GDT - 2/25/2024 Lightning @ Devils, 1 pm, MSGSN/TNT - Lindy Overcomplicates Things

[ButlerBulldog]

2 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

It’s actually more tame than I expected. 

I don’t think it warranted a visit from security at all.  Does anyone expect fans to be happy with the situation?

[Max20Characters]

9 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

It’s actually more tame than I expected. 

He's not even clapping correctly

[ButlerBulldog]

2 minutes ago, Max20Characters said:

He's not even clapping correctly

A Rhodes Scholar, Frank the Tank is not, but he’s as much a fan as the rest of us and is only making his feelings known.  As long as he’s not behaving belligerently toward other attendees, I think security should leave him be.  If a known child molester is allowed at games—and can get away with assaulting other fans while there—then Frank should be, too.

[Satans Hockey]

13 minutes ago, ButlerBulldog said:

I don’t think it warranted a visit from security at all.  Does anyone expect fans to be happy with the situation?

The guy is a side show that is propped up by barstool that exploit him for that despite whatever he gets paid by them.

The fans in those sections hate sitting near him and it's amazing they allow one guy to ruin several sections and you can always hear those sections yelling back at him. 

Edited February 25 by Satans Hockey

[ButlerBulldog]

1 minute ago, Satans Hockey said:

The guy is a side show that is propped up by barstool that exploit him for that despite whatever he gets paid by them.

The fans in those sections hate sitting near him and it's amazing they allow one guy to ruin several sections and you can always hear those sections yelling back at him. 

I don’t disagree that he’s being exploited.  He’s clearly learning-disabled and doesn’t realize that people pay attention to him only because he affords them an opportunity to laugh at him as opposed to with him.  Be that as it may, if the worst he’s going to do is chant “Fire Lindy,” something the majority of the fanbase would prefer, then I think he should be left alone.  I’ve seen far worse behavior from other fans cause security to not even bat an eye.  If other fans are bothered by him, they can buy seats elsewhere. 

[Fansinz88]

How can one guy bother that many people? What is their biggest complaint about him? 

[Lateralous]

Looks like I’m back to just hate watching the Rangers, Leafs and Flyers in the playoffs this year.  I’m disgusted.   

[ButlerBulldog]

1 minute ago, Fansinz88 said:

How can one guy bother that many people? What is their biggest complaint about him? 

I don’t know.  Most of my exposure to him comes from snippets of interviews he’s done regarding the Mets, which show that he’s far from the brightest bulb in the room.

[Lateralous]

41 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

It’s actually more tame than I expected. 

I’ve got to admit, that’s how I felt on the inside after multiple goals against the Devils over the last week.   

[MadDog2020]

https://newjerseyhockeynow.com/2024/02/25/lindy-ruff-takes-responsibilty-for-devils-poor-play-jack-hughes/?fbclid=IwAR0vY290SvQ9nX8vKbDideBuFGOvMjpVWp_nUW93xDWK6JknJ75TWgdnRG0_aem_AUmWbo5uQKSkuB5ocAcuL6S-XdxE9qnmooTA0vzLWQlZyXTf9sMlrfwbDzGZixZ_u4I

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 minute ago, Lateralous said:

Looks like I’m back to just hate watching the Rangers, Leafs and Flyers in the playoffs this year.  I’m disgusted.   

Yeah this blows.  Fully and truly.

[ButlerBulldog]

3 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

https://newjerseyhockeynow.com/2024/02/25/lindy-ruff-takes-responsibilty-for-devils-poor-play-jack-hughes/?fbclid=IwAR0vY290SvQ9nX8vKbDideBuFGOvMjpVWp_nUW93xDWK6JknJ75TWgdnRG0_aem_AUmWbo5uQKSkuB5ocAcuL6S-XdxE9qnmooTA0vzLWQlZyXTf9sMlrfwbDzGZixZ_u4I

If he really wants to take responsibility, he knows what he can do.

[Lateralous]

3 minutes ago, ButlerBulldog said:

If he really wants to take responsibility, he knows what he can do.

I stopped reading when it said we wanted him to be the “sacrificial lamb”. GTFOH 

[ButlerBulldog]

3 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yeah this blows.  Fully and truly.

I don’t think I’ll be watching the playoffs this year.  In past seasons, it was still fun to watch them despite the Devils’ absence because the team wasn’t expected to be there, but this season is different.  Knowing that the Devils have the talent to reach the postseason but won’t because of issues Fitz refuses to correct is a far more frustrating reality than is one in which the roster simply isn’t good enough.  After the Devils face the Isles on April 15, hockey is over for me.

[Bonginator11]

Didn’t think I’d have to use this one for a long time but the Devils just suck this year. So frustrating after such a great year last year (finally). And the worst part was it was fixable but our GM did NOTHING to help. Every other team would have fired Ruff. Also we were thrown a salary cap bone when Dougie got hurt. But no - Fitz hides better than Osama bin Laden in a cave. Yes there were injuries that didn’t help but honestly the talent on this team should have overcome some of that. The fans didn’t deserve to have the season punted in this fashion. The season didn’t die in December like previous years but the way this season went I almost rather would have it that way versus now. This season was a slow and painful death

[NJDevs4978]

3 hours ago, MadDog2020 said:

I’m seeing them in Vegas in March. At least it’s Vegas and I’ll be hammered.

You and the Devils both!

