GDT: Devils @ Maple Leafs - 7:00 PM - MSG

[glenwo2]

Is martyowns turning into glenwo?


We might be one now.

And Holtz may be that sniper you’re looking for which would make us all the more dangerous.

What is he saying? I can't "read" his posts.

 

[HBK27]

Just looking at your join date…. Did you perhaps ever have a previous name that rhymed with Smevil Smogo?

LOL...every new member on these boards is going to be under some scrutiny thanks to RangerDoggo

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Last night was wild. I had a super bad fever, got no actual sleep. The notification of the end of the game kinda pulled me away from the tossing and turning. It's a good thing they won I made some posts I barely remember

Fever is subsiding but still have basically been in bed all day.

 

[glenwo2]

I defer to better replay eyes then.

Think of it this way, if a straight shot turns into a knuckler along the way and there was no one but a NJ Devils player (Siegs) along that way......I think it's safe to say that puck was indeed deflected.

This isn't a Mighty Ducks disney movie with that whole knucklepuck nonsense.

Knucklepucks don't happen purposely. (at least I don't think they do)

 

[devilsblood]

LOL...every new member on these boards is going to be under some scrutiny thanks to RangerDoggo

So just below your post is an ad for a t shirt on which is a dog and the police lyrics “ill be watching you”.

 

[Ripshot 43]

Last night was wild. I had a super bad fever, got no actual sleep. The notification of the end of the game kinda pulled me away from the tossing and turning. It's a good thing they won I made some posts I barely remember

Fever is subsiding but still have basically been in bed all day.

Flu?

 

[TBF1972]

Actually, I agree with that.

I didn't expect us to do that well

jim was the only one with that type of vision. he wanted the team to compete 3 years ago.

Hockey news crowing tonight.

no bratt and no nico

 

[Call Me Al]

Yup, that's exactly what it will be. ''Oh, he's still injured, you gotta let him get in a rhythm!''. And then the first hot streak that he has it'll be that he's definitely back, he's gonna be good again and we should not let him walk because you can't let a young player at a key position go for nothing when we still have his rights.

I heard the same thing about Cory for probably a couple years, but here's the biggest difference between the two of them. Cory actually HAD like TWENTY good game stretches at times. Blackwood's hottest streaks haven't exceeded 5 games since like February of 2020.

literally nobody has said that about blackwood this season

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Flu?

Presumably. I took a Covid test that was negative, and it definitely feels like the flu. Usually hits me really hard for a couple days.

 

[glenwo2]

11 game win streak, 2nd in the league?
Let's fight about backup goaltending!

Except Mackenzie is going to be treated as a Starter when he gets back.

THAT is the "fight" here.

the only reason I see to trade Blackwood right now is to get someone with better availability in net. I love Schmid and Daws, and I have a ton of confidence in their potential, but we should let them earn their spot and let them play their way onto the team.

Schmid and Daws are super young for goalies, If we lose Blackwood in the offseason, I would feel better if we got another stop gap veteran option. Of any fans in the NHL, we should understand how valuable it is to have goalie depth.

Or make a huge trade for a young goalie on the rise like Spencer Knight (which isn't very realistic)

Why trade for a young goalie on the rise?

Just roll with Schmid or Daws, and have them become "Goalies on the rise".

And btw, if they're "super young for goalies", when is it the right time to no longer say that?

What's the point of having these two goaltenders who now BOTH have NHL experience, when we're not going to use them but instead get another Stop Gap Vet?

 

[TBF1972]

tbh.....if the Schmid we saw in his last game is the real one, I'd say we don't need Blackwood anymore.

so wrong.

i remember, how people excluded high profile goalie prospect from draft consideration, because we had blackwood. 5 nhl games is prove of nothing.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I just finished watching the game. There is definitely a pattern of this team gradually ramping up as the game goes on.

I thought Siegs had a rare just ok game.

Behind the defense the team is playing this year Schmid can definitely succeed. Absolutely no reason to trade for a goalie.

 

[HBK27]

Except Mackenzie is going to be treated as a Starter when he gets back.

THAT is the "fight" here.

Why do you think Blackwood will be treated as the starter when he gets back after what we've seen from Vanecek?

 

[Bleedred]

literally nobody has said that about blackwood this season

Literally because he’s f***ing SUCKED this year, outside of a three game stretch. And he’s been woefully outplayed by Vanecek.

But there were still calls for me to eat crow after those three games and like I said, it wasn’t the time to be doing that. That was way too premature.

The injury excuses will be all over if he sucks and then if he has a good few game stretch it’s him “Bouncing back”.

His defenders to this point have really thinned out like the heavens gate cult after eating the poisonous jello. I’m sure the hope will be reignited after a few good games again though.

 

[TBF1972]

These last 2 pages have been borderline unreadable.

hyperbole circus

like the devils board turned into the canucks, habs, leafs or rangers

 

[britdevil]

Why do you think Blackwood will be treated as the starter when he gets back after what we've seen from Vanecek?

Lindy Ruff. He's said as much before.

I'll eat my words if he doesn't go back to Blackwood, but I just think he will.

 

[Bleedred]

Except Mackenzie is going to be treated as a Starter when he gets back.

THAT is the "fight" here.


Why trade for a young goalie on the rise?

Just roll with Schmid or Daws, and have them become "Goalies on the rise".

And btw, if they're "super young for goalies", when is it the right time to no longer say that?

