GDT: Los Angeles at New Jersey

[MadDevil]

I think they're like 3 - 6

We started off like 2-1 or something, but have been terrible since. That SS game may have given them PTSD.

Although now that I think of it there are only like 5 players who were here for that.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Oooof, yeah not so good, at least people will get some socks.

Plus the Caps. Thank god for those nifty socks.

 

[EnglishDevil]

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL.html

2.0% chance to make the playoffs after tonight's game, this team definitely isn't good enough to go on the kind of run required to pull that off.

 

[Sir Fenwick Corsi]

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL.html

2.0% chance to make the playoffs after tonight's game, this team definitely isn't good enough to go on the kind of run required to pull that off.

Well that's the thing. They're still technically in the mix but yeah, they don't have a big run in them. Figure 93 points is the cutoff (it may possibly be higher). A record of 20 - 8 - 5 the rest of the way gets them to 94. This roster can't pull that off.

 

[CHIP72]

We're last in the East. This league is insane.

Teams 5-10 all have the same number of points.

The extra points teams gain via loser points tends to make things tighter. If the NHL had a points system similar to what it had through 1998-99, the records in the Eastern Conference would look like this:

Metropolitan
WAS 31-12-5, 67 points
CBJ 30-14-3, 63 points
NYR 29-16-3, 61 points
PIT 28-16-3, 59 points
PHI 18-21-9, 45 points
CAR 19-22-6, 44 points
NYI 19-26-4, 42 points
NJD 17-27-5, 39 points

Atlantic
MTL 28-19-2, 58 points
TOR 21-17-7, 49 points
OTT 22-19-5, 49 points
BOS 22-25-4, 48 points
BUF 19-22-6, 44 points
TBL 20-25-4, 44 points
FLA 17-24-8, 42 points
DET 14-28-6, 34 points

The race for the second wild-card would be tight between Boston, Philadelphia, Carolina, and Buffalo, all of whom would be 3 games below .500. The Devils would be in trouble playoff-wise because they'd be 10 games below .500, 9 points out of the second wild-card and most other teams would have games in hand on them.

 

[tr83]

On a losing streak? Can't win a game on the road?

Play the Devils and turn that frown upside down!

"Based on information provided to the General Manager, he believes we played a good game."

Can anyone photoshop him in a fishtank with the water over his head? That would be amazing!

 

[Emperoreddy]

I would bet Hynes will not be our coach in two years. This team will not be able to make the next step with him.

 

[Comparison Ford]

Sutter is the single most important person to that franchise IMO.

His system is might be dummy proof.

It was honestly incredible. Hats off to them. They completely shut us down. Also, Doughty and Muzzin are absolute horses.

 

[Devils090]

Not good enough for the playoffs

Not bad enough to win the lottery

The worst kind of hell

 

[driller1]

Sutter is the single most important person to that franchise IMO.

His system is might be dummy proof.

Kings are built to play Sutter hockey. Kings would suck playing just about any other system. Not familiar with Devils personnel enough to judge the fit, but here goes:

1) Center is the most important position, because he needs to play deep in the zone (deeper than most systems) and support the D, going from low to high. Kopitar and Carter have the ability to carry the load 200 ft.

2) Wingers will never be the focal point. Their job is to hold up the puck and get it out of the zone. And forecheck / win board battles. Dustin Brown, Dwight King, Jordan Nolan, Trevor Lewis, and Kyle Clifford are big lugs that fit this bill. It frustrates the fanbase to no end that Dwight King never gets healthy scratched, but he's a "Sutter guy". Taylor Hall may be stifled in the Kings system.

3) Physical D who can move the puck. Kings play a lot of man-to-man. The D better be able to pin a guy to the boards to stop a cycle and move the puck up to the forwards fast. Obviously having guys like Doughty/Muzzin/Martinez/Forbort/Gravel help. Last year we had slugs like Luke Schenn and Rob Scuderi manning the blue line. They were fine defending, but too slow and too poor at moving the puck to be effective in the Kings system. Slava Voynov is a terrible person, but he was a really important cog in the system. We haven't been the same since he left.

 

[Bleedred]

Kings are built to play Sutter hockey. Kings would suck playing just about any other system. Not familiar with Devils personnel enough to judge the fit, but here goes:

1) Center is the most important position, because he needs to play deep in the zone (deeper than most systems) and support the D, going from low to high. Kopitar and Carter have the ability to carry the load 200 ft.

2) Wingers will never be the focal point. Their job is to hold up the puck and get it out of the zone. And forecheck / win board battles. Dustin Brown, Dwight King, Jordan Nolan, Trevor Lewis, and Kyle Clifford are big lugs that fit this bill. It frustrates the fanbase to no end that Dwight King never gets healthy scratched, but he's a "Sutter guy". Taylor Hall may be stifled in the Kings system.

3) Physical D who can move the puck. Kings play a lot of man-to-man. The D better be able to pin a guy to the boards to stop a cycle and move the puck up to the forwards fast. Obviously having guys like Doughty/Muzzin/Martinez/Forbort/Gravel help. Last year we had slugs like Luke Schenn and Rob Scuderi manning the blue line. They were fine defending, but too slow and too poor at moving the puck to be effective in the Kings system. Slava Voynov is a terrible person, but he was a really important cog in the system. We haven't been the same since he left.

I think Hall would be fine with Sutter's system, he's one of the few good possession players we have to begin with.

