I have a lot of confidence in the Devils's chances for this season and the main reason is DeBoer. All season long this team has been a pain in the ass to play against aside from a couple of stinkers here and there. This team is in really good hands, no question about it.
Yep, you'll rarely catch this team taking a night off. Honest effort and tough to play against every time. Nobody will want to see the Devils in the first round.
I have a lot of confidence in the Devils's chances for this season and the main reason is DeBoer. All season long this team has been a pain in the ass to play against aside from a couple of stinkers here and there. This team is in really good hands, no question about it.
Agreed. I also think this has to factor in Parise's mind when considering resigning. The constant coach carousel can't be a good thing.
early on i was skeptical due to line juggling. i hate inconsistency in coaching as i know the players do as well. now that he has seemingly earned the trust of the players and lou, who am i to not get on board. i love the way he words things. very simple and motivational at the same time. he's a leader that is clear. screams at refs, talks to players. i love him
You also don't want a guy who isn't willing to change lines at all when they get stagnant. Sutter was one extreme, Lemaire the other. DeBoer is the happy medium.
You also don't want a guy who isn't willing to change lines at all when they get stagnant. Sutter was one extreme, Lemaire the other. DeBoer is the happy medium.
agreed. i think it was just a bleed over emotion from the last 2 years where i felt nobody was ever allowed to get comfortable on this team. i believe lines should exist for games at least, not half periods before something needs to be done
Ahhh winning hides all warts once again. Forget the 3rd period blown leads, forget the atrocious goals against, forget all the shorthanded goals, forget the lack of forward support when protecting a lead and forget the asinine pinching when there is absolutely no reason for it.....and yeah he is a great coach.
Sorry to be the contrarian again...but unfortunately I am able to see.
Some of the third period goals were just unlucky much like how we were lucky to tie the rangers on jan 31 they have been equally unlucky at the same time like Toronto's 3rd goal hit off a ref which caught Greene off guard and then when Elias tried to clear it he can't because he hits Greene and then the puck goes off Brodeur's pad and in. The Blues goal shouldn't have counted. But the players have to be at blame for the third periods as well at times, they just can't seem to get the empty net goal when it's needed.
Shorthanded goals are a thing of the past and our PP offensively has been much better.
Let's not forget the Devils have the second best winning percentage after trailing first in the league which is a big credit to Deboer and the staff last year go down 1-0 and we're done.
It's not like 3rd period aren't a problem but you can tell it's getting better and better.
Forget our defense sucks, forget we miss one of the best pace changers in the game/top defensive center, forget the players are the ones who have to execute, forget the last time we gave up a shorthanded goal against was... I don`t even remember. Atrocious goals against? What kind of argument is that? I do give you one thing: we forecheck no matter what and it`s killing us at times. O good ol` trap, where art thou?
You have to SEE and THINK at the same time, contrarian.
Sorry Jim, you know I love you, but really, show me some perspective for ****`s sake. I don`t expect it from Muttley, but you`re a different case.
When someone says A, you don`t have to say B. You know better.
Ahhh winning hides all warts once again. Forget the 3rd period blown leads, forget the atrocious goals against, forget all the shorthanded goals, forget the lack of forward support when protecting a lead and forget the asinine pinching when there is absolutely no reason for it.....and yeah he is a great coach.
Sorry to be the contrarian again...but unfortunately I am JimEIV.
Fixed. Because it's true.
Welcome back, Jim. I thought you left the board for good.
But you're right that winning does cover the warts this team has. But here's a newsflash : EVERY TEAM in the NHL has its warts and the Devils are no exception.
The shorthanded goals aren't much of a problem anymore, and the PP has been better. The blown leads are worrisome, but I believe missing defencemen has something to do with that. Marty has stopped giving up many goals.
The team is not an unchanging monolith over the full season, they are evolving throughout into a better team. Defencemen are learning the system and how to play with each other, forwards are gaining chemistry and backchecking more consistently. A lot of that is due to the coaching staff.
Ugh, you're really going to make me do this, huh? OK. There are 30 teams in the league, and the teams in front of us are:
St. Louis
New York
LA
Boston
Detroit
Vancouver
Phoenix
Minnesota
San Jose
Nashville
Montreal
Pittsburgh
Calgary
Each and everyone of those teams have a better d-corps than the New Jersey Devils. A NJD team that has run without top four guys at various stretches throughout the course of the year AND their #1 defensive centre who is a career +37 and plays in all key situations.
Last I checked, the Devils are in the top half of the league in goals against.
Four of those teams might not even make the playoffs, so, out of playoff teams, the Devils are amongst the better defensive teams.
There is a long way to go with this team, but they're on the right track.
you have to credit lemair for much of kovy progressing as a complete player but deboar gets credit from me for keeping that growth on track...also if you want to see deboars impact look no further than clarkie.
