GDT: Devils @ Canucks - 10:00 PM - MSG

[Jersey Fan 12]

will be a fun gif to put subtitles too.

Miles: we are the better team..... you stupid F^$#

Schenn: Yeah well you guys still play the trap

Miles: *laughs*


Brodeur and Zubrus.

Make that four players. Five if you add Ben Lovejoy.

 

[My3Sons]

That is faulty logic on your part if you believe that was my thought process.

I was happy we won but as I said before : A Bad decision resulting in a Good outcome is still a Bad decision.

Lindy rolled a snake eyes here as we didn't know what Blackwood we would get in this game.

Whereas with Vitek, we were sure that he could at least stop a puck (and he's proven it).

You aren’t wrong that it’s hard to have faith in Blackwood and there is merit to riding thr hot hand. That said if this was the easiest game in the next four I can understand why Ruff started MBW. The problem is that Vanacek should probably start every game and that’s not feasible. He’s not a true starter either and he would of course break down. Think of it as NBA style load management

The thing is...

that broken record has been spot on the past several seasons when it came to Blackwood.

Last night was the very first time in awhile where he wasn't a detriment to the team.

He had won three before the Caps loss?

 

[billingtons ghost]

I got my dick snipped two months after my second child…a bag of peas for two days and all good.

I refuse to f*cking like this.

 

[PWiz30]

I can't believe I'm getting sucked into the goalie shit again, but here we are. Everyone likes to complain about how bad their goalies are, but you can't just decide to upgrade the position. At any given time there's probably a forward or D upgrade available for you if you're willing to pay, but with goalie that's just not the case. There's a reason that there's a goalie carousel every year where teams basically trade free agents and they all still suck. There's just not that many good ones.

Small sample sizes, but here's a list of the goalies that moved teams this year and have started a game along with their save%.

Darcy Kuemper - .922 8 games
Martin Jones - .879 8 games
Jack Campbell - .881 7 games
Ilya Samsonov - .920 6 games
Eric Comrie - .902 6 games
Ville Husso - .926 5 games
Charlie Lindgren - .919 3 games
Thomas Griess - .915 3 games
Jaro Halak - .867 3 games
Kevin Lankinen - .919 2 games
David Rittich - .885 2 games
Matt Murray - .826 1 game

I'm sure I missed a couple, but outside of Kuemper, Husso, and Samsonov, that's not an impressive list. Of those guys, Samsonov was the only one the devils had a realistic shot to acquire, but that was after they already traded for Vanecek. I'd honestly take Vanecek and Blackwood over everyone else on that list.

Maybe Blackwood does suck, but most of this board was ready to crown him and mocking Flyers fans that they thought Hart was better as recently as last offseason. So far this season, he has an xGA of 13 and 15 goals against. That first game against the Flyers was the worst, where he had 4 goals against and something like 1.5xGA or so if I remember correctly. Outside of that game he's been decent. If he starts really blowing games like he did against the Flyers again and he's still getting starts at that point, then we can start freaking out. Otherwise, he and Vanecek have both had 1 really horrendous game and been fine otherwise.

It's almost like the league has made a concerted effort for the past 15+ years to make goalies' jobs more difficult. It's not even just that there are so few goalies who are both good enough to be difference makers and likely to be available on the trade market. The few guys who do check both boxes will cost an arm and a leg because there are so few of them and none of them play for a team with Peter Chiarelli as its GM.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

Wish I knew what Schenn said that made Miles crack up

I think he said, "Our Hughes is better."

 

[Guttersniped]

It is worth pointing out that the Panthers did score a ton last year and Brunette was the head coach for all but the first 6 or 7 games.

I wonder if he has a big influence on our scoring this year? Our ability to generate shots and chances wasn't that bad last year, but it's certainly gotten a lot better this year.

It's probably not really worth questioning too much, but I do wonder if Brunette has a considerable amount of control on the way this team plays already?

Hey, the Blues were the best finishing team last season, 12.4% and 3rd in GF/G 3.77.

The Bruins were the 30th, 8.5%, and 15th, 3.09.

Jim Montgomery leaves the Blues to coach the Bruins and is replaced as a AC with Craig MacTavish.

This season the Blues are the 30th in Shooting %, 8.2%, and 32nd in GF/G, 2.38.

The Bruins are 4th, 12.3%, and 1st, 4.40.

Coincidence? I was jealous of the Montgomery hiring at the time. Boston historically hires good coaches. (And I don’t know if I would have gone with MacTavish but he’s experienced I guess lol.)

Finishing is a harsh mistress though.

Last season Florida
4th in SH% (2 way tie), 11%
1st in GF/G, 4.11.

