GDT: Wings @ Devils - 1:00 PM - MSG+2

[Billdo]

I thought Foote used his size a bit more in the first two periods. It was such a tough game to watch though that I find very little to take positively.

100% trash game where neither team deserves to win.

 

[Better Call Sal]

100% trash game where neither team deserves to win.

I legitimately thought the Wings were going to kill the remainder of the game when we took the second penalty in the 3rd and had the 6 on 5 and that we were willing to let them.

 

[Billdo]

I legitimately thought the Wings were going to kill the remainder of the game when we took the second penalty in the 3rd and had the 6 on 5 and that we were willing to let them.

It sure seemed like it. The sell the team chants from the top of my section were fun.

 

[Billdo]

I don’t know how you could not be at least a little bit concerned about Hamilton. If his other injury (not the jaw) is really affecting him he should not be playing.

Playing with that shield is annoying but he’s probably played with one for half his life. Most of these skilled guys don’t even look down at the puck when it’s on their stick anyway.

He’s supposed to be a leader out there and helping us to get out of this rut. He looks like crap, slow, lazy disinterested play, piss poor shot selection and decisions with the puck. He’s not making one difference at all being in the lineup.

I'm not hitting the panic button but you're speaking the truth. Anyone not acknowledging it is kidding themselves.

 

[Bad Goalie]

The flu is back and reminding us that Covid isn’t thr only virus in town.

Really scary since the guys coming back for the Calder Cup playoffs will either be sick or carrying it to the rest of the Comets.

That would really suck to be the way they go out.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I’m personally willing to give Dougie the benefit of the doubt given his track record and the injuries he’s suffered over the course of the season.

But if this play continues into next season….oof.

 

[Billdo]

I’m personally willing to give Dougie the benefit of the doubt given his track record and the injuries he’s suffered over the course of the season.

But if this play continues into next season….oof.

Yeah this is where I'm at

 

[Bleedred]

Funny how so many give someone like Blackwood the benefit of the doubt (the way some people here talk about him you would think he was a former Vezina winner or finalist going through a rough couple injury years when in reality he wasn’t even as good as Schneider was before the questionable performance started) despite the fact that ( especially when AHL performance is considered) he’s had just as much, if not more of a mediocre pro career than better than mediocre.

Yet so quick to throw away a 21 year old like Ty Smith who was very good last year and a very proven player like Hamilton isn’t allowed to have a poor 30 game stretch due to his injuries without causing a freak out.

And yes, I know Dougle Hamilton makes much more than Mackenzie Blackwood does and his contract goes on for 5 years longer, but it’s just how funny how confident people are that the injuries are the only thing that’s in the way of Blackwood performing well, but Dougie doesn’t get time to heal up and come back healthy. Not to mention that Hamilton is a better player at his position than Blackwood ever was (and for longer) at his.

 

[My3Sons]

Rango was the only good player in my eyes Zacha was positive......positively horseshit !

Ringo did play well but he wasn’t even the best drummer in the group.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Of course. But Nico, Jack and Bratt are on the new level. Sharangovich play very good. This is what goin on on the rebuild. I don`t know who did expect really more. I was thinking with Bernier and Blackwood Devils are 82 pts team. We didn`t have them. Devils lost a lot of games because of goaltending. With avarage goaltending this was win\lose team. Without it - what we did have. I think team was playing on the level I did expect and even more. I didn`t thought Jack will make that huge step. And Bratt too.
Stop crying, you must understand everything because you are watching the game. This is not a thing you did heardd on the radio or watching on the news from a man or woman words. Players, who are the core, play good game. ANd they are very young.
Btw Colorado were much worser team with bad goaltending. And they made huge step, when Varlamov was heal and NM made huge step. They didn`t sign big names from the market. Everything Devils needs to win they have. Only lack of good goaltender. And coaches, who will help with fixing different aspects of the game.

Ruff isn`t the coach who have keys to win the modern game. But he knows the hockey game. And it`s a BULLSHIT that he didn`t help to young players to adapt and learn the NHL hockey game. He just cann`t teach how to win. I think they need to find a new one to teach them. But I can`t say that Ruff didn`t give sonething to this guys. Even Nico looking as a much better version of him.

Growth is a process in which people grow until they finally grow up.

Hughes, Nico, Bratt (and even Sharangovich) stepping up to new plateaus - that’s going to be Ruff’s legacy to the team - and in the case of Hughes to the NHL game. Ruff helped mold and form him in the past 2 seasons and this is a roadside attraction for the NHL for the next decade on the level of Patrick Kane or Mackinnon or McDavid.

