GDT: No BS: Habs @ Devils, 7 PM, MSG+

[Camille the Eel]

At this point, why bother? It's not like a coaching change is going to spark some miraculous 20 game run. Just ride it out and if they decide to go a different direction, do it in the summer. I do think he's going to get another shot at it next year though. I think as frustrating as this season has been, Shero knows building a team is a process. If we improve the roster and stink again next year, then I think heads might start to roll.

I think Hynes is a good teaching coach. Good with kids. Good with the locker room. His in game decisions and tactical decisions during play is an area he needs to improve. Maybe he too can learn from experience.

 

[Bleedred]

At this point, why bother? It's not like a coaching change is going to spark some miraculous 20 game run. Just ride it out and if they decide to go a different direction, do it in the summer. I do think he's going to get another shot at it next year though. I think as frustrating as this season has been, Shero knows building a team is a process. If we improve the roster and stink again next year, then I think heads might start to roll.

I'd give him another shot next year, barring Sutter becoming available.

I'd be willing to give him April 2018 if that doesn't happen, barring us having another death march at some point next season, like what we had this season.

He shouldn't be extended at all before then, nor should he be extended in April 2018 if we don't make any improvement in points from his first season here.

And if he is extended in April of 2018, I'd give him a one year extension, as he hasn't done anything to warrant a multi year extension. I wouldn't even extend him multiple years if we made the playoffs next year. It's not like he's AV, where there will be a market for him if we don't extend him months or even a full season+ before his contract expires.

 

[Camille the Eel]

One positive beside the kid line was Merrill had a strong game. I really think he was our best D man tonight. I loved a few very aggressive pinches on offense and some smooth quick plays on the defensive end to clear the zone too.

 

[NJDevs26]

Don't hold your breath on Hynes being fired. It ain't happening.

Doing it in season would be monumentally stupid at this point. And to be fair at least they are competing now, that was my big problem with Hynes in December when they packed it in game after game. They might well pack it in again after the trade deadline but at least he did right the ship for a while there after it looked like they were going through a complete fire the coach malaise.

 

[NJDevs26]

The problem here is that people act like he has been bad for years now or that he's been blowing games like this for years and years or as if he actually has a history of doing so prior to this season.

I think he's allowed to have a poor season like this, which isn't even that poor. It's still average, which by the standards he set in the past, is far below average. But people act like he doesn't have a track record of being pretty good before this year. Aside from his October and maybe parts of November of 2014, he hasn't really had a stretch like this in his career.

There was that ridiculous stretch in Cory's first season as a Devil where they blew three straight games in a week during the last minute or with the net empty, it was the end of January I think, that was the first red flag. You're right it hasn't been quite as blatant in the past as it has been this season though.

 

[Sascha Goc]

It's to the point where me and my buddies are there at the seats taking bets on how much time left we will allow the GTG and then how much time in OT will it take to lose. It never fails like clockwork.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Seriously? You rip Hynes every other post, but you want him back next year?

 

[NJDevs26]

It's to the point where me and my buddies are there at the seats taking bets on how much time left we will allow the GTG and then how much time in OT will it take to lose. It never fails like clockwork.

Watching this team right now is basically like Lucy and Charlie Brown.

 

[NJDevils7]

It's to the point where me and my buddies are there at the seats taking bets on how much time left we will allow the GTG and then how much time in OT will it take to lose. It never fails like clockwork.

Hahah yep same here. You know its coming every time.

 

[Bleedred]

There was that ridiculous stretch in Cory's first season as a Devil where they blew three straight games in a week during the last minute or with the net empty, it was the end of January I think, that was the first red flag. You're right it hasn't been quite as blatant in the past as it has been this season though.

I don't really fault him much on that one, I think that was more bad luck when we blew those 3 leads in a row in January of 2014. The last one was because we were up 1-0 (and couldn't score more than one goal on whatever was left of Giguere's pads) and Roy saw Harrold and CBGB out there with over 2 minutes left and pulled Giguere and they tied it. Cory hadn't allowed a goal up to that point in the game. That was one of the few times Patrick Roy made a good decision while coaching.

Seriously? You rip Hynes every other post, but you want him back next year?

I don't really WANT him back, but I can understand giving him another year.

I can't tolerate an extension though, certainly not this early. I'm a little confused to how you feel on the matter. You seemed to be the only one who disliked him as much as I did back in December or so, now you seem like you're moving over to the pro-Hynes side?

Like I said, I don't WANT him back, but I can understand giving him one more crack. I've made my decision and I don't think he's a very good coach from an X's and O's standpoint, nor from a talent evaluation standpoint, as evidenced by the crazy Lovejoy usage, the weird scratchings earlier in the season and the fact that he thinks Kalinin and DSP are good defensive forwards, his love of Josefson but quick trigger hand on Bennett, etc.

If we finish with another 85 point season or 28th-30th in goals scored next year, I don't see how you can bring him back. And if we're gonna blame the roster for that one, then I don't see how that doesn't mean that Shero has done a suspect job at that point.

Like I said though, I'm giving Shero another year before I start to be critical of him.

 

[Bleedred]

This has been about as disappointing of a follow up to last year as I could imagine.

