GDT: Senators @ Devils, 7:00 PM, MSG+, Dirty Dancing

[Call Me Al]

Not from the rational point of view. But it’s a loss or a win depending on the gimic and emotionally I find it makes a huge difference not just in how I feel but in how the board reacts.

this is definitely not true for everyone but i could care less about the result of the shootout. it doesn’t matter - they can’t beat a last place team on home ice in what absolutely needed to be a bounce back game after three embarrassing losses.

even if they came out with 2 points from the shootout there was nothing during 65 minutes of play that indicated they are turning the corner, that’s what’s depressing about this loss

 

[Buck Dancer]

overusing 4th liners can cost you (see 2009 game 7), but it’s part of the problem that our coach doesn’t have the answer to fix this team. not putting our best offensive player in the best position to succeed (like pairing his line with subban instead of hamilton) is part of that equation.

i don’t know how you can watch jack and not recognize that he has special abilities

He's a very slick skater with the puck, I'll give you that. Does it generate anything of substance, not really. You can skate circles around the other team along the boards all you want, the opposition will actually let you do that because you're not a threat at all when doing it and that seems to be what catches the eye of most of our fanbase because he looks in full control when in reality, he's playing right in the hands of the other team.

How many years are we going to praise him for all the abilities he has, yet not have definitive results to back it up?

 

[WetWholphin]

our hockey team sucks. our top end forwards are not good enough to carry the team by themselves and their supporting cast is not good enough to help them out. our goaltending was supposed to be at least average this year and it has SHIT THE BED. i dont care about reasoning or excuses. i have watched this team suck for a decade. FIX IT.

we better bottom out this year, because we simply do not have enough talent. i dont want a half assed loser season. if we are going to suck, which we are, make it bad. i want to be a bottom 3 team guaranteed. i want to be able to laugh at how bad we are. i want to turn on a devils game knowing that it wont mean anything and that i can just watch it for pure comedic value.

 

[MauDevils]

our hockey team sucks. our top end forwards are not good enough to carry the team by themselves and their supporting cast is not good enough to help them out. our goaltending was supposed to be at least average this year and it has SHIT THE BED. i dont care about reasoning or excuses. i have watched this team suck for a decade. FIX IT.

we better bottom out this year, because we simply do not have enough talent. i dont want a half assed loser season. if we are going to suck, which we are, make it bad. i want to be a bottom 3 team guaranteed. i want to be able to laugh at how bad we are. i want to turn on a devils game knowing that it wont mean anything and that i can just watch it for pure comedic value.

Honestly I'm tired of these underwhelming picks. I said it last year, but it's time to proactively build a hockey team and not just reactively bargain hunt for the best deals to "win" every transaction.

In the past we were at least fine because we weren't handing out contracts. Now that ship has sailed and we will have some tough decisions to make with guys like Zacha, Bratt, Johnsson and Severson.

 

[captainscott]

our hockey team sucks. our top end forwards are not good enough to carry the team by themselves and their supporting cast is not good enough to help them out. our goaltending was supposed to be at least average this year and it has SHIT THE BED. i dont care about reasoning or excuses. i have watched this team suck for a decade. FIX IT.

we better bottom out this year, because we simply do not have enough talent. i dont want a half assed loser season. if we are going to suck, which we are, make it bad. i want to be a bottom 3 team guaranteed. i want to be able to laugh at how bad we are. i want to turn on a devils game knowing that it wont mean anything and that i can just watch it for pure comedic value.

wow... lol.. thats a next day post too... would like to see one of your posts after we lose to philly 5-1 tomorrow.. will be epic!! i feel your pain though...nice work waiting until the next day thought.. that shows gumption.. lol not trashing you very funny post though

 

[captainscott]

this is definitely not true for everyone but i could care less about the result of the shootout. it doesn’t matter - they can’t beat a last place team on home ice in what absolutely needed to be a bounce back game after three embarrassing losses.

even if they came out with 2 points from the shootout there was nothing during 65 minutes of play that indicated they are turning the corner, that’s what’s depressing about this loss

thats how i felt too... would have liked the two points to see if they can climb out of this abyss ..

 

[Patrik26]

yeah there are a lot of problems. coaching, vet makeup, finishing talent, player regression.

you can only say “this year we expect to take a step forward” and then fail at that so many times before part of the fan base, even the diehards start to check out and i think we might be getting close to that

Gave up our our ST last season. I refuse to pay my hard earned $$$ on a crap product which has produced ONE playoff game win in 9 years. We planned on attending about 10 games on the StubHub plan this season. So far, we're at 2 games and don't see us going to any anytime soon. We'll stay at home and stream it instead. Not checking out, but definitely not supporting this franchise financially any longer.

