Just goes to show you cant rely on the Blaze for anything! 
Pity the Stars couldn't close out the game in regulation too.
Pity the Stars couldn't close out the game in regulation too.
Cardiff Devils v Belfast Giants - Sat 14 Jan 2017 - League - FO 7pm
- Thread starter Nott Simpson
- Start date
Bloody Blaze lol, seriously though the Blaze put 8 goals on the steelers over the weekend, and Stars put 4 past Belfast, yet we struggled to put 2 past Belfast last night and 3 past Blaze last week. I'm not confident we can do any where near the same to Steelers and Panthers in the coming games, I'm happy to be proved wrong if the team take the majority or even better all the points on offer from the coming games
Completely appreciate the role of the fourth line player, but at the moment CJ and Piggott only have 1 point between them despite playing regular minutes until recently. Whilst their role isn't to score goals you do expect some sort of return. Statistically they are the worst performing forwards in the league. Other 4th line Brits for our rivals; Boxill and Towe for Belfast have 12 points between them and Sheffield's Ferrara and Phillips 14 points.
I'm not questioning their work ethic, and if it means we cut costs on them to pay for Joey Martin etc I get it. Just trying to justify Lord shortening to 3 lines. It's hardly like he's shortened drastically 2 lines or anything. Going to 3 isn't a big deal, we didn't have a fourth line last year and our players were hardly flogged.
I'm not questioning their work ethic, and if it means we cut costs on them to pay for Joey Martin etc I get it. Just trying to justify Lord shortening to 3 lines. It's hardly like he's shortened drastically 2 lines or anything. Going to 3 isn't a big deal, we didn't have a fourth line last year and our players were hardly flogged.
I thought Jones and Piggot performed well in the 3rd Period on Saturday. And I think it was clear Lord sent them out to give us some energy while also sending a warning to some of our bigger earners that they needed to work for their ice time at the crunch.
In saying that i'm not against us shortening the bench some what, I think a guy like Martin gets better with more ice time, and Joey Haddad is influencing the game pretty much every shift hes on.
such a big weekend on the Horizon. I didn't realise until looking at the league table this morning just how vital our OT points have been the last few weeks.
Unfortunately we do look like we are on the slide ATM. More to the fact that the guys are looking tired and tired mentally. Both Martin and Douce are struggling (Not through lack of effort) in fact they are trying almost too hard hence burning out quickly.
I'm usually not one for picking at players but Ulmer is seriously a weak link at the moment. Yes he's scored points but I feel he's more of an opportunist rather than someone who doggedly earns points etc.....He should be the one with loads of energy but he barely gets past a glide. He was a superb player in his time no doubt but I think this is a season too far in what is easily the best and most talented EIHL we've ever seen.
Bentivoglio is a workhorse in his credit but it's not happening for him. He creates chances for himself but never bloody shoots!!!
Mo for me is the most disappointing. We all know and have seen how he can play but he's on par with Ulmer. Looks out of his depth this season and not really looking like a "C" on the ice. I'm sure he maybe great in locker room but we need it on the ice.
We look tired and very slow. I hope we can bring in some fresh legs or Lord get back out there for more grit and more jump.
Someone mentioned Mike Richards wanting to come to Europe....Why not offer him a taster for a few weeks that's if finances allow. A guy like him would help take us over the line. Ppl may laugh but look at the talent we have in league. Jason Williams is a perfect example. Richards paid to play in beer league during his exile in NHL, anything is possible
I'm usually not one for picking at players but Ulmer is seriously a weak link at the moment. Yes he's scored points but I feel he's more of an opportunist rather than someone who doggedly earns points etc.....He should be the one with loads of energy but he barely gets past a glide. He was a superb player in his time no doubt but I think this is a season too far in what is easily the best and most talented EIHL we've ever seen.
Bentivoglio is a workhorse in his credit but it's not happening for him. He creates chances for himself but never bloody shoots!!!
Mo for me is the most disappointing. We all know and have seen how he can play but he's on par with Ulmer. Looks out of his depth this season and not really looking like a "C" on the ice. I'm sure he maybe great in locker room but we need it on the ice.
