GDT: Sharks @ Devils, 1:00, MSG, Yodaisms

[Satans Hockey]

I have to say, that back in the day when we were good, attendance was a little embarrassing.

But given how long we have been a bad team, I think attendance has been pretty good in recent years.

To also be fair we have barely been good since prudential opened. Since it opened in 07 there's only been 5 playoff appearances and only 1 time we got out of the first round, 2012. 08, 10 and 18 were 5 game embarrassments and 09 was one of the biggest chokes in playoff history.

We have gone so long without real success that there is now a starving young fan base here that knows nothing but losing and is begging for something to go crazy for.

 

[devilsblood]

I did mean to add, that given the attendance, I can forgive what I thought was a poor display by the Devils fans pregame in the home opener.

Negative noise is better than no noise.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

It works and our arena being the first in our area to do it would be super smart and make a lot of news around here...

Cheap beer is good press: Why the Falcons' fan-friendly pricing is a win-win

Fan-friendly pricing makes it possible to feed a family of four at Mercedes Benz Stadium without taking out a second mortgage. But that doesn't mean the Falcons are making less money.

sports.yahoo.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/03/06/were-evangelists-this-why-atlanta-falcons-are-selling-hot-dogs/

I don't see much of a parallel between an NFL team in Georgia and an NHL team in NJ.

And it works so well why is every team who can't sell out doing it? I'm pretty sure these guys spend a fair amount on market research in every aspect of the arena they spent probably close to a billion dollars on.

I was looking at isles/Devils tickets on Thursday and you could get in the door for $14 on the secondary. And that's for a rivalry game in a brand new arena.

As I said it's just how it is here unless you're the toilet where half the fans are suits who don't give a shit about the game.

I don't like any of this any more than you do. It's just at this point I've come to accept it and just want a winning product.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

I did mean to add, that given the attendance, I can forgive what I thought was a poor display by the Devils fans pregame in the home opener.

Negative noise is better than no noise.

Whole heartedly disagree given some of the people I've sat in front of over the years.

Especially one specific prick in section 1 on Tuesday. Fortunately our request to move was granted and ended up in row 2.

But I do have stories for days and would prefer the same amount of people only cheering for the big moments than a crowd full of drunk douches.

I enjoy a big booming crowd as much as anyone, but sometimes our fans can be foul and in those situations I'd rather speak with my buddy or a neighbor about the team rather than join the noise.

 

[Satans Hockey]

I don't see much of a parallel between an NFL team in Georgia and an NHL team in NJ.

And it works so well why is every team who can't sell out doing it? I'm pretty sure these guys spend a fair amount on market research in every aspect of the arena they spent probably close to a billion dollars on.

I was looking at isles/Devils tickets on Thursday and you could get in the door for $14 on the secondary. And that's for a rivalry game in a brand new arena.

As I said it's just how it is here unless you're the toilet where half the fans are suits who don't give a shit about the game.

I don't like any of this any more than you do. It's just at this point I've come to accept it and just want a winning product.

Old suits hate change and think that milking every dollar and cent out of everyone who comes in the door is a better way to do business.

I'm with you on being fine with just having a winning product but I'm also selfish and want both a winning product and an amazing atmosphere.

 

[My3Sons]

Edit. Not worth it.

Let the insane ramble on.

Thanks but I was going to do that even without your permission

Whole heartedly disagree given some of the people I've sat in front of over the years.

Especially one specific prick in section 1 on Tuesday. Fortunately our request to move was granted and ended up in row 2.

But I do have stories for days and would prefer the same amount of people only cheering for the big moments than a crowd full of drunk douches.

I enjoy a big booming crowd as much as anyone, but sometimes our fans can be foul and in those situations I'd rather speak with my buddy or a neighbor about the team rather than join the noise.

I apologized for that

 

[devilsblood]

Whole heartedly disagree given some of the people I've sat in front of over the years.

Especially one specific prick in section 1 on Tuesday. Fortunately our request to move was granted and ended up in row 2.

But I do have stories for days and would prefer the same amount of people only cheering for the big moments than a crowd full of drunk douches.

