nonsense. Business wise those jerseys have sold though so while people may not like them they definitely weren't a failure in terms of selling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 1 hour ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said: Yeah guys like Jack and Nico are not the problem here. Coaches who insist on not only on keeping Smith in the lineup but make sure to stick him with Nemec to boot…THAT’S a fvcking problem. I'm not surprised why Smith is playing ("veteran presence", "locker room guy", blah blah blah) but it's unfortunate Hatakka can't get an extended look in place of him. Smith is gone after this season while Hatakka is still just 23 and a pending RFA. The Devils have outscored teams 11-6 with him on the ice at five-on-five (and are in the plus for other metrics like expected goals and high danger shot attempts). 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButlerBulldog Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 1 hour ago, nmigliore said: I'm not surprised why Smith is playing ("veteran presence", "locker room guy", blah blah blah) but it's unfortunate Hatakka can't get an extended look in place of him. Smith is gone after this season while Hatakka is still just 23 and a pending RFA. The Devils have outscored teams 11-6 with him on the ice at five-on-five (and are in the plus for other metrics like expected goals and high danger shot attempts). This post more or less mirrors my feelings. If the Devils are not going to make the playoffs, they should at least use the remaining time to evaluate young players to figure out if they fit into the team’s plans for next season. Smith isn’t going to be here, but Hatakka might be, so why not pair him with Nemec and send Smith home? The Devils can survive 2 1/2 weeks without his locker room presence. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 1 hour ago, nmigliore said: I'm not surprised why Smith is playing ("veteran presence", "locker room guy", blah blah blah) but it's unfortunate Hatakka can't get an extended look in place of him. Smith is gone after this season while Hatakka is still just 23 and a pending RFA. The Devils have outscored teams 11-6 with him on the ice at five-on-five (and are in the plus for other metrics like expected goals and high danger shot attempts). Yeah I'd MUCH rather see what Hatakka's got. I already know what Smith's got, and not much of it is worth watching. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButlerBulldog Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 https://newjerseyhockeynow.com/2024/03/28/former-devils-goaltender-ready-to-move-on-vitek-vanecek-tom-fitzgerald-kaapo-kahkonen-mackenzie-blackwood/?fbclid=IwAR1a3GUK-3ue0LCAOEi6rOScG72aBlfhlrSdvosl5WvtSRjffBlBXgIpHsA_aem_AW5IT_fPYeK1PDDmS0LZrYSxFE7tdDiQBiRo-RyCjcSHiR1q4avv2QYZFResf21wowM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevils1214 Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 36 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said: https://newjerseyhockeynow.com/2024/03/28/former-devils-goaltender-ready-to-move-on-vitek-vanecek-tom-fitzgerald-kaapo-kahkonen-mackenzie-blackwood/?fbclid=IwAR1a3GUK-3ue0LCAOEi6rOScG72aBlfhlrSdvosl5WvtSRjffBlBXgIpHsA_aem_AW5IT_fPYeK1PDDmS0LZrYSxFE7tdDiQBiRo-RyCjcSHiR1q4avv2QYZFResf21wowM Best of luck to him. I am sure he was not having the best time mentally either. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 15 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said: Best of luck to him. I am sure he was not having the best time mentally either. Sometimes you just need a fresh start; hope Vitek does well out there. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 (edited) 17 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said: Best of luck to him. I am sure he was not having the best time mentally either. The thing about him is as much as he was blasted on here (and even though the Devils do little to make life easy for their goalies, he obviously wasn't great by any stretch), he's really only had one bad year, and his record itself this season somehow actually wasn't bad. He could rebound and be the middle-of-the-road guy to slightly above that he was prior. But even though it was a brief stay, it was already time for both parties to move on from each other. The potential for a serious blow-up had Fitz decided to bet on a bounceback was just waaaaaaay too strong. One narrative that needs to be quelled is that somehow a tandem of Allen and Kahkonen would've had the Devils in the playoffs, had they been here longer. These guys are absolutely playing out of their minds right now...and over their heads. It would be nice if the Devils could stop making them work so damned hard, but unless that happens, they're going to start giving up their fair share of goals. The looks that other teams get... Edited March 28 by Colorado Rockies 1976 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicomo Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 First paragraph about gave me a heart attack. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 10 minutes ago, Nicomo said: First paragraph about gave me a heart attack. Yeah, sure was great watching the Devils allow a game’s worth of shots in THE FIRST PERIOD against the Leafs. If Groan somehow gets the job I think I’m done with Fitz. That CANNOT fvcking happen. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButlerBulldog Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 22 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said: Yeah, sure was great watching the Devils allow a game’s worth of shots in THE FIRST PERIOD against the Leafs. If Groan somehow gets the job I think I’m done with Fitz. That CANNOT fvcking happen. That’s the singular fear I have about the Devils somehow sneaking into the postseason: Fitz seeing Green as a long-term answer and removing the “interim” tag. While Green has made some adjustments I like (e.g., Timo playing RW and alongside Nico), I don’t necessarily see those moves as signs of innovative or adept coaching so much as expected corrections of woefully inept coaching. Moreover, Green has the same Brendan Smith fetish as his predecessor and has actually managed to make Smith even more unlikable by pairing him with Nemec, which should never have been allowed. Green isn’t a solution, merely a stopgap, and the sooner Fitz realizes this, the better off the Devils will be. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicomo Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 2 minutes ago, ButlerBulldog said: Timo playing RW and alongside Nico Timo has still been primarily at LW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButlerBulldog Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Just now, Nicomo said: Timo has still been primarily at LW. Really? I know he’s started games at LW, but I thought Green had been shifting him over in certain situations, as it seems like he’s skating more on the right side than he did under the old man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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