Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2023-24 season begins!

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Saugus

Ecrasez l'infame!
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I hope poor Nemec is not reading all these Prudential Center food posts

Especially because all they have in Utica is steamed hams.


steamed-hams.jpg
 

NJDevs26

Once upon a time...
Mar 21, 2007
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1996-1999 was rough to be sure. We had some really, really good teams and just kept choking in the playoffs.
The worst part is it made the regular season feel like a complete waste of time other than of course the one year they actually bottled the playoffs...the same was true to a degree of the late '00's Devils that also kept losing in the first round although they were a cut below the late '90's Devils, they still had fine records.
 

Bleedred

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Oh my I just looked up the 1998 and 1999 playoffs. We lost to the 8th seed both times..... If HFBoards was around back then it would have been a tire fire!
1998 even got Lemaire fired and a bunch of guys sent packing. A few more were sent packing after 1999.

And make no mistake about it, Lemaire was for all intents and purposes fired after 1998. Lou let him “Resign” out of respect. And that is still the longest head coaching reign under Lou. Not even Trotz lasted longer under him on Long Island.

I’m pretty sure Lemaire said something about wanting to take a step back and how it was best for the team and all that. He may have even said he wasn’t really into coaching anymore, but then took the job with Minnesota to be their first head coach not even two years later.

If Lemaire didn’t resign, you can bet Lou was going to give him the old Vince McMahon “uurrrrr firrrrreddddd!” Line.

He probably would have been much nicer about it than Vince.
 

TBF1972

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May 19, 2018
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Curious to see everyone's expectations before the season starts. Personally I'd be happy with a Conf Finals appearance, would be an improvement over last year and typically you and upcoming teams need to taste a bit of adversity before breaking through.

I think they're objectively better, improved this offszn while none of their competitors did anything to improve that much or got worse. Carolina to me is the biggest challenge, on paper the Devils are better but the matchup itself is not ideal. They play team defense, excel 5v5 and are one of the few teams left with a true shutdown line.
i am personally happy with getting into the playoffs.

hockey is not the most predictable sport and you don't know who will be available for the playoffs. qualifying for the playoffs is all i am asking for. then take every game, every series as icing on the cake. nothing wrong with losing there, when the spirit was right.
 
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TBF1972

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God our fanbase pressing people to heighten their point totals for the year. :laugh: We've wandered mediocrity and trash teams for so long that if anyone says bad or something amiss about the current roster, we go to hell and back for this Devils roster.
i don't have any issue with the devils projection. but that rangers point total has to come down.
 
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AfroThunder396

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Jan 8, 2006
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I don't care about playing the Rangers. They don't scare me, we are clearly the superior team. We should beat them nearly every time.

They are basically the 2006-2010 Devils - an older and experienced team with some very obvious flaws that get masked by an exceptional goaltender. 100 point teams that look nice in the regular season but immediately fold when the times get serious.

They are not a serious contender unless there is some unprecedented growth from their young disappointments.
 

Jersey Fan 12

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Nov 20, 2006
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Just saw this.







I can see goaltending affecting our playoff odds considering how things went last year.

Probably not a popular opinion on here, no way the Flyers and Blue Jackets finish with only 75 and 74 points respectively.

In the Flyers case, a full off-season of the Tortorella staff and the returns of Atkinson and Couturier alone will make a difference.

And for Columbus, even with the Babcock fiasco, there is no way they go through the same injury issues they had a year ago and the additions they made on defense (plus the return of Werenski) should make a big difference.
 
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tailfins

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Probably not a popular opinion on here, no way the Flyers and Blue Jackets finish with only 75 and 74 points respectively.

In the Flyers case, a full off-season of the Tortorella staff and the returns of Atkinson and Couturier alone will make a difference.

And for Columbus, even with the Babcock fiasco, there is no way they go through the same injury issues they had a year ago and the additions they made on defense (plus the return of Werenski) should make a big difference.
(Oops - thought this was Around the League. Will try to reply there.)
 

guitarguyvic

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Mar 31, 2010
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I don't care about playing the Rangers. They don't scare me, we are clearly the superior team. We should beat them nearly every time.

They are basically the 2006-2010 Devils - an older and experienced team with some very obvious flaws that get masked by an exceptional goaltender. 100 point teams that look nice in the regular season but immediately fold when the times get serious.

They are not a serious contender unless there is some unprecedented growth from their young disappointments.
I think this is accurate, but the problem is that a series with the Rangers will always be intense and emotional and the Devils simply have a horrible record in the round following those series wins. It really has nothing to do with how good the Rangers may or may not be. Avoiding them in the playoffs is the ideal scenario for a deep playoff run.
 

britdevil

Tea with milk...
Feb 15, 2007
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I think this is accurate, but the problem is that a series with the Rangers will always be intense and emotional and the Devils simply have a horrible record in the round following those series wins. It really has nothing to do with how good the Rangers may or may not be. Avoiding them in the playoffs is the ideal scenario for a deep playoff run.

True. But also, I feel like Ruff is absolutely shocking at getting this team ready for games. I actually feel like this is his biggest con.

Countless times they have come out too passively and looked awful. Shits magnified in the playoffs.

He needs to get better at ensuring this team is ready for the occasion. Be that a bottom feeder on a Tuesday night, or the Rangers Round 1.
 

guitarguyvic

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True. But also, I feel like Ruff is absolutely shocking at getting this team ready for games. I actually feel like this is his biggest con.

Countless times they have come out too passively and looked awful. Shits magnified in the playoffs.

He needs to get better at ensuring this team is ready for the occasion. Be that a bottom feeder on a Tuesday night, or the Rangers Round 1.
Really? I don't recall this being something I noticed that much last year, at least not any more so than previous years. Where I noticed they would falter or become passive was at the end of periods. They gave up way too many goals and good chances in the dying seconds, it was weird.
 

Hockey Sports Fan

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i am personally happy with getting into the playoffs.

hockey is not the most predictable sport and you don't know who will be available for the playoffs. qualifying for the playoffs is all i am asking for. then take every game, every series as icing on the cake. nothing wrong with losing there, when the spirit was right.
I agree with this. I’m sure most of us here would be disappointed if the Devils lost in round 1 this year, but it’s extremely possible, and two years ago i’d LOVE to hear that the Devils would be considered a contender one season later.

The big thing i wanna see is preparedness. The Devils did not look ready for the Rangers in round 1, they looked completely outmatched by Carolina, and there needs to be improvement this year. I’ll live with a round 1 loss if the Devils look like a team that’s ready to be competitive for a long time.
 
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ZachaFlockaFlame

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Chances are the Devils are gonna lose a bit more in the playoffs before they win the Cup. It's just precedent when it comes to win the Cup. That being said, losing in Round 1 to anyone besides Carolina (if somehow the Rags/Isles/Pens finish higher LOL) would be a big shock/disappointment.
 

Poppy Whoa Sonnet

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Jan 24, 2007
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Chances are the Devils are gonna lose a bit more in the playoffs before they win the Cup. It's just precedent when it comes to win the Cup. That being said, losing in Round 1 to anyone besides Carolina (if somehow the Rags/Isles/Pens finish higher LOL) would be a big shock/disappointment.
That's probably just because most teams lose in the playoffs I think. But to play along the Kings are the last team maybe that won (they dominated the playoffs too) when their window first opened up.
 
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