I enjoy a big booming crowd as much as anyone, but sometimes our fans can be foul and in those situations I'd rather speak with my buddy or a neighbor about the team rather than join the noise.

A passionate fanbase which seems impossibly bad in the doldrums is good fun when the team wins. Drunks def being part of that.

And I was against the pregame boos, and think the gdt's here can be rather agitating, but that's a crowd for you, all unwieldly and such.

 

[Triumph]

I have to be fair.

Tatar lead the team in on ice corsi and shots, while also having a high defensive draw rate.

Not sure the comp, guessing Nico saw the more difficult matchups, but good on ice with a low offensive draw rate is a good combo in my book.

By comparison, Bahl's impressive corsi, in light of his 80% offensive draw rate leaves me skeptical.

You way overvalue the location of faceoffs. Most shifts are taken on the fly.

 

[Tiredswede]

I still believe we need new leadership behind the bench.

The team is fragile and I’m worried how he is leaning hard on some players to eak out some wins in October.

Hughes will get injured if his usage isn’t changed. This is a marathon, not a sprint

 

[Devils090]

I still believe we need new leadership behind the bench.

The team is fragile and I’m worried how he is leaning hard on some players to eak out some wins in October.

Hughes will get injured if his usage isn’t changed. This is a marathon, not a sprint

You’d think a guy who’s taken penalties in all 5 games and has been an adventure at times in his own zone would sit but ya know, bet leadership and all that jazz. Ditto for Tatar and his turnovers.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I missed the 2nd and 3rd of this one, don’t know if the highlights do it justice but it seemed like we had dominated through the initial 40 minutes once again. Glad to see the PP came through too!

On a quick glance, I do get why they called the Nico goal back but it still pissed me off lol

I don’t know how sustainable playing 11 and 7 truly is and would also like to see Smith sit for Bahl and Zetterlund come back in. But I fully expect the staff to continue the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.

Did Mac stand tall at any points or was it just surviving by the skin of our teeth?

 

[Ripshot 43]

Haula doesn’t get enough love here.

His worst FO game and he hasn’t gotten on the score sheet yet but I love the way he plays the game.

 

[Ripshot 43]

I missed the 2nd and 3rd of this one, don’t know if the highlights do it justice but it seemed like we had dominated through the initial 40 minutes once again. Glad to see the PP came through too!

On a quick glance, I do get why they called the Nico goal back but it still pissed me off lol

I don’t know how sustainable playing 11 and 7 truly is and would also like to see Smith sit for Bahl and Zetterlund come back in. But I fully expect the staff to continue the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.

Did Mac stand tall at any points or was it just surviving by the skin of our teeth?

I could see the if it ain’t broke don’t fix it mentality except they insert Vitek to play against his old team. I really don’t like that but it sounds like a move they would make.

Blackwood had another couple standout saves. The last 5 or so minutes the ice was tilted in our zone… Karlsson hit the post from the blue line was the closest the Sharks got but they were buzzing and pinning us in for sure.

 

[captainscott12]

We should be playing 6D with Bahl over Smith.

I think it will get there. They wanted a safety net w the 7 d. Not needed anymore imo

 

[Whaddagoal]

I missed the 2nd and 3rd of this one, don’t know if the highlights do it justice but it seemed like we had dominated through the initial 40 minutes once again. Glad to see the PP came through too!

On a quick glance, I do get why they called the Nico goal back but it still pissed me off lol

I don’t know how sustainable playing 11 and 7 truly is and would also like to see Smith sit for Bahl and Zetterlund come back in. But I fully expect the staff to continue the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.

Did Mac stand tall at any points or was it just surviving by the skin of our teeth?

Finish was lacking in general, but yeah we controlled a lot of the play. Not like the Isles game though. Sharks were better than Isles on the boardwork.

Mac was fine, actually. They held out for 2.5 minutes of being on a 5v6 at end. This seems to be NOT last years team. Last year or before we would have given up a goal there and lost the game in SO.

(Not to say it wasnt intense at end.. It definitely was lol.)

 

[captainscott12]

Black hole?? What exactly are you lokking for in a fourth line?

