GDT: WAR! Your New Jersey Devils vs. le Montreal Canadiens - 7:30PM ET

[Bleedred]

Start scratching camm enough and he'll want to go

The only reason I don't want him is scratched is because it means we'll have to see someone like Kalinin back in there (I've been enjoying most of the games since him and his offensive handicap and mediocre defense have been out of the lineup) or some weird line combos.

 

[Wingman77]

Really liked what we saw from Coleman again tonight.

Seems to have pretty good awareness, knows where to be so far.

 

[Bleedred]

Really liked what we saw from Coleman again tonight.

Seems to have pretty good awareness, knows where to be so far.

I thought he was kind of weak tonight

But hardly anyone was good.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

You've been *****ing about him the entire game ignoring the fact that the biggest problem with this team this game is they cannot skate with the puck or complete a pass for whatever reason.

Defensively, they've been solid. Only goals allowed were breakdowns on the PK and a rocket from Weber. We haven't generated any offense because we haven't moved the puck cleanly or smoothly out of our zone. We have had virtually no chance to counter and catch the Canadiens on a long change or with an odd man rush.

All of our errors tonight have been player miscues.

For the love of god Bleedred, **** already about Hynes.

Just read the post above and try and understand why we suck instead of pulling tantrums like my 3 year old niece. Our defense is hot garbage ATM, meaning we can't generate a breakout, meaning we can't attack properly in order to actually spend time in the attacking zone. For someone that watches so many games, one would think that you'd get the simple little things of the game but instead, you keep calling out the coach every 2 seconds.

We were getting blown out with a more uptempo system and the majority of this board were ok if we switched to a more defensive system, which is exactly what we've been doing for the past several weeks. It didn't go our way today, mainly cause the Habs knew we were icing chumps like Lovejoy, Helgeson and company, who can't make a tape to tape pass to save their lives. The game was tied until we got a weak call go against us, they scored and it was game, set and match from that point on.

Try and have a little more perspective once in a while instead of using this board as your personal crying lounge. It'll benefit everyone, including yourself.

 

[Bleedred]

For the love of god Bleedred, **** already about Hynes.

Just read the post above and try and understand why we suck instead of pulling tantrums like my 3 year old niece. Our defense is hot garbage ATM, meaning we can't generate a breakout, meaning we can't attack properly in order to actually spend time in the attacking zone. For someone that watches so many games, one would think that you'd get the simple little things of the game but instead, you keep calling out the coach every 2 seconds.

We were getting blown out with a more uptempo system and the majority of this board were ok if we switched to a more defensive system, which is exactly what we've been doing for the past several weeks. It didn't go our way today, mainly cause the Habs knew we were icing chumps like Lovejoy, Helgeson and company, who can't make a tape to tape pass to save their lives. The game was tied until we got a weak call go against us, they scored and it was game, set and match from that point on.

Try and have a little more perspective once in a while instead of using this board as your personal crying lounge. It'll benefit everyone, including yourself.

Thanks for that.

All that noise and still can't come up with anything that Hynes is good at.

I'm still waiting to hear what he's good at.

Oh and who is at fault for Lovejoy playing the minutes he does? And putting him on the ice in OT? Is that decision coming from above the coach you defend so much, but still can't tell me what he's good at?

If it weren't for Hynes though, we'd be even worse. First post from you in a week to defend Powder, yet you still can't tell me what he's good at? And since you decided to make your first post in a week on here just to come and defend Hynes (I'm so glad I have the effect on you!), you can tell me why he's so great. And while you're at it, you can tell me again how Jacob ''On pace for 8 points over 82 games this season'' Josefson is a good bottom 6 player and is only really this bad at offense because he's the product of a bad team.

 

[njdevil26]

I still don't understand officiating. It started after that Canucks game where Zajac went face first into the boards then Hall killed a guy. Since then, we have had Tom Wilson explode into Moore's numbers and hurt him badly, Price drive a blocker into the back of Palmieri's head, and Kuznetsov take a butt end jab at PAP while the guy is sitting at the bench. No one gets a penalty let alone a phone call.

