LAST NIGHTS AWARDS

pjj365

Well-Known Member
#21
98% of devils fans appreciate, love, embrace, and are on board with what we are all trying to accomplish here, let’s not be judged on the actions of a few Morons, probably not even 2%. We win together, we lose together, we get the highs together, we get the lows together. It’s called being a club that cares, and that’s exactly what we are, A CLUB THAT CARES, Our great owners took a gamble on us, they were pleased and happy with what we are about, and we are still about those values. We now move forward as one Army, our Army, and there’s great times ahead for us all, let’s embrace what we have, history is history and we have loads more to make. We are a family at the end of the day, that’s what will always make us great.
HAPPY HOCKEY DAYS.
Look at the results in the EIHL era. The gamble paid off with trophies but (as at end 2018) we are behinds Steelers, Panthers and Blaze in total trophies won. BUT of the 6 trophies won (equal to Giants) 5 were under the new ownership.

So yes there is loads more history to be made. We need (actually want I hope) to make this history together.

We will be down, we will question selection/decisions but to build this together we should never question motives, individual abilities or commitments. Nor should we question the behaviours/decisions/skills of the professionals however uncomfortable we may feel about them.
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
#22
This also concerns me. It's a big tell that Steve King hasn't posted in a while, and while we know he's a busy man his silence speaks volumes (and no that isnt me trying to "call him out" and get him to post here). I have recently made an account over on the Nottingham forum and felt compelled to post there that the level of arrogance posted on the inferno (I can't comment on other social media as I dont use it) this year made me quite sick. People have very short memories it would seem. This fanbase right now doesnt know it's born. We used to have self serving muppets like Ragan and Brent Pope at the helm and now look at the professional set up and actual CARE by a talented and generous mangement team we have. People complaining this year about petty nonsense like the method in which playoff tickets are sold, 4pm faceoffs, cake being eaten in the rink etc is shocking. And no, I'm not an innocent in all this as I too have been critical of our participation in the CHL and lack of youth development.

We as a fanbase are on thin ice and there are far too many 'spoilt brats' both new and old fans. Despite some people plucking statisics of 98% out of their arse. Perhaps this years league heartbreak will restore some humility to the fans.
TBH I am only too ready to slag off or comment on cakes, face off times, and many other off ice matters. I don't feel that is wrong because I will try not to call out the on ice product or players.

We just don't know what is going on - player A not doing what he did last week, month, season - fine I am not aware of the parameters. He may be doing what is asked of him. I, and we , are not in the room nor are we coaches - that is why I support the team as a happy clapper.
 

Sheincar

Well-Known Member
#23
I simply don't understand some of our fans. Having stood outside WNIR for each game 1 season in protest, having a shitty creep as owner who couldn't give tickets away, finishing 9th & being thankful season was over, not renewing ST as simply couldn't face anymore, and now to be in our current situation. Have we won anything this season? No. Do we have a God given right to win anything? No. Have I enjoyed my hockey? Hell yes & I'll be back for more. People who want to whine about everything & everyone can just clear off. Plenty more to take your place.
 

Diablo3

Well-Known Member
#24
I'm sorry I didn't go to the awards night now. TK's speech should be posted in full on the website so we can refer trolls to it when they start moaning, or at least encourage them to "support" football/cricket/netball/curling/anyothersport instead.
 
#25
if I'm perceived as being a happy clapper, thats ok by me. What I get out of being a Devils fan is priceless. For nine months of the year I eat, sleep & breathe my Devils hockey, the rest I'm glued to forums & our site for news regarding my team. The engagement with other fans is filled with laughter & nerves especially the last few weeks, again priceless. Sadly, social media is what it is, almost impossible to police, but I never want any fans to tarnish the image of our club & repiutation. I always respect a person's right to have an opinion, but the way in which this is presented sometimes serves no purpose other than to diminish the point being raised. The players play hockey for a living & like sportspeople are often their biggest critic, but they are human & deserve the same degree of courtesy & respect as anyone doing their job. It is such a shame that Todd, Lordo & our owners have felt the need to discuss comments made by some fans on social media. Easy to say it is only a minority, but it does have an impact which builds up over time. I missed hearing fron new recruits last summer & interviews with 'man of the match' after games, but understand the club pulling back on this. Genuinely hope that this isn't going to contine to be a problem in the future. Apologies for my little rant but this has been on my mind for a while. So happy clapper that I am, looking forward to playoffs & believe me, mood over raring to go & confident in the boys.
 