Aside from just Cory having a poor season (average season but poor by his previous standards), the team has gotten worse at suppressing shots by a significant margin, which was the only thing they were good at last year. The team has not improved on offense, we might finish with fewer goals than we scored last year. The team is also positioned to finish with fewer points than last year.

You wanna give Hynes one more crack at it? Give it to him. Time to sink or swim. If we finish with 85 points (or less) again next year or 28th, 29th or 30th in goals, that should do it for him. You don't get to stay with the same team as a head coach for 3 playoffless seasons in a row. Doesn't matter if you're a budget team, if Lou is your GM and fires coaches for drinking the wrong coffee, have a lousy owner/GM, etc. It just doesn't happen anymore. There's only one such case of it happening right now and it's in Arizona. And it might happen in Carolina if Peters is brought back, who was just extended this year. Peters has no goaltender though. This year's Cory looks like 1996 Hasek compared to Ward.

 

[Dialamo]

Man I thought we had this one. SAD!

 

[mike30]

my reaction this game

 

[Patrik26]

]Blandisi was crosschecked from behind into the boards[/B] and then Hall was completely interfered with but no call....

It will be a long time before he gets ANY calls. He made his own bed last year. Other teams know this and take liberties where they normally might not knowing there won't be any call.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Again, last season was smoke and mirrors.They weren't that good. Betting on this years team due to last year was never going to pan out.

 

[Bleedred]

my reaction this game

Haha where was this from?

Looks like Marty scouting another game (probably in Montreal, judging by what appears to be a Habs player by the colors in the picture behind him) and watching the Blues game on the TV in the suite?

I remember when Marty was caught up in the suite at a Blues game, watching our game on the TV up there.

 

[Bleedred]

Again, last season was smoke and mirrors.They weren't that good. Betting on this years team due to last year was never going to pan out.

What was so smoke and mirrors though?

It's not like we were THAT good anyway. We were still the lowest scoring team in the league, had the fewest shots on goal in the entire league.

The only thing better was we allowed fewer shots and Cory was amazing last year. This year, we allow like a zillion shots and we score just as infrequently and get shots pretty much as infrequently and goaltending by Cory has not been nearly as good.

And I guess special teams were infinitely better last year, while they've been below average this year. We were top 10 in both special teams last year.

 

[Triumph]

What was so smoke and mirrors though?

It's not like we were THAT good anyway. We were still the lowest scoring team in the league, had the fewest shots on goal in the entire league.

The only thing better was we allowed fewer shots and Cory was amazing last year. This year, we allow like a zillion shots and we score just as infrequently and get shots pretty much as infrequently and goaltending by Cory has not been nearly as good.

And I guess special teams were infinitely better last year, while they've been below average this year. We were top 10 in both special teams last year.

Special teams is a good place to start. Their OT/Shootout record was unsustainably good. Henrique and Palmieri had career years. They also didn't have anyone as bad as Miles Wood taking a shift every night, and they only had one really bad defenseman instead of two.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Add in the massive shooting percentages from Farnham and DSP and a huge year from Camm and Stemps. They were the worst in terms of goals and shots forced even with all of this. What kept them afloat was these anomalies, the PP, OT and they had the type of guys to play that system that surpressed shots.

 

[mike30]

Haha where was this from?

Looks like Marty scouting another game (probably in Montreal, judging by what appears to be a Habs player by the colors in the picture behind him) and watching the Blues game on the TV in the suite?

I remember when Marty was caught up in the suite at a Blues game, watching our game on the TV up there.

Not sure where its from, someone replied to st louis blues tweet about the shatty trade and i turned it into a gif hahaha

 

[NjDevsRR]

Special teams was indeed a thing of beauty last season. Almost everything went right until luck ran out the second hald of the season. It was never sustainable.

 

[Emperoreddy]

They also played the most conservative game they could. Just suppress shots and try to squeeze out 1-0 or 2-1 games by riding a hot PP.

The overall team defensive game is miles worse than last year.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

This team is so bad it gave Pat Burns cancer again.

 

[Devils Dominion]

LJ will get us a better draft pick.
He was his usual terrible tonight and was responsible for two goals allowed.
Awful player that we need to boot this summer.

 

[Bleedred]

They also played the most conservative game they could. Just suppress shots and try to squeeze out 1-0 or 2-1 games by riding a hot PP.

The overall team defensive game is miles worse than last year.

Last year's team was almost like a poor man's trapping team. I think it's an insult to call it a trapping team though, as a legit trap is all about puck possession. Even though there's a common misnomer among fans who can't stand trapping teams and want a ''Puck possession' team. The reality is that trapping teams are puck possession teams though. The Lemaire Devils had the puck more than the other team almost every game and almost always outshot the opposition. Same with the Burns Devils and the Ftorek/Robinson Devils, who were much more offensive styled teams and not trapping teams.

And back in those days, NHL.com used to track how many minutes were spent in each teams end and how many minutes were played in the neutral zone. The majority of zone times in our games was spent in the other teams defensive zone, although that was the late 90's/early 00's and I don't think the Ftorek or Robinson teams were trapping teams, even though people always will associate them as such. Especially non-Devils fans.

This team is so bad it gave Pat Burns cancer again.

I thought we already killed Spider Man like a couple weeks ago?