Zacha gets a five minute major for hitting a guy that turned the last second. The refs don't catch Hall elbowing Kassian but call a penalty off of the replay on the Jumbotron, and Stollery gets five minutes for shoving a guy who was not facing the boards or showing his numbers.

I honestly don't get the officiating. There's no plausible way to prove the NHL is against us. But wow have we been getting shafted.

 

[GeNeXt]

Tonight was the first game of the season I've attended, and likely won't attend another this year.

If I were Shero, I'd fire the strength and conditioning coach. It's somewhere small to start, and could have a decent impact if you bring in someone really hard nosed. It sends a message to a team that absolutely needs one. In general, the team is very weak and easily taken off the puck, from my observation tonight. I know we're not a big team, but there seem to be a lot weaklings in the lineup. There are also some guys that don't seem very well conditioned. Zacha and DSP are a couple of the more noticeable ones.

Maybe it's unreasonable to get rid of trainers or S&C coaches, but I feel it could be impactful. Obviously it's not all on them. The team lacks talent at the moment, and can't seem to find any structure, but it seems like a decent starting point. Bring someone in who will make their lives hell, especially after a performance like tonight.

 

[Zippy316]

Thanks for that.

All that noise and still can't come up with anything that Hynes is good at.

I'm still waiting to hear what he's good at.

Oh and who is at fault for Lovejoy playing the minutes he does? And putting him on the ice in OT? Is that decision coming from above the coach you defend so much, but still can't tell me what he's good at?

If it weren't for Hynes though, we'd be even worse. First post from you in a week to defend Powder, yet you still can't tell me what he's good at?

Jesus. You're unrelenting.

Aside from a brief stretch in December, Hynes has gotten the Devils playing a gritty, never-give-up game, especially last year. Personally, I think if he can create and embed that mentality with the Devils team we have now while Shero improves the quality, it can give us a strong foundation to build from. Last year, our PP and PK were very strong. This year, our PK looks solid when Greene-Lovejoy-Henrique-Zajac are out there, but poor elsewhere. Considering the second unit has been a rotating display of Fiddler-Kalinin-DSP and Quincey-Moore-Helgeson etc, it's not surprising. This year our PP sucks, but it suffers from a lot of the problems our team does at 5-on-5, poor decision making in the offensive half and for a while losing almost every important board battle.

In all honesty, I don't get the Lovejoy *****ing either. Lovejoy was out there in 3-on-3 overtimes when we were either A. getting our ***** handed to us territorially and hanging by a thread in the defensive zone all game or B. taking a defensive zone face-off where he immediately comes off the ice when the Devils win possession. We didn't really have any reliable 3-on-3 options either for a while.

I will give Hynes detractors one thing. The Devils for the last month prior to the West Coast trip was a **** show, there looked like no direction and no system. But, however the hell he did it, he managed to take a team that was giving up 3+ goals almost every night to a team that plays a strong, gritty defensive game. I guess that is another good thing about Hynes.

Almost every time someone has criticized his decision making or line-up decisions, 99% of the time it was justifiable or understandable. A few instances I didn't agree with it, but given how poorly the Devils were doing, it made sense for him to try to switch things up.

 

[Bleedred]

Jesus. You're unrelenting.

Aside from a brief stretch in December, Hynes has gotten the Devils playing a gritty, never-give-up game. Last year, our PP and PK were very strong. This year, our PK looks solid when Greene-Lovejoy-Henrique-Zajac are out there, but poor elsewhere. Considering the second unit has been a rotating display of Fiddler-Kalinin-DSP and Quincey-Moore-Helgeson etc, it's not surprising. This year our PP sucks, but it suffers from a lot of the problems our team does at 5-on-5, poor decision making in the offensive half.

In all honesty, I don't get the Lovejoy *****ing either. Lovejoy was out there in 3-on-3 overtimes when we were either A. getting our ***** handed to us territorially and hanging by a thread in the defensive zone all game or B. taking a defensive zone face-off where he immediately comes off the ice when the Devils win possession. We didn't really have any reliable 3-on-3 options either for a while.

