Devils Vs Giants - League - 27th Nov 2021

[Hedd Wyn John]

Unfortunately I couldn't get to the rink last night due to a prior commitment so have only had the highlights to go by.

From what I can see the Giants had a lot of opportunities on net but couldn't convert thanks largely due to Carruth in front of net. Giants giving away those powerplays cost them dearly.

I think Skalde knows Devils got out of jail there. Keefe will be scratching his head as to how the Giants didn't score more than 2 but he'll know their PK wasn't good enough.

Conclusion: Devils scoring seems to have picked up, which was essential, it's not all about Reid anymore but the defense is still patchy. Coughing up pucks & failing to clear the zone seems to be the achilles heel at the moment.

 

[moggy#9]

Unfortunately I couldn't get to the rink last night due to a prior commitment so have only had the highlights to go by.

From what I can see the Giants had a lot of opportunities on net but couldn't convert thanks largely due to Carruth in front of net. Giants giving away those powerplays cost them dearly.

I think Skalde knows Devils got out of jail there. Keefe will be scratching his head as to how the Giants didn't score more than 2 but he'll know their PK wasn't good enough.

Conclusion: Devils scoring seems to have picked up, which was essential, it's not all about Reid anymore but the defense is still patchy. Coughing up pucks & failing to clear the zone seems to be the achilles heel at the moment.

I too only saw the highlights, but O'Connor was badly out of position for one giants goal. Some others have also commented on his continuing loose play.

 

[Earnie]

Giants luck last night was a bit like Devils at Fife when we lost after a silly number of shots on goal.

 

[Travis bickle]

There's no doubt the best team lost last night, we rode out luck just like we did in our last home game when outplayed by Guildford. I'll take the 2 points all night as we went through a spell earlier in the season where we heavily out shot and out played teams and lost the game, over a season it evens it's self out. My problem is we are a more organised team with cox centre and Sanford Waller on the wings, that line is being messed with because of the lack of a natural centre on other lines, we seem to have a team full of wingers and still don't know what our best lines are 3 months in, we've got two brilliant netminders and we're not too bad on d, but I feel our forwards are a little too small and not strong enough in the corners, there are a couple of players I'd be looking to upgrade on, I'm not naming players as that's never fair but you hear muttering in period breaks from fans about who they'd change. Bottom line is you win as a team and lose as a team, right now we're riding all our luck we must be in credit for.

 

[august04 2.0]

Giants luck last night was a bit like Devils at Fife when we lost after a silly number of shots on goal.

Not really. When we were peppering the Fife goalie with an insane number of shots, a lot of those were from the outside and food and drink for the likes of Owen. That wasn’t the case at all last night with the Giants, where Carruth had a lot of pressure around the net.

 

[august04 2.0]

There's no doubt the best team lost last night, we rode out luck just like we did in our last home game when outplayed by Guildford. I'll take the 2 points all night as we went through a spell earlier in the season where we heavily out shot and out played teams and lost the game, over a season it evens it's self out. My problem is we are a more organised team with cox centre and Sanford Waller on the wings, that line is being messed with because of the lack of a natural centre on other lines, we seem to have a team full of wingers and still don't know what our best lines are 3 months in, we've got two brilliant netminders and we're not too bad on d, but I feel our forwards are a little too small and not strong enough in the corners, there are a couple of players I'd be looking to upgrade on, I'm not naming players as that's never fair but you hear muttering in period breaks from fans about who they'd change. Bottom line is you win as a team and lose as a team, right now we're riding all our luck we must be in credit for.

I also prefer Waller on that second line with Cox and Sanford.

 

[Hedd Wyn John]

Whatever happens for the remainder of this season its gonna be a rollercoaster.

 

[Wannabe2]

Sure will be let’s hope we enjoy the ride, got a sneaky feeling we will, big game tonight as they all will be from now on. Need the team that turned up against Steelers tonight for sure, we certainly have as much talent as anyone when we play as we can. Big test tonight lads show us all what you can do, these points are pretty crucial so let’s do this.

