GDT: Your New Jersey Devils vs. Calgary Flames, 7 PM, MSGSN

[Bleedred]

I think Schmid being so poor in the AHL, on top of Vitek’s stupid bullshit win/loss record (which has almost nothing to do with him) and even throw in Daws not looking amazing so far, is probably what’s saving Vitek a trip to Utica.

 

[NJDevs26]

Even Ruff admitted Vitek was bad tonight.

When you've lost Lindy Ruff, you've lost the nation

 

[Killing Joke]

I think Schmid being so poor in the AHL, on top of Vitek’s stupid bullshit win/loss record (which has almost nothing to do with him) and even throw in Daws not looking amazing so far, is probably what’s saving Vitek a trip to Utica.

Ruff is doing what that anal wart in Dallas did when he was here and had Cory and Marty. Marty had his little bullshit winning record over Cory though Cory had the better stats.

He's playing this idiot non stop even when it's clear he f***ing sucks and should be down in the minors.

It's seriously so annoying for a season to be over this early into the year because of giant f*** ups by management and because two of our top centers are made of f***ing glass.

 

[JrFischer54]

It's not challenging...the several other GM's who also haven't made a move are all being dumb too? That's your position?

Yeah they are I guess ? I’m not a fan of the other teams who are they? What’s their stories? Just because they don’t make a move means we don’t? Is that the excuse?

 

[Emperoreddy]

I don't even blame him for not changing the goalie in the offseason and I get the trade market sucks...but you gotta try SOMEthing different by now when the goaltending's this bad. Guys have been waived for less garbage than what Vitek's dumped on the ice this season.

The other goalies who have been as bad as Vitek have both gotten waived for it.

It's definitely time to try something else unless Fitz is fine punting the season...which would be a bad look and I think shorten his leash.

 

[MadDevil]

No what makes Tom a bad GM is not addressing clear issues. Coaching, and goaltending sooner. Re-signing Lindy was stupid. Not getting a goalie in the off season is stupid. Not sending Vitek into the minors because he's unplayable and should have no future here is stupid.

He wasn't going to let Ruff walk after a franchise best regular season. If you want to say he should have been let go prior to last season, fine. Goaltending wasn't an issue until the playoffs last year. I don't think anybody saw both Vitek and Schmid completely cratering like they have. Also, which goalie that moved should we have been in on? If there was an obvious solution in goal, why hasn't every other team that's had goaltending issues traded for this obvious fix that's available?

 

[Emperoreddy]

The in season answer is probably on this Flames team we just lost to. Markstrom and one of their D could help a lot.

Cost is a major concern though

 

[Killing Joke]

Yeah they are I guess ? I’m not a fan of the other teams who are they? What’s their stories? Just because they don’t make a move means we don’t? Is that the excuse?

Lol yea like why should we care about those teams?

Most teams refuse to make moves before the deadline, these are dinosaur hockey men. We should excuse or GM for being one of them why?

This team likely isn't in this situation if this shit was properly addressed back in the off season or a month or 2 ago when it was clear goaltending was f***ing them over.

We have all this f***ing cap space to stack up a team that can get healthy and go majorly over the cap in the playoffs, and we got captain do nothing running the ship into the f***ing iceberg even with state of the art equipment saying what the issue is.

 

[Bleedred]

Ruff is doing what that anal wart in Dallas did when he was here and had Cory and Marty. Marty had his little bullshit winning record over Cory though Cory had the better stats.

He's playing this idiot non stop even when it's clear he f***ing sucks and should be down in the minors.

I think the only difference here is we don’t have a goalie playing as well as Cory.

To be fair, Ruff was giving Daws a decent amount of rope in January. Vitek was used very sparingly after that second Boston game.

And then the 3-2 win over Chicago, where he allowed 2 soft goals and we barely won, I think that didn’t help him and the first game against Tampa really only added to it.

I had more of a problem with Ruff leaning on him earlier in the season than anything he’s done since Daws has been up.

That Chicago game was about to be another sorry ass loss on home ice. A goalie having a painfully average game shuts out Chicago that night. And it still wouldn’t have been the greatest shutout of anybody’s career.

 

[MadDevil]

Yeah they are I guess ? I’m not a fan of the other teams who are they? What’s their stories? Just because they don’t make a move means we don’t? Is that the excuse?

Maybe because there aren't a lot of good goalies available because teams that have them don't often trade them?

 

[Killing Joke]

I think the only difference here is we don’t have a goalie playing as well as Cory.

To be fair, Ruff was giving Daws a decent amount of rope in January. Vitek was used very sparingly after that second Boston game.

And then the 3-2 win over Chicago, where he allowed 2 soft goals and we barely won, I think that didn’t help him and the first game against Tampa really only added to it.

I had more of a problem with Ruff leaning on him earlier in the season than anything he’s done since Daws has been up.