Rich Best

Well-Known Member
#26
98% of devils fans appreciate, love, embrace, and are on board with what we are all trying to accomplish here, let’s not be judged on the actions of a few Morons, probably not even 2%. We win together, we lose together, we get the highs together, we get the lows together. It’s called being a club that cares, and that’s exactly what we are, A CLUB THAT CARES, Our great owners took a gamble on us, they were pleased and happy with what we are about, and we are still about those values. We now move forward as one Army, our Army, and there’s great times ahead for us all, let’s embrace what we have, history is history and we have loads more to make. We are a family at the end of the day, that’s what will always make us great.
HAPPY HOCKEY DAYS.
There are numerous people on here who question decisions and commitment of players and management. I would say significantly more than 2% of regular posters on this forum to be honest. And I would say that the overall sentiment of this forum is negative, despite the hugely positive results.

This forum is not representative of the whole fan base. BUT it is the only devil's fan forum, so holds some weight.
 

Sheincar

Well-Known Member
#27
I have avoided this site because I don't want to read how awful player A is or how whole team and coach should be sacked. It's much better for my blood pressure to stay off here. Bad enough seeing idiots on Twitter tagging players whilst whining about them.
 

Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
#28
It’s a bit of a PR nightmare.

I neither love nor hate the club. I’d never email management to complain, I’d never use Social Media to call out the owners, honestly l don’t really care, I just enjoy watching the game, life’s too short to be so passionate about watching guys chasing a rubber disc around with sticks & then get so angry towards the club when it goes a bit wrong.

I do get that a lot of what is called “Happy clappers” do come across a wee bit too much, seems to be two opposite extremes getting right up each other’s noises. Reading Todd’s comment concerning they’d been looking at other clubs and settled on Cardiff, followed by a barrage of how much they love the club, the passion etc has got a bit of a weird air about it. Fans are not dumb, buying Cardiff was a no brainer because of the management woes, cheap to buy and had a new rink being built. Maybe owners, management need to wind in these comments a little could help, l find it all a bit false, trying too hard to defend, bit like someone guilty protesting their innocence. It’s a business owned by fans, that does not need defending, nothing wrong with making money from owning a club. The comments from Todd come close to calling on fans to Police or ostracize those detractors is also a bit close to becoming a dictorial attitude. It must be hugely frustrating for the owners, who lets face it could walk away tomorrow, they won’t, but could. It has been commented that it’s only a small minority causing an issue, this reaction could be seen as over reacting.
 
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Chris

Administrator
#29
There are numerous people on here who question decisions and commitment of players and management. I would say significantly more than 2% of regular posters on this forum to be honest. And I would say that the overall sentiment of this forum is negative, despite the hugely positive results.

This forum is not representative of the whole fan base. BUT it is the only devil's fan forum, so holds some weight.
I tend to agree with you on this one actually, I used to think we had made a pretty good place here with the fairly open nature of the forum and what we did and didn't allow, but i'm not sure anymore.

We used to mock Steeltalk for being an absolutely terrible place to be, but after some of the posts the last few years on here I think the people laughing at us might be pretty spot on.

I'm going to refer to the website and the forum as different things, because i've always held that they were. People didn't like the forum and that's fine, but MNL used to be very well viewed and the interviews we used to run with the players coming in, or already with the team had thousands of views and generally got good feedback both on here and social media... But the website lost access to anyone from the staff of the team or currently employed players last season, the reason we received was because of the nature of posts being made and the club not wanting to bring them to the players attention, or risk the players having to answer questions as to why they were doing Q&As with us when people on the forum were posting in the manner that they were.

Unfortunately that loss of access came just as we were about to run an interview with Ben Bowns where we asked him about the nature of twitter, posts on here and the fans approaching him in the car park. It was brutally honest and I genuinely believe it might have helped to control the situation, but alas that opportunity was lost.

The only other time we've lost access to the team (and not even for as long as it is currently going on) was when Brent Pope and Paul Ragan were running the team; at that point they said that we were damaging to the club by running interviews with the team, a similar statement to what has been levelled at the club this time.

