Post-Game Talk: Devils 3, Pens 1 - Party on Wayne.

[Scott04]

If we assume the goal is to get >55 points for the playoffs...

in 25% of the season, we have 35% of the points needed!

this start makes it so a slump later doesn't destroy us. we can go something completely non-impressive like 15-15-6 and likely still get in.

Before the season started and I was talking about what it will take to make the playoffs (in a general sense, not for the Devils in particular) and was saying something along these lines. I was using it as a justification for how a team like Columbus or the Islanders could sneak into the playoffs. Start off like 8-2 or something and they can sneak in by playing roughly at or just above .500 for most of the way from there. A big winning streak or a big losing streak is so huge this season because of how short and compacted everything is. It makes this win streak/great start so much better to have. Not that we want the team to slow down or go on any kind of a slump... but if they do, its not the end of the world.

I think if anything, Connor saw first-hand what a REAL T-E-A-M is(hint : It's not the Pens).

He's probably pretty sad because now he realized they're going to do too well to ever draft him Unless its his plan to have his draft stock tank a bit to the back end of the 1st round....

3-1 win AND kovy play only 21 minutes. Dang.....that's a win win

Unfortunately the only way to keep Kovy's minutes that low is to not have much time on the PP, but I'm quite happy to get a win and keep him under 24 minutes. Really is a win-win.

How great is it to have a coach, a coach you know will be here for a while. Good luck with the carousel Parise.

Pretty damn good. Hopefully he lasts for a long time. He's a good guy, has a solid system, the players seem to buy into it, and the results are speaking for themselves so far. He definitely bought into the franchise culture as well, so he really is a great fit. Would love for him to spend a long time here and really become one of the key figures when you think of the list of Devils head coaches in the franchise's history. Lets get a couple of Cups and that shouldn't be too difficult

At what point do people start questioning Parise's wisdom in leaving a team that clearly would have been heavy favorites to win the cup if he stuck around. I see nothing from the Wild thay would suggest they are anywhere near a cup run in the near future.

Knowing the way everyone views the league as a whole, the Devils still wouldn't have been considered favorites even if Parise stayed. Had he still been here and they had the same start they have now, then yeah everyone would be all over the bandwagon today. Just don't think it would have been that way from the start. Regardless, sucks to be him. His priorities clearly weren't on what was going to give him the best chance to win anytime soon. Maybe he was looking for what's his best shot to win 4-7 years from now. If so, more power to him. Don't know why he would throw away the chance to win for the next 1-3 years though, but whatever helps him sleep at night.

 

[AZNDevil]

Pft, angry they couldn't wear their Crosby or Malkin jerseys?

It's like every Penguins fan owns either a Crosby, Malkin, Letang, or a new "old jersey" Lemieux. No diversity...although I did see an ASHAM jersey on saturday...some old guy was wearing it and it was too small for him haha.

lol you basically listed all the jerseys you'll see here, minus the Asham jersey. I might have seen a Kennedy jersey.... once...

 

[Bleedred]

I think it might only take something like 50-52 points to get in this year. Especially with the way the southeast is looking right now.

 

[DEVILS ALL THE WAY*]

Poor Volch, he got his bell rung last night when he was looking for the puck in his skates, in the neutral zone. I love the fact that he's a warrior and all but one of these days, he'll get nailed so hard that he'll end up on LTIR.

He reminds me of Homer Simpson when he faces Drederick Tatum... he just keeps taking shots to the head over and over and over again whitout any real "damage".

 

[MartyOwns]

plus, volch has a crayon in his nose touching his brain

 

[manilaNJ]

I think, at some point, we're just going to have to embrace the trap/boring label and move on from it.

If Penguins fans are going to get all emo because the Devils don't let Crosby or Malkin waltz through the neutral zone all alone without any attention.. they're in for an entire seasons worth of heartbreak.

North-South pond hockey might be fun for some to watch, but it's also easy as hell to beat. Fans of so-called exciting teams are in a tizzy, calling for the heads of their coaches because they can't win a damn game. There are 1,001 excuses as to why their team is losing other than "THIS STYLE OF HOCKEY CAN'T WIN ****"

Teams with Crosby or Stamkos or Kessel or Ovechkin should have won consecutive Cups by now because of the WOW factor of 1 or 2 players on their team and not the product they put on the ice. I can't imagine paying to watch half these exciting teams stink up the ice.

To me, I enjoy watching a hockey team that excels in all areas of the ice. From star players to role players, from great scoring chances to impressive defensive plays.

We get the pleasure of watching that as Devils fans, it's time to stop letting the whining of other teams get in the way of our own excitement and entertainment of being Devils fans.
It's hard enough dealing with the entitlement by certain elements of the Rangers/Flyers fanbase day in and day out.... just tune it out with the sounds of cheering and excitement that comes with WINNING.

 

[Andre Palot]

Pft, angry they couldn't wear their Crosby or Malkin jerseys?

It's like every Penguins fan owns either a Crosby, Malkin, Letang, or a new "old jersey" Lemieux. No diversity...although I did see an ASHAM jersey on saturday...some old guy was wearing it and it was too small for him haha.