I will give Hynes detractors one thing. The Devils for the last month prior to the West Coast trip was a **** show, there looked like no direction and no system. But, however the hell he did it, he managed to take a team that was giving up 3+ goals almost every night to a team that plays a strong, gritty defensive game. I guess that is another good thing about Hynes.

Almost every time someone has criticized his decision making or line-up decisions, 99% of the time it was justifiable or understandable. A few instances I didn't agree with it, but given how poorly the Devils were doing, it made sense for him to try to switch things up.

Fine.

But I don't think any of these things are things that any regular old NHL caliber coach can't also do. It's the same thing I say about Sergey Kalinin when he does something good. There's a couple good things he does, but they're also things that could easily be replaced by Mike Sislo or most pretty good career minor league players. There's some that would have you believe that if not for Hynes, this team would even worse than they already are. And that's something I don't believe at all.

I don't agree with you at all on Lovejoy, I see no need for him during 3 on 3. Only need for him in OT is if we're killing a penalty.

As I've said, I'm not even for firing Hynes right now. I think it's still too premature, but he has absolutely done nothing to deserve an extension. I remember him being on a 3 year deal, which would expire after the 17-18 season. A lot of teams extend their head coaches about a year before they'd become UFA's. But if we're in this same position again at this point next season, I'd can him. Even in the perennial loser organizations, you can't find a head coach that misses the playoffs for 3 seasons in a row and keeps their job as a head coach. Not even when there isn't a GM/hockey ops change in between. I can't think of the last head coach to survive 3 straight non-playoff seasons. Rebuilding team or not. Although it looks like Bill Peters in Carolina might do it after this year. But he's shown the ability to get his team to play a pretty good system, which Hynes never has. He just has one of the league's worst starting goaltenders and no backup at all. Tippett survives year after year in Arizona, but he's a very special case. He's gotta be a siamese twin with the ownership group that came in.

Speaking of goaltenders, as much as I can't stand Hynes at this point, I wouldn't even give him a F grade on the season. Only because of how poorly Cory played for quite a while there. Because Cory didn't look like Cory for about 6 weeks there, I'd give Hynes a D grading on the season. If Cory was a .920+ like usual this season and we still looked this bad, Hynes would easily get an F from me. Ward gets an F-------------- for the PP. Nasreddine gets a C or a D. The PK hasn't been terrible, so maybe he gets a C. I don't know enough about what Clowe even does to give him an honest grade.

 

[Triumph]

Who cares what other teams do? Other teams are stupid, especially (in general) teams that constantly miss the playoffs. So sure, GMs like to rearrange the furniture to make the owner think that's the problem, but usually the problem is bad personnel. Coaching changes really haven't been shown to have long-term impact on a team.

So yeah, if the Devils are still kicking around the bottom of the division next season, they will have to consider getting rid of Hynes, but the obsession with bad players and who plays and all these fourth-line guys and whatever else you yell about constantly - it's not what's wrong with this team, at bottom.

The thing I like about Hynes is that he looked at his personnel over the summer and he said 'Time to make this into a more offensive team'. He played the most boring style imaginable in 2015-16 because that made sense and he was able to alter it when the team brought in personnel that might fit a more uptempo system. He eventually had to dial it back when the team defense couldn't hold up, and now the Devils are back to playing the same way they played last year, but when the team is ready, he'll be ready to alter the team concept once again.

 

[Bleedred]

Who cares what other teams do? Other teams are stupid, especially (in general) teams that constantly miss the playoffs. So sure, GMs like to rearrange the furniture to make the owner think that's the problem, but usually the problem is bad personnel. Coaching changes really haven't been shown to have long-term impact on a team.

So yeah, if the Devils are still kicking around the bottom of the division next season, they will have to consider getting rid of Hynes, but the obsession with bad players and who plays and all these fourth-line guys and whatever else you yell about constantly - it's not what's wrong with this team, at bottom.

The thing I like about Hynes is that he looked at his personnel over the summer and he said 'Time to make this into a more offensive team'. He played the most boring style imaginable in 2015-16 because that made sense and he was able to alter it when the team brought in personnel that might fit a more uptempo system. He eventually had to dial it back when the team defense couldn't hold up, and now the Devils are back to playing the same way they played last year, but when the team is ready, he'll be ready to alter the team concept once again.