If i'm honest, I half wonder if we should actually break our original promise to the forum about allowing almost anything to be posted because it seems to be getting worse. But if we do that, there's nothing to say we'll get access back to speak to the players, staff or owners, or that we won't end up getting called out on every other post on Twitter and a sizable clique joining in because they've had their posts moderated or deleted.

It used to be fun being involved in the forum, especially when I now live and work on different sides of the countries. The end of MNL didn't help that, but the forum feels like a massive chore to run more than at any other time in the past 10 years.

TLDR: The forum used to be good, now it's bad and I don't know how to change that :(
 

august04

Well-Known Member
#30
Well I’m a firm believer in saying things as I see them. For me, differing opinions are what a forum is all about. I might not agree with every poster on here but I respect their right to hold those opinions. Unfortunately, that’s not always reciprocated by certain posters. If any sort of criticism is going to be frowned upon on here then it’s time for me to bow out. I’ll always give an honest opinion on performance as I see it, good or bad, as I think most posters do on here actually. I don’t agree with dishing out personal abuse towards anyone, never have done, never will - on here, in person or on social media. That’s not my bag. But I will criticise performance if I think it’s warranted and also praise if I think that’s appropriate. It’s called having a balanced perspective. If we’re not interested in that anymore, that’s fine. Enjoy the forum, although I think it might get a bit boring!
 

Samael

Well-Known Member
#31
I don't think heavy moderation is the answer. It won't stop people going on things like twatter and fecesbook. In fact it may cause whatever crap has been dumped on there to increase.

Attitudes need to change. Simple as that.
 

mweller

Active Member
#32
I

If i'm honest, I half wonder if we should actually break our original promise to the forum about allowing almost anything to be posted because it seems to be getting worse. But if we do that, there's nothing to say we'll get access back to speak to the players, staff or owners, or that we won't end up getting called out on every other post on Twitter and a sizable clique joining in because they've had their posts moderated or deleted.

It used to be fun being involved in the forum, especially when I now live and work on different sides of the countries. The end of MNL didn't help that, but the forum feels like a massive chore to run more than at any other time in the past 10 years.

TLDR: The forum used to be good, now it's bad and I don't know how to change that :(
Yeah, I feel for you guys, you work really hard but idiots will be idiots. I wonder if, as well as a harder line on bouncing out toxic ppl (the "bye bye Bowns" guy can go for a start, they add nothing good) it's more of a context thing. This is where you come to enjoy hockey chat, not be a nasty s**t. That doesn't mean we can't discuss player's performance, I don't want to have to pretend everyone is amazing, as that is bland. But it's not that difficult to distinguish between decent debate, and those who get their kicks from whining and attacking the club. Dump those guys immediately, it was one thing when it was just them being miserable and spoiling it for themselves, but dragging the whole club down - nah, I've had enough of that.
 

Diablo3

Well-Known Member
#33
Well I’m a firm believer in saying things as I see them. For me, differing opinions are what a forum is all about. I might not agree with every poster on here but I respect their right to hold those opinions. Unfortunately, that’s not always reciprocated by certain posters. If any sort of criticism is going to be frowned upon on here then it’s time for me to bow out. I’ll always give an honest opinion on performance as I see it, good or bad, as I think most posters do on here actually. I don’t agree with dishing out personal abuse towards anyone, never have done, never will - on here, in person or on social media. That’s not my bag. But I will criticise performance if I think it’s warranted and also praise if I think that’s appropriate. It’s called having a balanced perspective. If we’re not interested in that anymore, that’s fine. Enjoy the forum, although I think it might get a bit boring!
Yep I agree It's right to have a balanced view on the forum and topics for debate. I hope we have many more over the years. It's those who use it to target specific player/s for abuse I can't tolerate. What I can't work out is what they think they will achieve, certainly not player motivation.
 

Foxy

Well-Known Member
#34
I must be following a nice set of fans on twitter because i dont see any of this but then i am pretty selective with who i follow on social media.