 

[ASHIPP]

Why are so many of us critical when our team have just taken 2 points from a team that will certainly be a contender for the league title? Can understand the negativity if our team had lost!

Positives.... We were the only team to win in regulation time last night. 2 powerplay goals scored... I would say that is taking our chances at appropriate times. Key players had excellent games.

Belfast, a team with fantastic offense, could not convert many of their shots. They did not win in regulation.

It's sport.. there will be times when better teams deserve to win. There will be times when teams are just able to convert limited chances when it matters. Last night was one of those night.

Devils achieved their objective....got 2 valuable points and managed to stay top 3 in the league atm. Momentum building.

 

[august04 2.0]

Why are so many of us critical when our team have just taken 2 points from a team that will certainly be a contender for the league title? Can understand the negativity if our team had lost!

Positives.... We were the only team to win in regulation time last night. 2 powerplay goals scored... I would say that is taking our chances at appropriate times. Key players had excellent games.

Belfast, a team with fantastic offense, could not convert many of their shots. They did not win in regulation.

It's sport.. there will be times when better teams deserve to win. There will be times when teams are just able to convert limited chances when it matters. Last night was one of those night.

Devils achieved their objective....got 2 valuable points and managed to stay top 3 in the league atm. Momentum building.

It's also OK to be more objective and accept that perhaps other teams played better than us on a given night, and that’s even more gratifying when we still get the points! We got the win and that’s the main thing at the end of the day, but we can still comment on the performance, even if it means suggesting that not everything was perfect. What’s wrong with that?! This forum would be a very dull place if critiquing performance, good or bad, was frowned upon.

 

[jenks33]

Why are so many of us critical when our team have just taken 2 points from a team that will certainly be a contender for the league title? Can understand the negativity if our team had lost!

Positives.... We were the only team to win in regulation time last night. 2 powerplay goals scored... I would say that is taking our chances at appropriate times. Key players had excellent games.

Belfast, a team with fantastic offense, could not convert many of their shots. They did not win in regulation.

It's sport.. there will be times when better teams deserve to win. There will be times when teams are just able to convert limited chances when it matters. Last night was one of those night.

Devils achieved their objective....got 2 valuable points and managed to stay top 3 in the league atm. Momentum building.

It’s just called being realistic ASHIPP. I haven’t seen anybody on here criticising our effort and nor should they, i was very impressed with our effort last night. I still think we look like a team with a couple of obvious weaknesses though and I do regularly question things like our decision making etc. Also if you look at most of the negative comments on this forum regarding last nights performance Skalde pretty much highlights them all in his post match interview!

Another issue I’ve got is some people comparing last nights victory to some of our Belfast/Sheffield victories under Andrew Lord. Difference being we were usually convincing at home under Lord so the odd time we ground out an undeserved win it wasn’t a problem. I think that was our 10th domestic home game last night and how many do you think Skalde has been happy with? Maybe 1 or 2? 3 at most. Most home games have been very unconvincing. That’s why when people say it’s all about the 2 points I have to disagree. We have to start seeing positive performances that lead to wins eventually. We’re not going to pick up fortunate home wins all season and in my opinion the last two home wins (Belfast and Guildford) have been lucky wins.

 

[Wannabe2]

It's also OK to be more objective and accept that perhaps other teams played better than us on a given night, and that’s even more gratifying when we still get the points! We got the win and that’s the main thing at the end of the day, but we can still comment on the performance, even if it means suggesting that not everything was perfect. What’s wrong with that?! This forum would be a very dull place if critiquing performance, good or bad, was frowned upon.

Exactly

 

[E.D.S.]

Why are so many of us critical when our team have just taken 2 points from a team that will certainly be a contender for the league title? Can understand the negativity if our team had lost!

Positives.... We were the only team to win in regulation time last night. 2 powerplay goals scored... I would say that is taking our chances at appropriate times. Key players had excellent games.

