GDT: Devils @ Red Wings Happy Thanksgiving 7:00 MSG2

[Bleedred]

If and when Lindy goes Fitz has gotta do better than Travis Green as his replacement. If it’s on an interim level then maybe, but anything more than that is overkill.

 

[Mgd31]

don’t count your eggs before they hatch. let’s see what happens when the devils give up the first goal and their confidence craters

Oh I have no confidence tomorrow.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

Besides a better record we are Edmonton east right now. Team looks like they don't believe in their goaltender and they don't listen to the coaches and look dead spiritually. Edmonton and New Jersey were the sexy SCF prediction from some hockey pundits and fans.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Besides a better record we are Edmonton east right now. Team looks like they don't believe in their goaltender and they don't listen to the coaches and look dead spiritually. Edmonton and New Jersey were the sexy SCF prediction from some hockey pundits and fans.

This is usually the kiss of death. Anytime a still unproven team is hyped up during the off-season, it doesn't turn out as predicted, often times the complete opposite.

 

[Lindys Lazy Eye]

We shouldn't have shitcanned Brunette.

 

[guitarguyvic]

We shouldn't have shitcanned Brunette.

It seems Fitz has the same weakness with coaching decisions as his predecessor. Which is...not good.

 

[Devs3cups]

Brunette was mostly responsible for the PP, that was horrible, and now it’s good. Not sure how much impact he had on the 5v5 offense.

 

[Devils731]

Brunette was mostly responsible for the PP, that was horrible, and now it’s good. Not sure how much impact he had on the 5v5 offense.

I believe they discussed that Brunette had helped put in some tweaks to the breakout and forecheck, which both seemed better last year than 2 years ago and this year; so maybe Brunette was good at adding tweaks or helping players understand what was needed.

It’s always tough to tell with coaches who is doing what, so who knows.

 

[Bleedred]

We shouldn't have shitcanned Brunette.

He’s a better coach than Green and would have been perfect to replace Ruff.

It’s gonna be so annoying if we let him go just so Ruff could coach 30 or 40 more games here (not that we’ll be that lucky) or even just 82 more games here.

But again, I think Ruff earned at least part of this year with last year, but he certainly didn’t earn multiple more years after this. A playoff miss of any kind, barring the three guys who were out missing the rest of the year should result in the end of him.

And I’m thinking a playoff miss will almost definitely spell the end of Rogalski as goalie coach. He’ll get the Recchi/Nas treatment no matter what happens to Lindy. I think we can bet on that.

Because there’s no way we’ll miss the playoffs and have good goaltending at the same time. We’re basically guaranteed a playoff spot if the goaltending is decent to good. Vitek has been a disaster for 40 games now and whoever is pulling the strings seems to have absolutely no interest in letting Akira see if he can find what he did in the playoffs after he came in and cleaned up Vitek’s mess after the first two games. If he has a bad game he has to sit for over a week. And sometimes he has a good game and has to sit for potentially 1.5 weeks and that would have happened if we hadn’t gotten a quick visit from the Vitek we’ve come to know over the last 40 games against Washington.

Literally almost every game Vitek has had in the last three weeks (or whenever we played Chicago) with the exception of the Pittsburgh game has been at least as bad as Akira’s game up in Winnipeg. And that’s not at all hyperbole. That’s pretty accurate.

It’s a joke.

 

[youryeah]

Sucks that Sevo is out, was looking forward to his comments on our “system”.

made sevy a lot of money

 

[NJDevs26]

We shouldn't have shitcanned Brunette.

We didn’t, he got an upgraded job

 

[Clam Jensen]

Brunette was mostly responsible for the PP, that was horrible, and now it’s good. Not sure how much impact he had on the 5v5 offense.

Yea and Nashville is…8-10 lol.

 

[glenwo2]

Yea and Nashville is…8-10 lol.

Yeah...nobody has really noticed that in all the unexpected Brunette love.

He and Green bring the same level of potential meh-ness as Ruff's replacements so....

I think (to @Bleedred 's point) that if Ruff gets canned (and is kicked up into an office role), then Green remains ONLY as an interim and that's it no matter what happens.

 

[Bleedred]

Yea and Nashville is…8-10 lol.

Nashville has been toast for years now and is only relevant because of Saros.

And he’s not having a good start to the year. They’re probably 10-8 with normal Saros.

Again, they’re just one of several teams that I don’t understand what they’re doing right now. Especially in the West. They signed O’Reilly to a deal that a team in their position shouldn’t be signing.

But since their division is so heinous they actually have a chance to make the playoffs. It’s a real snail race at the bottom of the two Western divisions, outside of San Jose, Chicago and Edmonton. And Edmonton is clearly underachieving massively. I suspect Anaheim and Edmonton will swap spots at some point in the not too distant future.

 

[Maine Fan]

Extremely disappointed with the Devil's play against the Red Wings. The team is 8-8-1 500%. Seventeen games played, 17 points. Vanecek is 7-5-0, and Schmid is 1-3-1. Yes, we have a goalie problem, but our record does not reflect the problem exclusively. The lousy defense is on Ruff. The lack of play, like against Detroit, in my opinion, is on Ruff. Schmid can't get better if he doesn't play. We know what happens when Ruff overuses Venecek. Forget Injuries. The Devils, with their talent, should not be 8-8-1. They should have more wins. In the Detriot game, Jack Hughes is back, but the team is a no-show, IMO.

It is time for Ruff and his coaching staff to turn this team into the winners they are. Stop using Vanecek to hope for a better record; that will result in the opposite, and he will not get the help he needs for the Devils to make the playoffs.

Enough games have been played to make these observations. Put together a better offensive line. The offense must also play defense. The Defense must play better; there is no excuse for the sloppy play. Fitz will not get a quick fix on the goalie issue. Winning will take some creative coaching and game preparation.

Lets Go Devils