The biggest problem is that nearly all business use social media for promotional purposes these days and it makes it all too easy for the minority to cause trouble. Have to be honest i am getting pretty fed up being tarred with the same brush but apart from the club and players blocking people or banning them from the rink there is not a lot the rest of us can do apart from calling them out when we see it.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
#35
Are there a few fans on here that are over the top with their criticism? Yes. What I find very frustrating though is how sensitive some posters are. I saw a post on here on Sunday where somebody said it was time to get rid of Bowns. This is a perfect example of a post that should annoy people and I can understand the hysteria. What frustrates me are the responses to somebody saying “I think Bownsy should have saved that first goal”. Sometimes there is genuine anger because somebody has just expressed an opinion. Occasionally Lordo has pretty much given the same opinion in his post match interview but the fan that’s mentioned it on here still gets eaten alive. It’s a forum! A website for fans to exchange views and opinions. It isn’t a Devils cheerleading site. Let’s be honest we threw that title away in the last 6 or 7 games and I think the criticism has been mild. People who tag players into critical tweets on twitter are a disgrace and I’ve got a lot of sympathy for players because they use twitter for topics away from hockey. I must say though that I have a bit less sympathy for players if they go on a forum. It’s very easy to stay away from a fans forum and if I was a player in any sport in any part of the world I would 100% stay away from a fans forum. You are always, always going to get praise and criticism. Sidney Crosby, Lionel Messi, everybody.
 

Sliput

Active Member
#36
It just gobsmacks me that people actually email the club and complain about passion and about them caring!! Seriously , sort yourself out !!!

After Sunday's loss I did post on here as I thought as a whole, the team played badly but the following morning I was looking forward to the next game, not once did I think "Right, where's Todd Kelmans email address ?"...

After Sunday's game I recieved a few message from friends I have made from other teams and ALL of them said that they felt sorry for Lordo and the guys but were glad we had lost because of the arrogance of some of our fans and all of the whinging they do . I have looked back at posts over this season on here , THF, The Cage and I can definatley see their point. I fully understand that these are all forums and there are lots of differing views but some of the stuff posted is mind boggling..
 

Rich Best

Well-Known Member
#37
Yeah, I feel for you guys, you work really hard but idiots will be idiots. I wonder if, as well as a harder line on bouncing out toxic ppl (the "bye bye Bowns" guy can go for a start, they add nothing good) it's more of a context thing. This is where you come to enjoy hockey chat, not be a nasty s**t. That doesn't mean we can't discuss player's performance, I don't want to have to pretend everyone is amazing, as that is bland. But it's not that difficult to distinguish between decent debate, and those who get their kicks from whining and attacking the club. Dump those guys immediately, it was one thing when it was just them being miserable and spoiling it for themselves, but dragging the whole club down - nah, I've had enough of that.
Yes agree with this totally.

Bowns out guy needs to go, right now.

Morisette bully needs to go, that was way over the top and personal earlier in the year / late last year. Doesn't matter how morisette was or wasn't performing, it was personal and way over the top.

Guy / gal who said Lord and Todd need to grow a pair needs to go.

People who make that kind of comment should be gone from this forum, simple as that.

Anyone with a constructive view point fine, but people often really overreact after a loss and under react (in comparison) after a win. Very strange.

As it says in that article, around Christmas Cardiff Devil's had the highest win rate of any professional hockey team in any professional league in the WORLD. Yet sentiment is still negative on this forum. I find it absolutely crazy. Just crazy. Some 'fans' - deliberately in inverted commas - are not real fans, they watch games and feel like we are entitled to win. They will stop watching if we are not winning.

So I am all for some extra moderation to clean this place up a little, and I think that will help get the club back on board over the next couple of years. You could create a set of rules related to bullying and personal insults. Happy to help with that Chris?
 

kettdevil1

Well-Known Member
#38
I tend to agree with you on this one actually, I used to think we had made a pretty good place here with the fairly open nature of the forum and what we did and didn't allow, but i'm not sure anymore.

We used to mock Steeltalk for being an absolutely terrible place to be, but after some of the posts the last few years on here I think the people laughing at us might be pretty spot on.

I'm going to refer to the website and the forum as different things, because i've always held that they were. People didn't like the forum and that's fine, but MNL used to be very well viewed and the interviews we used to run with the players coming in, or already with the team had thousands of views and generally got good feedback both on here and social media... But the website lost access to anyone from the staff of the team or currently employed players last season, the reason we received was because of the nature of posts being made and the club not wanting to bring them to the players attention, or risk the players having to answer questions as to why they were doing Q&As with us when people on the forum were posting in the manner that they were.