The problem with these fourth line guys is that they're playing in roles greater than the 4th line. And that's a big reason why we continue to be the lowest scoring team/worst possession team in the league. The top 6 isn't very good, but they're the only guys who do jack **** at offense. There's like 5 or 6 guys on this team (including Severson) that have produced almost all the offense this year. And one of them has been a ghost for the better part of almost two months now and has had the two longest goal scoring droughts of his career in the same season.

We need a better bottom 6 or at least more secondary scoring. Whether we do that by pushing guys like Palmieri and Henrique down or maybe someone like Zacha has a better season next year, maybe Quenneville, etc, I don't care.

But we absolutely can't have Kalinin as the 3C (or 3 anything) next year or Josefson either. Too many guys that should be fourth liners are playing roles greater than the fourth line. It happened both last year and it's still going on this year.

 

[Triumph]

The problem with these fourth line guys is that they're playing in roles greater than the 4th line. And that's a big reason why we continue to be the lowest scoring team/worst possession team in the league. The top 6 isn't very good, but they're the only guys who do jack **** at offense. There's like 5 or 6 guys on this team (including Severson) that have produced almost all the offense this year. And one of them has been a ghost for the better part of almost two months now and has had the two longest goal scoring droughts of his career in the same season.

We need a better bottom 6 or at least more secondary scoring. Whether we do that by pushing guys like Palmieri and Henrique down or maybe someone like Zacha has a better season next year, maybe Quenneville, etc, I don't care.

But we absolutely can't have Kalinin as the 3C (or 3 anything) next year or Josefson either. Too many guys that should be fourth liners are playing roles greater than the fourth line. It happened both last year and it's still going on this year.

Here's some breaking news: It will still happen next year. The Devils aren't in a position where they should be considering multi-year contracts to 'bottom 6' players and their minor-league system isn't going to be graduating many players next season. So sure, Kalinin is almost certainly gone, and Josefson has a decent shot at being gone, but they're not yet 5 deep at center and next year figures to be similar in that regard.

 

[Bleedred]

Here's some breaking news: It will still happen next year. The Devils aren't in a position where they should be considering multi-year contracts to 'bottom 6' players and their minor-league system isn't going to be graduating many players next season. So sure, Kalinin is almost certainly gone, and Josefson has a decent shot at being gone, but they're not yet 5 deep at center and next year figures to be similar in that regard.

I'm hoping we can acquire more top 6 talent and Zacha has a breakthrough next year. Then maybe we can slot down some Henrique, Cammalleri or Palmieri down. Add in Bennett having more luck next year and producing at a 30-ish point clip and that would be somewhat of an improvement.

Even just Zacha and Bennett having better seasons will help in that regard, maybe Quenneville comes up and has a decent rookie year.

 

[njdevils1982]

are we still talking about the game or we going to arnold's to dance and watch the ****ing band?

 

[CerebralGenesis]

Tonight was the first game of the season I've attended, and likely won't attend another this year.

If I were Shero, I'd fire the strength and conditioning coach. It's somewhere small to start, and could have a decent impact if you bring in someone really hard nosed. It sends a message to a team that absolutely needs one. In general, the team is very weak and easily taken off the puck, from my observation tonight. I know we're not a big team, but there seem to be a lot weaklings in the lineup. There are also some guys that don't seem very well conditioned. Zacha and DSP are a couple of the more noticeable ones.

Maybe it's unreasonable to get rid of trainers or S&C coaches, but I feel it could be impactful. Obviously it's not all on them. The team lacks talent at the moment, and can't seem to find any structure, but it seems like a decent starting point. Bring someone in who will make their lives hell, especially after a performance like tonight.

Umm I think you might have the wrong guy for what you are looking for...

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I still don't understand officiating. It started after that Canucks game where Zajac went face first into the boards then Hall killed a guy. Since then, we have had Tom Wilson explode into Moore's numbers and hurt him badly, Price drive a blocker into the back of Palmieri's head, and Kuznetsov take a butt end jab at PAP while the guy is sitting at the bench. No one gets a penalty let alone a phone call.

