Post-Game Talk: Devils lose again... this time to the Leafs 4-2.

[Bleedred]

I've been beating this drum since the beginning of the season. Having Kovy average two and a half more minutes per game than he did even last year, and four minutes more than two years ago is beyond lunacy.

It's not all Pete's fault though, Lou hasn't exactly helped out with bargain-basement shopping for wing help. All he's come up with is Loktionov - who's a center and helped compensate for some offense we should already have down the middle with Zajac/Henrique - and Poni, who isn't a first-liner either.

Not to mention lining him up at RW on the power play is beyond irresponsible. That I will blame on the coaching staff. I could care less where he plays 5-on-5, but you're handicapping the man advantage every time you line Kovy up out there.

It's getting close to time for Lou to show us he's the best GM in the league still. I mean that cause we need more help than this. Sadly if Clarkson walks I expect Matteau to be his replacement. Just like Tedenby for Parise.

If Clarkson stays or goes we need help regardless on the UFA market. Doesn't by any means need to be Perry, but we need something decent.

 

[Uli Hiemer]

this is how i have been feeling for the last few weeks

 

[Bleedred]

this is how i have been feeling for the last few weeks

Oh man that was nice! My feelings exactly.

More than ever I'm hating the Salvador contract with a passion now. Not because he's been terrible, but I feel it was a waste at this point. We didn't even need him, and that's most of the problem where this 8 defensemen thing has started. It was just money better spent on a forward.

Hudler has 15 points in 17 games, and Parenteau 18 points in 20 games this year so far. That's not bad for $4 million a year.

 

[CerebralGenesis]

Moose has sucked but man, that tells me he asked the guys to let him shoulder the blame to the media. That's all well and good, but a good team wouldn't let him. At the very least, Elias and Sal shoulda stuck behind.

Ouch.

Ya that's not a good sign. We feel that way as fans but for it to happen in the locker room sucks. He def can't be in tomorrow, not when he has no confidence and the team has no confidence in him.

 

[Bleedred]

If that's what really happened that is pretty disheartening. Moose has annoyed the hell out of me with his play, but he's being asked to play a role larger than he's capable of right now. Moose should have been able to make the save after Patty's brain dead turnover, but when **** like that happens it's hard to blame the goalie.

 

[NBC Hockey]

“We have the game in our hands,†Elias said. “We played well every one of us for the first two periods and I (messed) up right from the first shift and give them momentum and that’s it. (...) I said, obviously mistakes happen, but right now the timing of it, it’s unacceptable from me.â€

“I don’t agree with that,†right wing Clarkson said. “Moose has been unbelievable for us all season. He’s the heart and soul of this team, in my opinion. He’s one of the guys that everybody loves and respects a ton. I think he’s made some big saves."

 

[CerebralGenesis]

Good on clarkson but Moose has been bad for several games now and the trend is down. Put the kid in. Sweet dreams.

 

[NJDevs26]

The last thing I would assume is that they tacitly threw Moose under the bus by letting him take the questions with the character of the guys in the locker room and their respect for him. It's more symbolic than anything else, it's not like Elias/Clarkson/etc didn't meet the media later anyway.

 

[Bleedred]

Krys Barch was on the ice for both goals scored! That was something Eric Boulton could not do in 51 games last year!

One statistic that went overlooked tonight because of the putrid result of this game.

 

[Devils Dominion]

This is the most un-likeble Devils team that I can remember and I've been watching since 1982.
And by many miles.

They should be ashamed of themselves and thoroughly embarrassed.

Disgraceful in so many aspects of the game.
4 points out of a possible 16 since February 16.

Hedberg is swiss cheese and Chris Terreri reincarnated-and that is not good.
Pucks just find a way to go through him.
He cannot be relied upon to steal a game or even keep them in it.

I could go on and on with basically every Devils player in the lineup aside from a few, under five at most that don't deserve a vicious tongue lashing from the coaches or Lou.

Patrik looks miserably bad and enough white gloves talking about Kovy.
He is not playing like a top player in this league, at all.
He is a shell of the dymanic and dangerous goal scorer that we acquired.
Mainly due to how he is used and actually overused.

Travis has to look in the mirror and ask himself is he doing all he could in the offensive zone.

As a team, they are not doing the little things right and also making way too many mental gaffes and putting themselves beind the 8-ball constantly.

Are they being coached not to clear the puck out of frickin defensive zone with any authority?
It keeps burning them over and over and over. Man up and clear the puck with some punch please.

The PP is flawed the way they are positioned on the ice and the philosophy of working the puck aroudn the blueline is a total failure by Shaw.
Fire or demote this loser.