That Chicago game was about to be another sorry ass loss on home ice. A goalie having a painfully average game shuts out Chicago that night. And it still wouldn’t have been the greatest shutout of anybody’s career.

I refuse to be fair to that lazy eyed dickhead that's cost this team so many wins this season

Daws has not been given the same rope the czech idiot has been given.

Daws would've been out after the third goal. Ruff wants to bitch about time off, youre the reason that he hasnt seen the net in two weeks you f***ing chud.

 

[JrFischer54]

really would love to know how much Fitz tried for buck and what the ask was that he didn’t budge if there was even one.

I’m not going to blame Fitz to start the year with the duo but he is 100% to blame for not pulling the trigger for a goalie in Dec when it would’ve made a difference. If he’s holding out Casey and a first because he thinks prices will come down in the summer lol boy I can’t wait to see Vitek 2.0 he brings in.

 

[Killing Joke]

I don't even blame him for not changing the goalie in the offseason and I get the trade market sucks...but you gotta try SOMEthing different by now when the goaltending's this bad. Guys have been waived for less garbage than what Vitek's dumped on the ice this season.

He also should fire the coach. Worse teams have fired their coaches already. Why are we stuck with this sack of shit?

The islanders had injuries to their top six defense and canned their coach. Granted they still suck, but that's the point. Shittier teams are making moves while Tom is being a f***ing do nothing. He sucks.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Pretty easy to be a -25 when you get the worst on-ice SV% of all of our regular forwards at all situations. Insanely unlucky season for Timo.

I can't wait for next year with this core.

and you're the one crashing the net and end up flat footed and not the fastest skater so last back into the zone thanks to injuries as well and get to see Vitek let pucks fly in.

 

[Killing Joke]

really would love to know how much Fitz tried for buck and what the ask was that he didn’t budge if there was even one.

I’m not going to blame Fitz to start the year with the duo but he is 100% to blame for not pulling the trigger for a goalie in Dec when it would’ve made a difference. If he’s holding out Casey and a first because he thinks prices will come down in the summer lol boy I can’t wait to see Vitek 2.0 he brings in.

I hope he gets fired by then. I hope this team suffers in ticket sales next year after this shit show of a season brought to us by Tom Fitzgerald and the NJ lottery, where anything can happen but a trade to make a drowning team better.

 

[Guttersniped]

And why didn't ruff take an effing timeout when the PP1 unit was on the ice for about 1 minutes 30 of PP time. In key end game PP opportunity.

Nope. We roll fast and then give PP2 20 seconds to do little. I have no problem doubling up PP1, but then take the fkin time out to rest them for the extended play.

I thought the same thing at the time, if/when Ruff finally actually takes a time out it’s usually too little too late. He hoards them like leprechauns’ gold.

(Yes, that means Ruff is a leprechaun here. Maybe not the best analogy but it’s late.)

 

[JrFischer54]

The in season answer is probably on this Flames team we just lost to. Markstrom and one of their D could help a lot.

Cost is a major concern though

If you have a major flaw you can’t go with the cheap options (Vitek) and expect different results.

Major need + limited supply + huge demand is going to cost a lot but you can’t deny having markstrom on this team since Dec 1 we aren’t in a playoff spot?

Maybe because there aren't a lot of good goalies available because teams that have them don't often trade them?

I’m completely fine with an average goalie. They would be light years ahead of Vitek

 

[Bleedred]

I refuse to be fair to that lazy eyed twat that's cost this team so many wins this season.

Daws has not been given the same rope the czech idiot has been given.

Daws would've been out after the third goal. Ruff wants to bitch about time off, youre the reason that he hasnt seen the net in two weeks you f***ing chud.

If I had it my way Vitek would have been in Utica a month ago, but he had a good game in Tampa before the break, so I expected him to play the first game out of the break.

I was one of the few in here that did not give him much credit for the last game. Both goals in the 3rd to tie the game were not good. His stat line looked better that night than his actual play. I mean, his GSAx was hardly better than the Colorado goalie’s, despite allowing one fewer goal on 8 more shots.

But I understood why he got this game. I honestly think Ruff is seeing the writing on the wall with Vitek.

His last 5 games of .914% were also nothing more than a bad goalie isn’t bad every game or even every month.

As much as I laughed at the “Cory’s back!” 16 games of .920% to end that season, can you actually see Vitek having a 16 game stretch of .914%-.915% (probably about equal to .920% in 18-19) at any point this season? Those 5 game of .914% are probably gonna be his best split this season.

Actually, I think he had one other 5 or 7 game stretch of .914% at one point.

 

[MadDevil]

The in season answer is probably on this Flames team we just lost to. Markstrom and one of their D could help a lot.

Cost is a major concern though

And the fact that Markstrom seems to alternate good and bad seasons. He's good this year, and would obviously be better than Vitek, but if he's bad next year then what? We're back in the same situation with an older and even more expensive goalie.

