Devils Team Discussion (current team/player news and notes) ‎2014-2015 Part X

[Zelmo]

Stevens never liked the rigors of coaching and always hated the demands it put on him and that is specifically why he remained a "special assignment" coach for so long before he took the assistant job. When Stevens returns to New Jersey, and he will, it will in a front office capacity.

Couldn't agree with you more Jim. I just hope his FO job is an active one and not a "special assignment" type where he's got no say in anything.

 

[MadDevil]

Stevens is just pointing out what anybody who watches the games could tell you. It's really a combination of a lot of factors. Age, declining ability, lack of awareness, lack of skill, stupid mistakes, etc.

 

[tycobb]

Lou needs to convince Stevens to become the head coach. What he was saying is exactly what JL did when he came back the last time.

 

[MadDevil]

Lou needs to convince Stevens to become the head coach. What he was saying is exactly what JL did when he came back the last time.

Saying what the team needs to do and getting the team to do it are two different things though. Not saying Stevens couldn't, but I find it funny how last year people said he was a bad coach. Now that he's gone and is saying what they want to hear, he left because Pete didn't listen and he needs to come back. Seems a bit convenient.

 

[SeidoN]

Stevens pretty much said exactly what HF does night after night. ffs.

 

[tycobb]

Saying what the team needs to do and getting the team to do it are two different things though. Not saying Stevens couldn't, but I find it funny how last year people said he was a bad coach. Now that he's gone and is saying what they want to hear, he left because Pete didn't listen and he needs to come back. Seems a bit convenient.

Well the first step is actually saying it. Scott has JL number and pretty sure he won't have any trouble getting the team to listen to him.

Pete system doesn't work anymore. His new wrinkle of having a D taking a shot and hoping it goes in off someone is a pretty ****** strategy.

I actually defended Stevens last year and thought he was going to be the replacement once Pete gets fired.

After hearing him today I have no doubt in will be a head coach once his girls get old enough.

 

[devilsblood]

So was Lou's mind permantently warped decades ago when after letting Shanahan walk via FA, we got Stevens in return?

Did that move make him forever think we can let whoever walk, no matter how talented, and it will never be an issue?

 

[liquid1988]

Hearing TBD on hit Robert Bortuzzo on Jaromir Jagr.

NHL Player Safety @NHLPlayerSafety
Pittsburgh defenseman Robert Bortuzzo will have a hearing for a late hit on New Jersey forward Jaromir Jagr. Day & time TBD.

https://twitter.com/NHLPlayerSafety/status/539998885759160320

 

[Baggy Spandex]

Wouldn't want to see Stevens become head coach because I wouldn't want to have to see him get fired, which all coaches eventually see.

 

[MountainGoat]

with Elias and Jagr out, what's are lineup going to look like versus the Leafs on Thursday?

 

[Suddenly Zyuzin]

Stevens says some generic stuff that basically anyone sitting on a couch would say about the team and somehow he is head coach material because of it. It's not like he said something deep and insightful that any average Joe couldn't fathom.

 

[Marshal Rochambeau]

with Elias and Jagr out, what's are lineup going to look like versus the Leafs on Thursday?

So Zajac, Clowe, Havlat, Henrique, Merrill, Salvador, Elias, Jagr, and Gionta are out?

Cammalleri - Josefson - Ryder
Ruutu - Gomez - Brunner
Boucher - Zubrus - Bernier
Matteau - Sestito - Tootoo

Can't wait to buy that McDavid jersey.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Let Pete finish out the year so the Devils will definitely be in the running for a top five pick. It's a holy mess. Now you see all the old timers come down with injuries. They lucked out last year, however, time catches up sonner or later. They actually played hard last night and enjoyed watching Gomer. Start out fresh next season.

 

[DevilSlovenia]

Well with 10 UFA's they will have to start fresh.

 

[HischierSeDgewOrk]

Starting fresh is a must next season. I'd put it at 75% we have a new coach to start the season next year.