This season
32nd, 7.6%
20th (2 way tie), 3.00.

Last season Leafs
5th in SH% (2 way tie), 11%
2nd in GF/G, 3.80.

This season
27th (3 way tie), 8.6%
26th, 2.70.

Last season Nashville
6th in SH% (2 way tie), 10.7%
12th in GF/G (2 team tie), 3.20.

This season
26th (2 way tie), 8.6%
28th in GF/G (2 way tie), 2.60.

Last season the Blue Jackets
9th (3 way tie), 10.5%
14th in GF/G, 3.15.

This season
24th, 8.8%
29th (2 way tie), 2.60.

Last season Rangers
10th (3 way tie) in SH%, 10.5%
16th (2 way tie) in GF/G, 3.05.

This season
31st, 8.0%
22nd (two way tie), 2.91.

Last season Carolina
13th in SH%, 9.9%
9th in G/GF, 3.38.

This season
28th, 8.6%
16th (3 way tie), 3.11

Which is very Carolina and why it’s better to be good than lucky. Which also brings it to us…

Last season
16th in SH%, 9.6%
19th in GF/G, 2.99.

This season
23rd, 9.2%
6th (2 team tie), 3.60.

 

[Bleedred]

Hey, the Blues were the best finishing team last season, 12.4% and 3rd in GF/G 3.77.

The Bruins were the 30th, 8.5%, and 15th, 3.09.

Jim Montgomery leaves the Blues to coach the Bruins and is replaced as a AC with Craig MacTavish.

This season the Blues are the 30th in Shooting %, 8.2%, and 32nd in GF/G, 2.38.

The Bruins are 4th, 12.3%, and 1st, 4.40.

Coincidence? I was jealous of the Montgomery hiring at the time. Boston historically hires good coaches. (And I don’t know if I would have gone with MacTavish but he’s experienced I guess lol.)

Finishing is a harsh mistress though.

Last season Florida
4th in SH% (2 way tie), 11%
1st in GF/G, 4.11.

This season
32nd, 7.6%
20th (2 way tie), 3.00.

Last season Leafs
5th in SH% (2 way tie), 11%
2nd in GF/G, 3.80.

This season
27th (3 way tie), 8.6%
26th, 2.70.

Last season Nashville
6th in SH% (2 way tie), 10.7%
12th in GF/G (2 team tie), 3.20.

This season
26th (2 way tie), 8.6%
28th in GF/G (2 way tie), 2.60.

Last season the Blue Jackets
9th (3 way tie), 10.5%
14th in GF/G, 3.15.

This season
24th, 8.8%
29th (2 way tie), 2.60.

Last season Rangers
10th (3 way tie) in SH%, 10.5%
16th (2 way tie) in GF/G, 3.05.

This season
31st, 8.0%
22nd (two way tie), 2.91.

Last season Carolina
13th in SH%, 9.9%
9th in G/GF, 3.38.

This season
28th, 8.6%
16th (3 way tie), 3.11

Which is very Carolina and why it’s better to be good than lucky. Which also brings it to us…

Last season
16th in SH%, 9.6%
19th in GF/G, 2.99.

This season
23rd, 9.2%
6th (2 team tie), 3.60.

I actually never thought I'd live to see the day where an NHL team that wasn't the Edmonton Oilers hired MacBrainDamage to be a coach of any kind.... But here we are.

I think I'm more surprised that Edmonton stopped keeping him around in a front office role more than anything.

 

[My3Sons]

Ha, that's hilarious, I was mesmerized by the dancers that I didn't notice.

My kudo's to the guy behind the mixer.

So it’s not the release version on the album. I’m too lazy to go back to the working version that thr placeholder lyrics to compare it. I am wondering if it was a totally diiferent take they had in the can or if they actually recorded another version just for the show to avoid any live mistakes.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

A shot of bourbon to top off the nyquil and good night you savages. Don't get in trouble. There used to be gif parties after wins like this but do what you will.

 

[billingtons ghost]

I just have no faith in Blackwood. I don’t think he’s a good goalie.

Some people wanna make me feel a fool for doubting an .892% goalie over the last 61 games (hey! It went up a point! It was .891% before last night!) will be good again.

Or like I’m slandering a player that’s actually good like Jack Hughes or Nico.

Way better players have been shit talked on this board.

Vanecek has been the better goalie this regular season, preseason and last two seasons. Some people put way too much confidence into a goalie that hasn’t had more than a handful of good games in a row in close to 3 years.