Yeah not sure what he is talking about. They hit forecheck etc etc. drew a power play they have been fine

Haula doesn’t get enough love here.

His worst FO game and he hasn’t gotten on the score sheet yet but I love the way he plays the game.

He’s the type of veteran they need same w palat who reminds of Elias a little in just his approach to the game. Not getting Johnny hockey is going to turn out to be a blessing

 

[Clam Jensen]

I only watched the highlights but it seemed like Jack could’ve had 4 goals.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Jack was definitely hung over

 

[devilsblood]

You way overvalue the location of faceoffs. Most shifts are taken on the fly.

Depends on the player.

Nat Stat says McLeod had 7 5v5 on the fly shifts last night. But he had 8 shifts start with a faceoff, 5 of which were in the D-zone.

Smith started 4 shifts on the fly, while 8 started via a faceoff. (kind of surprisingly he started 3 in the o-zone, not sure what that combination says.)

Even Nico, 11 shifts started via faceoff (7 of which were o-zone) while he had only 7 on the fly shifts.


Conversely Hughes had 14 on the fly shift starts, and started 7 shifts via faceoff, none of which were in the d-zone.

So yeah, for certain guys, who you don't want taking faceoffs, like Hughes, they start most shifts on the fly(and their linemates usage is obviously going to be affected by this as well), and will rarely start a shift on a d-zone faceoff, but for guys who are good at faceoffs, they will start a much larger % of their shifts off a faceoff, and a guys used in defensive roles will start signicant portion of their shifts on a d-zone draw.

And the bad faceoff/defensive guys won't stay on the ice if early in their shift there is a d-zone draw, while the good faceoff/defensive guys will, which amplifies the effect.

The usage difference between Hughes and McLeod for instance is huge. As we would expect given the skillsets of each, but that usage absolutely has an effect on their respective #'s.

 

[Hisch13r]

Maybe double shifting Hughes isn't the best idea if he's gonna play like today or if he's not 100%.

Dress 6/12 please and sit Smith.

This idea that Jack was bad today is such nonsense.

 

[Devils090]

Once again seems like we’re a true goal scorer away from being a real threat, guys are getting tons of chances but just lacking the finish. Good to see Yegor get one though, he’s the guy who needs to fill the net for us.

 

[devilsblood]

Once again seems like we’re a true goal scorer away from being a real threat, guys are getting tons of chances but just lacking the finish. Good to see Yegor get one though, he’s the guy who needs to fill the net for us.

Meh, right now Hughes and Bratt have combined for one goal. Those guys are going to start scoring soon. Tatar and Haula have zero as well, not that I think these guys are going to score a ton this year, but they will score some.

Though I guess I do agree with your point in that, if we put Holtz in and he scores 30(while paying a decent all around game) that could make us a pretty darn good regular season team.

I'll stay away from thinking this team is a dangerous playoff team at this point.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Thanks but I was going to do that even without your permission

 

[Devils090]

Meh, right now Hughes and Bratt have combined for one goal. Those guys are going to start scoring soon. Tatar and Haula have zero as well, not that I think these guys are going to score a ton this year, but they will score some.

Though I guess I do agree with your point in that, if we put Holtz in and he scores 30(while paying a decent all around game) that could make us a pretty darn good regular season team.

I'll stay away from thinking this team is a dangerous playoff team at this point.

Jack and Bratt will get theirs, but if we had a true triggerman(paging Alex Holtz) it would go a long way from maybe being on the bubble to being right in the mix for a playoff spot. Bratt definitely needs to shoot more and I’m sure when they watch tape the staff will bring it up. One of the main issues with the PP is that all our guys are pass first players and they always take an extra second or two and try and find someone instead of having a guy to just rifle pucks.

 

[Triumph]

This idea that Jack was bad today is such nonsense.

He was bad, sorry. Completely sewered the first PP with 2 giveaways, made a bad turnover trying to dangle at his own blueline, was generally forcing plays. He's good enough and the Sharks are bad enough that it didn't cost them anything and he also got a semi-breakaway and made that nice spin move, but he was not on his game.