GDT: New Jersey Devils @ Carolina Hurricanes 7 PM EST

[guitarguyvic]

Here comes the Lou defender! Take the goggles off, and be serious man.

This roster should be scoring more than this, but you can't replace Parise, and Sykora with Tedenby, Butler, and Matteau. You better not even say ''Well Poni, and Loki'' because you are the one who said PRE SEASON. Those guys were not brought in pre season. And who was behind the Salvador contract?

I'm not suggesting Lou step down like some other people, but to say he's been an outstanding GM since 05 is like saying Marty should have the Vezina last year. People have the nerve to think the coach is on the hot seat, but the old man deserves none of the blame? Are you serious?

Yes I am serious. Show me one post that says anyone has said he has been an outstanding GM since 05? What you are doing is questioning his personnel moves AFTER THE FACT...which is pretty ****ing easy to do no? If you are so sure that this is his fault, how come you didn't call it out before it happened? How come you weren't on here saying the things you are now before the team started sucking? I'll tell you why...because just like Lou you had the opinion that this team was good enough.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Pete has made some questionable decision lately, no dobut about that. This falls more on blame with Lou, and Vanderbeek who put this team together this Summer. We can criticize Marty for a bad goal he gives up, we can criticize Kovy and say he has no heart, we can criticize the coach. The minute people start to question Lou though there's a problem. Lou has been an average to slightly above average GM since 2005, with a few below average seasons in there.

I'll agree to an extent that Lou hasn't been spectacular in the past few seasons. I know losing Zach wasn't necessarily his fault but his unwillingness to negotiate during the season falls on him. However, I'm not going to sit here and say Lou should have made this trade or gone after that player. For all we know as fans, he did try to do something but it didn't happen. That's what infuriates me with some people on this board is that they act is if they know in certainty that Lou did not even try to make a move or two. Unless these people are in the front office alongside Lou negotiating deals with him, then I don't want to hear that. We can only criticize him for what we know in certainty and using pure speculation to say that he is not a good GM anymore is BS.

 

[guitarguyvic]

I think having 8 d-men is ****ing with their mental toughness no doubt. Not so much that there are 8 per se, but that they keep rotating them in and out. It should be the same 6 game in game out for the most part (barring injury) and then ultimately obviously someone has to get traded sooner rather than later.

I'm not going to ***** about the off-season management of this team because that's just too easy in hindsight. However, management's decisions/adjustments through the season thus far have been very poor. They are not handling this well at all.

 

[Bleedred]

Yes I am serious. Show me one post that says anyone has said he has been an outstanding GM since 05? What you are doing is questioning his personnel moves AFTER THE FACT...which is pretty ****ing easy to do no? If you are so sure that this is his fault, how come you didn't call it out before it happened? How come you weren't on here saying the things you are now before the team started sucking? I'll tell you why...because just like Lou you had the opinion that this team was good enough.

Woah woah woah woah. I NEVER thought this team was good enough. I guess I was fooled during the 8-1-3 start. I still think it could be a little better than only scoring 2 goals against the TB Lightning or Buffalo's backup goalie. You are right that I never was saying this earlier in the season. There was no reason to complain. Was anyone really complaining though?

 

[Sir Fenwick Corsi]

Lou has not given Pete as much to work with this year and that is a fact. But with that being said, Lou as well everyone else on this board, knows that this team should be doing better than they are. They have flaws, but the way they are playing is completely unacceptable. They're soft and they're not playing with much brains out there. You can't win under those circumstances, let alone when most of your top players are nowhere to be found.

 

[Tundra]

I'll agree to an extent that Lou hasn't been spectacular in the past few seasons. I know losing Zach wasn't necessarily his fault but his unwillingness to negotiate during the season falls on him. However, I'm not going to sit here and say Lou should have made this trade or gone after that player. For all we know as fans, he did try to do something but it didn't happen. That's what infuriates me with some people on this board is that they act is if they know in certainty that Lou did not even try to make a move or two. Unless these people are in the front office alongside Lou negotiating deals with him, then I don't want to hear that. We can only criticize him for what we know in certainty and using pure speculation to say that he is not a good GM anymore is BS.

I can't crucify Lou for not immediately replacing Parise. But I will attack him for not developing a player within the organization to step into the Top 6, knowing full well that one of his studs would eventially bolt. He's done the same thing with the goalie situation. And this organization ultimately suffers from his lack of planning.