It's guy's like Henrique and Palmieri who might actually look better under Sutter IMO. Maybe a guy like Lovejoy too.

Sutter's teams always have carried play and he's even gotten some of them to overachieve. I saw it with the Sharks in the early 00's. He'd probably have another cup and another finals appearance (on top of the year he lost with Calgary) if he coached some other teams worth a damn. The two Kings teams he won a cup with were the only teams even close to cup worthy that he coached. The 2013 team probably could have repeated and they could have possibly won 3 in a row IMO. I don't think players like Kopitar, Doughty and Carter are by any means pedestrians on any other team, but it's impressive how perfectly run their system is. Definitely the best in the league, though they do need some more scoring. But I thought they'd run into problems after losing Lucic and not having an adequate replacement. Lucic pretty much replaced Justin Williams the year before.

 

[Burner Account]

Watched the third period and I couldn't help but admire how systematically the Kings saw out the game

 

[Unknown Caller]

Watched the third period and I couldn't help but admire how systematically the Kings saw out the game

The Devils failed to capitalize on their chances and the Kings were extremely opportunistic. I'm not sure that they saw out the game systematically. If Schneider makes a couple saves earlier on and the Devils were able to put the puck in the net, we would be saying something completely different.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

I'm still waiting on your explanation of what Hynes does that's good and why he's a good head coach at the NHL level.

I asked you 4 nights ago, but this is either your first appearance since then or you overlooked that question.

Don't even tell me adjustments that took 7 weeks to make.

To answer your question...

Hynes played a more defensive system last year and had more veterans on his team, making it easier on him not to teach the little things a NHL'er already knows. If we look at it now, he has to "coach" a way younger team with several rookies and a entire different looking blueline.

Yes, losing Larsson and Schlemko did hurt cause we got slower, our breakouts aren't as sharp, weren't not joining the offense as much and most of it is because of our new defence. Guys like Lovejoy, Quincey, Moore and Auvitu shouldn't be the majority of a NHL blueline... but unfortunately for us, that's our reality. Add to that equation that Greene is playing with a entire different partner in Severson and that Severson isn't nearly as good in own zone as Larsson. Don't get me wrong, I love Damon but he's a completely different player, very good, but different.

Just that is a good enough reason to not blame Hynes for our lack of success so far this season. He presently has a flawed team and wanting to implant a speedier system for our forwards, when most of our blueliners can't play that way, didn't work out. Now, he's going back to a more "lockdown" system but we're still not good enough, regardless of the system.

Shero and Hynes are trying to build something and unfortunately for us all, it won't be ready for at least a couple of years.

 

[Bleedred]

To answer your question...

Hynes played a more defensive system last year and had more veterans on his team, making it easier on him not to teach the little things a NHL'er already knows. If we look at it now, he has to "coach" a way younger team with several rookies and a entire different looking blueline.

Yes, losing Larsson and Schlemko did hurt cause we got slower, our breakouts aren't as sharp, weren't not joining the offense as much and most of it is because of our new defence. Guys like Lovejoy, Quincey, Moore and Auvitu shouldn't be the majority of a NHL blueline... but unfortunately for us, that's our reality. Add to that equation that Greene is playing with a entire different partner in Severson and that Severson isn't nearly as good in own zone as Larsson. Don't get me wrong, I love Damon but he's a completely different player, very good, but different.

Just that is a good enough reason to not blame Hynes for our lack of success so far this season. He presently has a flawed team and wanting to implant a speedier system for our forwards, when most of our blueliners can't play that way, didn't work out. Now, he's going back to a more "lockdown" system but we're still not good enough, regardless of the system.

Shero and Hynes are trying to build something and unfortunately for us all, it won't be ready for at least a couple of years.

So do you believe that if not for Hynes, we'd be the worst team in the league? Maybe down there with Colorado and Arizona? A lot closer to the derby for last place than the final playoff spot in the East? Because I find it hard to believe.

Like I said, if you wanna argue that Hynes is not a bad coach and is just whatever, that's fine with me. But some people here (not sure if you were one of them or not, just that I remember a few posts implying this posted on this board at one point) have almost implied that his coaching is keeping the team from being the worst in the league or fighting for the worst in the league.

I'd give him a D grade at best, and he gets that D grade from me because Schneider hasn't looked like Schneider for a lot of this season. Ward with the power play gets a very low F.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

So do you believe that if not for Hynes, we'd be the worst team in the league? Maybe down there with Colorado and Arizona? A lot closer to the derby for last place than the final playoff spot in the East? Because I find it hard to believe.

Like I said, if you wanna argue that Hynes is not a bad coach and is just whatever, that's fine with me. But some people here (not sure if you were one of them or not, just that I remember a few posts implying this posted on this board at one point) have almost implied that his coaching is keeping the team from being the worst in the league or fighting for the worst in the league.

I'd give him a D grade at best, and he gets that D grade from me because Schneider hasn't looked like Schneider for a lot of this season. Ward with the power play gets a very low F.

What I'm saying is that he's not the saviour and he's not the chump you and others are making him out to be. Again, he has a flawed lineup to work with and I don't care if we got Sutter, Babcock, Bowman or Lemaire... they probably wouldn't do any better with our below mediocre blueline, a goaltender who isn't playing his best and a offense who doesn't have anything special down the middle.

What Shero is trying to build won't happen in a flash and we as fans need to understand that cause I feel some of you are watching games with the notion that we're actually a good team fighting for a playoff spot.