The PK has shown slight improvement lately, but when push comes to shove it cannot be counted on.

I was one of the first to show concerns on how this ship was sinking even when they were squeaking out some wins.

It is 100% not a playoff team as currently constructed.
It's not even a true team, just a collection of underperformers and never will be's who don't seem to have each other's backs nor are having any fun on the ice.

If Lou stands pat it will just get uglier as the season progresses and soon enough it will just be over.

Lou has to decide, is this group worth mortgaging picks or prospects?
Or is it time to take our punches this year, trade the dead weight for picks and look to start fresh next year with a revamped lineup.

I will be at The Rock as always every game cheering for this team and franchise that I love and have passion for, but I do not like what I have seen for the most part this season and I absolutely hate the product and results that I have seen in the last 10 games.

It's complete garbage and the poor efforts should not be tolerated by anyone in the Devils organization.

This is not Devils hockey, this group needs to represent the logo with more pride starting tomorrow night.

 

[Bleedred]

Devils dominion is even more pessimistic than me. I like him though! I have to disagree that this is not the most unlikeable team of the last 30 years. However this team looks like the 06/07-07/08 Devils. We had the best goalie in the game healthy back then though.

This is probably one of the worst forwards corps in years though. Probably since the years we had an elite defense. Back then we were a defensive team, and that was acceptable. We are no longer a defensive team anymore. Part of me has been thinking Lou wants us to still be, and that's why he's held on to the 8 defensemen. When Martin walked he was so quick to replace him with 2 UFA defensemen in Tallinder, and Volchenkov. Lou has to know this team is not built very good. The Salvador contract is BS and a waste of a contract when we NEED forwards. Not forfeiting that pick is turning into a mistake too.

Johnny Mac was given a better forward corps than this. At least to start the season. The bottom lines might have been worse, but Lou went all out that year. Kovy, Parise, Zajac, a Jamie Langenbrunner that we at least thought wasn't completely washed up yet coming into the season. Traded for Arnott, etc.

 

[NJDevs26]

Dude, don't ever become 'that' pessimistic. I like you as you are but I'd have to put you on ignore if you really went off the deep end like that.

 

[Tundra]

It's not a heart issue. This devils team has an awful lot of character on it. It's largely a top 6 issue, however, I think this problem may not be able to be rectified until the offseason.

 

[NJDevs26]

It's not a heart issue. This devils team has an awful lot of character on it. It's largely a top 6 issue, however, I think this problem may not be able to be rectified until the offseason.

Can't say I disagree with any of that. I wasn't too thrilled with the way they came out the first minute of the third period, but honestly it's a lot more of a talent issue (not to mention no Marty with Moose getting old overnight). Sixth seed last year, lose sixty goals in the offseason - we have to accept the fact this is a borderline team at best as presently constituted. Maybe not even that if this malaise keeps up.

 

[Bleedred]

Dude, don't ever become 'that' pessimistic. I like you as you are but I'd have to put you on ignore if you really went off the deep end like that.

Who me? I'm not as pessimistic as DD!

Haven't you been saying some of the same things as me though?

 

[Jersey Man]

It could be worse. On to the next one.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Devils dominion is even more pessimistic than me. I like him though! I have to disagree that this is not the most unlikeable team of the last 30 years. However this team looks like the 06/07-07/08 Devils. We had the best goalie in the game healthy back then though.

This is probably one of the worst forwards corps in years though. Probably since the years we had an elite defense. Back then we were a defensive team, and that was acceptable. We are no longer a defensive team anymore. Part of me has been thinking Lou wants us to still be, and that's why he's held on to the 8 defensemen. When Martin walked he was so quick to replace him with 2 UFA defensemen in Tallinder, and Volchenkov. Lou has to know this team is not built very good. The Salvador contract is BS and a waste of a contract when we NEED forwards. Not forfeiting that pick is turning into a mistake too.

Johnny Mac was given a better forward corps than this. At least to start the season. The bottom lines might have been worse, but Lou went all out that year. Kovy, Parise, Zajac, a Jamie Langenbrunner that we at least thought wasn't completely washed up yet coming into the season. Traded for Arnott, etc.

Dude this is not the worst forward core in years. Our lineup for half the season last year was worse.

 

[NJDevs26]

Who me? I'm not as pessimistic as DD!

Haven't you been saying some of the same things as me though?

I think we're both pretty much on the same page vis-a-vis the team. I admit I did think you were a bit nutty late last year when you were worried about missing the playoffs You never really ticked me off cause you weren't bashing other posters though, or completely one-way about the pessimism.