 

[Bleedred]

I'll agree to an extent that Lou hasn't been spectacular in the past few seasons. I know losing Zach wasn't necessarily his fault but his unwillingness to negotiate during the season falls on him. However, I'm not going to sit here and say Lou should have made this trade or gone after that player. For all we know as fans, he did try to do something but it didn't happen. That's what infuriates me with some people on this board is that they act is if they know in certainty that Lou did not even try to make a move or two. Unless these people are in the front office alongside Lou negotiating deals with him, then I don't want to hear that. We can only criticize him for what we know in certainty and using pure speculation to say that he is not a good GM anymore is BS.

My opinion on Lou infuriates you, but you think Pete is on the hot seat? That's what I got out of your last post. You said it's like Pete is trying to see what he can get away with starting Hedberg?

 

[JK3]

Oh man I wish we had a Lemaire press conference right now.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Woah woah woah woah. I NEVER thought this team was good enough. I guess I was fooled during the 8-1-3 start. I still think it could be a little better than only scoring 2 goals against the TB Lightning or Buffalo's backup goalie. You are right that I never was saying this earlier in the season. There was no reason to complain. Was anyone really complaining though?

Exactly - no one was complaining. Now everyone is the expert saying that Lou should have seen something that no one else here saw. Thanks for proving my point.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

This defence is god awful, a-w-f-u-l.

 

[Devs4L]

You can question Lou all you want, but the team that is assembled is better than what we're seeing right now. This falls on the players in that room not getting the job done. We're losing against teams like Winnipeg, Buffalo, Carolina, and Tampa. This team is simply better than that and they're not playing like it.

 

[captainscott]

Exactly - no one was complaining. Now everyone is the expert saying that Lou should have seen something that no one else here saw. Thanks for proving my point.

well one thing is for sure tomorrow night's game is pretty much a must win or there will be some new faces or just the lack thereof of some old ones you can count on that

 

[glenwo2]

Oh man I wish we had a Lemaire press conference right now.

"Maybe yes....Maybe no."

 

[battlingBard56]

Are you suggesting Lou made an error here?


I try not to belittle anybody's opinion, but no to that. No way, you want this team to be better? That's a way to make it even worse. He lasted 4 games, and regardless Deboer has little confidence in him. Deboer probably has more confidence in starting Frazee over Moose than bringing up Tedenby. And it don't look like Frazee is starting anytime soon outside of the AHL.

And that's unfortunate in my opinion. Despite the fact that Kinkaid played well in relief of Moose, Frazee actually looked one hundred percent more NHL ready than him in the brief time we watched him play tonight. He's paid his dues one hundred times over with that injury he suffered and trying to get back to playing his game without having to think about that. And he's played very well this season despite not getting the amount of wins we'd hope he'd get. Give him the start. It's a back to back and Moose needs more than one period's worth of rest.

 

[captainscott]

You can question Lou all you want, but the team that is assembled is better than what we're seeing right now. This falls on the players in that room not getting the job done. We're losing against teams like Winnipeg, Buffalo, Carolina, and Tampa. This team is simply better than that and they're not playing like it.

yes sometimes you have to look at the players tell me a player aside from elias, bernier or carter that is having a good season?

 

[Volodya Krutov]

We've probably been the most spoiled fanbase for the last 20 years, having a bad season looks worse than a nuclear holocaust.

 

[guitarguyvic]

People are focusing in on offseason moves (or lackt thereof) as the cause of the mediocrity. When it comes to GM moves, there are too many variables to accurately assess the decisions after the fact (for example, people ***** about Lou not going after free agents without even knowing for a fact that was the case).

Management has made few decisions during the season that have worked out or made sense.

- Sal getting named captain. I don't care how inspirational your comeback story is, or how great of a "leader" you are in the lockeroom, a journeyman D on the verge of 40 should never be named captain. Plenty of other options were available.

- Sticking with 8 NHL capable d-men and playing all of them in and out of the lineup game to game. What a mess.

- Shuffling the lines constantly, yet a pairing like Elias-Kovy has yet to be put together. Makes absolutely no sense on a team that is struggling to score consistently.

- Refusing to sit Moose. This is by far the most irresponsible decision currently. It's outrageous.

