4 Nations Face Off - Feb 12-20

[TheUnseenHand]

Was 100 times better than the last 25 or so All Star games.

Yeah and several teams NHL seasons have potentially been severely impacted. I'm sure the GMs and Owners will love that....

 

[glenwo2]

I’m talking about momentum of hockey in the country being relevant. Great tournament great game horrible finish just like Vancouver and all the momentum the sport had then and now just poof

You're kidding me, right?

You think that a victory here would've made Hockey more relevant than it has been?

Dude... Nothing would've changed.

NFL/NBA/MLB will still be miles above the NHL.


Let's focus on what really matters : The NJ f'n Devils.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Jesus Christ, I forgot Robertson was even an American.

So why was it that he didn’t play? No way he was left off? He played the last game before the break. It looks like he’s played every game this year.

These f***in dinosaurs. Can we also get a bunch of the brain trust outta there along with some of those reject players? Sullivan and Quinn can go coach the bean pot next year.

Hanifin is another guy coasting off an old reputation.

Robertson was pretty dogshit to start the year and maybe they were worried about his skating in his tournament. He'll be the team in Italy if I had to bet since he's been good after the US team was announced for Dallas, I think the team is going to swing back to all out talent for 2026. Tage should make since he was a replacement tonight. Not having Quinn was a ball buster for the US in this tournament, I don't even care that Canada didn't have Pietro and Theadore. I would've rather them had those guys and we had Quinn than both teams having none of those guys lol

 

[Whaddagoal]

All the NY/NJ area guys were pretty meh in this tournament, Bratt didn't even create much after his first game. The Rangers guys were especially horrific besides Miller, Fox looked like an old man on the Bennett goal tonight.

Bratt got player of the game in the last game with us and got the game winner. Bratt did the best of the team locals. And he was very good in their first game.

Fox was terrible, zib mixed bad, miller looked good though, jack ok for a lot of it, good for small sections.

This tournament did make me want to get Brady Tkachuk though, man he would be fine on NJD.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Thought Miller and Zib did ok in their games. The rest tho, yeah.

Zibanejad was probably the reason they didn't make the Final. He got robbed twice in both OTL's.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Zibanejad was probably the reason they didn't make the Final. He got robbed twice in both OTL's.

He was very engaged though. Even delivering hits. Its been a LONG time since I saw him play like that. So I will give him credit. I believe he scored as well

 

[Andre Palot]

You're kidding me, right?

You think that a victory here would've made Hockey more relevant than it has been?

Dude... Nothing would've changed.

NFL/NBA/MLB will still be miles above the NHL.


Let's focus on what really matters : The NJ f'n Devils.

NBA has been losing steady momentum. Like a lead balloon.

But the NHL needs to focus on beating MLS before they can on the NBA.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Yeah and several teams NHL seasons have potentially been severely impacted. I'm sure the GMs and Owners will love that....

Vegas is probably happy they can abuse the LTIR with Theadore, Mark Stone will probably fall down the stairs while hungover leaving his hotel room tomorrow to be put on LTIR for Vegas lol. What other injuries are there? Groins are tough, Matt Tkachuk could be fine in 2 days or be out 2 months. It's also on the latter for even playing this game, he hurt the US a bit for not sitting out if he wasn't 100%. It's not the Olympics so it's whatever but he can't pull that shit next year lol

You're kidding me, right?

You think that a victory here would've made Hockey more relevant than it has been?

Dude... Nothing would've changed.

NFL/NBA/MLB will still be miles above the NHL.


Let's focus on what really matters : The NJ f'n Devils.

The NBA and MLB are asking for the NHL to take them over popularity wise. The NHL just markets like a bunch of bozos. Notice how when the product has its high end product that the views come in.

 

[Whaddagoal]

You're kidding me, right?

You think that a victory here would've made Hockey more relevant than it has been?

Dude... Nothing would've changed.

NFL/NBA/MLB will still be miles above the NHL.


Let's focus on what really matters : The NJ f'n Devils.

Sorry but I'm pretty sure this tournament has helped the NHL product a big amount. It was wildly more successful than they could have planned it out. They themselves I think were shocked by how much attention it got

I know a lot non hockey folks watching this tournament. NBA is falling a lot too recently.