Belfast, a team with fantastic offense, could not convert many of their shots. They did not win in regulation.

It's sport.. there will be times when better teams deserve to win. There will be times when teams are just able to convert limited chances when it matters. Last night was one of those night.

Devils achieved their objective....got 2 valuable points and managed to stay top 3 in the league atm. Momentum building.

I don't see a lot of criticism. Even Skalde says that the Giants "outplayed us". The comments so far on this forum have reflected it. Credit to SOME posters on here. They can see that and comment fairly. They can see it wasn't a perfect showing and pass a natural comment. We got outplayed. I don't think we were lucky. We grafted, worked hard and took our chances. Think Jenks made the point that Skalde is probably only happy with 2 or 3 performances so far at home. There's work to be done but it's not bad to keep winning whilst being a work-in-progress. I'll take that.

 

[Earnie]

Giants loose at home to Dundee!! 2-3. In regulation

 

[Mazzoak]

This isn’t Ice Dancing, you get it done, there’s no extra prize for looking pretty. I once read, on here, something about Championship winning teams win games no matter how bad they play.............
Not that this team is likely to win much this season, as previously debated to death, the Covid issues, financials, new coach blah blah blah. Although I’m still reading some posters aren’t grasping the reality of 2021.

 

[Wannabe2]

If we are unlikely to win anything this season, can someone please tell me who will. Surely after watching the season so far, and all teams losing no one is likely to clean up, and we are most certainly in the mix.

 

[kettdevil1]

If we are unlikely to win anything this season, can someone please tell me who will. Surely after watching the season so far, and all teams losing no one is likely to clean up, and we are most certainly in the mix.

Exactly - before the season I thought Belfast-Sheff-Cardiff was the most likely order but now..... I don't know. On paper Belfast look very strong indeed but they can't seem to finish teams off in a consistent manner. The interview with Keefe last night was fascinating - he seemed as angry as I have ever seen him....and that's saying something.... so I do wonder whether we will see some changes? Sheffield are definitely strong but surely at some point all the issues they have faced will catch up with them and I am still not convinced by their NMing..... As for us, last night was a great example of where we are at..... we didn't play particularly well but found a way. We have shown that we can play as well as anyone (see Sheffield away) and with strong NMing and a very tricky style to play against, we should be in the mix at the end

 

[moggy#9]

The devils certainly have deficiencies, but those of other teams seem to be greater. Additionally the fact that we have such superb netminding and coaching seems to be making a massive difference.

Steelers fans will be expecting a massive push back from them when they visit us. If they don't get it, I suspect that brust might be history.

At the moment I can see a different club winning each trophy such is the topsy turvy nature of the season.

 

[Mazzoak]

If we are unlikely to win anything this season, can someone please tell me who will. Surely after watching the season so far, and all teams losing no one is likely to clean up, and we are most certainly in the mix.

It’s anyone’s at the moment, like l said it’s a Rollercoaster ride, Covid backlash etc etc. I don’t bet, l certainly wouldn’t bet on any team at the moment, I don’t see this situation changing until around February...........everyone has been affected and issues still ongoing.

 

[E.D.S.]

Not that this team is likely to win much this season, as previously debated to death, the Covid issues, financials, new coach blah blah blah. Although I’m still reading some posters aren’t grasping the reality of 2021.

It’s anyone’s at the moment, like l said it’s a Rollercoaster ride, Covid backlash etc etc. I don’t bet, l certainly wouldn’t bet on any team at the moment, I don’t see this situation changing until around February...........everyone has been affected and issues still ongoing.

"This team isn't likely to win much" yet you list a load of issues that apply to the majority of other teams as well as to why we won't win anything - such as COVID, financials, new coach - then you say "it's any one's at the moment"... which is it? Anyone's or anyone's but not us - even though we are second in the league?

If "everyone has been affected" by the on going issues, as you say, then it's a level playing field and we've got as good a chance as anyone.

I've missed you.