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

NjDevsRR

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Name these three teams and tell me where they ended up last season. And tell me how that first month of hockey was make or break for them.
 
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Devs3cups

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Name these three teams and tell me where they ended up last season. And tell me how that first month of hockey was make or break for them.
1. The Oilers had a 56% xGF% 5v5 during that 18 game stretch. Good for 2nd in the league. They were 6th all strength. They got cratered by goaltending. 72 GA on 55 xGA. Yikes. They were legitimately playing solid hockey.

2. The Flyers had a hot streak but no one really saw them as contenders. I believe they suffered injuries as well. They were playing some good hockey during that stretch though. 8th in xGF% all strength. Exceeding their xGF a bit though.

3. The Leafs were bad to start that season, but they’ve been a consistent playoff team for about 8 years. Probably deserved some more leeway than us.


Through 9 games so far, we’re sitting at 21st in xGF% at 5v5. Special teams are heavily influencing our all strength results which isn’t sustainable. And we’ve been very bad for over a decade. Can they start to play responsible hockey? Yeah. Is there context to all of this? Yeah. Will they change their ways? Who knows.
 

NjDevsRR

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Name these additional three teams from last season and tell me where they ended up. And tell me how that first month of hockey was make or break for them.

My Point:

Thats six teams from last season where their first month didn’t make or break it for them, all for varying reasons.


We have a new coach and new D corps and we all knew its gonna take more than 3 weeks for things to gel. (Edit: hell, it hasn’t even been three weeks yet)

Pull the reins back, pull the reins. Give it more time.
 
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Devs3cups

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Name these additional three teams from last season and tell me where they ended up. And tell me how that first month of hockey was make or break for them.

My Point:

Thats six teams from last season where their first month didn’t make or break it for them, all for varying reasons.


We have a new coach and new D corps and we all knew its gonna take more than 3 weeks for things to gel. (Edit: hell, it hasn’t even been three weeks yet)

Pull the reins back, pull the reins. Give it more time.
Isles have made the playoffs in 5 of the last 6 seasons.

Caps have made the playoffs in 14 of the last 17 seasons.

Preds have made the playoffs 9 times in the last 10 years.

What exactly have we done in the last decade plus that should give us so much hope and belief in them? Believe me, if we had as much regular season success as these franchises I’d be very confident in this group turning it around and I would just chalk it up to the start of the season. Unfortunately they don’t have the success to back it up.

Can they do it? Yes. Do they have the skill to do it? Is there context that explains the work in progress? Yes. Will it pan out? That’s a hell of a question with this group and the way they’re playing right now and the way they’ve played years prior.

Hopefully they play some solid structured hockey tomorrow. That’d be absolutely great.
 
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Idk why my replies aren’t working, I was quoting you above on the mobile @Devs3cups

Edit: now its working lmao
All good! I want to come back to the optimist side. I just need a good effort and response tomorrow. Yesterday was just too much, similar to the Vancouver game last year.
 

NjDevsRR

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All good! I want to come back to the optimist side. I just need a good effort and response tomorrow. Yesterday was just too much, similar to the Vancouver game last year.
Keefe
Pesce
Kovacevic
Dillon
Hamilton (healthy)
Siegenthaler (healthy)

>

Ruff
Marino
Bahl
Smith
Miller
Desimone


This is why I need another month to firmly have an opinion on where this team can/can’t go.
 

Devs3cups

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I'd like to point out the 2011-12 Devils started 12-12-1 (only 6 being regulation wins) in their first 25 games with a new coach.
That team had the benefit of the doubt after making the playoffs like 13 times in the 14 seasons before that. Most of the players on that team that were with us for a while only missed the playoffs like once.
 

ZachaFlockaFlame

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Using teams that have had a past record of getting to the playoffs consistently and using it for the Devils is exactly what I'm talking about, those teams get the benefit of the doubt because of their previous seasons + cores going through it. Besides 22-23, this core hasn't done anything. Also, not for nothing, a TON of things went right for them that year to be an elite team. You can't just expect everything to go 100% to be a great team, every team deals with adversity.

1. The Oilers had a 56% xGF% 5v5 during that 18 game stretch. Good for 2nd in the league. They were 6th all strength. They got cratered by goaltending. 72 GA on 55 xGA. Yikes. They were legitimately playing solid hockey.

2. The Flyers had a hot streak but no one really saw them as contenders. I believe they suffered injuries as well. They were playing some good hockey during that stretch though. 8th in xGF% all strength. Exceeding their xGF a bit though.

3. The Leafs were bad to start that season, but they’ve been a consistent playoff team for about 8 years. Probably deserved some more leeway than us.


Through 9 games so far, we’re sitting at 21st in xGF% at 5v5. Special teams are heavily influencing our all strength results which isn’t sustainable. And we’ve been very bad for over a decade. Can they start to play responsible hockey? Yeah. Is there context to all of this? Yeah. Will they change their ways? Who knows.

Yeah, I really despise when people use last year's Oilers as a metric to why you should relax. They weren't getting goaltending but they were playing at an elite level. It's basically the Avs this year and the Avs have quietly won a string of games lately and look like they'll be fine.
 

ZachaFlockaFlame

Registered User
Aug 24, 2020
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I'd like to point out the 2011-12 Devils started 12-12-1 (only 6 being regulation wins) in their first 25 games with a new coach.

I don't know why but that team's ability to come back in games a ton sold me a lot earlier on, I was never afraid of them missing the playoffs tbh. Also the East was complete ass that year.
 

ZachaFlockaFlame

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Aug 24, 2020
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That team had the benefit of the doubt after making the playoffs like 13 times in the 14 seasons before that. Most of the players on that team that were with us for a while only missed the playoffs like once.

I can see the similarities of situations to that team and this one tbh. The need for proper coaching, the need for players not to start off like shit and the lack of injuries. Also eliminating the bad habits of the former coach in Ruff/MacLean. That being said, I definitely had more faith in that team with an energized Kovy, UFA Parise, ton of veterans being pissed off how 2010-2011 went.
 

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