GDT: #52 ISLANDERS (43-25-4) at DEVILS (31-29-11) - 7pm

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Tom Gulitti ‏@TGfireandice 1m1 minute ago
Devils now 4-11-3 since the coaching change against teams currently in playoff spots. And a combined 7-0-0 vs. Buffalo, Arizona & Toronto


just in case anyone thought we really have "improved" under the new coaching staff

 

[Bleedred]

Tom Gulitti ‏@TGfireandice 1m1 minute ago
Devils now 4-11-3 since the coaching change against teams currently in playoff spots. And a combined 7-0-0 vs. Buffalo, Arizona & Toronto


just in case anyone thought we really have "improved" under the new coaching staff

At least we beat the ****** teams, unlike when DeBoer was still around.

And have stopped blowing multi goal leads.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

At least we beat the ****** teams, unlike when DeBoer was still around.

And have stopped blowing multi goal leads.

Yeah, winning against teams that we can actually beat (basically, the other dregs of the league) beats what happened with DeBoer, which was not showing up for those games and getting beat. That's improvement, and about all the improvement anyone can expect given the quality of our top six forwards.

Nobody on this forum seems to think this is a playoff team or any kind of contender. We're just a bad team playing marginally better than we were under Pete, and giving our young players chances to grow. That alone was worth firing Pete for in my opinion since that wasn't happening under him. We needed a change, and I didn't expect anything better than this to come from the coaching switch. I knew we weren't making the playoffs by the time the coaching change occurred.

 

[Emperoreddy]

We are also slump busters. Isles needed their slump busted.

 

[MadDevil]

I completely forgot we even played tonight. Looks like I didn't miss much.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I completely forgot we even played tonight. Looks like I didn't miss much.

Devils played about as well as they could. They just couldn't score. Game wasn't as much of a snooze as the Buffalo game, but it didn't have as good an outcome.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I completely forgot we even played tonight. Looks like I didn't miss much.

It was actually a really good game. Very entertaining and the Devils played pretty well. They just have 0 ability to score. It didn't feel like it was hard just to get through like the Buffalo game last night. This was real hockey.

 

[Tundra]

Tom Gulitti ‏@TGfireandice 1m1 minute ago
Devils now 4-11-3 since the coaching change against teams currently in playoff spots. And a combined 7-0-0 vs. Buffalo, Arizona & Toronto


just in case anyone thought we really have "improved" under the new coaching staff

Even with Cory being an all-world goalie, this is not a good team.

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

At least we beat the ****** teams, unlike when DeBoer was still around.

And have stopped blowing multi goal leads.

The bad teams we've beat, the games we're borderline unwatchable. There really hasn't been much of a difference.

 

[Bleedred]

The bad teams we've beat, the games we're borderline unwatchable. There really hasn't been much of a difference.

Agreed.

We should have kept DeBoer, since he was so great.

Sorry dude, didn't mean to snap on you here. Just not having the best of night's.

Nothing to do with the Devils game either!

 

[AfroThunder396]

At least we beat the ****** teams, unlike when DeBoer was still around.

And have stopped blowing multi goal leads.

Probably because we don't get multigoal leads anymore

 

[Bleedred]

Probably because we don't get multigoal leads anymore

That's not true at all.

We've had like at least 11 and I stopped keeping track long ago.

That doesn't include games where we're up by 1 and we've scored an empty netter late.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

Did people expect a coaching change to replace our roster? Of course our team hasn't done a one-hundred-eighty. We've improved marginally in the not blowing leads and actually being able to defeat other pathetic teams departments. We've also played the younger players more, which is what everyone said they wanted.

To be frank, I don't want either Stevens or Oates as head coach next season, but to act like their work so far hasn't been superior to Pete's this year is unfair to them in my opinion. Sure, Pete set a low benchmark, but Stevens and Oates have surpassed it. In order to win in more exciting ways or score more, we're going to need a top six better than this. I don't see how anyone could argue otherwise.

I'm honestly curious: does anyone seriously think that this team's record since the coaching change could be much better than it is? We've basically beaten most of the teams we have a shot at defeating and lost to the teams who are better than us.

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

Agreed.

We should have kept DeBoer, since he was so great.

Both coaching staffs have been terrible, as far as I'm concerned. Stevens is the only one out of the bunch that should get a passing grade and that's only because of Larsson's improvement. Yea, they play harder now but they played hard under Deboer up until about November 2014.

 

[Bleedred]

Did people expect a coaching change to replace our roster? Of course our team hasn't done a one-hundred-eighty. We've improved marginally in the not blowing leads and actually being able to defeat other pathetic teams departments. We've also played the younger players more, which is what everyone said they wanted.

To be frank, I don't want either Stevens or Oates as head coach next season, but to act like their work so far hasn't been superior to Pete's this year is unfair to them in my opinion. Sure, Pete set a low benchmark, but Stevens and Oates have surpassed it. In order to win in more exciting ways or score more, we're going to need a top six than this. I don't see how anyone could argue otherwise.

I'm honestly curious: does anyone seriously think that this team's record since the coaching change could be much better than it is? We've basically beaten most of the teams we have a shot at defeating and lost to the teams who are better than us.

Well said.

I don't wait either of them as a head coach next year. I don't like what Oates has done with the PP really. Never cared for him as a PP coach in the past with us. And I'm beyond spooked by his time with Washington.