 

[Andre Palot]

Vegas is probably happy they can abuse the LTIR with Theadore, Mark Stone will probably fall down the stairs while hungover leaving his hotel room tomorrow to be put on LTIR for Vegas lol. What other injuries are there? Groins are tough, Matt Tkachuk could be fine in 2 days or be out 2 months. It's also on the latter for even playing this game, he hurt the US a bit for not sitting out if he wasn't 100%. It's not the Olympics so it's whatever but he can't pull that shit next year lol



The NBA and MLB are asking for the NHL to take them over popularity wise. The NHL just markets like a bunch of bozos. Notice how when the product has its high end product that the views come in.

Make P.K. head of marketing

 

[NjDevsRR]

These kind of soundbites does help the NHL

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

B Tkachuk-Eichel-Guentzel
M Tkachuk-Matthews-Keller
Boldy-Hughes-Thompson
Miller-Larkin-Tuch

Extra: Robertson (he can be a regular too but just thinking out loud right now)

I assume this thread gets locked in the coming days but that's what I would do the forward lines next year in Italy. Jack NEEDS to be at C next year

 

[Edmonton East]

Lol Jack Hughes can't get above 39% on faceoffs and some people think team USA is gonna play him at Center. Give me a break. Nevermind the fact he was objectively Bambi on ice all tourney and was weak on the puck as a WING. Oh yea, sure, that'll be even better at Center vs the top players in the world. Like holy hell guys. Jack is a good player, but he's only "elite" to the people that just fanboy over the Devs and/or draft position. He was on the cusp of actually becoming an elite force in 2022. Unfortunate he hasn't progressed at all since then (and that's putting it nicely).

Devs need a more complete roster to seriously contend as a result. One day some fans will stop lying to themselves...hopefully. Or maybe Jack will actually mature and build off of his 2022 season. Tick tock.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Lol Jack Hughes can't get above 39% on faceoffs and some people think team USA is gonna play him at Center. Give me a break. Nevermind the fact he was objectively Bambi on ice all tourney and was weak on the puck as a WING. Oh yea, sure, that'll be even better at Center vs the top players in the world. Like holy hell guys. Jack is a good player, but he's only "elite" to the people that just fanboy over the Devs and/or draft position. He was on the cusp of actually becoming an elite force in 2022. Unfortunate he hasn't progressed at all since then (and that's putting it nicely).

Devs need a more complete roster to seriously contend as a result. One day some fans will stop lying to themselves...hopefully. Or maybe Jack will actually mature and build off of his 2022 season. Tick tock.

So you left the boards in November after being absolutely wrong on Markstrom

Nowhere to be found in December (because of course)

Now back to mansplain Jack when things aren’t going perfectly

Neat

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Jack Hughes is a better faceoff man now than he was in 2022, so what was even that argument lmao

Also yes, you would play Jack Hughes at center if you're team USA because that means VINCENT f***ING TROCHECK IS NOT ON THE ROSTER LMAO. A center core of Matthews Eichel Larkin Hughes is demonic to deal with it

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Watched the game but missed the whole 2nd period. Jack had a great chance to score to put USA up in the 2nd period 2 to 1 and got denied. Wasnt surprised to see him be a -2 this game either on the boxscore. He had a bad a tournament , got top 6 minutes practically every game/powerplay time and did nothing with it. f***ing Chris Kreider scored more than him while barley even touching the ice in 2 games.

Jack is still one of the better/exciting players in the league and I love having him as a Devil and being able to watch him play but he isn't on the same level as some of the elite centers in this league.

He looked like he was over thinking the game when trying to drive the net and play on the cycle. Just took weird routes to the net and would try to get lost down low on the sides of the goal looking for tap in goals. It was frustrating not seeing him hardly ever screen the goalie either. He sucked in the dirty areas of the ice. He also tried to pull his blind risky shuffle passes up the ice instead of making safe plays. ThIs was probably the hardest competition for hockey he has ever played in. It's very easy to critique his game but he is our franchise player and he needs to be better if we are ever going to seriously contented for a Cup.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Ya I think we can love Jack here while recognizing he isn’t even close to on the same level as Mcdavid, MacKinnon, and even Eichel and Matthew’s skill wise.

