GDT: Devils @ Panthers 7:30 PM EST (ESPN+, Hulu

[Better Call Sal]

Now in gif form for everyone to enjoy.

 

[glenwo2]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1856502240623968383

Pure sex.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

It does make "much" of a difference.

But you're free to believe what you like.

I'm not here to make you change your mind when it's made up.

What are you here for exactly? Like usually people at least attempt to provide an explanation or something rather “believe what you like”. It would be pretty pointless on here if everyone did that.

And it really doesn’t make much of a difference. Please please explain to me how it does in the slightest bit. If anything, its more likely it has a negative effect. Instigator penalties, other stupid penalties and in some cases such as MacDermid you suffer having to play a non NHL calibre player.

And don’t give me the whole it makes the other players think twice about hitting your stars or something because there isn’t a single NHL player who won’t run through Jack Hughes because we have Kurtis MacDermid. Like it isn’t remotely a deterrent. In fact we’ve seen examples of the opposite.
MacDermid nails Romanov. Romanov’s response was to nail Jack.
Or when it was the big tough Brendan Dillon himself getting nailed from behind. He couldn’t even deter them from hitting him from behind let alone someone else. And then he stood up and took an instigator penalty to put us shorthanded.

I think you want players that are harder to play against. Which we did a good job of adding. But in today’s NHL particularly with the abundance of instigator penalties I can’t see much value in having guys that can fight. The heavyweight tilts are cool sometimes and sometimes you do need someone to send a message to your own team in certain situations more than anything. But you don’t need a Kurtis MacDermid to do that. A Nate Bastian or anyone who can play half decently is perfectly adequate in those rare cases.

 

[Bleedred]

That was a long day. I’m staying with my friend on the East Coast of the state, where I stayed during Milton last month. Only he’s actually home and went to the game with me.

That would be too much of a drive to head back home, then head back to Sunrise on Thursday.

 

[Guttersniped]

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Dougies IQ on Jack’s goal was Lemieux-2002-Gold-Medal-Paul-Kariya-Goal-like

 

[billingtons ghost]

I'm sorry I missed this game bc the highlights look luscious.

 

[glenwo2]

What are you here for exactly? Like usually people at least attempt to provide an explanation or something rather “believe what you like”. It would be pretty pointless on here if everyone did that.

And it really doesn’t make much of a difference. Please please explain to me how it does in the slightest bit. If anything, its more likely it has a negative effect. Instigator penalties, other stupid penalties and in some cases such as MacDermid you suffer having to play a non NHL calibre player.

And don’t give me the whole it makes the other players think twice about hitting your stars or something because there isn’t a single NHL player who won’t run through Jack Hughes because we have Kurtis MacDermid. Like it isn’t remotely a deterrent. In fact we’ve seen examples of the opposite.
MacDermid nails Romanov. Romanov’s response was to nail Jack.
Or when it was the big tough Brendan Dillon himself getting nailed from behind. He couldn’t even deter them from hitting him from behind let alone someone else. And then he stood up and took an instigator penalty to put us shorthanded.

I think you want players that are harder to play against. Which we did a good job of adding. But in today’s NHL particularly with the abundance of instigator penalties I can’t see much value in having guys that can fight. The heavyweight tilts are cool sometimes and sometimes you do need someone to send a message to your own team in certain situations more than anything. But you don’t need a Kurtis MacDermid to do that. A Nate Bastian or anyone who can play half decently is perfectly adequate in those rare cases.

Okay, man.

I believe otherwise because having MacDermitt there at the end prevented someone like Tkachuk for taking liberties.

It's what I think and believe and you have your viewpoints.

Not sure what your problem is with what I said.

I'm accepting that you have your own viewpoint just like I have mine.

What are you here for exactly?

To have a civil conversation without snark like this, for starters.

 

[billingtons ghost]

That was a long day. I’m staying with my friend on the East Coast of the state, where I stayed during Milton last month. Only he’s actually home and went to the game with me.

