Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2022-23 season thread part III

[glenwo2]

Islanders were secretly really awful at the end of last year. Gotta give Lou credit on this one, the players were done with Trotz and are doing well under Lambert.

But are they really, though?

They were down 3-0 against the Canes AT HOME where they have last change, and Lambert did not pull the Goaltender to try and make a game of it.

Remember how Ruff did and showed that he and the Devils weren't going to roll over for any team?

Well Lambert demonstrated that his team DOES roll over when the going gets tough apparently as that was a gutless thing to Not do.

And the crowd let him have it after the game was over.

 

[None Shall Pass]

We've gone without any major on-ice success (Hall's MVP season the only exception) for over a decade at this point. I'm enjoying this season thoroughly, but I understand the constant fear that the bottom will fall out in a spectacular way somehow.

The logical part of my brain sees this season as found money, and is loving every single second of it. This part of my brain understands the impact of new coaches, new players, and the progression of youth. It sees what's happening on the ice and says, "Of course, this was bound to happen eventually."

The poisoned sport fan part of my brain still has anxiety about 6 or 7 goaltenders failing a week and all the random chaos that embodied this team for the past few years. It's going to take a few good seasons for that part to go away, just like it took a few years for it to stop expecting the playoffs each year after the run of success we had.

We'll all come along eventually, but it'll require sustained success.

 

[Bleedred]

But are they really, though?

They were down 3-0 against the Canes AT HOME where they have last change, and Lambert did not pull the Goaltender to try and make a game of it.

Remember how Ruff did and showed that he and the Devils weren't going to roll over for any team?

Well Lambert demonstrated that his team DOES roll over when the going gets tough apparently as that was a gutless thing to Not do.

And the crowd let him have it after the game was over.

Wait, the crowd actually booed him after the game for not pulling the goalie?

A lot of teams don't pull the goalie when down 3. Ruff did it (and WAYYYYY early) because we literally couldn't get shit going all game long until we did that.

I remember at least one instance where Jacques Lemaire wouldn't pull the goalie down 2 goals and when asked about it in the post game he said something like he didn't think the team could get anything going and didn't like their effort and didn't think they deserved to get a shot to try and score with the goalie pulled because their effort was so bad during the game lol.

 

[MartyOwns]

whaaaaaaaat? i thought he got nailed in the face predatorily?

 

[DerekDevils30]

Good. Be ready and hungry tomorrow.

 

[JK3]

whaaaaaaaat? i thought he got nailed in the face predatorily?

Pretty much everyone said it was clean, it was close though. It was a shoulder right to Woods chest, his head whiplashed into the shoulder pad after, at least that's what I saw.

 

[NjDevsRR]

That hit on Wood was one of the best I’ve seen. A big man like Wood, skating as fast as he was and stopping DEAD in his tracks was crazy to see live…what a hit. Respect. Glad Wood is ok.

 

[Clam Jensen]

That hit on Wood was one of the best I’ve seen. A big man like Wood, skating as fast as he was and stopping DEAD in his tracks was crazy to see live…what a hit. Respect. Glad Wood is ok.

Romanov can lay the lumber.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Happy Miles appears to be good to go. Hope the boys have the same hunger and intensity they're showing in practice today.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Being worried about this stuff when we have 5 regulation losses in 27 games is wild.

I don’t think people realize in how much of a good position we are with 43 points out of a possible 54. That’s 131 pt pace on the year.

Now of course we most likely won’t get that amount of points, but the playoffs are the least of my concerns right now.

Are they guaranteed for the playoffs if they go .500 the rest of the season? I'm too lazy to do the math.

 

[glenwo2]

Wait, the crowd actually booed him after the game for not pulling the goalie?

A lot of teams don't pull the goalie when down 3. Ruff did it (and WAYYYYY early) because we literally couldn't get shit going all game long until we did that.

I remember at least one instance where Jacques Lemaire wouldn't pull the goalie down 2 goals and when asked about it in the post game he said something like he didn't think the team could get anything going and didn't like their effort and didn't think they deserved to get a shot to try and score with the goalie pulled because their effort was so bad during the game lol.

I think they booed because they lost after having such a big win against us.

But I also like to think many were wondering why Lambert didn't try to pull the Goaltender early to see if they can get something going as well....

 

[MadDevil]

good grief.

They've lost 5 games in regulation 1/3rd of the way through the year and still have a comfortable division lead. Some of you guys need to stop this.

To be fair, it's been a long time since we've been this good. Some people aren't used to or can't handle success.

 

[glenwo2]

Pretty much everyone said it was clean, it was close though. It was a shoulder right to Woods chest, his head whiplashed into the shoulder pad after, at least that's what I saw.

Romanov can lay the lumber.