We look tired and very slow. I hope we can bring in some fresh legs or Lord get back out there for more grit and more jump.
Someone mentioned Mike Richards wanting to come to Europe....Why not offer him a taster for a few weeks that's if finances allow. A guy like him would help take us over the line. Ppl may laugh but look at the talent we have in league. Jason Williams is a perfect example. Richards paid to play in beer league during his exile in NHL, anything is possible
He has played with Keefe, Szwez and Westgarth. It would be a long shot for a guy like him to come to the UK but the mould of player he is fits in to exactly what we need right now.
We unfortunately don't have a Pietrus/Rutherford/Brown type guy. Rutherford is a superb player like him or not. He creates so much and can put puck in the net. Haddad is the nearest we have but isn't that type of player like when we first signed him. He doesn't take silly penalties and has refined himself into a superb power forward and arguably the best in the league.
We unfortunately don't have a Pietrus/Rutherford/Brown type guy. Rutherford is a superb player like him or not. He creates so much and can put puck in the net. Haddad is the nearest we have but isn't that type of player like when we first signed him. He doesn't take silly penalties and has refined himself into a superb power forward and arguably the best in the league.
Why do you think Rutherford is a superb player, who knows where the net is, now he has only played 22 games, but here's some comparisons.
Rutherford pl 22 goals 6 ass 9 = 15pts playing for a top team
Aimeda pl 21. goals 7 ass 18 = 25pts in a bottom 3 team
Lawrence pl 23. goals 11 ass 13 =24 pts
Ty Siner pl 21. goals 8 ass 15 = 23 pts bottom 3 team
Shultz pl 20. goals 9 ass 12 = 21 pts
Staal pl 23. goals 10 ass10 = 20 pts bottom team
So sorry but I have to disagree on this one, one thing he is though and very good at it, he is a rink rat, a cheap shot, and a Lloyd clone.
As other people have said, the fact that we're still managing to pick up points when we're not playing well is a good thing. On Saturday though I thought we were outplayed and almost bullied by a quicker, more physical Belfast team for large periods of the game. One of the Ice Time guys called it right - after Belfast got their 2nd goal, we looked like we were there for the taking and (thankfully) for some reason they didn't press on. Again, disappointing to lose it in OT but I genuinely don't think we deserved to win that game, which was frustrating given how well we started.
People have mentioned it could be a confidence issue and I think that's probably not too far off the mark - there's been a couple of times where we've started bright, but have failed to put our chances away and I wonder if that's playing an effect on the minds of the players. Considering that against the Blaze we had a raft of chances in the first period and couldn't put most of them away, surely that's got to have an effect on our forwards as well as the opp. defenders & netminder?
I have to agree with what some people have said about Mo this season as well, he's just not at the races compared to the previous seasons and I wonder if maybe being captain isn't suiting him. I don't think his efforts can be questioned, but obviously he's not as much of an attacking threat as he has been and if I'm being completely honest he doesn't strike me as a galvanizing kind of guy. What goes on behind closed doors is beyond me, so I could be wrong, but given the way the team is at the moment I think we could do with a captain who's vocal in every aspect of their game.
Calls for Brine to get more ice time are merited too, I think, he's been a quality signing for us so far and I think - along with Myers, who in fairness has been given more minutes - has earned the right to play higher up the lines.
People have mentioned it could be a confidence issue and I think that's probably not too far off the mark - there's been a couple of times where we've started bright, but have failed to put our chances away and I wonder if that's playing an effect on the minds of the players. Considering that against the Blaze we had a raft of chances in the first period and couldn't put most of them away, surely that's got to have an effect on our forwards as well as the opp. defenders & netminder?
I have to agree with what some people have said about Mo this season as well, he's just not at the races compared to the previous seasons and I wonder if maybe being captain isn't suiting him. I don't think his efforts can be questioned, but obviously he's not as much of an attacking threat as he has been and if I'm being completely honest he doesn't strike me as a galvanizing kind of guy. What goes on behind closed doors is beyond me, so I could be wrong, but given the way the team is at the moment I think we could do with a captain who's vocal in every aspect of their game.