That would be too much of a drive to head back home, then head back to Sunrise on Thursday.

I'm so glad they actually won one for you. That seems to be a rare thing over the past years

 

[Bcap88]

I'm sorry I missed this game bc the highlights look luscious.

The first 5 minutes of the first were pretty meh and the first 8-10 minutes of the second were pretty brutal until Dillon fought. After that Mercer got a breakaway (missed) and they were pretty much playing solid hockey for the rest of the game

 

[Bleedred]

I'm so glad they actually won one for you. That seems to be a rare thing over the past years

Thanks!

It’s getting less rare than it used to be. Since I started going to games again in Sunrise in 2021-2022 were 3-2-0. We did win the only game we played there last year with Daws.

I stopped going to games there after the two in 16-17 that were both in the first month or so of the season. Because it’s too far and we lost pretty much every time post-2012 playoffs, other than the blowout win on what was the Panthers opening night in 2014.

I’ve went to every game in Tampa (I think?) that the Devils have played since 2011-2012 though. Our record is slightly better in Tampa than it is against Tampa at home in the last several years, that’s for sure.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Okay, man.

I believe otherwise because having MacDermitt there at the end prevented someone like Tkachuk for taking liberties.

It's what I think and believe and you have your viewpoints.

Not sure what your problem is with what I said.

I'm accepting that you have your own viewpoint just like I have mine.

That's what I'm here for, exactly.

Okay fair enough. I and I’m sure most people are on here to not only share but discuss my viewpoints (mostly when I’m bored).



I don’t think Tkachuk thought about Kurtis MacDermid even once while he was on the ice tonight. He was much more worried about them being down a goal to try and take liberties on anyone. If he wanted to I am entirely confident he would have and not had a single concern about Kurtis MacDermid.
Why would he even be concerned about MacDermid? There’s nothing Kurtis could do. There’s no chance he would have to fight him or anything. The absolute most MacDermid could do is take some penalties against Tkachuk if he somehow got on the ice with him.

Does you or anyone else genuinely think Matthew Tkachuk didn’t do anything last night because he was worried about what MacDermid would do?
I’m sorry but that idea just sounds ridiculous to me.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Okay, man.

I believe otherwise because having MacDermitt there at the end prevented someone like Tkachuk for taking liberties.

It's what I think and believe and you have your viewpoints.

Not sure what your problem is with what I said.

I'm accepting that you have your own viewpoint just like I have mine.

That's what I'm here for, exactly.

That sounds good to me, Glen.

Personally, if Big Mac makes Rempe or Tom Wilson or Trouba or Tkachuk give a second thought, he's worth it. If he takes them off there I've for five minutes or ten, so much the better.

I mean honestly, I'd so much rather see him play five minutes a game so that Jack, Nico, Bratt or Timo or shit even Cotter or Nose gets a bunch of extra shifts than having to watch some AHLer get a chance. What are we missing? Seeing Foote get a Holtz-like opportunity to do nothing with ten minutes a night.

It seems wasteful early in the season like this when the games don't mean much, but when the goonery and hitting picks up down the stretch I think it'll be important to have a guy who can at least answer the bell.

Basty had had his bell rung and I'm worried about him. It's a real luxury to have a Tom Wilson or Tkachuk who can actually play, but I have zero problems with Hughes coming out with the fourth line three extra times in a night and feeding Tuna or Lazar or whoever.

 

[glenwo2]

BTW, @Captain3rdLine ... you can stand to knock off the snark when trying to have a civil conversation with someone. Just saying.

You do bring up some valid viewpoints but they'll get ignored if you piss off the person you're speaking with, with stuff like "what are you doing here exactly?".

I mean that's the type of stuff that causes someone to just tell you to F OFF, you know?

We're all friends here. (I think)

 

[britdevil]

 

[billingtons ghost]

Okay fair enough. I and I’m sure most people are on here to not only share but discuss my viewpoints (mostly when I’m bored).



