SC Devs Fan Posted December 2, 2002 Share Posted December 2, 2002 As much as I like him, I've been kind of dissappointed with Rafi's play this season. Offensively he never seems in synch and when he gets the puck he shuffles it back and forth on his stick, never one times it and seems reluctant to shoot. This guy is a weapon and I was wondering if he's on a leash from Burns, not playing well or I am expecting too much from him. With the exception of Neider's goal against the Blues and Tvo's slapper goal about 10 days ago our strength - the puck moving defensemen - has been a flop. WHen do we see what Lou envisioned for these guys?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted December 2, 2002 Share Posted December 2, 2002 I don't think we'll ever see what Lou envisioned for those three, just as we never saw it when the Devils had Malakhov, Rafalski, and Niedermayer back in 2000.. I have a feeling now that Tverdovsky was acquired because Lou knew he had a speed problem on the backline.. in short, he acquired them more for defense than for offense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msweet Posted December 2, 2002 Share Posted December 2, 2002 Order of priorities for our big 3 defensemen: 1. Defense 2. Moving the Puck out of the Zone 3. Transitioning to Offense 4. Scoring 5. Overtime Prowess 1-3, & 5 we are as good or better than anyone. We don't have that nightmare of painfully watching Daneko, Abelein, Slodelein, desperately just trying to clear the zone. The puck ends up on Tvo's, Raffi's or Nied's stcik and faster than you can say forecheck, the puck is out of the zone 90% of the time. That's why we have them. And in OT, (shown by our record) we can skate 2 forwarda nd 2 defenders with the same offensive prowess as a team skating 3 forwards and 1 defender, without the risk. Did anyone see Nieds for-checking in the offensive zone against the Blues? If they start to score, that is a great bonus. Assist wise they are doing fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanity_gallops Posted December 2, 2002 Share Posted December 2, 2002 msweet, my sentiments eXactly. As long as they're solid on defense and chip in occasionally on the offensive end, I'm more than happy with their play. Yes, I'd like to see them shoot more (on one PP against the Blues, Nieds got off two slapshots in a row that the goalie was only able to stop because he had solid positioning -- he couldn't really see either of them, and they were flat out ROCKETS), but as long as they're performing solidly on defense, clearing the zone, and leading to the transition game, I'm happy. And in OT I definitely feel that we have an offensive advantage - only problem is that when we play two speedy defenders together, we get outmuscled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack Posted December 2, 2002 Share Posted December 2, 2002 I agree with one exception, I'd like to see Tverdovsky's slapper a little more on the powerplay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanity_gallops Posted December 3, 2002 Share Posted December 3, 2002 I agree with one exception, I'd like to see Tverdovsky's slapper a little more on the powerplay. I'd rather see Tverdovsky go back to playing solid defense... he's been laX the past few games, it seems to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRafalski Posted December 3, 2002 Share Posted December 3, 2002 As much as I like him, I've been kind of dissappointed with Rafi's play this season. Offensively he never seems in synch and when he gets the puck he shuffles it back and forth on his stick, never one times it and seems reluctant to shoot. This guy is a weapon and I was wondering if he's on a leash from Burns, not playing well or I am expecting too much from him. With the exception of Neider's goal against the Blues and Tvo's slapper goal about 10 days ago our strength - the puck moving defensemen - has been a flop. WHen do we see what Lou envisioned for these guys?? Last year I was able to watch a lot of Devils hockey. The Devils were very succesful in my opinion with Brian or any other defense man quarterbacking a lot of the offense. In the Detroit game, I can remember only one time where the play seemed to center around this. Brian took a shot and Friesen was well positioned to take the rebound and put it in. I just happen to remember a lot of scoring last year come from similar plays. Another asset used last year was the puck movement. The Devils could score on you in three plays. Marty to Brian or Neids to Elias or Sykora to the back of the net. His goals, assists and shots are all down from last year, but that is because of Burns' system. He's not the type of player to check a lot or play physical either. So, you take away the system he use to playing and he looks different than before. I do however think Burns is playing a good system, as indicated by the goals given up (still the fewest with 47?). When we come to April, I think it'll be a safe bet to assume that New Jersey will have had the most consistant D in the league. I know Stevens, Rafalski, Tivo and Neids are all on the All-Star ballot, does anything think NJ will send four d-men to Florida? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe B Posted December 3, 2002 Share Posted December 3, 2002 I don't think we'll ever see what Lou envisioned for those three, just as we never saw it when the Devils had Malakhov, Rafalski, and Niedermayer back in 2000.. correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't we win a cup in 2000? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted December 3, 2002 Share Posted December 3, 2002 I don't think we'll ever see what Lou envisioned for those three, just as we never saw it when the Devils had Malakhov, Rafalski, and Niedermayer back in 2000.. correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't we win a cup in 2000? No, we didn't. That's just what they want you to believe. See, the Devils actually never won the Cup - we suck so badly that we've never even made the playoffs either. It's merely a conspiracy, the idea that we won in 2000. You wanna know who really won the Cup? The Blue Jackets did...granted, they weren't even in the NHL yet, but they still won it. Crazy world, isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted December 3, 2002 Share Posted December 3, 2002 Yes, we won a Cup, Joe, but we never saw Malakhov develop into an effective power play quarterback as a Devil. No one could even come close to matching the Devils top 6.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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