I can't be too mad at what he's done here though. Still don't think he's an NHL caliber head coach.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

There is only one aspect in which I think this staff has done a better job than Pete: roster management. This staff has given the kids on D a chance to shine and they have for the most part. And that is why the team looks a little better IMO. I don't think Lou is really coaching a better game. I think Oates is terrible. Stevens has a strange obsession with Fraser. But they have let Josefson, Larsson, Merrill and Gelinas loose and those guys are playing well. And that is so incredibly important to the future of this team that it, by itself, is reason enough to say getting rid of Pete was a good thing. It's still a bad team, but it's impossible to say the vibe isn't better and things aren't looking brighter for the future.

 

[Bleedred]

Both coaching staffs have been terrible, as far as I'm concerned. Stevens is the only one out of the bunch that should get a passing grade and that's only because of Larsson's improvement. Yea, they play harder now but they played hard under Deboer up until about November 2014.

Not disagreeing with that either.

I don't think playing hard was ever the problem with DeBoer, aside from the last couple months.

I just don't think his system was very effective. I actually think this system is better for scoring opportunities, which is why we have a higher shooting percentage with this one. And why I think we had a lower one with Pete's.

We also get a lot more odd man rushes. We had some tonight, just couldn't finish.

Still doesn't mean I want Oates here as a head coach. His time in Washington was particularly ugly. Don't forget they started out that first season (when they made the playoffs during the lockout year) terribly. I think they would have missed the playoffs that year if they were in the Metro then. Their record against non Southeast teams were terrible that year. Florida was extremely injury depleted that year, TB had Blimpback as their starting goaltender, the Jets actually finished second in their division that year I believe. Carolina was terrible, as has been the case for over a half a decade now. They would have missed that year if they had to play the Rangers, Islanders (who were a playoff team that year), and Pens more that season.

Oates is probably more cut out for an assistant job, though what he's done with our PP (all 3 years he's coached it) hasn't been anything to brag about.

Why again did we fire Barr?

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

The only young player that is playing marginally better is Larsson. Josefson is fine but they still won't give him an increased role, for whatever reason. Merrill, Gelinas and Severson have looked pretty much the same as when Pete was here. Merrill has regressed a bit, actually. If they were genuinely serious about playing the youngsters then Matteau and Boucher would be in the lineup every night right now. The season was over months ago. There's no reason those two shouldn't be playing, especially when you look at the clowns in the lineup right now.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

Both coaching staffs have been terrible, as far as I'm concerned. Stevens is the only one out of the bunch that should get a passing grade and that's only because of Larsson's improvement. Yea, they play harder now but they played hard under Deboer up until about November 2014.

So what head coach should have been brought in when Pete was fired? What do you think his record would be with this team? How would that coach get this roster to play more exciting and better hockey?

Most of the problems with this team are on the roster as constructed by the GM. I don't see as many of the issues in team play that I personally criticized Pete for anyway. The team plays a boring, simple system because that's the only way it has a shot at winning. Not the coaches' fault. They have done a decent job at squeezing what wins they can out of this roster and they've given the younger players chances to develop. That's about all we could expect of them, especially at this point in the season.

The bottom line to me is that this team wasn't built to play exciting, high-scoring hockey. If anything, it's built to play defensive, low-scoring hockey, which is what the coaches are trying to get it to do. The coaches were given the keys to a battered Impala; we can't blame them for not being able to make it drive like a Jaguar.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

Well said.

I don't wait either of them as a head coach next year. I don't like what Oates has done with the PP really. Never cared for him as a PP coach in the past with us. And I'm beyond spooked by his time with Washington.

I can't be too mad at what he's done here though. Still don't think he's an NHL caliber head coach.

Thanks.

I don't want either Stevens or Oates to stay on as head coach (although I'd prefer Stevens to Oates, because Oates' time in Washington was terrible) although I wouldn't mind Stevens as assistant coach again. I just don't think this current team could play much better than it does now. We've got a young defense corps who are going to be inconsistent and a bunch of aging forwards. All we've got going for us right now is a star goaltender. That's what this team is right now, so that's what it looks like when it plays hockey.

Hopefully next season we'll have some new faces in the top six who are actual upgrades and a new head coach.

 

[awegrzyn]

Disappointed in Gelly with that first period gaffe that led to a goal.

Looked completely different from the the seats.
I play as a defenseman, and if my goalie would pass the pack to me in that situation I would chain him once and for all.

I expected him to roll the puck back to the other D, but he gave this guy a hot potato. It did look weird from watching it live, but I agree, on the Highlights the entire play looks a bit different.

That goal is 100% on the goalie, not to mention, this was not a pass. It was a swing.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Looked completely different from the the seats.
I play as a defenseman, and if my goalie would pass the pack to me in that situation I would chain him once and for all.

I expected him to roll the puck back to the other D, but he gave this guy a hot potato. It did look weird from watching it live, but I agree, on the Highlights the entire play looks a bit different.

That goal is 100% on the goalie.

I thought this as well. Gelly was pretty weak on that play, but Cory should not have played the puck there in that situation. My first reaction was "what the hell is Cory doing?"

 

[awegrzyn]

My first reaction was "what the hell is Cory doing?"

Exactly that, I felt it as well. That guy can not play outside of the goal. I have a feeling he is stressed every time he comes out to play. I can sense it, as it always gets intense.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

Cory still isn't particularly adept at puck handling. Would have been nice if the team could pull out a win for him to make up for all the games he's stolen for them or kept them in, but that wasn't to be, since our team struggles with scoring.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Cory still isn't particularly adept at puck handling. Would have been nice if the team could pull out a win for him to make up for all the games he's stolen for them or kept them in, but that wasn't to be, since our team struggles with scoring.

Despite the fact that Cory made a poor play on the puck, Gelly could have done a lot more to help the situation. He was so easily bumped off the puck he looked like Tedenby. He's got to be stronger in that situation and at least pin the puck in the corner.