 

[Bleedred]

Can't say I disagree with any of that. I wasn't too thrilled with the way they came out the first minute of the third period, but honestly it's a lot more of a talent issue (not to mention no Marty with Moose getting old overnight). Sixth seed last year, lose sixty goals in the offseason - we have to accept the fact this is a borderline team at best as presently constituted. Maybe not even that if this malaise keeps up.

See we agree! You're pretty pessimistic yourself!

Bottom line is this team was dead middle in scoring in the league last year. That was with three 30+ goal scorers, two players in the top 10 in scoring. FIVE 20+ goal scorers which was the most in the league I believe, and seven 15+ goal scorers which was also the most. We were 15th in scoring if you take out the 12 goals we got for shootout wins.

What was the solution? Sign Bryce Salvador to a bad contract, and carry 8 defensemen? Sign Bobby Butler who just left on a plane to Nashville? Tedenby who was demoted after 4 games?

 

[NJDevs26]

Dude this is not the worst forward core in years. Our lineup for half the season last year was worse.

Years is a relative term. It 'is' the worst forward core since Sutter's first year, at best - that was six years ago. Can't think of many even comparable before then. Maybe the late '90's when Holik was the top-line center

Last year they still had Kovy/Parise/Elias/Henrique/Clarkson/Zubrus as a top six, that isn't terrible. It's the bottom six that was bad until our various waiver pickups/trades. This year we don't have two of those guys. We do have Zajac but he's been a ghost so far.

 

[NJDevs26]

See we agree! You're pretty pessimistic yourself!

Bottom line is this team was dead middle in scoring in the league last year. That was with three 30+ goal scorers, two players in the top 10 in scoring. FIVE 20+ goal scorers which was the most in the league I believe, and seven 15+ goal scorers which was also the most. We were 15th in scoring if you take out the 12 goals we got for shootout wins.

What was the solution? Sign Bryce Salvador to a bad contract, and carry 8 defensemen? Sign Bobby Butler who just left on a plane to Nashville? Tedenby who was demoted after 4 games?

I used to be more optomistic too lol...well I think really it's just like I said in the game thread, I get exacerbated more than I want to because I know this run is ending soon - the Marty/Lou era, and there aren't many more chances to max out on it before we become just another team.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Who me? I'm not as pessimistic as DD!

Haven't you been saying some of the same things as me though?

The pessimism is undeserved?

Come on, take a serious look at the roster and what you've seen out of them for most of the season.

Unless they magically gell and start getting every bounce and officials call, do you think we're a solid team that will coast in to the playoffs?

I wish it was that easy.

A trade for Weiss and a veteran PMD with wheels would give some optimism, along with Marty and Zubrus back of course.

 

[Bleedred]

Dude this is not the worst forward core in years. Our lineup for half the season last year was worse.

The bottom lines might be a bit better. We were icing a 4th line of Janssen-Mills-Boulton or Sestito something, no Zajac, etc.

I think we're both pretty much on the same page vis-a-vis the team. I admit I did think you were a bit nutty late last year when you were worried about missing the playoffs You never really ticked me off cause you weren't bashing other posters though, or completely one-way about the pessimism.

Things did get pretty scary late last year. You had Buffalo come from like 15 points behind us to like 4 at one point. Then we went on a 6 game winning streak, and it didn't matter.

I try not to bash anybody, and maybe I've done it without meaning to. It's like the trade board man. Why do people take that **** so seriously? It's like people believe the GM is the one making these posts!

I am outspoken, and I've made some bold predictions. I base the predictions I make on experience from watching the game for so long. I've been told I was wrong, and later have been proven right.

 

[Wingman77]

We haven't lost 5 in a row since December 2011

 

[Bleedred]

I used to be more optomistic too lol...well I think really it's just like I said in the game thread, I get exacerbated more than I want to because I know this run is ending soon - the Marty/Lou era, and there aren't many more chances to max out on it before we become just another team.

Man I've been saying all Summer I wasn't confident with this team, and throughout the lockout. Lou NEEDS to use the UFA market this year period. None of this Butler BS where we sign someone, and they're waived and claimed somewhere else later in the season, or Tedenby version 4.0. I don't know if his hands are tied, but this team was not built good. Salvador, and not forfeiting the pick are some questionable decisions right now.

DD the pessimism isn't undeserved. This team just isn't very good. It's like the 06/07-07/08 teams. We needed Marty play 75+ games those years. Weekes wasn't any good his first year with the Devils. He stunk for most of his 7 games. We needed Marty to play 77 games, and then it cost us in the playoffs as he ran out of gas. Similar to Kovy last year in the playoffs.