The following will be gone:

Ryder
Jagr
Brunner
Salvador
Tootoo
Bernier
Gomez
Havlat
Possibly Zidlicky

That is more than enough turnover. We need a big time change in culture and we need to bring in some hungry guys.

Let's see what the lines look like:

Cammalleri Henrique Ruutu
Elias Zajac Boucher
Zubrus Josefson Thompson
Thomson Matteau Gionta

Greene Severson
Merrill Larsson
Helgeson Gelinas/Zidlicky

Our forward corp is really in bad shape. It's actually awful. Zubrus should retire...and Ruutu should be slotted at third line center. We obviously can't have 4 rookies on offense (Boucher, Thompson, Matteau,Thomson) although Thompson is older...
Elias can't be asked to play a top 6 role. We need 2 or 3 top 6 players. Lou really has a tough task ahead of him and i'm not sure he's up to it at this stage of his career. This is going to take around the clock phone calls/emails...or whatever gms do to make trades or sign players.
Maybe he can pick someone from overeseas or college ala clarkson or rafalski.

 

[DevilsFanInFla]

Let Pete finish out the year so the Devils will definitely be in the running for a top five pick. It's a holy mess. Now you see all the old timers come down with injuries. They lucked out last year, however, time catches up sonner or later. They actually played hard last night and enjoyed watching Gomer. Start out fresh next season.

I'm of this thinking as well. So many factors have ruined this season and we're in the first stages of a massive tailspin which we will not be able to recover from. Injuries, bad play, lack of skill, and bad coaching (or whatever you want to call it), have led to a season that can serve a longer term purpose. I'm trying to look at the glass as half full in the respect we all know we need youth, specifically high end talented forwards. This season should net us a top 10 pick, if not top 5, and depending on injuries maybe even top 2. This will go a long way towards helping us address our glaring needs. It's not a guaranteed fix but it's a big step in the right direction as long as we don't draft a D prospect with our first pick. If these injuries keep happening, we have a legit shot at McDavid. My fear is we finish 2nd worst in the league and someone wins the lottery bumping us down to #3. However, that's a bit down the road. Until then, I will enjoy watching our young D continue to grow and hope we call up some younger guys and let them develop without fear for the remainder of the season. It's not all gloom and doom and I'll try to look at the bigger picture with optimism.

 

[DevilSlovenia]

Starting fresh is a must next season. I'd put it at 75% we have a new coach to start the season next year.

The following will be gone:

Ryder
Jagr
Brunner
Salvador
Tootoo
Bernier
Gomez
Havlat
Possibly Zidlicky

That is more than enough turnover. We need a big time change in culture and we need to bring in some hungry guys.

Let's see what the lines look like:

Cammalleri Henrique Ruutu
Elias Zajac Boucher
Zubrus Josefson Thompson
Thomson Matteau Gionta

Greene Severson
Merrill Larsson
Helgeson Gelinas/Zidlicky

Our forward corp is really in bad shape. It's actually awful. Zubrus should retire...and Ruutu should be slotted at third line center. We obviously can't have 4 rookies on offense (Boucher, Thompson, Matteau,Thomson) although Thompson is older...
Elias can't be asked to play a top 6 role. We need 2 or 3 top 6 players. Lou really has a tough task ahead of him and i'm not sure he's up to it at this stage of his career. This is going to take around the clock phone calls/emails...or whatever gms do to make trades or sign players.
Maybe he can pick someone from overeseas or college ala clarkson or rafalski.

That will be another high pick in 2016 with that team. Lou will probably resign Salvador.

 

[devilsblood]

So Zajac, Clowe, Havlat, Henrique, Merrill, Salvador, Elias, Jagr, and Gionta are out?

Cammalleri - Josefson - Ryder
Ruutu - Gomez - Brunner
Boucher - Zubrus - Bernier
Matteau - Sestito - Tootoo

Can't wait to buy that McDavid jersey.