No Neal jerseys over there?

 

[Bleedred]

I think, at some point, we're just going to have to embrace the trap/boring label and move on from it.

If Penguins fans are going to get all emo because the Devils don't let Crosby or Malkin waltz through the neutral zone all alone without any attention.. they're in for an entire seasons worth of heartbreak.

North-South pond hockey might be fun for some to watch, but it's also easy as hell to beat. Fans of so-called exciting teams are in a tizzy, calling for the heads of their coaches because they can't win a damn game. There are 1,001 excuses as to why their team is losing other than "THIS STYLE OF HOCKEY CAN'T WIN ****"

Teams with Crosby or Stamkos or Kessel or Ovechkin should have won consecutive Cups by now because of the WOW factor of 1 or 2 players on their team and not the product they put on the ice. I can't imagine paying to watch half these exciting teams stink up the ice.

To me, I enjoy watching a hockey team that excels in all areas of the ice. From star players to role players, from great scoring chances to impressive defensive plays.

We get the pleasure of watching that as Devils fans, it's time to stop letting the whining of other teams get in the way of our own excitement and entertainment of being Devils fans.
It's hard enough dealing with the entitlement by certain elements of the Rangers/Flyers fanbase day in and day out.... just tune it out with the sounds of cheering and excitement that comes with WINNING.

This is a great post!

Should we call the Devils trap ''Offensive zone trap''? Or the ''defensive zone trap''? We're trapping them in our offensive zone, and they're being trapped in their defensive zone! So I'm not really sure which one is more appropriate. The neutral zone is the neutral zone for both teams!

 

[DEVILS ALL THE WAY*]

I don't care if opposing fans cry about us playing the trap... it just means we're doing our job at neutralising their "rockstars".

When people complain about the Devils, it just means we're playing solid/tight checking hockey, wich is the way all 30 teams should play but it's not everyone that can run a system that we've perfected for close to two decades now.

If you can't beat'em, join'em.... that's if you can

 

[Desert Devil]

Saw this Bylsma quote:

"I think this team may be different than what's traditionally talked about with the Devils," Bylsma said. "We had some scoring chances, we had some opportunities, but the thing they did really well was played in the offensive zone and extended shifts in the offensive zone. ... They did a good job of taking away opportunities for us to get things going by playing in the offensive zone, and we spent a lot of our energy playing defense."

Followed by Pens fans *****ing about the trap, ****ing morons.

Every Pens fan on HF should read this.

 

[Bleedred]

I'll credit Bylsma there. He actually knows what he's talking about. I've seen a couple teams last season where they interview the teams assistant coaches before the game. They have that little segment about what it's gonna take the beat the opponents. They usually have these notes about the keys to the game, and one of them was consistently ''Break through that trap''. This was last season, later in the season.

Even the Panthers commentators pointed out that we were trapping. Pete Deboer coached their team for 3 years. Did he trap with the Panthers?

 

[MartyOwns]

I think, at some point, we're just going to have to embrace the trap/boring label and move on from it.

If Penguins fans are going to get all emo because the Devils don't let Crosby or Malkin waltz through the neutral zone all alone without any attention.. they're in for an entire seasons worth of heartbreak.

North-South pond hockey might be fun for some to watch, but it's also easy as hell to beat. Fans of so-called exciting teams are in a tizzy, calling for the heads of their coaches because they can't win a damn game. There are 1,001 excuses as to why their team is losing other than "THIS STYLE OF HOCKEY CAN'T WIN ****"

Teams with Crosby or Stamkos or Kessel or Ovechkin should have won consecutive Cups by now because of the WOW factor of 1 or 2 players on their team and not the product they put on the ice. I can't imagine paying to watch half these exciting teams stink up the ice.

To me, I enjoy watching a hockey team that excels in all areas of the ice. From star players to role players, from great scoring chances to impressive defensive plays.

We get the pleasure of watching that as Devils fans, it's time to stop letting the whining of other teams get in the way of our own excitement and entertainment of being Devils fans.
It's hard enough dealing with the entitlement by certain elements of the Rangers/Flyers fanbase day in and day out.... just tune it out with the sounds of cheering and excitement that comes with WINNING.

this is just a great post

 

[Volodya Krutov]

I don't care if opposing fans cry about us playing the trap... it just means we're doing our job at neutralising their "rockstars".

When people complain about the Devils, it just means we're playing solid/tight checking hockey, wich is the way all 30 teams should play but it's not everyone that can run a system that we've perfected for close to two decades now.

If you can't beat'em, join'em.... that's if you can

And you're right ! People should stop trying to continually justify something that absolutely doesn't need to be. Devils hockey is 100% legit, period.
-We trap ? cool story bro !
-We play boring ? Thank you for the compliment !
-You hate NJD ? Kiss the 2 points good bye !

 

[apice3*]

good point. lets keep him where he hasn't scored one goal yet this year, and hope that he finds ice occasionally on the left where he's scored EVERY goal this year (minus the penalty shot). sound logic

I have never seen a good offensive player stay on one specific side of the offensive zone to score goals without hitting slumps routinely.