Calls for Brine to get more ice time are merited too, I think, he's been a quality signing for us so far and I think - along with Myers, who in fairness has been given more minutes - has earned the right to play higher up the lines.
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He's doing OK. 10 points in 20 games is a decent return playing down the lines on a poor team, he's also had a period injured which wouldn't have helped.
To touch on the point about Mo; what is most bizarre is that his form at the beginning of the season was superb. He was one of our top scorers and right up there for points. I didn't watch any live games for the first 2 months of the season but from webcasts and highlights he seemed to be in some of his best ever form. Clearly something isn't right with him. I've been critical of him like others but you don't become a bad player overnight; could he be injured? Maybe something not major enough to keep him out but niggling maybe? Captaincy weighing too heavy?
We have to get players going again, one big signing won't fix that. We need a complete rejig of lines, things need freshening up.
Dress Lord and sit Ulmer (although he isn't as bad as some have made out). He's just the only one who could make way IMO. Put Lord, Mo and Martin back together. That works and has done for a few years - Joey isn't in great form at the moment either so this could hopefully get them going. They trust Lord on that line and he makes space.
Play Asselin with Culligan and Haddad. Haddad is so consistent and makes space for his line mates, something which Asselin sometimes needs as teams try and suffocate him and Martin. And add Culligan in as he just makes lines better.
Third; Doucet, Brine and Bentivoglio. Neither Brine or Bentivoglio shoot enough, Doucet will certainly help them with that.
Fourth and probably a controversial shout; Batch, Myers and Bordy, then run 5 D. That line will terrorise opposition and put us on the front foot with momentum. A lot of this isn't a permanent thing but just a way to get us going with some form and jump.
To touch on the point about Mo; what is most bizarre is that his form at the beginning of the season was superb. He was one of our top scorers and right up there for points. I didn't watch any live games for the first 2 months of the season but from webcasts and highlights he seemed to be in some of his best ever form. Clearly something isn't right with him. I've been critical of him like others but you don't become a bad player overnight; could he be injured? Maybe something not major enough to keep him out but niggling maybe? Captaincy weighing too heavy?
We have to get players going again, one big signing won't fix that. We need a complete rejig of lines, things need freshening up.
Dress Lord and sit Ulmer (although he isn't as bad as some have made out). He's just the only one who could make way IMO. Put Lord, Mo and Martin back together. That works and has done for a few years - Joey isn't in great form at the moment either so this could hopefully get them going. They trust Lord on that line and he makes space.
Play Asselin with Culligan and Haddad. Haddad is so consistent and makes space for his line mates, something which Asselin sometimes needs as teams try and suffocate him and Martin. And add Culligan in as he just makes lines better.
Third; Doucet, Brine and Bentivoglio. Neither Brine or Bentivoglio shoot enough, Doucet will certainly help them with that.
Fourth and probably a controversial shout; Batch, Myers and Bordy, then run 5 D. That line will terrorise opposition and put us on the front foot with momentum. A lot of this isn't a permanent thing but just a way to get us going with some form and jump.
From how l read the game and re watching the highlights, which confirmed my original conclusion, is that we are lacking defensive and offensive awareness for far to long during shifts. This weirdly for me, I'm likely to not be able to fully convey my point, seems to explain why teams are failing to beat us during regulation time. Our passing is generally pretty impressive, when the shoots are released though it's either poorly taken or the opposition have had time too arrive in key locations, similarly at times for me our defence are in the wrong location.
Which is weird for players of there Calibre.
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Which is weird for players of there Calibre.
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Do you guys get a feeling when everything clicks someone is going to have a big score put past them.
As people have said we could have 2 up in first 5mins against blaze and at least 1 up on saturday in first few mins.
We are not having the rub of the green in front of goal at the mo
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As people have said we could have 2 up in first 5mins against blaze and at least 1 up on saturday in first few mins.
We are not having the rub of the green in front of goal at the mo
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