I don’t think Tkachuk thought about Kurtis MacDermid even once while he was on the ice tonight. He was much more worried about them being down a goal to try and take liberties on anyone. If he wanted to I am entirely confident he would have and not had a single concern about Kurtis MacDermid.
Why would he even be concerned about MacDermid? There’s nothing Kurtis could do. There’s no chance he would have to fight him or anything. The absolute most MacDermid could do is take some penalties against Tkachuk if he somehow got on the ice with him.

Does you or anyone else genuinely think Matthew Tkachuk didn’t do anything last night because he was worried about what MacDermid would do?
I’m sorry but that idea just sounds ridiculous to me.

It's not ridiculous. Have you been on the ice with big mean dudes? If not then I'd probably believe sal and dano when they say so, bc it matches my personal experience.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Personally, if Big Mac makes Rempe or Tom Wilson or Trouba or Tkachuk give a second thought, he's worth it.

The problem is it doesn’t whatsoever and we’ve seen recent evidence to the contrary.

I’d even argue that it does the opposite. If I’m on the ice with Kurtis MacDermid and I know his role I more likely to try and draw him into taking a penalty than think twice about hitting someone. Because there’s so little he can actually do and roughing and instigator penalties get handed out like candy if he tries.

It's not. Have you been on the ice with big mean dudes? If not then I'd probably believe sal and dano when they say so, bc it matches my personal experience.

I have spent lots of time on the ice with big mean dudes yes. Usually the coaches would tell us which guys they were before the game and tell us they’d take stupid penalties if we encouraged them too. No one is actually scared of them.

Also, you can absolutely expect anyone who played that type of role (such as Dano) to talk up its importance. And it’s also a completely different period of hockey.

 

[glenwo2]

Well then it's a good thing he doesn't play much.

But the time he does play is basically a message that he's "there" for any opponent who have their own goons thinking of starting sh*t.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

BTW, @Captain3rdLine ... you can stand to knock off the snark when trying to have a civil conversation with someone. Just saying.

You do bring up some valid viewpoints but they'll get ignored if you piss off the person you're speaking with, with stuff like "what are you doing here exactly?".

I mean that's the type of stuff that causes someone to just tell you to F OFF, you know?

We're all friends here. (I think)

That was in response to you saying “believe what you want” which isn’t exactly what I’d call civil discourse as a first response to my points. My response to that was entirely warranted whether you like it or not.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Well then it's a good thing he doesn't play much.

But the time he does play is basically a message that he's "there" for any opponent who have their own goons thinking of starting sh*t.

But that’s not the message. The message in throwing a goon out there is “hey I’m looking to start shit” which is usually responded to by them doing the same. Game tends to get chippier and more fired up which benefits some teams and players more than others. Certainly doesn’t benefit Jack Hughes. That’s apparently how he ends up with a Romanov trying to target him.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

I also find this deterrence debate funny because there’s always far more evidence to the contrary and it doesn’t make sense on a basic level.

Like half the teams if not more in the league have a goon or something close to it. Are the dirty players looking at the schedules and rosters and choosing a select few games to take liberties in?

And then you still see lots of examples of it happening and it’s like aren’t we glad we had Ryan Reaves on the bench to stare the guy down after.

 

[billingtons ghost]

The problem is it doesn’t whatsoever and we’ve seen recent evidence to the contrary.

I’d even argue that it does the opposite. If I’m on the ice with Kurtis MacDermid and I know his role I more likely to try and draw him into taking a penalty than think twice about hitting someone. Because there’s so little he can actually do and roughing and instigator penalties get handed out like candy if he tries.


I have spent lots of time on the ice with big mean dudes yes. Usually the coaches would tell us which guys they were before the game and tell us they’d take stupid penalties if we encouraged them too. No one is actually scared of them.

Also, you can absolutely expect anyone who played that type of role (such as Dano) to talk up its importance. And it’s also a completely different period of hockey.