Kovy is going to roam no matter what position he's listed at. I don't know how you don't understand that.

 

[Devils Trap]

I have never seen a good offensive player stay on one specific side of the offensive zone to score goals without hitting slumps routinely.

Kovy is going to roam no matter what position he's listed at. I don't know how you don't understand that.

Agreed. I would keep Kovy at RW

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Kovalchuk to LW or RW. Might a poll be a good idea ?

 

[Hisch13r]

Kovalchuk to LW or RW. Might a poll be a good idea ?

I am on it

 

[MartyOwns]

I have never seen a good offensive player stay on one specific side of the offensive zone to score goals without hitting slumps routinely.

Kovy is going to roam no matter what position he's listed at. I don't know how you don't understand that.

he won't roam to the right. he always roams to the left. because thats where hes more comfortable shooting. because he's a LW.

you said in your previous post that positioning only matters on D. to me, thats laughable, but going by your logic what do you care if he's on LW or RW then?

it gets really tiring making the same points every day, so feel free to check out my post history to see what i've already said on the subject ad nauseum. i really dont want to discuss this further. we're winning, he's on the RW, fine, whatever. im happy while we're winning. our first line is still having difficulty, and we're going to need them over the stretch of this season/playoffs. whats the harm in switching him? ah, damn here i go again. nevermind

 

[MartyOwns]

Kovalchuk to LW or RW. Might a poll be a good idea ?

i can guarantee 95% of the board wants him kept where he's at. we're in first! duh! keep him there! nobody here tends to look at the big picture, or the MISSED POTENTIAL, so they'll go RW. whatever

 

[JK3]

The opposing fans, writers and TV analysts are constantly regurgitating the same talking points about the Devils play over and over, talk about boring. It's their mantra regarding the Devils for the last 20 years, it's ingrained in their feeble dinosaur brains and will never change.

The best part is I actually do love it and get off on their stupidity, disdain, confusion and genuine hate for the Devils as to why this team is so successful year after year. I makes me soooo happy to piss these dummies off every year.

 

[DevilChuk*]

he won't roam to the right. he always roams to the left. because thats where hes more comfortable shooting. because he's a LW.

you said in your previous post that positioning only matters on D. to me, thats laughable, but going by your logic what do you care if he's on LW or RW then?

it gets really tiring making the same points every day, so feel free to check out my post history to see what i've already said on the subject ad nauseum. i really dont want to discuss this further. we're winning, he's on the RW, fine, whatever. im happy while we're winning. our first line is still having difficulty, and we're going to need them over the stretch of this season/playoffs. whats the harm in switching him? ah, damn here i go again. nevermind

It's much easier to clear the zone when you are a righty at RW.

A righty @ LW has his back to the defenders at the blue-line to catch a pass and has to use his backhand to clear.

Kovy is better off at RW. He's going to score regardless where you put him (even if he needs to roam to LW to do so) so much rather have him in the position that makes him better in the defensive zone.

 

[NJDevs26]

i can guarantee 95% of the board wants him kept where he's at. we're in first! duh! keep him there! nobody here tends to look at the big picture, or the MISSED POTENTIAL, so they'll go RW. whatever

Missed potential? How much better you think he could do than last year, when he was at RW the whole year, and put up 85 points in the regular season, another 20+ in the playoffs? Are we really 'dissapointed' he's not a 110-point player (which he never was in Atlanta, I think his high was like 98). So it's missed potential cause he had a few dry games to start this year, when he was there all of last year?

He should be on the left/left center more during the power play, that's it. But the power play itself has been working in recent games, so whatever.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Kovy has been excellent in every way lately but he's been particularly good defensively. Why change that now? At least wait for him to hit a major slump to start getting your panties in a bunch. Hopefully he never gets into a slump in the first place.

 

[JK3]

Don't want to pile on but. . . MartyOwns I love your posts but cmon man, it's almost as bad as DATW griping for years about a PMD lol. Kovy is a much better player since switching to RW. His improved two way play outweighs the drifting cherry picking Kovy in Atlanta at LW. This team rarely scores off the rush so I don't think it's needed. It's more important for him to be on the right side defensively, but this isn't a table hockey slot game, you're allowed to roam the offensive zone. Of course the nature of being a right handed shot on the left side is just better in the offensive zone. Being a puck possession team we generate chances cycling and he looks to dart into those open areas of the ice looking for a one timer or he'll gravitate to the left side to get a better look anyway, it doesn't mater if he's a RW or a LW in these situations. I would imagine the coaches know a hell of a lot more than us and would put him back at LW in a second if they thought it would help the team. I agree 100% that he needs to be along the wall on the PP for his one timer but teams know this and key on it, that's why we see him at the point criss crossing all the time to change the looks up. Its seems now that umbrella set up is actually working.

 

[JerseyGuy276]

No Neal jerseys over there?

I saw 1 yesterday saturday. And some ********* was wearing it too.