[devlman]

52 minutes ago, ButlerBulldog said:

I don’t think I’ll be watching the playoffs this year.  In past seasons, it was still fun to watch them despite the Devils’ absence because the team wasn’t expected to be there, but this season is different.  Knowing that the Devils have the talent to reach the postseason but won’t because of issues Fitz refuses to correct is a far more frustrating reality than is one in which the roster simply isn’t good enough.  After the Devils face the Isles on April 15, hockey is over for me.

Yeah it’s going to be a long 7-8 months for me. I’m going to go into hibernation until then.

[NJDfan1711]

2 hours ago, devlman said:

Fitz had no backup plan for VV/Schmid. Big mistake.

 

This will never stop being amazing to me. How people, not just you, think goaltenders just grow on trees. Going into the season I think everyone thought we had two goalies that were battling for the number one spot. If you watched last season, there was no reason to think otherwise. VV was solid last year, and Schmid came through and performed well in the playoffs when needed. 

As I've said before, there are a lot less goalies in the league than there are forwards and defenseman. What teams really have two above average goalies? Boston is the only one that immediately comes to mind and that's extremely rare to have both Swayman and Ullmark. 

To me it's incredibly obvious that Fitz had no answer when Dougie went down, and that was the true turning point. Add Meier on top, and Jack too, and the season unraveled quickly. Of course the goaltending didn't help at all, but we were, and have been, a completely different team without Dougie back there on the blue line. Our young defense were completely exposed, and our power play vanished. Fit should've tried to bring in another D man when it was clear that Dougie wasn't coming back before the end of the season.  

Edited February 26 by NJDfan1711

[ButlerBulldog]

3 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

This will never stop being amazing to me. How people, not just you, think goaltenders just grow on trees. Going into the season I think everyone thought we had two goalies that were battling for the number one spot. If you watched last season, there was no reason to think otherwise. VV was solid last year, and Schmid came through and performed well in the playoffs when needed. 

As I've said before, there are a lot less goalies in the league than there are forwards and defenseman. What teams really have two above average goalies? Boston is the only one that immediately comes to mind and that's extremely rare to have both Swayman and Ullmark. 

To me it's incredibly obvious that Fitz had no answer when Dougie went down, and that was the true turning point. Add Meier on top, and Jack too, and the season unraveled quickly. Of course the goaltending didn't help at all, but we were, and have been, a completely different team without Dougie back there on the blue line. Our young defense were completely exposed, and our power play vanished. Fit should've tried to bring in another D man when it was clear that Dougie wasn't coming back before the end of the season.  

The way the season has played out should illustrate the paucity of quality goaltenders available, as Fitz has almost certainly been searching for one but has as yet been unable to find a player who doesn’t impose a huge cap hit and/or won’t cost the Devils any of their young players.  In any event, goaltending is but one problem facing this team, as their woes in other facets of their defense and the disappearance of their PP—something that largely coincides with Dougie being sidelined—are equally daunting issues with no immediate solution.

[devlman]

12 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

This will never stop being amazing to me. How people, not just you, think goaltenders just grow on trees. Going into the season I think everyone thought we had two goalies that were battling for the number one spot. If you watched last season, there was no reason to think otherwise. VV was solid last year, and Schmid came through and performed well in the playoffs when needed. 

As I've said before, there are a lot less goalies in the league than there are forwards and defenseman. What teams really have two above average goalies? Boston is the only one that immediately comes to mind and that's extremely rare to have both Swayman and Ullmark. 

To me it's incredibly obvious that Fitz had no answer when Dougie went down, and that was the true turning point. Add Meier on top, and Jack too, and the season unraveled quickly. Of course the goaltending didn't help at all, but we were, and have been, a completely different team without Dougie back there on the blue line. Our young defense were completely exposed, and our power play vanished. Fit should've tried to bring in another D man when it was clear that Dougie wasn't coming back before the end of the season.  

VV was not solid the latter half of the season. And Schmid was always going to have question marks due to his inexperience. 

[NJDfan1711]

1 minute ago, devlman said:

VV was not solid the latter half of the season. And Schmid was always going to have question marks due to his inexperience. 

I'll give you Schmid being a question mark, but he was still solid last year in short time and there was little reason to believe he would struggle as bad as he did this year. Plus, we also had Daws in the minors who we had also seen a couple times prior. Between those three, I think any GM would think that's a group that should be serviceable enough, and allow him to focus on other needs.  But that's my point and where I think they went wrong - because they didn't focus on the other needs.  They did NOTHING.  

[Devilsfan118]

[NJDfan1711]

15 minutes ago, Devilsfan118 said:

They're both playing like sh!t right now.  Luke pretty goddamn awful, Jack not quite as bad but still poor.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

28 minutes ago, devlman said:

VV was not solid the latter half of the season. And Schmid was always going to have question marks due to his inexperience. 

Been over it a bunch, but VV basically had two five-game slumps in the regular season in 2022-23.  He had three extended stretches of fine puckstopping, including a .925 save% over his final 11 games to close out the regular season.

He COULD regain that form, but Fitz and the Devils can’t be the ones to take that gamble at this point…should they trade him and he has a strong season next year, so be it.  I know this is his first truly “bad” season against three overall average ones, and it’s not like his record was bad this season, but I think that Fitz has to find someone who his teammates can have real confidence in.  I think this season shook that to the point of no return.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Ouch