You make good points here, but also talk in absolutes which you have no way of proving and it depends on the player. This far I haven't seen any evidence that points to Mac being a hothead that is easily gosded.

And personally, if there was a bad ass in any adult league our instigator chippy dudes were lady bing winners
For that night

But again: what are we missing out on by Mac being in the ice for five minutes a game in special situations?
Are we an old team that needs to govern stars minutes? Are there so many prospects banging down the door for third line minutes?

 

[billingtons ghost]

I also find this deterrence debate funny because there’s always far more evidence to the contrary and it doesn’t make sense on a basic level.

Like half the teams if not more in the league have a goon or something close to it. Are the dirty players looking at the schedules and rosters and choosing a select few games to take liberties in?

And then you still see lots of examples of it happening and it’s like aren’t we glad we had Ryan Reaves on the bench to stare the guy down after.

Funny how the playoffs seem to contain teams that have them, and they always seem to show up.

Like I said: I don't want or need a goon if you have a Messier, or Tkachuk or Wilson, but we don't have one of those.

But that’s not the message. The message in throwing a goon out there is “hey I’m looking to start shit” which is usually responded to by them doing the same. Game tends to get chippier and more fired up which benefits some teams and players more than others. Certainly doesn’t benefit Jack Hughes. That’s apparently how he ends up with a Romanov trying to target him.

This is not true. For years we've been having our ass handed to us without a response and that hasn't benefited any of our players. It seems that more than a few announcers point out the value of a guy there to say 'Dont start shit'

We will agree to disagree and move on but I think the guy is pretty valuable peace of mind for this team that has had a history of alligator arms come the time when games count

 

[Captain3rdLine]

You make good points here, but also talk in absolutes which you have no way of proving and it depends on the player. This far I haven't seen any evidence that points to Mac being a hothead that is easily gosded.

And personally, if there was a bad ass in any adult league our instigator chippy dudes were lady bing winners
For that night

But again: what are we missing out on by Mac being in the ice for five minutes a game in special situations?
Are we an old team that needs to govern stars minutes? Are there so many prospects banging down the door for third line minutes?

It’s not even about him being a hottead. It’s about there being very little he can actually do without taking a penalty. People are bringing up Tkachuk. If Tkachuk did something last night, what could MacDermid have done? Tkachuk doesn’t have to and isn’t gonna fight him (especially down a goal). So all we can do is put him out there to Florida’s benefit as he’s either gonna take a penalty trying to get Tkachuk back or just get out played the whole time playing against their top line.


And I think we’re missing on having a potentially more impqctrul player there who can play more minutes and bring some value in his minutes. With our bottom 6 right now a little speed would be nice. Or even just someone who’s fast enough to be able to engage and throw hits and forecheck.
I think we’re forgetting how valuable a good 4th line can be. Do we not remember the BMW days and how good that was to watch at times. They could go out there and actually provide energy and a bit of offense here and there. Now I just pray that we don’t get scored on.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Funny how the playoffs seem to contain teams that have them, and they always seem to show up.

Like I said: I don't want or need a goon if you have a Messier, or Tkachuk or Wilson, but we don't have one of those.


This is not true. For years we've been having our ass handed to us without a response and that hasn't benefited any of our players. It seems that more than a few announcers point out the value of a guy there to say 'Dont start shit'

We will agree to disagree and move on but I think the guy is pretty valuable peace of mind for this team that has had a history of alligator arms come the time when games count

I know announcers love to point it out. I just strongly disagree and to me the evidence shows otherwise. All those guys do is actually start shit themselves. I’m overusing this example but we saw just recently how MacDermid did the exact opposite of deterring them from our stars when he hit Romanov and made the game chippier. Romanov went after Hughes in response. It is reasonable to argue that playoff hockey is naturally like that so we need to be built for it.

I also think you’d find we’re not alone in thinking our players don’t respond well on that stuff and are soft. Every fanbase out there thinks that when things aren’t going well and a couple of chippy plays happen. There’s still been some of that this year on a couple occasions.