That’s quite a legacy for Lindy. It was his most important job here and he’s done it. As you said, now we need the guy who’s going to teach this team to win.

This time next year we may have Luke Hughes joining the club for a playoff run if things go right.

 

[Dylan9z9]

Ringo did play well but he wasn’t even the best drummer in the group.

are you saying Pete Best was a better drummer than Ringo?

 

[My3Sons]

are you saying Pete Best was a better drummer than Ringo?

It’s a joke attributed to John but it was actually said by a minor British comedian. The premise was Paul was the better drummer since he overdubbed a few parts.

 

[Devils731]

are you saying Pete Best was a better drummer than Ringo?

There is a joke that Lennon is asked something like, “everyone in the band is the best in the world at their role; is Ringo the best drummer in the world?” and Lennon responds, “Best drummer in the world? He’s not even the best drummer in the Beatles”

It’s been quoted in tons of legitimate places. He’d be suggesting McCartney was better, as he also drummed for the band at times.

It turns out it’s likely not a real quote but it is very funny and quoted by so many legit places that it seems real.

 

[Guttersniped]

I was quite lucky to be in attendance for this one. That Zacha breakaway wanted to make me put my fist through the glass.

Guys mostly don’t score on those, people generally overrate them as scoring chancing, but Zacha still managed to be disappointingly sucky on it. He rushed it and blasted a shot to nowhere.

Granted guys like Nico tends to err on slowing the play down a bit too much at times, and making it overcomplicated, so just going for can be good thing, but he could have slowed down a bit.

Hamilton doesn’t worry me at all, he was all over all the ice early on, but none of the skeleton crew lines were in playmaking mode. He clearly saw openings that if guys with more offensive playmaking sense were there he could do more. (And he’s shooting poorly, but again, I need to see this be a problem next season without a plastic thing on his head before I’m worried.)

Bratt was cartoonishly out of gas the entire game, his lack of speed live was pronounced. He missed practices and last game with the bug that knocked Nico out, he’s sick. He only played ~15 minutes.

Mercer, Shara, Zacha and Boqvist played big minutes this weekend b2b. Foote only played 5 minutes and McLeod plays ~7:30 EV TOI each game, which put more pressure on the rest of the team on top of some guys being sick.

Blah game but it’s a weird loss to be upset about IMO, but to each their own I guess.

 

[Eggtimer]

What is this team good at ? Seriously aside from being super young and having a few good players. I swear these games make it feel like there is no hope sometimes. I get it we are injured but holy shit. A player like Hamilton who we overpaid to get comes here and his play level dips from what he was doing previous years. We are running out of excuses. Fitzgerald better make some moves this offseason but his first.move should be to get rid of Ruff. All of these other teams fired their bum coaching staff and instantly saw better results after the change up. Our fan base deserves better. 1 playoff appearance since our cup run a decade ago , we are down there with the Sabres when it comes to joke of the last decade. People just pity this organization because it was good for a long stretch before bottoming out again.

Even when Gillies and Hammond give us good games in goal we find a way to lose. The goaltending has been awful this year but the players always fold under pressure. This team f***ING SUCKS.

We have no identity . No real “way we play“. Take the Calgary Flames for example. Last year was an example of a team with no identity. Fast forward to this year under Sutter. It took him a few games from last year and some at the beginning of this year but he turned them into an actual “team”.
Not just icing the highest scoring players they have but constructing a roster that as a whole, worked together to be as efficient as possible.
What we have is a collection of prospects that happened to have developed all at the same time that we tossed together. We do not have a well constructed / balanced roster at all. Now we identified the core (Hughes Nico Bratt Mercer etc.) we need to supplement them better and add pieces to compliment them .
No more shit bag , soft crap like Tatar , Johnson , Zacha. Players that can win puck battles , defend and play effective defence , block shots , drive the net , throw hits , be hard to play against.
Severbal times this year , commentators for the other team have said the exact same thing . “Devils have a very young and very talented team but are very easy to play against.“
Look at the Flames record. They won their division .They went from missing the playoffs to this. They did this but losing Giordano and addig frickin Zadorov….
Outside of their top line they have shit.Buttttttt , They have an actual team. They have an energy line, a shut down /defensive line and a “im going to run you through the F ing boards “ line . We are way too easy to play against and have no structure. Just toss out whoever and hope they score more than the other team. Anyone who disputes needing interior players should pull their head out of their asses and look at how the Flames are constructed and how they went from bags of shit to winning their division .