Some people just shit talk the guys they don't like forever. And ever. Doesn't matter if they've won 4 of 5 or if they were injured or if... Maybe just maybe, when a team plays like garbage in front of them in that only loss they deserve another chance, bc MB29 better be good else we are going nowhere this year. Instead of heaping trash on the guy, maybe root like a fan for success instead of hoping for failure.

The reality is that he's not a great goalie, but you seem to have problems with guys who have limitations but do the best they can. Like almost every fourth liner ever on our team.

Vanacek on a good team like the Caps must have a better SV% ( which is literally the ONLY language you speak no matter what shit evidence it is of goalie play...just ask Thatcher Demko who you'd trade for...bc his performance the other night just boils down to numbers for you).

But hey, live in the past and be bitter that we are winning with this guy.

 

[glenwo2]

He had won three before the Caps loss?

Yeah he did.

I'm just trying to forget that he exists and it's only Vitek.

 

[Guttersniped]

Weird Face Miles Wood only knows love for his fellow man and ladies. Share in his love.

(I went looking for photos for the countdown thread on the main board in the pre-season and discovered Wood makes extraordinarily weird expressions while playing. His lips are all over the place like he’s in a wind tunnel.)

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Isn't that....you know...dangerous or something?

My system has been finely honed to accept bourbon in place of any liquid. It just makes the nyquil work faster at this point.

 

[glenwo2]

Weird Face Miles Wood only knows love for his fellow man and ladies. Share in his love.

(I went looking for photos for the countdown thread on the main board in the pre-season and discovered Wood makes extraordinarily weird expressions while playing. His lips are all over the place like he’s in a wind tunnel.)

Holy s**t!

 

[Hisch13r]

It's almost like the league has made a concerted effort for the past 15+ years to make goalies' jobs more difficult. It's not even just that there are so few goalies who are both good enough to be difference makers and likely to be available on the trade market. The few guys who do check both boxes will cost an arm and a leg because there are so few of them and none of them play for a team with Peter Chiarelli as its GM.

The league certainly hasn't made an effort to make their jobs less difficult. All they've done is shrink their pads a bit because they were allowed to wear fat suits for a while. Goalies are worse because the league is more talented than it's ever been and offensive coaching has gotten better

 

[Eggtimer]

Bleedred hacked Glens account.

I was going to post the exact same thing lol. Even they way they construct their sentences and caps on words lol .

 

[glenwo2]

I was going to post the exact same thing lol. Even they way they construct their sentences and caps on words lol .

We are two Peas in a Pod.

 

[Billdo]

Actually it does matter as that was a different Mackenzie Blackwood back then prior to turning into a goddamn pumpkin and playing like one since then.

He gave me zero reason to believe he wouldn't perform (last night) the same crappy way he's performed the past several seasons.

That he managed to do otherwise was a very pleasant surprise, I'll admit.

The two years in between were Covid and his injury with both of those irrelevant now. Hopefully it goes back closer to what he was. I'll give you that it was a questionable move but I don't think it was some stupid unfathomable move.

 

[Guttersniped]

I can't believe I'm getting sucked into the goalie shit again, but here we are. Everyone likes to complain about how bad their goalies are, but you can't just decide to upgrade the position. At any given time there's probably a forward or D upgrade available for you if you're willing to pay, but with goalie that's just not the case. There's a reason that there's a goalie carousel every year where teams basically trade free agents and they all still suck. There's just not that many good ones.

Small sample sizes, but here's a list of the goalies that moved teams this year and have started a game along with their save%.

Darcy Kuemper - .922 8 games
Martin Jones - .879 8 games
Jack Campbell - .881 7 games
Ilya Samsonov - .920 6 games
Eric Comrie - .902 6 games
Ville Husso - .926 5 games
Charlie Lindgren - .919 3 games
Thomas Griess - .915 3 games
Jaro Halak - .867 3 games
Kevin Lankinen - .919 2 games
David Rittich - .885 2 games
Matt Murray - .826 1 game

I'm sure I missed a couple, but outside of Kuemper, Husso, and Samsonov, that's not an impressive list. Of those guys, Samsonov was the only one the devils had a realistic shot to acquire, but that was after they already traded for Vanecek. I'd honestly take Vanecek and Blackwood over everyone else on that list.

Maybe Blackwood does suck, but most of this board was ready to crown him and mocking Flyers fans that they thought Hart was better as recently as last offseason. So far this season, he has an xGA of 13 and 15 goals against. That first game against the Flyers was the worst, where he had 4 goals against and something like 1.5xGA or so if I remember correctly. Outside of that game he's been decent. If he starts really blowing games like he did against the Flyers again and he's still getting starts at that point, then we can start freaking out. Otherwise, he and Vanecek have both had 1 really horrendous game and been fine otherwise.