 

[Camille the Eel]

He looked like he was over thinking the game when trying to drive the net and play on the cycle. Just took weird routes to the net and would try to get lost down low on the sides of the goal looking for tap in goals. It was frustrating not seeing him hardly ever screen the goalie either. He sucked in the dirty areas of the ice. H

For me, I was happy to see him avoiding heavy contact, making his contribution and getting through the territory without getting scalped. The hitting was vicious and we’ve just seen McAvoy lost for the season for this bullshit. Jack had the instinct for self preservation to save it for the Devils and the playoffs.

I’ve seen him go into the dirty areas when it mattered - playing with one arm and half an ankle trying to pull us through against Carolina in games 4 and 5 against them in the playoffs two years ago. The kid doesn’t lack grit, heart, courage and determination. He’s as fierce a competitor as I’ve seen.

What he showed here was a healthy instinct for self preservation and for our team’s preservation and I thank him for it.

 

[Oneiro]

It's good for Jack, regardless of how you slice it. Self-preservation, humble pie or seeing the next level of what's required.

I'd say the difference between these best on best games and NHL play is that there's zero breathing room and everyone is thinking 2-3 steps ahead. The space isn't there for Jack to create, he's got to grow his game in these chess match style games. What comes next after this is probably a top 5 player in the game if Jack is who I think he is.

But man, the game is so skilled now. This really is the first generation of basically lab-grown hockey players and it's nuts to watch.

 

[HughesCorporation]

there was less space out there than a European hotel room .. even mcdavid was swarmed and couldnt skate free.. not surprising jack had issues.. the goals were grinder type. the screen from mckinnon was a big difference maker.. and the american leave the greatest player in the world wide open enjoyable hockey non the less

 

[Patrik26]

Hopefully Jack takes this as a lesson to actually hit the gym

He won't.

 

[Billdo]

I'm not going to be surprised if Matthews is still dinged up.

Hughes was extremely obvious with the shying away from contact. I don't think he was terrible but when someone makes a list of disappointing players he very well might be at the top of it.

Having Kreider, Trochek, and Nelson over Keller, Thompson, Caufield, Robertson is still just inexcusable.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Ya I think we can love Jack here while recognizing he isn’t even close to on the same level as Mcdavid, MacKinnon, and even Eichel and Matthew’s skill wise.

? He isn’t close to Jack Eichel? Hughes has 120 goals and 294 points in 246 games since 21-22 (40 goals 98 points per 82). Eichel has 91 goals 228 points in 219 games (34 goals 85 points per 82).

 

[Mirka the Turka]

Jack was pretty good but his play is up and down. When he gets bullied physically and games are tight he looks bad. But in sections of the tournament he had some very good plays where he opened the game up nicely that I don't really think any NHL player could do.

I thought he paired well with Matthews. Somehow people criticized Matthews this tournament despite looking like the best player on the ice. He's just such a dangerous player and with the best shot. If Binnington didn't rob him a few times everyone would be singing his praises.

? He isn’t close to Jack Eichel? Hughes has 120 goals and 294 points in 246 games since 21-22 (40 goals 98 points per 82). Eichel has 91 goals 228 points in 219 games (34 goals 85 points per 82).

I wouldn't compare Hughes to Eichel. Eichel is a two way defensive beast. His numbers are also tempered down by crappy Buffalo teams. Regardless, he carried Vegas to the cup and next to AM34 I have him as the best forward on the US team. You build your team around a player like Eichel, basically an upgraded form of Nico Hischier.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I wouldn't compare Hughes to Eichel. Eichel is a two way defensive beast. His numbers are also tempered down by crappy Buffalo teams. Regardless, he carried Vegas to the cup and next to AM34 I have him as the best forward on the US team. You build your team around a player like Eichel, basically an upgraded form of Nico Hischier.

I would. None of those seasons I compared them with included Buffalo. And you should check out Jack Hughes’ defensive stats this season. On the PK and 5 on 5.

The idea by our resident genius that he can’t play the center position doesn’t seem to match with reality.