That is part of what I was eluding to in my post above as well
I'm not sure if it's he's not into it, he's just choosing to glide around looking for a smart play, or if he's hurt - unlikely the latter, but something hasn't been right with him
I guess the stresses of coaching the Flyers thinned it out pretty good.
I think Pete really needs to do a better job of recognizing what kind of players compliment each other. No reason it should have taken 15 games to realize Zubrus-Zajac-Jagr would be where Zajac and Zubrus would thrive. No reason it should have taken even more games to realize Loktionov needs snipers to his wing to be productive (and no trying it for a period and ditching it isn't giving it a proper chance).
Now he's left with:
Zubrus-Zajac-Jagr
Elias - ? - ?
Boucher - Loktionov - Ryder
? - ? - ?
Question marks should be filled with: Henrique, Brunner, Bernier, Josefson, Tedenby, Sestito, Cam, Gionta, Clowe, Carter
I don't think that Pete should force Elias with Henrique and Bernier anymore. I think it's imperative to surround Elias with talent that compliments him same for Henrique. If I had to line them up for Friday's game I'd go:
Zubrus-Zajac-Jagr
Elias - Josefson - Brunner
Boucher - Loktionov - Ryder
Sestito - Henrique - Bernier
I do it for two reasons: (1) Henrique needs to be held accountable for his horrendous game and (2) that second line had success in the preseason. Brunner compliments Patty far more than Bernier.
If it doesn't work and Henrique looks better just swap Henrique and Bernier with Josefson and Brunner and call it a day.
Bernier and Patty play well with eachother, they're different players one being a finesse player and the other a grinder that is strong on the puck
I'd like to see Josefson between the two of them, it could potentially spark Josefson playing with Patty, but more importantly, that has potential to be a very underrated and solid line
I know we only got 1 out of a possible 4 pts but I really think we arent playing that bad and it's just a matter of time before we start hitting the back of the net, lotta games left and the our division is weak, I have a feeling that #22 and #34 will never play in Albany again. Reid Boucher looked pretty damn good (especially when paired with Lokti and Ryder ) I knew he was a good shooter but I was most impressed with his passing. Brunner, Henrique, Zajac and Ryder are KILLING US !!!! all four need to produce more points plain and simple. We are right in the thick of things so no reason to worry and cry right now. LETS GO DEVILS !
Henrique should be traded. what an overpayment he is worth about 550k a year thats it
Agreed. We should also try to get Wideman from Calgary. See if maybe we can get Suter and Garisson as well.
Agreed. We should also try to get Wideman from Calgary. See if maybe we can get Suter and Garisson as well.
Yea Adam needs a kick in the nuts to be JACKED up for our next game
It might be. He makes a lot of similar posts and the username is similar to another one that that Jacked had.
Only this time instead of Suter, Wideman, Garisson, it's Cogliano, Peverley, Hemsky.
DeBoer was asked if he had considered using defenseman Marek Zidlicky in the shootout and he said he was “in the mix” of players they talked about. Zidlicky had some success when they last practiced the shootout and is the only player on the roster who has scored more than one shootout goal in his career that hasn’t gone yet this season. Andrei Loktionov, who is 0-for-1 in his career, also hasn’t gotten a chance this season, but said he’d “feel good” if he was given a chance. “Just put me there and we’ll see,” Loktionov said. - See more at: http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/...x_in_tiebreaker/#sthash.XMLE1lre.dpuf[/QUOTE]
Henrique should be traded. what an overpayment he is worth about 550k a year thats it
Ryder has a terrible track record in the shootout. I’ve never seen him come close to scoring on it in practice. He’s 0-for-2 for this season and 6-for-37 (16.2%) for his career, so the idea of not using him last night can hardly be called a dumb one.
That said, given that they’ve all stunk at it this season and Ryder clearly got up for the games against Montreal, I’d have given him a try last night.
That would have been more a gut feel call, though, over logic.
You can complain about Zajac being used again, but the reality is before Boucher scored NO ONE on the Devils had scored a shootout goal this season and everyone you can think of that should have been tried already has gone multiple times.
Zidlicky’s name has started to come up recently only because he hasn’t been used yet and he actually had a good day on it in practice a couple weeks back. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was fourth on their list last night.
But if the Devils picked him earlier this season and he failed (like everyone else), people here would have criticized the coach for picking a defenseman or picking him in particular.
At this point, to criticize the coach for who he picks in the shootout is pointless. They’ve all stunk at it with multiple attempts and the guys that haven’t been picked would be off the board guys now anyway.
Next time, maybe he should try Boucher, Zidlicky and Loktionov just to be different. But there really isn’t much logic behind those choices other than Boucher just scored and Zidlicky is the only one on the team who has scored more than once in his career in the shootout that hasn’t gone so far this season.
Or maybe he could just have Gelinas take a few strides into the zone and try to shoot the puck as hard as he can like a hardest shot competition and see what happens.
Posted by Tom Gulitti on 12/05 at 11:32 AM
- See more at: http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/...hes_starting_streak/P25/#sthash.cYpWTCSV.dpuf
Haven't had time to read through the entire GDT so forgive me if it has already been talked about, but in OT when Merril gave...I mean handed them a breakaway on a silver platter, then was back out there a shift or two later and Chico said "this is what I like about Pete, rookie makes a mistake and he says don't worry get back out there."
I don't care about the mistake really, any D man could have made that same mistake, or no other D man would have, don't care.
My point is my head almost exploded when Chico said that, it was almost like he was being sarcastic..... but he wasn't