 

[JrFischer54]

where are the people that didn't want tarasenko? yeah hes too old

 

[Bleedred]

This is exactly what my buddy was talking about when he warned me of the Ruff hiring. Said he loves BAD players too much like Dan Byslma and a few other loser coaches that he mentioned. Alain Vigneault and Willie Desjardins were a couple of the others and I think Hakstol too. He said if I ever thought Hynes loved bad players or if DeBoer's usage of Stephen Gionta was bad, then I ain't seen nothing yet until we get out on the ice with Ruff. I'm not sure Hynes ever really loved any bad player this much, I've always just been skeptical that his method of play is any good or has any worth whatsoever.

Of course, when we tried to take a guess at what bad player he'd be overusing, I don't think either of us could guess McLeod, because he had only played about 35 NHL games up to this point and there was still the hope that McLeod might be something more than a BAD player.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I'm not sure Hynes ever really loved any bad player this much, I've always just been skeptical that his method of play is any good or has any worth whatsoever.

I don't think Hynes had any favorites. He was just a horrible tactical coach. Like really damn bad.

Actually after thinking about it, I think he loved Hall but none of us cared cuz Hall was actually good. Didn't he also love John Moore?

 

[Bleedred]

I don't think Hynes had any favorites. He was just a horrible tactical coach. Like really damn bad.

Actually after thinking about it, I think he loved Hall but none of us cared cuz Hall was actually good. Didn't he also love John Moore?

I agree with that more than anything. Sometimes he'd make some baffling decisions and some really questionable scratches (didn't he scratch Bratt and Zacha in the same game not too long before he was fired?), but that happens with any coach.

The warning I got was that Ruff particularly loves bad players and gives some of them too much ice time. McLeod should not be playing 15.5 minutes here based on anything other than where he was drafted over 5 years and 108 NHL games ago. And with all these minutes played, we now at least can say his ceiling doesn't go beyond a 4th line center.

 

[guitarguyvic]

“If this”, “if that”, if if if.

It’s fine to use that qualifier to rationalize a lack of production in small sample sizes. When it’s going on three years…well…at some point it starts to look silly.

 

[NJDevs26]

there are plenty of things to gripe about, *gestures around*, but hughes isn’t one of them

Why not? Because he does fancy moves and the advanced stats think he’s been better than he is? I know most of you get defensive when people trash Hughes but freaking Scott Gomez was a lot better of a player at the same age, not to mention Mercer. Can we see actual production that lasts longer than the first three weeks of a season before we absolve him of criticism for dumb, blind behind the back turnovers and just shrug it off as ‘creating offense’?

 

[Call Me Al]

Why not? Because he does fancy moves and the advanced stats think he’s been better than he is? I know most of you get defensive when people trash Hughes but freaking Scott Gomez was a lot better of a player at the same age, not to mention Mercer. Can we see actual production that lasts longer than the first three weeks of a season before we absolve him of criticism for dumb, blind behind the back turnovers and just shrug it off as ‘creating offense’?

because he’s only 20 years old and just came back from injury, and isn’t playing with our best players. he’s not the reason we’re losing and not the reason they are brain farting on defense and not the reason our coach is overemphasizing face-offs

 

[Camille the Eel]

this is definitely not true for everyone but i could care less about the result of the shootout. it doesn’t matter - they can’t beat a last place team on home ice in what absolutely needed to be a bounce back game after three embarrassing losses.

even if they came out with 2 points from the shootout there was nothing during 65 minutes of play that indicated they are turning the corner, that’s what’s depressing about this loss

Yes it was aggravating watching that game. I wonder why I even watch or care, because the games are frustrating right now.

Still, trying to separate my experience as a fan from what I think a neutral observer would have seen last night, I think we were much improved from the prior couple of games on the road; that we should have won and finished a few of our chances; that if Zacha doesn't hit that post but actually finishes his first period shot we maybe do bury them in the first period; and that we were the better team last night.

Also I think Ottawa right now is better than their record indicates. Forsberg played great for them in goal last night, better than Blackwood in fact. Their top line is impressive with Tkachuk. And that they have a bunch of big, speedy and skilled forwards. Stuzle looks quite talented and I like his size and skills and fundamental set up, his skating and intelligence. Above all Thomas Chabot is tremendous player and logging almost 30 minutes a night. He's one of those guys who just controls the play in front of them. So I don't think it's actually humiliating to have ended up in a tie with them mostly due to our chronic inability to finish scoring chances while they did cash in on two big blunders that we gave them.

 

[Buck Dancer]

because he’s only 20 years old and just came back from injury, and isn’t playing with our best players. he’s not the reason we’re losing and not the reason they are brain farting on defense and not the reason our coach is overemphasizing face-offs

Dawson Mercer is also 20 and has been playing pro hockey for what is now 23 games and has showed way more then Hughes so far. Hughes is flashy but that flash leads to absolutely nothing. Does it get people out of their seats, absolutely... only to sit back down and be like "damn, that would've been nice if he finished off that play".

Give me someone that has way less flash but can actually contribute offensively instead of someone who's skating all over the place for 20 seconds and the play goes dead with no end result. Handing 64M$ to a kid who has yet to prove that he understands the NHL game is a massive risk we took as a franchise and has set the bar for the rest of the team.

 

[tr83]

Can we lock the thread now?