 

[Dylan9z9]

There is a joke that Lennon is asked something like, “everyone in the band is the best in the world at their role; is Ringo the best drummer in the world?” and Lennon responds, “Best drummer in the world? He’s not even the best drummer in the Beatles”

It’s been quoted in tons of legitimate places. He’d be suggesting McCartney was better, as he also drummed for the band at times.

It turns out it’s likely not a real quote but it is very funny and quoted by so many legit places that it seems real.

Ringo was actually a pretty good drummer .... don't know how good McCartney was though...

 

[My3Sons]

Ringo was actually a pretty good drummer .... don't know how good McCartney was though...

Listen to Ballad of John and Yoko and decide for yourself.

 

[Guttersniped]

We have no identity . No real “way we play“. Take the Calgary Flames for example. Last year was an example of a team with no identity. Fast forward to this year under Sutter. It took him a few games from last year and some at the beginning of this year but he turned them into an actual “team”.
Not just icing the highest scoring players they have but constructing a roster that as a whole, worked together to be as efficient as possible.
What we have is a collection of prospects that happened to have developed all at the same time that we tossed together. We do not have a well constructed / balanced roster at all. Now we identified the core (Hughes Nico Bratt Mercer etc.) we need to supplement them better and add pieces to compliment them .
No more shit bag , soft crap like Tatar , Johnson , Zacha. Players that can win puck battles , defend and play effective defence , block shots , drive the net , throw hits , be hard to play against.
Severbal times this year , commentators for the other team have said the exact same thing . “Devils have a very young and very talented team but are very easy to play against.“
Look at the Flames record. They won their division .They went from missing the playoffs to this. They did this but losing Giordano and addig frickin Zadorov….
Outside of their top line they have shit.Buttttttt , They have an actual team. They have an energy line, a shut down /defensive line and a “im going to run you through the F ing boards “ line . We are way too easy to play against and have no structure. Just toss out whoever and hope they score more than the other team. Anyone who disputes needing interior players should pull their head out of their asses and look at how the Flames are constructed and how they went from bags of shit to winning their division .

Mangiapane has 35 goals and they added Coleman in off-season and Toffoli in February. When you put all your top guys on one line, it’s hard to not be more of a one-line team unless you have truly exceptional forward depth (Bruins vs Bolts).

If a top line has players with 111, 101, and 80 points, it probably has a team’s best players.

Fitz hasn’t put together a bottom six but those players are often not core guys and often get traded around at TDL. For example the Flames 3C is now Jarnkrok, who they got at the TDL.

They have a bunch of older guys who will be UFAs in that line-up. Many of the pick-ups have worked out because they were chosen with Sutter’s system in mind. They have a bunch of them.

I would have loved a cool defensive forward pick up (more than most on this board), but this team wasn’t going to get a bunch of them like Calgary did. This was still a development year (albeit one that blew up due to both the goalies going down).

We actually do have a system, it’s based on possession and scoring on the rush. So we can’t just get 35 year old dudes and make it work. (Ruff can go away of course, but that’s his system.)

(The Flames are also in a Clown Show of division that deserves zero respect. Lately they’ve had one definitely good team and whatever the Oilers are. The Flames are the one good one and Vegas died because the Pacific can’t have more than one.)

To me Florida is more interesting team building example because Zito got major pieces in all sorts of creative ways. (Including getting from Calgary an grit, interior type forward for their top 6 in Bennett.)

The important part of Calgary’s team is mainly their own draft picks and the guys they got from Carolina in the Hamilton trade. I agree that smart complimentary additions are great too, but those come and go, unless you’re developing players you drafted or pick up a young player in a trade.

And you’re ignoring goaltending. A big change was Markstrom. He had a very bad season last year, he was wildly uneven even after Sutter came in. He’s bounced back to be one of the best goalies in the league again. So there’s that.

 

[Billdo]

Guys mostly don’t score on those, people generally overrate them as scoring chancing, but Zacha still managed to be disappointingly sucky on it. He rushed it and blasted a shot to nowhere.

Granted guys like Nico tends to err on slowing the play down a bit too much at times, and making it overcomplicated, so just going for can be good thing, but he could have slowed down a bit.

Hamilton doesn’t worry me at all, he was all over all the ice early on, but none of the skeleton crew lines were in playmaking mode. He clearly saw openings that if guys with more offensive playmaking sense were there he could do more. (And he’s shooting poorly, but again, I need to see this be a problem next season without a plastic thing on his head before I’m worried.)