Yeah. That was just about borderline but still clean.

Basically a hit that we've seen Stevens do to opponents in the past.

Miles simply got a bad result out of it.

Fortunately (and this is a BIG "Fortunately"), he somehow did not get a concussion out of that.

Hope this is a tough lesson he learned to "keep his head up"(and on a swivel) when he's trying to skate in-between several opposing players.

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

i've been in/out on the boards for years. I see all the mount rushmore stuff on the main boards. I think we already know top 3, and then perhaps the 4th could be debatable.

Have we ever done a poll for like a ring of honor? Maybe have like 10 potential votes... and like 25 choices.

Maybe its better suited for the off season.

 

[mdj12784]

The only positive (if there is one) is Wood not slamming the back of his head on the ice. Very happy to hear he’s back on the ice.

 

[Better Call Sal]

It's one thing to take perspective of this start with a dose of reality, it's a whole other thing to chug the whole bottle.

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

Yeah. That was just about borderline but still clean.

Basically a hit that we've seen Stevens do to opponents in the past.

Miles simply got a bad result out of it.

Fortunately (and this is a BIG "Fortunately"), he somehow did not get a concussion out of that.

Hope this is a tough lesson he learned to "keep his head up"(and on a swivel) when he's trying to skate in-between several opposing players.

That hit was good need more of that in hockey just sucks it was on Wood ...Good thing Wood saw it last second are he might have been fubar....

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Are they guaranteed for the playoffs if they go .500 the rest of the season? I'm too lazy to do the math.

55 games left so .500 would be 55 more points. That would be 98 points.

So basically yes.

 

[severian]

How world class would it be for Fitz to get Debrincat at the TD for a fraction of the cost Ottawa paid.

That’s sort of what I was thinking. Is Ottawa willing to qualify him?

Because some of us have been conditioned to it, considering the past seasons (that include the Hynes era).

I don't want to feel that the proverbial "rug pulled out from under the Devils this season" could happen but it's a constant thing that's in the back of my mind.

The key is Vitek's performance.

Last game was a reminder of how bad our Goaltending was last season so I hope for a bounceback game from him to remind me that this season is different and he's no Blackwood or (insert other ineffective goaltender her).


Not for nothing but I'll feel a lot better if VV gave us a gem on Monday and the Devils beat the Rags at the world's most famous Toilet Bowl.

I’m just conditioned to the Devils sucking. I don’t recall there being much of a rug to be pulled out.

 

[Devs3cups]

Are they guaranteed for the playoffs if they go .500 the rest of the season? I'm too lazy to do the math.

Pretty much yes! I think we can expect them to play over .500 hockey though.

 

[BostonDevil]

Seems Pittsburgh and Carolina are getting going now. Plus Islanders, Rangers and Caps I bet aren’t gonna go away and will start creeping up the standings. And that is just looking at the metro clubs. This isn’t gonna be a walk in the park to get into the playoffs I don’t think. I could see it being similar to 2017 where they it comes down to the wire.

Thankfully Anaheim is in the west or you never know, couple Michigan goals and BOOM they blow right past us...

I mean, Bedard would be a nice consolation prize but but finishing last isn’t going to guarantee that either. ..

Also they could just relocate the team to Houston before the end of the season too….

 

[Desert Devil]

I think worrying about everything falling apart is completely reasonable considering our last ten seasons minus the 2018 one where we had one playoff win. I truly think it is different this year but I understand why people have some concern. It’s like an ex that screwed you over and it is ruining your next relationship

 

[Mgd31]

Wednesday morning we were talking about whether we should do everything possible to treat this season as a potential cup run and this weekend it’s worrying about the amount of points we need the rest of the way to make the playoffs. This place rules.

 

[Devs3cups]

Wednesday morning we were talking about whether we should do everything possible to treat this season as a potential cup run and this weekend it’s worrying about the amount of points we need the rest of the way to make the playoffs. This place rules.

1 game, while being 1st in the league, changed the whole outlook!

 

[Bleedred]

I think worrying about everything falling apart is completely reasonable considering our last ten seasons minus the 2018 one where we had one playoff win. I truly think it is different this year but I understand why people have some concern. It’s like an ex that screwed you over and it is ruining your next relationship

While it is true that we've had hot starts and watched them evaporate in more of the new dark ages years than not, we never had a cushion like this. We almost always fell apart before Thanksgiving or within 20 games. And we never had nearly as good of a record 20 games into those seasons as we had after 20 games this year.

I'm genuinely worried about a certain returning player (gee, there's a f***in surprise, isn't it?) coming back and FLUSHING some points for us, but we've luckily built enough of a cushion and margin for error that hopefully he'll be done away with if he starts costing us before he can do too much damage.