Ugh, you're really going to make me do this, huh? OK. There are 30 teams in the league, and the teams in front of us are:
St. Louis
New York
LA
Boston
Detroit
Vancouver
Phoenix
Minnesota
San Jose
Nashville
Montreal
Pittsburgh
Calgary
Each and everyone of those teams have a better d-corps than the New Jersey Devils. A NJD team that has run without top four guys at various stretches throughout the course of the year AND their #1 defensive centre who is a career +37 and plays in all key situations.
Last I checked, the Devils are in the top half of the league in goals against.
Four of those teams might not even make the playoffs, so, out of playoff teams, the Devils are amongst the better defensive teams.
There is a long way to go with this team, but they're on the right track.
Tied for 4th in the league last season with a far worse defense and a team that missed the playoffs.
This devils team is essentially giving up an extra 20 goals to score an extra 20 goals...the result is the blown 3rd period leads, added pressure to a weak defense because the forwards are always catching up on the play. We'll see how it plays out bit I don't like the direction.
Tied for 4th in the league last season with a far worse defense and a team that missed the playoffs.
This devils team is essentially giving up an extra 20 goals to score an extra 20 goals...the result is the blown 3rd period leads, added pressure to a weak defense because the forwards are also catching up on the play. We'll see how it plays out bit I don't like the direction.
It's more about getting used to it than not liking it at this point. The time of the Devils as a defensive powerhouse is over because so are our previous top D-men.
And this is why we need to hang onto Parise at all costs. I can see this team having a 2011 Tampa playoff run, except our goalie is not as old and won't choke the Conference Finals in game 7.
High seed just under the division leader (which happens to lead the East), aged goaltending, no-name D, top forwards and a "cup or bust" mentality. And we all have to deal with it.
We just have to do a better job at not crumbling to bits the next season because that's where the lightning really ****ed up.
Tied for 4th in the league last season with a far worse defense and a team that missed the playoffs.
This devils team is essentially giving up an extra 20 goals to score an extra 20 goals...the result is the blown 3rd period leads, added pressure to a weak defense because the forwards are also catching up on the play. We'll see how it plays out bit I don't like the direction.
Their GAA can come down, it's started to get better in the last 20 or so.
46 against in those last 20 which is about 2.3 against per. The season average is 2.64, so compared to the season average, it's down .3 points. And was the defense a worse unit than this year? I mean, you have Larsson in for White, and while Larsson is good, White is miles ahead defensively. Salvador is back in, but really, it's not that different. But they also had Zajac all of last year.
Ahhh winning hides all warts once again. Forget the 3rd period blown leads, forget the atrocious goals against, forget all the shorthanded goals, forget the lack of forward support when protecting a lead and forget the asinine pinching when there is absolutely no reason for it.....and yeah he is a great coach.
Sorry to be the contrarian again...but unfortunately I am able to see.
Andy Greene-Mark Fayne
Bryce Salvador-Anton Volchenkov
Matt Taormina-Kurtis Foster
Tied for 4th in the league last season with a far worse defense and a team that missed the playoffs.
This devils team is essentially giving up an extra 20 goals to score an extra 20 goals...the result is the blown 3rd period leads, added pressure to a weak defense because the forwards are always catching up on the play. We'll see how it plays out bit I don't like the direction.
You realize there's another team on the ice when we play, correct? Take Tuesday night for example. You're up one in the third on the road against a desperate Leafs team who is sitting on the bubble and needs points any way they can get them. Not to mention said team has an extra attacker in the waning moments.
Every team in the league blows leads in the third. There's going to be pushback when you're playing a hungry team that's down one. That's reality..
Their GAA can come down, it's started to get better in the last 20 or so.
46 against in those last 20 which is about 2.3 against per. The season average is 2.64, so compared to the season average, it's down .3 points. And was the defense a worse unit than this year? I mean, you have Larsson in for White, and while Larsson is good, White is miles ahead defensively. Salvador is back in, but really, it's not that different. But they also had Zajac all of last year.
Last season you started the year with 2 defensemen from the previous year. On top of that injuries, a complete lack of familiarity and often times as many as 3 rookies in the lineup at once made it a worse defense.
I believe we used 13 different defensemen last season. This season we've had to endure injuries but there was far more familiarity and far more experience in the depth we are using.
Last season you started the year with 2 defensemen from the previous year. On top of that injuries, a complete lack of familiarity and often times as many as 3 rookies in the lineup at once made it a worse defense.
I believe we used 13 different defensemen last season. This season we've had to endure injuries but there was far more familiarity and far more experience in the depth we are using.
Meh. It's getting better. There are growing pains, I wont deny that, but you cannot deny the fact that their stats are getting better. The players have to pay more attention to the game. Also, you're underrating what Zajac means to those deficiencies. I feel like they're hemmed in their zone in the final minute because they lose face-offs which becomes less of a problem when Travis is there.
Meh. It's getting better. There are growing pains, I wont deny that, but you cannot deny the fact that their stats are getting better. The players have to pay more attention to the game. Also, you're underrating what Zajac means to those deficiencies. I feel like they're hemmed in their zone in the final minute because they lose face-offs which becomes less of a problem when Travis is there.
