GDT: Devils @ Avalanche - 10 P.M. - TNT/SN1/SNE/SNO/SNP

[glenwo2]

Yeah this is more on the league continuing to sanction cheap shot bs than it is the Devils at this point, exhibit A the slap on the wrist for Colton’s roid rage. What ‘protection’ is really gonna do any good if nothing short of serious injury is going to lead to any kind of penalty that hurts?

Speaking of Roid Rage, I really think the League should do some PED testing (now!) on Colton 'cause the way he was acting after the hit on Hughes where he went nuts on Timo was very weird.

 

[denverdevil]

Ball Arena is nice, but gosh is it awk to get to if you don't have a car. went to a playoff game there 1.5 yrs ago (when they won), and it was awk walking there

Where were you coming from? It’s not right in the middle of downtown like Coors, but it’s not bad. Now Empower is annoying to walk to for sure. We went to a Rockies and Broncos game on the same day once years ago, walked between them, and that was stupid.

 

[JimEIV]

MacKinnon has thrown 4 hits this season. Jesper Bratt has been credited with 13. He’s obviously a physical freak with powerful skating, but I wouldn’t say you’ve accurately described the player.

Timo Meier doesn’t thump guys on the forecheck and doesn’t stand up for himself? Huh, we must not be watching the same games.

Meier doesn't stand up for himself at all.

Show me something similar to this for anyone of our forwards.

 

[Camille the Eel]

The scary part about Vitek right now is that he still hasn’t come back from the dark side of the moon since the start of the Rangers series and slide in the last couple of months of last year.

It’s too early to say for Schmid because he’s barely played yet. His two middle games of this year might have been worse than any game Vitek has played, but his game in St. Louis (which he will be sitting on for a week, I think he plays Friday) was better than any game Vitek has played this year or since probably last March.

That said, St. Louis is probably the weakest (or one of the weaker) offensive teams we’ve played, so they may have made Schmid look better because they’re bad.

I thought Vitek had a good first period. But what happened after the first 10 minute mark was they applied the playbook against us from Carolina in last years playoffs. Make our defense turn and play pucks in the corners, pressure us all over the ice, get a lot of traffic in front of us and put a lot of pucks on net.

They are a very strong, deep and talented champion team. They were very motivated against us last night.

Without Jack Hughes it may be we will be more or less a 500 club.

 

[Devils731]

Meier doesn't stand up for himself at all.

Show me something similar to this for anyone of our forwards.

Even Jesper Bratt has tangled with a guy before. Now we should call Bratt a tough guy because he has lots of hits and a video of him fighting a guy.

 

[glenwo2]

This is just stupid. Nathan McKinnon is tougher and more physical than any of our top 9 forward. He does everything, he stands up for himself, he thumps Defensemen every chance he gets, he punishes the puck carrier by finishing his checks....we don't have a single top 9 forward that does any of that...that is not "the same thing - especially now". That's just a physical player .

MacKinnon has thrown 4 hits this season. Jesper Bratt has been credited with 13.

 

[JK3]

Oh this stupid shit again.

 

[JimEIV]

I mean I would love to see this Timo Meire but we've never seen it.

 

[Rhodes 81]

This is just stupid. Nathan McKinnon is tougher and more physical than any of our top 9 forward. He does everything, he stands up for himself, he thumps Defensemen every chance he gets, he punishes the puck carrier by finishing his checks....we don't have a single top 9 forward that does any of that...that is not "the same thing - especially now". That's just a physical player .

Is Meier not a physical forward now?

Looking at away hits/60, MacKinnon has 1.18. Even if you add home and away, his numbers actually go down to 1.01. He takes 3.03 hits/60 so maybe you're saying he is willing to take a hit to make a play? Here are top 9 forward on our team beating him in these statistics:
McLeod (currently) 6.03 given, 3.09 taken
Meier 4.63 given/3.19 taken
Palat 4.39/3.38
Bratt 3.32/1.38
Haula 3.09/3.34

Toffoli, Hischier, and Holtz also all beat MacKinnon in these categories, but you get the point. Even if you remove home counts, all these players still lead MacKinnon.

Are hits given and taken the end-all/be-all? No, but if you want someone to drop the gloves every time there's a big hit while also being a top 9 worthy player on a championship team, those players really don't exist outside of a select few and you have to pay through the nose for them. MacKinnon isn't some physical stalwart at all, he's just extremely good. Every team would love to have him but they don't exactly grow on trees.

Oh, hilariously, Tatar has thrown 4.15 hits/60 and taken 2.07. I know the trolls were going for gold with him last night so thought that was funny.

 

[Devs3cups]

Meier doesn't stand up for himself at all.

Show me something similar to this for anyone of our forwards.

 

[JimEIV]

Lol

 

[Emperoreddy]

Jack wasn't even injured on a dirty or physical play. Was a very minor trip and he crashed into the boards because he was going hard to the net.

Being "tougher" doesn't prevent that injury.

And there was relatiation for Nico's hit and for Luke's last night. Hell there was one for Wood and honestly there was nothing wrong with his hit

 

[Maine Fan]

Classic Devils game unfortunately, preceded by extended delay to start the game, which ultimately caused me to pass out and thankfully miss the game.

Gave up PPG and SHG
Vanecek shat the bed again
Miles Wood scored, and SHG to boot
Injuries


just crazy.

Vanecek, SHAT the Bed?
I don't agree.
Consider the defense doing their part.

 

[JimEIV]

Is Meier not a physical forward now?