Unfortunately that loss of access came just as we were about to run an interview with Ben Bowns where we asked him about the nature of twitter, posts on here and the fans approaching him in the car park. It was brutally honest and I genuinely believe it might have helped to control the situation, but alas that opportunity was lost.

The only other time we've lost access to the team (and not even for as long as it is currently going on) was when Brent Pope and Paul Ragan were running the team; at that point they said that we were damaging to the club by running interviews with the team, a similar statement to what has been levelled at the club this time.

If i'm honest, I half wonder if we should actually break our original promise to the forum about allowing almost anything to be posted because it seems to be getting worse. But if we do that, there's nothing to say we'll get access back to speak to the players, staff or owners, or that we won't end up getting called out on every other post on Twitter and a sizable clique joining in because they've had their posts moderated or deleted.

It used to be fun being involved in the forum, especially when I now live and work on different sides of the countries. The end of MNL didn't help that, but the forum feels like a massive chore to run more than at any other time in the past 10 years.

TLDR: The forum used to be good, now it's bad and I don't know how to change that :(
Sums it up for me. As an ‘away’ fan the forum used to be a vital source of information about the mood in Cardiff, now I avoid many of the threads on game day due to the complete lack of discussion and frankly intelligent reasoning. The decline towards Steeltalk arguments has been swift.

August makes a good point about calling it how he sees it and I would hate to see unanimity it points but the problem is HOW you say it. Whoever wrote the post about Bowns in the Cov thread should not be allowed anywhere near a computer as it adds nothing and frankly the post comes across as trolling at best, startlingly unintelligent at worst. However, there was a great post a few months ago by someone arguing about how our D was leaving Bowns exposed. I disagreed but it got me thinking.

Whoever it was that kept criticising Morissette earlier in the season was another example of how the forum can get a bad reputation, no problem at all with someone explaining why they were disappointed in his play but given that anyone with half an eye could see he was playing a different role, the criticism (which was clearly a personal grudge) was not just over the top but was ignorant and spiteful.

I am with Sheila in this one, I used to think this forum represented the fans, this was especially when I was doing MNL, everyone felt connected. This season I have not felt this. I have thoroughly enjoyed the season, Linglet is a joy, Dixon a revelation, Martin, Bowns, Louis, Fournier and others are such pillars of this team, yet when I come on here I don’t get debate, I often find too much infantile argument and snide comments. It gets depressing and I wonder if I am watching the same game or players.

Not sure what to do about it other than what I say to my lot when they talk rubbish in their essays.... I don’t care what you think, I care about your argument.

Right, let’s go and beat Sheffield!!!
 

Temme

Well-Known Member
#40
I can't resist but to chime in on this.
2015+ the fanbase has doubled(??), every new fan will only know culture of other sports. Hockey has it's own culture.
I was once that fan shouting "fight fight fight" and "f*ck off Hicks" at any given opportunity, luckily that lasted only 1 season (honest)... luckily i realized i was a teenage idiot and didn't know everything. Seriously i'd encourage anyone that thinks they know to train as a referee/player!

The additional toxicity of hockey fans in general in the UK stems from other sport. Look at any tweet of any professional athlete, and there will be some idiot telling him/her to "die" or "f off", footballers are tagged in posts constantly calling them out.

Unfortunately, if this were the NHL, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

It's comparable to going to a Sunday league football/rugby game (or even a local conference game) and shouting at all the players that they're rubbish, and then tagging them on twitter etc. they will see it, people will react.

I don't believe we will ever eradicate this culture from professional sports, as there is not a single league that will not have this issue.

However,

I agree completely with the above. A forum is a place where people incite discussion.

If this becomes filtered, it is no longer free speech & everyone should be able to discuss things.

What i would like to see to make it interesting, this place stays exactly the same & another forum where you are required to post your name, email, season ticket number & a head shot of yourself, as internet usernames grant masculine superpowers!!!

The other way is to start again James & Chris.

Make the forum only available to view after prior authorization, which requires anything you so desire.
 
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