Bratt was cartoonishly out of gas the entire game, his lack of speed live was pronounced. He missed practices and last game with the bug that knocked Nico out, he’s sick. He only played ~15 minutes.

Mercer, Shara, Zacha and Boqvist played big minutes this weekend b2b. Foote only played 5 minutes and McLeod plays ~7:30 EV TOI each game, which put more pressure on the rest of the team on top of some guys being sick.

Blah game but it’s a weird loss to be upset about IMO, but to each their own I guess.

I think people are not "upset" with this game in particular but are just kind of done with the season in general. I know I am. It is frustrating to me to see a team that on paper should be a fringe playoff team, be so inept at this little aspects of the game. They couldn't even complete a very simple pass more often than not tonight. We get solid goaltending and completely shit the bed offensively. Other times we score 6 but give up 7. Its just infuriating at this point. Regardless I am glad this season is over after Friday and I can only hope Ruff and Recchi are gone.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Mangiapane has 35 goals and they added Coleman in off-season and Toffoli in February. When you put all your top guys on one line, it’s hard to not be more of a one-line team unless you have truly exceptional forward depth (Bruins vs Bolts).

If a top line has players with 111, 101, and 80 points, it probably has a team’s best players.

Fitz hasn’t put together a bottom six but those players are often not core guys and often get traded around at TDL. For example the Flames 3C is now Jarnkrok, who they got at the TDL.

They have a bunch of older guys who will be UFAs in that line-up. Many of the pick-ups have worked out because they were chosen with Sutter’s system in mind. They have a bunch of them.

I would have loved a cool defensive forward pick up (more than most on this board), but this team wasn’t going to get a bunch of them like Calgary did. This was still a development year (albeit one that blew up due to both the goalies going down).

We actually do have a system, it’s based on possession and scoring on the rush. So we can’t just get 35 year old dudes and make it work. (Ruff can go away of course, but that’s his system.)

(The Flames are also in a Clown Show of division that deserves zero respect. Lately they’ve had one definitely good team and whatever the Oilers are. The Flames are the one good one and Vegas died because the Pacific can’t have more than one.)

To me Florida is more interesting team building example because Zito got major pieces in all sorts of creative ways. (Including getting from Calgary an grit, interior type forward for their top 6 in Bennett.)

The important part of Calgary’s team is mainly their own draft picks and the guys they got from Carolina in the Hamilton trade. I agree that smart complimentary additions are great too, but those come and go, unless you’re developing players you drafted or pick up a young player in a trade.

And you’re ignoring goaltending. A big change was Markstrom. He had a very bad season last year, he was wildly uneven even after Sutter came in. He’s bounced back to be one of the best goalies in the league again. So there’s that.

Elias Lindholm impresses me, to name another player. Along with Johnny Hockey. Great player. And yes he did come over in the Hamilton deal I think.

They are a very deep team.

 

[glenwo2]

Glad I missed this game (although, tbh, any game where Bratt doesn't play, I don't pay as much attention to it as I normally would).

Sounds like the entire team can't function without the BIG 3 (Jack, Nico, and Bratt). Big surprise.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Glad I missed this game (although, tbh, any game where Bratt doesn't play, I don't pay as much attention to it as I normally would).

Sounds like the entire team can't function without the BIG 3 (Jack, Nico, and Bratt). Big surprise.

Well an extremely depleted roster with an AHL taste and we are playing out the string. It’s a shame the season has gone like it did; and still I’m going to miss Devils hockey. But these last few games are particularly disheartening.

 

[Guttersniped]

Glad I missed this game (although, tbh, any game where Bratt doesn't play, I don't pay as much attention to it as I normally would).

Sounds like the entire team can't function without the BIG 3 (Jack, Nico, and Bratt). Big surprise.

Bratt did play, though I doubt he was over the non-COVID illness as he lacked speed.

 

[glenwo2]

Well an extremely depleted roster with an AHL taste and we are playing out the string. It’s a shame the season has gone like it did; and still I’m going to miss Devils hockey. But these last few games are particularly disheartening.

That's true. Offseasons are typically BORRINNNNNNG as hell.

 

[glenwo2]

Bratt did play, though I doubt he was over the non-COVID illness as he lacked speed.

Did he play??? 'Cause I saw no unicorn out there.

Though judging from the stats, Bratt was doing a great Janne Kuokkanen imitation...which would explain why it felt like he wasn't even in the lineup.