What are Lou, Pete, and the coaching staff thinking this season? Right now the most obvious choices are probably the right ones, yet they continue to think otherwise. Not looking good folks.

 

[captainscott]

When this team goes through funks you learn the true colors of people and our fan base is fanbase is absolutely littered with morons. Its actually really embarrassing....

i don't know man...i think people on this board are pretty in tuned for the most part. most people on here recognize that we have a serious long term goaltending problem

we are way way way short on talented young forwards

and our defense which was looking very promising doesn't look so much right now

now people thinking lou is a crappy gm, don't realize how good he is and that this team has enjoyed more success than practically any other franchise in the past 20 yrs. but i think most of the assesments are accurate of what this team obviously lacks.

 

[JK3]

"Maybe yes....Maybe no."

They're out of shape

 

[Devs4L]

yes sometimes you have to look at the players tell me a player aside from elias, bernier or carter that is having a good season?

Exactly. Zajac offensively is gone. Clarkson is goal-less in 11 games. Henrique was cold for a little bit. Salvador has been half the d-man he was last year, as has Volchenkov, Tallinder, and even Fayne. And Moose has been bad.

...that's the reason for the losing. Not the absense of Parise, Sykora, or the players Lou didn't acquire

 

[Tundra]

People are focusing in on offseason moves (or lackt thereof) as the cause of the mediocrity. When it comes to GM moves, there are too many variables to accurately assess the decisions after the fact (for example, people ***** about Lou not going after free agents without even knowing for a fact that was the case).

Management has made few decisions during the season that have worked out or made sense.

- Sal getting named captain. I don't care how inspirational your comeback story is, or how great of a "leader" you are in the lockeroom, a journeyman D on the verge of 40 should never be named captain. Plenty of other options were available.

- Sticking with 8 NHL capable d-men and playing all of them in and out of the lineup game to game. What a mess.

- Shuffling the lines constantly, yet a pairing like Elias-Kovy has yet to be put together. Makes absolutely no sense on a team that is struggling to score consistently.

- Refusing to sit Moose. This is by far the most irresponsible decision currently. It's outrageous.

What are Lou, Pete, and the coaching staff thinking this season? Right now the most obvious choices are probably the right ones, yet they continue to think otherwise. Not looking good folks.

All valid points. And if it sounds like I'm targeting Lou solely that's not the case. Conte deserves some heat because he is the head draftman.

 

[NJDevs26]

Exactly - no one was complaining. Now everyone is the expert saying that Lou should have seen something that no one else here saw. Thanks for proving my point.

Second-guessing on a message board? Color me shocked.

And you're wrong, there was a LOT of first-guessing. Nobody thought the team was 'this' bad but certainly people thought they weren't going to be good enough to make any real noise anyway. And I was one of the few to first-guess the eight-D merry-go round and I didn't think it would be this bad.

 

[captainscott]

People are focusing in on offseason moves (or lackt thereof) as the cause of the mediocrity. When it comes to GM moves, there are too many variables to accurately assess the decisions after the fact (for example, people ***** about Lou not going after free agents without even knowing for a fact that was the case).

Management has made few decisions during the season that have worked out or made sense.

- Sal getting named captain. I don't care how inspirational your comeback story is, or how great of a "leader" you are in the lockeroom, a journeyman D on the verge of 40 should never be named captain. Plenty of other options were available.

- Sticking with 8 NHL capable d-men and playing all of them in and out of the lineup game to game. What a mess.

- Shuffling the lines constantly, yet a pairing like Elias-Kovy has yet to be put together. Makes absolutely no sense on a team that is struggling to score consistently.

- Refusing to sit Moose. This is by far the most irresponsible decision currently. It's outrageous.

What are Lou, Pete, and the coaching staff thinking this season? Right now the most obvious choices are probably the right ones, yet they continue to think otherwise. Not looking good folks.

you are 100% right

 

[rtr1105]

What would you guys think of Zajac, Boucher, and Tallinder for Corey Perry?

 

[NJDevs26]

We've probably been the most spoiled fanbase for the last 20 years, having a bad season looks worse than a nuclear holocaust.

It also feels worse because this is one of the last Lou/Marty years ever, and most of us know that when they're gone, the Devils really are just another team. Wasting one of the last Lou/Marty years is annoying to me, there aren't too many left to waste.