What's the point of having these two goaltenders who now BOTH have NHL experience, when we're not going to use them but instead get another Stop Gap Vet?

Blackwood won’t be treated as the starter, but he may be treated as the 1b or more than sparingly used backup.

If Ruff is smart he’ll take a page out of the John Hynes book from 2018.

 

[Guttersniped]

I may need to consult a doctor


I think Ruff has to get some credit here, at least. I think many sports fans assume if results improve, there had to be a change in process. But if you can appreciate how loosely tied results normally are to the process, particularly in sports like hockey, you can appreciate that these changes can be overrated a bit.

The system they're playing is not that different compared to what they were doing last year. They just haven't had players executing at nearly this level. The players definitely get credit for continuing to improve, learning the system better. The assistants get credit for the tweaks they have made and for the clear improvements they've made with special teams. And the goaltending definitely gets credit (including Blackwood when he has played), for being more dependable, which allows the team to stick to what they do better. All of these things are interconnected and therefore all and none of them deserve as much credit or blame directly as they get for results.

It's very easy for coaches and management in sports to be reactionary to appease fans, and much more difficult to stick to their plan. Another way of saying this is, it's easy for coaches to look bad when they're coaching bad teams.

So let's give some credit to Ruff for sticking to his plan and knowing the results would come. Let's give credit to the players and assistants, both old and new, for giving him a better team and support system to work with, and let's give credit to Fitz for making some damn solid moves this offseason to bolster a group he believed in.

People think Ruff is a “dinosaur” because he’s old and they underestimate how much of possession based coach he is.

I mean:

When Dallas under Ruff got rolling it’s offense was very dynamic. It wasn’t as good defensively at any point as we are now, which is the the real shocker and delight for me.

That team got way worse in 2016-17 but it lost two of three top defensemen when both Goligoski and Demers left in the off-season.

Their other top 3 defenseman was a 23 year old Klingberg in his 2nd season. Their 4th best defenseman was a 34 year old Oduya.

So the next season their defense was (in order of overall average ice time)
[80 GP] Klingberg
[73 GP] 22 year old rookie Lindell
[79 GP] a newly signed 34 year old Dan Hamhuis
[58 GP] Jordie Benn (until the TDL)
[61 GP] 24 year old Stephen Jones (only played 14 NHL games previously, out of the NHL after 2019-20)
[37 GP] 35 year old Oduya (traded to Chicago)
[12 GP] Greg Pateryn (the return for Jordie Benn)
[16 GP] 21 year old rookie Julius Honka
[41 GP] 24 year old Jamie Oleksiak
[40 GP] Patrick Nemeth (lost on waivers to Colorado).

Which was obviously not much to work with and it’s not surprising their PK was insanely bad.

 

[Eggtimer]

Presumably. I took a Covid test that was negative, and it definitely feels like the flu. Usually hits me really hard for a couple days.

What’s more probable is alien abduction and likely having reactions to inter-stellar travel.
Or the flu.

 

[Bleedred]

Lindy Ruff. He's said as much before.

I'll eat my words if he doesn't go back to Blackwood, but I just think he will.

Blackwood is a bottom-3 or 4 goalie in the NHL. He should strictly be used as a backup from here on out and parted with in the off-season.

Vanecek isn’t an amazing or even great goalie, but he’s not one of the worst 3 goalies in the league.

The last time Blackwood played as well as Vanecek is right now, Vanecek was in the minors and had yet to debut in the NHL. We were all also close to 3 years younger than we are now.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

What’s more probable is alien abduction and likely having reactions to inter-stellar travel.
Or the flu.

Meh. 50/50 chance of either.

 

[britdevil]

Blackwood is a bottom-3 or 4 goalie in the NHL. He should strictly be used as a backup from here on out and parted with in the off-season.

Vanecek isn’t an amazing or even great goalie, but he’s not one of the worst 3 goalies in the league.

The last time Blackwood played as well as Vanecek is right now, Vanecek was in the minors and had yet to debut in the NHL. We were all also close to 3 years younger than we are now.

What irks me is that Blackwood is still seen as a guy that can get better as he's still "young for a goalie".

Vitek the same damn age bro, who's to say VV can't get even better?

Every team in the league wants a top 10 goalie, I get that. But at the same time, competent NHL goalies can take you a long way if the rest of your roster is good enough.

 

[Bleedred]

What irks me is that Blackwood is still seen as a guy that can get better as he's still "young for a goalie".

Vitek the same damn age bro, who's to say VV can't get even better?

Every team in the league wants a top 10 goalie, I get that. But at the same time, competent NHL goalies can take you a long way if the rest of your roster is good enough.

Vitek is signed for 2 more years after this. The other guy is not.

We need to see what we have in Vanecek arguably more than any other player on the team at this point, because we’re committed to him for the next two years beyond this.

 

[Clam Jensen]

I just finished watching the game. There is definitely a pattern of this team gradually ramping up as the game goes on.

I thought Siegs had a rare just ok game.

Behind the defense the team is playing this year Schmid can definitely succeed. Absolutely no reason to trade for a goalie.

This team reminds me of Derrick Henry. I saw some stat during the game last night that the more carries he gets, the higher his YPC gets…similar to how the more the devils get into a game, the more relentless they get and the more chances come.

 

[glenwo2]

Why do you think Blackwood will be treated as the starter when he gets back after what we've seen from Vanecek?

It's my fear.

Not that I believe it will happen but who knows with Lindy? Bats--t insane things have occurred.