Devils 2018-19 team discussion (news and notes)

[MadDevil]

Why do we always have to divide folks into fan clubs? Let's all just be fans of the Devils dammit

What fun would that be?

 

[NjDevs4994]

I'm in the Play Santini Fan Club

 

[Nubmer6]

We don't have a single defender capable of being dominant.

We do!

He just happens to be playing in Spokane right now.

 

[MadDevil]

I'm in the Play Santini Fan Club

Please, Santini couldn't hold Lovejoy's jock.

 

[DerekDevils30]

Fine. I declare the opening of the Erika Wachter fan club. Feel free to join but keep in mind we will bash Damon Severson for no reason at times

 

[glenwo2]

Ah, debating a Severson play. It's definitely hockey season again.

 

[Bleedred]

I almost sharted at this, I laughed so hard. Haha.

 

[Blender]

I can't get enough Spiderman memes.

 

[Darkauron]

 

[Bleedred]

This one’s good too!

 

[MadDevil]

I've missed Spidey.

 

[glenwo2]

 

[DerekDevils30]

Our fan base has a damn good sense of humor I must say

 

[DerekDevils30]

LOL this escalated quickly

 

[MadDevil]

That's a more accurate description of my social life than I really want to admit.

 

[BenedictGomez]

No, this is wrong, Severson shouldn't stick with McDavid, that's Greene's job here. McDavid and Lucic are very close together, where Greene can play the 2on1 with them to prevent a pass back to McDavid from Lucic, while sticking close enough to Lucic to keep him from going in for a deke. Lucic can either shoot or pass to Draisaitl based on Greene's positioning here. Greene plays this perfectly, and Severson blows his coverage.

@7:18 Greene and Severson are both positioned perfectly here. McDavid has the puck in the middle with Lucic to his left and Draisaitl to his right. McDavid can't really go between them, and Greene/Severson are in a good position to cover either player on the wing should McDavid make a pass.

@7:20 McDavid has stayed in the middle but cut slightly to his left, and slid a pass over to Lucic. Greene is in a perfect position to play the 2on1 here and either have Lucic try and force a pass to McDavid, who Greene is on, or take a shot on goal that Kinkaid should stop based on the angle and distance. At this point, Severson needs to cover the third option, the cross ice pass.

@7:21 Lucic passes to a wide open Draisaitl. Severson has his back to the pass and is doing absolutely nothing to contribute to defending this play. He's "covering" McDavid, as you can see from the image is already covered by his partner in Greene.

The entire job of a defenseman on an odd man rush is to prevent a clean cross ice pass or a deke on the goalie, as you severely limit your goalie's ability to make a save if that pass gets across. Severson blows his job here and leaves the most dangerous play wide open to cover a man who wasn't in a dangerous position and was already covered. McDavid does nothing special on this 3on2, and it's completely misleading to claim "oh it's McDavid what can you do?" when this was a textbook breakdown of defensive coverage. Teams run overlap plays and such specifically to draw defensemen out of position to open up passing and shooting lanes, but the reason they all just stayed in a straight line here is because there was no need to draw anyone out of position, Severson did it for them.

This is all 100% correct.

Only thing I can add is posters saying Severson is correct "because it's McDavid", is a dopey comment. The X's & O's dont change because of the player. I dont care if the man with the puck is Pavel Bure in EA Sports NHL94, the defensive fundamentals of hockey dont change.

 

[glenwo2]

That's a more accurate description of my social life than I really want to admit.

That's a more accurate description of just about everyone's social life. #YourNotAlone

So about those Devils....and Severson....

 

[DerekDevils30]

One day I will make the trek to the Rock for a game or two and there will be a get together. And there will be drinks

 

[glenwo2]

One day I will make the trek to the Rock for a game or two and there will be a get together. And there will be drinks

You should come dressed as Spiderman and pose for a picture with Mr. Devil.

 

[My3Sons]

I'm in the Play Santini Fan Club

I have been vocal in my belief that NJ should have given Santini the protected minutes they gave Lovejoy last season after Santini was unceremoniously exiled to the minors for failing on the top pairing. Since the team made the playoffs and Butcher played well in the pairing with Lovejoy he decision while still short sighted as I see it was justified.

I expected Santini to push Lovejoy to RD4 this training camp but he didn’t. It’s not as if what we saw of Santini in camp jumped off the screen. I don’t get it. He has decent tools and I would be quite surprised if his hockey IQ was that much lower than Lovejoy. It’s a mystery to me but Santini needs to do more to hold up his end of the bargain. Hopefully he will pick it up in practice and improve over the course of the season. Maybe it’s just confidence. Can you inagine the hit your self esteem would take if you couldn’t outplay Lovejoy?

 

[BenedictGomez]

I have been vocal in my belief that NJ should have given Santini the protected minutes they gave Lovejoy last season after Santini was unceremoniously exiled to the minors for failing on the top pairing.

This. I still believe this.

Santini needs to be playing in the NHL.

At this point sitting him just hurts his development, and I fail to see what Lovejoy brings that Santini doesnt, and if I'm going to suffer through mistakes on D, I want them to be made by the 23 year old still learning his position, not by the 34 year old trying to cling to an NHL roster spot.

 

[Emperoreddy]

He should have been playing last year. I want him playing this year, but he really did nothing in camp to earn a spot.

Only reason he isn’t in Bingo right now is because of waivers.

He has to make the absolute most of the opportunities he gets over the year, or he is going to be out of a job completely once the two college kids arrive.

 

[Bleedred]

I think we’ll see Santini in over Lovejoy pretty soon. It will probably take a loss and maybe even a bad blowout for it to happen.

 

[My3Sons]

This. I still believe this.

Santini needs to be playing in the NHL.

At this point sitting him just hurts his development, and I fail to see what Lovejoy brings that Santini doesnt, and if I'm going to suffer through mistakes on D, I want them to be made by the 23 year old still learning his position, not by the 34 year old trying to cling to an NHL roster spot.

I agree but the team is slowly transitioning to compete mode from building mode and in compete mode the only thing the coaches look for is the lineup they think can win the next game not the games next season and beyond.

I think Santini will get in some games as the season unfolds and hopefully he shows he belongs. I don’t think a broken down vet is a good use of a protected third pairing spot but right now Santini just hasn’t shown he can outplay Lovejoy which is not a good look for Santini.

 

[billingtons ghost]

For me, it doesn't matter if Mueller is ever 'dominant' ... Just be able to eat Moore's minutes and be a stable partner to vats against number one lines...
That's a big enough ask...