It's time for JJ to start putting points on the board. No his minutes, despite all the injuries around him, have not been that great, but he is playing more, and he is playing with better linemates. Can not continue with the total lack of production.

 

[Jersey Man]

NHL Player Safety @NHLPlayerSafety
Pittsburgh defenseman Robert Bortuzzo will have a hearing for a late hit on New Jersey forward Jaromir Jagr. Day & time TBD.

https://twitter.com/NHLPlayerSafety/status/539998885759160320

3 games and I didn't watch but did anyone go after this bum immediately after the hit?

Can't blame those who may of missed it but Zid clearly saw it but can't blame him since he didn't know Jagr would stay down and obviously wasn't going to leave his position and give the Penguins an odd man rush.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

I don't think the NHL player safety hearing on Bortuzzo will bear much fruit. They are reviewing it for a late hit (interference) not as a hit to the head. Probably a fine at most after seeing that.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=742155

The following grounds are being considered for supplemental discipline: Interference.

I thought 2 games if they were going after him for a hit to the head but apparently not.

 

[JimEIV]

3 games and I didn't watch but did anyone go after this bum immediately after the hit?

Can't blame those who may of missed it but Zid clearly saw it but can't blame him since he didn't know Jagr would stay down and obviously wasn't going to leave his position and give the Penguins an odd man rush.

Nobody did anything...If you're going to lack skill and speed at least be tough for gripesakes...Nobody did a single thing - Nothing - The "No Reponse" spoke volumes about this team.

How you not send someone out for retribution is beyond me.

It is was an indication of how far gone this team is...I have never been more disenfranchised with the Devils in my entire life.

 

[HischierSeDgewOrk]

Nobody did anything...If you're going to lack skill and speed at least be tough for gripesakes...Nobody did a single thing - Nothing - The "No Reponse" spoke volumes about this team.

How you not send someone out for retribution is beyond me.

It is was an indication of how far gone this team is...I have never been more disenfranchised with the Devils in my entire life.

That's the truth. I've religiously watched 99% of the games since the mid eighties....Now I find myself not caring if i watch a game and when I do watch i find myself getting bored with the lack of passion and/or excitement.
I really can't believe how far they have fallen. and what really shocks me is Lou of 10years ago would never have stood for this. I don't know how to even start fixing this mess.
I really wish Sutter never got homesick. He would have been a step in the right direction.

 

[NJDevs26]

It was the same **** in 2008 when Parise got his teeth knocked out in the Ranger playoff series and nobody responded then, it's been a problem for a while on and off in spite of the defensemen we keep around for toughness and the goons we sign and yet never actually do what we sign them for.

 

[Camille the Eel]

It's time for JJ to start putting points on the board. No his minutes, despite all the injuries around him, have not been that great, but he is playing more, and he is playing with better linemates. Can not continue with the total lack of production.

He needs to look for his shot more and not just to pass. He also needs to learn how to play the center of the ice - not just full speed all the time - but how to slow down and find space and use his linemates.

JJ has shown he has the physical tools. It's now about the mental part of the game, about understanding what and how, and that's where I despair of this team sometimes because we are not good at developing players. Maybe that can be Gomez's big contribution. Watch the way Gomez for all his declining skills creates space in the middle of the ice and triangulates with what his wings are doing at any given time.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Nobody did anything...If you're going to lack skill and speed at least be tough for gripesakes...Nobody did a single thing - Nothing - The "No Reponse" spoke volumes about this team.

How you not send someone out for retribution is beyond me.

It is was an indication of how far gone this team is...I have never been more disenfranchised with the Devils in my entire life.

It's one thing not to play for the coach. It's completely another to not play for each other.

We saw that yet again last night. Tootoo sorta half-tried but not really. You grab the dude and don't give him a chance to say no if you really care to the level he chimed in with in the post-game presser. I can't blame him though, Pete would probably scratch him for getting the instigator.