Zacha gets a five minute major for hitting a guy that turned the last second. The refs don't catch Hall elbowing Kassian but call a penalty off of the replay on the Jumbotron, and Stollery gets five minutes for shoving a guy who was not facing the boards or showing his numbers.

I honestly don't get the officiating. There's no plausible way to prove the NHL is against us. But wow have we been getting shafted.

I don't feel like I can objectively comment on our situation, but in watching a lot of flyers games, I see a lot of similarities in how the calls go for both teams. The flyers get the worst officiating I've ever seen in this league. They get screwed time and time again. Now, I think they've brought it all upon themselves with their Broad Street bully days and continued goonery tactics, but even when they play totally clean games, they get totally screwed by the refs. I wonder what the reason is for the bias against the Devils?

Speaking of the flyers, tonight is a very dangerous game. The flyers should be out for revenge and if the Devils play the way they did last night they will get killed physically and on the scoreboard. It will be carnage.

 

[captainscott]

I thought he was kind of weak tonight

But hardly anyone was good.

of the games he has played it was his weakest. but as you pointed out you can say that about most any player tonight comparing to last 4 or 5 ... that being said, I think he is an upgrade to the 4th line offensively and looks pretty competent to this point defensively.. i do not think he should sit automatically when fiddler returns.. he has earned playing time in my opinion and I also think he has far more ability to move up and down the lines than fiddler... you can put coleman out there on the third or second line in my opinion and not skip a beat. looks like he has the tools to make the this league full time from the small sample size.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

When Fiddler comes back Wood should be sent down and Coleman shifted to the LW. He had the 4th best WAR in the AHL at the time of his promotion and is too old to stay there.

 

[Zippy316]

When Fiddler comes back Wood should be sent down and Coleman shifted to the LW. He had the 4th best WAR in the AHL at the time of his promotion and is too old to stay there.

This x100.

Wood is getting worse by the day. Devils need to send him down and tell him to try and play without skating as fast as he can to bail himself out. He needs to learn how to when to change gears because he's going too fast for his own good at times out there.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Wood had his worst game of the season and fell down more than ever. Wouldn't be surprised if he responds tonight and gets another breakaway goal.

 

[Better Call Sal]

When Fiddler comes back Wood should be sent down and Coleman shifted to the LW. He had the 4th best WAR in the AHL at the time of his promotion and is too old to stay there.

I wouldn't be opposed to that either.

 

[Patrik26]

When Fiddler comes back Wood should be sent down and Coleman shifted to the LW. He had the 4th best WAR in the AHL at the time of his promotion and is too old to stay there.

Wood looks like a foal out there. The arms and legs are all going in different directions. It was exciting to watch the first few games. Now the result is expected and its rarely good.

 

[Zippy316]

Wood had his worst game of the season and fell down more than ever. Wouldn't be surprised if he responds tonight and gets another breakaway goal.

I could care less if he got a hat trick off of breakaway goals.

He has some major flaws in his game that need to be worked on and it's not going to change if he's constantly bull rushing the puck at the NHL level.

I'm personally hoping Fiddler is activated tonight. Means either one of Wood, Coleman, Kalinin, or Gazdic is being sent down. Would be pointless, in my opinion, to send down Gazdic or Kalinin and sit Wood/Coleman, so I'd rather Wood be the one to go down to get playing time.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

I haven't sat down and watched a Devils game while on the road trip. I finally sit down to watch and hopefully enjoy a game and the Devils can't complete a five foot pass. Frustrating.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Wood had his worst game of the season and fell down more than ever. Wouldn't be surprised if he responds tonight and gets another breakaway goal.

Yeah but Wood was making progress on the road trip precisely by NOT going full speed every time out, by playing his position and being responsible. That's also why he has disappeared a little bit. Like into the team.

By the way, before getting too down about a loss, it's not unheard of for a team just back from a long road trip, especially a winning one, to come out tired and with no legs on its first game back home.

Tonight will tell us a bit and especially when we've been pretty good this year on the second game of back to backs.