I don't envy Fitz having to balance saving this season vs the longer term view of our window. Punting this season would suck, but giving up a bunch of assets just to save it might end being even worse.

 

[Killing Joke]

If I had it my way Vitek would have been in Utica a month ago, but he had a good game in Tampa before the break, so I expected him to play the first game out of the break.

I was one of the few in here that did not give him much credit for the last game. Both goals in the 3rd to tie the game were not good. His stat line looked better that night than his actual play. I mean, his GSAx was hardly better than the Colorado goalie’s, despite allowing one fewer goal on 8 more shots.

But I understood why he got this game. I honestly think Ruff is seeing the writing on the wall with Vitek.

His last 5 games of .914% were also nothing more than a bad goalie isn’t bad every game or even every month.

As much as I laughed at the “Cory’s back!” 16 games of .920% to end that season, can you actually see Vitek having a 16 game stretch of .914%-.915% (probably about equal to .920% in 18-19) at any point this season? Those 5 game of .914% are probably gonna be his best split this season.

Actually, I think he had one other 5 or 7 game stretch of .914% at one point.

This is the issue. This clueless dipshits think one good game makes up for his track record of shit this season. Theyre f***ing stupid. And they have an entire analytics department showing that they suck and theyre f***ing ignoring it.

And the fact that Markstrom seems to alternate good and bad seasons. He's good this year, and would obviously be better than Vitek, but if he's bad next year then what? We're back in the same situation with an older and even more expensive goalie.

I don't envy Fitz having to balance saving this season vs the longer term view of our window. Punting this season would suck, but giving up a bunch of assets just to save it might end being even worse.

Who cares. That's why you get the f***ing goalie for this f***ing season so you make the god damn playoffs and try for a run while he is hot now.

The east is not that strong, neither is the west. You get a goalie that is good and we get healthy while getting into the playoffs, even with that monkey of a coach we got, not very many teams are better.

 

[guitarguyvic]

That's been the case for years so I'm not sure why people are still surprised by it. I also don't need the broadcast crew calling out players when this board and social media do it more than enough. It's right up there with people bitching that Amanda, who works for the team, doesn't ask hard questions or demand answers from coaching/management.

I'm not surprised they don't want to call Vitek out because he's a likeable goofball. Sure, he stinks, but I don't think Dano or Sal getting on him is going to make him play better. It might make the fans watching feel better to hear him get called out but that's about it.

Well nothing they say makes a difference to what happens on the ice LOL.

I don't like the Baghdad Bob routine because 1) I don't enjoy being treated like a child who won't recognize piss if I'm told it's just cloudy water, and 2) I think it's emblematic of a softball culture that insulates the organization from legitimate criticism/pressure.

 

[Bleedred]

I don’t know how the goalie coach hasn’t been fired. And in a heinous, embarrassing way.

Like Fitz screaming “YUUUUUUUURRRRR Fiiiiiiiiiiiirrrddddd” Vince McMahon style and live-streaming it on the Devils YouTube channel.

People keep calling for Ruff to be fired, but Rogalski should not outlast him on this staff.

There needs to be a clean sweep of all things goalie in this organization after this year.

Rogalski fired, Vitek sent away, I’m really down on Marty and Clemmensen right now, who are the most higher ups on all things goalie totem pole of this organization.

It would be fine to start the clean sweep immediately by firing/waiving somebody tomorrow.

 

[JrFischer54]

And the fact that Markstrom seems to alternate good and bad seasons. He's good this year, and would obviously be better than Vitek, but if he's bad next year then what? We're back in the same situation with an older and even more expensive goalie.

I don't envy Fitz having to balance saving this season vs the longer term view of our window. Punting this season would suck, but giving up a bunch of assets just to save it might end being even worse.

Oh well there you go all Fitz has to do is point out that he flip flops good and bad years and that will drive his price down. Lol.

Hey markstrom might suck but he might be good. I know who’s not good and that’s who we have on this roster and in the minors. So Fitz has to do something even in the summer. There ain’t going to be a magic 1 goalie available that everyone likes.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Yeah they are I guess ? I’m not a fan of the other teams who are they? What’s their stories? Just because they don’t make a move means we don’t? Is that the excuse?

No that's not a f***ing excuse, if you stopped to actually use some critical thinking maybe you'd realize the reason why every single GM - not just ours - hasn't made a move that you claim is no-brainer.

 

[Bleedred]

I wonder if the wheels fall off if we just say to hell with Vitek and roll with Daws/Schmid as part of an evaluation beyond this year? Probably not too much of Schmid, as I don’t think he has a dozen games left of waiver exemption, but I wonder if things start looking bleaker if that’s when they do away with Vitek?

Or maybe in that case they just keep him out there and let him play almost every game and take as many beatings as he can give us, because they already know he won’t survive on the team past this year?