Looking at away hits/60, MacKinnon has 1.18. Even if you add home and away, his numbers actually go down to 1.01. He takes 3.03 hits/60 so maybe you're saying he is willing to take a hit to make a play? Here are top 9 forward on our team beating him in these statistics:
McLeod (currently) 6.03 given, 3.09 taken
Meier 4.63 given/3.19 taken
Palat 4.39/3.38
Bratt 3.32/1.38
Haula 3.09/3.34

Toffoli, Hischier, and Holtz also all beat MacKinnon in these categories, but you get the point. Even if you remove home counts, all these players still lead MacKinnon.

Are hits given and taken the end-all/be-all? No, but if you want someone to drop the gloves every time there's a big hit while also being a top 9 worthy player on a championship team, those players really don't exist outside of a select few and you have to pay through the nose for them. MacKinnon isn't some physical stalwart at all, he's just extremely good. Every team would love to have him but they don't exactly grow on trees.

Oh, hilariously, Tatar has thrown 4.15 hits/60 and taken 2.07. I know the trolls were going for gold with him last night so thought that was funny.

Yeah Tatar, Bratt, Huala and Holtz are more physical than McKinnon lol.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Vanecek, SHAT the Bed?
I don't agree.
Consider the defense doing their part.

They wore him down as the game went on. It happens to goalies too.

 

[Triumph]

Oh, hilariously, Tatar has thrown 4.15 hits/60 and taken 2.07. I know the trolls were going for gold with him last night so thought that was funny.

Tatar's physical play was always an underrated part of his game. Everyone thought he was some soft Euro forward because of his playoff struggles but he was very good at taking hits to make plays as well as dishing them out when called for.

 

[JimEIV]

Tatar's physical play was always an underrated part of his game. Everyone thought he was some soft Euro forward because of his playoff struggles but he was very good at taking hits to make plays as well as dishing them out when called for.

He is a soft perimeter player. For the most part.

 

[kiwidevil]

Now that we’ve found the franchise player of our dreams, an offensive force tailor made for the modern NHL, we need to find some other class of player that will take us to the next level, or something. And Timo doesn’t fit that category, for reasons.

Suddenly goals/points from the team aren't the most important thing.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Oh, for f***'s sake lol.

 

[Rhodes 81]

Yeah Tatar, Bratt, Huala and Holtz are more physical than McKinnon lol.

Exactly, that's what the stats say!

Let's take a different approach. Can you explain what it is you're wanting that we don't have? Someone that drives the net? Seems like Mercer, Toffoli, Palat and Meier all do that well. Someone that will take a hit in the corners? Just about all of our forwards do that more than you're giving them credit for. Is it really someone who will drop the gloves every time there's a hit, legal or not? I don't love the idea of investing in a top 9 player that regularly takes themselves off the ice, for 5 minutes at a time, but I'll bite. Who is an actual player that does this and also has the skill to warrant playing in a top 9 on a good team? I can list maybe 3 or 4 in the entire league

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Meier doesn't stand up for himself at all.

Show me something similar to this for anyone of our forwards.

Did you watch Timo vs the Rangers in the playoffs? He didn’t score but he was a pest and physical beast all series. 23 hits in that series, and when 220+ lbs hits you, it’s different.

It’s hard to have this discussion because you’re just inventing things and hand waving away facts. Mac is not some power forward like figure if Timo isn’t also in that category.

 

[Call Me Al]

It's not the loss, it's getting bitch slapped that hurts ...

We we're out hit 17-9 but our forwards were out hit 12 to 6. And Bastian and Lazar are half of those 6...the top 9 doesn't hit and can't play physical at all. And all of that was while losing the puck possession battle pretty solidly.

We we're out shot 32 to 23...10 of those 23 shots were from our defensemen...our forwards were out shot 26 to 12...

The old BS assumption is you can't lead in hits when you always have the puck... Colorado did exactly that last night. The Devils were punched in the mouth repeatedly with zero push back....ugly, ugly, ugly performance.

my biggest complaint about this team is how soft they are. defense is a close second, but jesus have some pride - your star players get abused every single game and no one sticks up for them. other teams don’t have to pay any kind of price for anything.

you don’t have to be the 70s flyers but be hard to play against, you can’t just count on getting your revenge by winning, we’re going to do less of that without our two best players

 

[Devils731]

This definition of tough guy that fits Bratt made me think about if the Devils put up a billboard touting his new title. I can see them all over Newark.

 

[Emperoreddy]

This definition of tough guy that fits Bratt made me think about if the Devils put up a billboard touting his new title. I can see them all over Newark.

View attachment 765157

That looks like if you tried to fuse the DNA of Wood and Zajac and made a monster instead.

 

[Call Me Al]

Exactly, that's what the stats say!

Let's take a different approach. Can you explain what it is you're wanting that we don't have? Someone that drives the net? Seems like Mercer, Toffoli, Palat and Meier all do that well. Someone that will take a hit in the corners? Just about all of our forwards do that more than you're giving them credit for. Is it really someone who will drop the gloves every time there's a hit, legal or not? I don't love the idea of investing in a top 9 player that regularly takes themselves off the ice, for 5 minutes at a time, but I'll bite. Who is an actual player that does this and also has the skill to warrant playing in a top 9 on a good team? I can list maybe 3 or 4 in the entire league

i’ll answer this - winning puck battles, laying a hard hit in a defensman that might make them rush or panic the next time they handle the puck (which happens to our guys all the time), create a deterrence to beating up on our guys. it’s not having a fighter, it’s being pesky and frustrating to the other team.