You missed Georgiev but he’s probably pretty happy with the team that traded for him.

And nothing symbolizes the atrocious goalie market quite like the Avs defending their Cup with the Rags’ back-up and their 32 year old back-up who has had double knee AND double hip surgery.

I would probably maybe take Husso or Lindgren but I’m very unsure that we would get either signed and Husso got a pretty hefty deal.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Lankinen works out for the Preds because they’re the Preds.

It would be funny if Greiss squeezed out another good season out of those old bones.

Can Kuemper stay healthy? Can Samsonov stay consistent as Toronto runs him into the ground?

Martin Jones already started 7 games for Seattle? That’s some old school expansion team pain there but hey he won 4 games so good for him I guess.

That Campbell contract is so Edmonton. Halak is playing like what you would expect a 37 year old Jaroslav Halak to play like.

Fun fact: Eric Comrie is 15 years younger than half brother Mike Comrie.

Another Fun fact: David Rittich and Matt Murray are also technically goaltenders.

Ok. I’m a little tired and just rambled here.

The fun part is the goalie market isn’t any better next off-season. So that’s nice.

 

[glenwo2]

The two years in between were Covid and his injury with both of those irrelevant now. Hopefully it goes back closer to what he was. I'll give you that it was a questionable move but I don't think it was some stupid unfathomable move.

If Blackwood let in his usual softies that he had done in the past, and the Devils ended up losing the game, would you think it was a stupid unfathomable move on Lindy's part?

Lindy would've been blasted for that decision, had that happened.

(yes, It didn't but I'm just stating my what-if's here)

 

[Eggtimer]

My system has been finely honed to accept bourbon in place of any liquid. It just makes the nyquil work faster at this point.

Still .. can’t be good and is risky? I’m not telling you want to do or not do , just don’t want to see anyone hurt themselves or make themselves sick. Be careful

 

[The Wumpus]

Weird Face Miles Wood only knows love for his fellow man and ladies. Share in his love.

View attachment 602291


(I went looking for photos for the countdown thread on the main board in the pre-season and discovered Wood makes extraordinarily weird expressions while playing. His lips are all over the place like he’s in a wind tunnel.)

 

[My3Sons]

Some people just shit talk the guys they don't like forever. And ever. Doesn't matter if they've won 4 of 5 or if they were injured or if... Maybe just maybe, when a team plays like garbage in front of them in that only loss they deserve another chance, bc MB29 better be good else we are going nowhere this year. Instead of heaping trash on the guy, maybe root like a fan for success instead of hoping for failure.

The reality is that he's not a great goalie, but you seem to have problems with guys who have limitations but do the best they can. Like almost every fourth liner ever on our team.

Vanacek on a good team like the Caps must have a better SV% ( which is literally the ONLY language you speak no matter what shit evidence it is of goalie play...just ask Thatcher Demko who you'd trade for...bc his performance the other night just boils down to numbers for you).

But hey, live in the past and be bitter that we are winning with this guy.

It's easy to point out Blackwood's flaws as a goalie. He's been maddeningly inconsistent. He is getting the help he needs in front of him this season and he's still up and down. Some folks express their frustrations with more color. I think @Bleedred hits on a very important issue with Blackwood and it is his contract. He is going to need a new one and he's already somewhat expensive. Maybe they can squeeze one more year out of him but he's at that stage where typically a team would look to a four or five year deal to lock up a starter. If you don't see him worth that, it's definitely something that you have to filter through a lens when you view his play this season. I think we are almost all ecstatic the team is winning and it doesn't seem to be a fluke or the result of one or two unsustainable things. I look at Blackwood right now as I do guys like Tatar or Johnsson or Graves. They are here this year and probably want more than the team will want to offer them in a contract. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who has real faith in Blackwood at this point even if we are rooting for him.

 

[Billdo]

If Blackwood let in his usual softies that he had done in the past, and the Devils ended up losing the game, would you think it was a stupid unfathomable move on Lindy's part?

Lindy would've been blasted for that decision, had that happened.

(yes, It didn't but I'm just stating my what-if's here)

No, I wouldn't have. The numbers justified it in my mind and I'd rather play Vanecek against the more difficult opponent at this point anyway. Like I said I get why ppl were surprised but I just don't think it's THAT big of a deal.

 

[TBF1972]

You know you're about to be cancelled, right?

Two players on the Devils you can't criticize.

Cancelled?

You can criticize any player. If you have good arguments even better.

But selectively blame the teams lack of success on a single player without any further evidence, isn't the way to go. And if you pick one of the most productive players, who is even underpaid, it gets comical and you shouldn't be surprised, when others laugh about it.