Cardiff Devils v Coventry Blaze - Tue 27 Dec 2016 - FO 7:30pm - Chat/Updates

youngbob

Active Member
#61
Did Bordy actually run Stewart?
From where i was sitting he was skating across the front of the net and Stewart came out as if to trip Bordy
Can't tell from the highlights either way
 

Ocko

Well-Known Member
#62
I think it was 'accidentally on purpose'. I'd be amazed if he didn't know what he was doing, whether he was looking at him or not.
 

Diafol

Well-Known Member
#63
Maybe any errors Andrew Hotham made last night were down to the number of shifts he was given ?
The only player out there for longer was Bownsy.

The guy must have been shattered by the end.
I'll admit I've been critical of him at times but maybe Lordo needs to give him a breather now and then ?
 

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
#64
20 minutes of pure adrenalin ....probably the best hockey played by the Devils at home this season. They showed guts, determination, fantastic teamwork, scoring skill and solid defence. But the Devils need to do this much earlier in the game - they won't always be able to turn a 4-2 deficit into a win leaving it late.

Two turning points in the game for me:

1. Bordy is our golden goose and he earned his money last night. Lordo needs to let Bordy loose and play his natural game. The Blaze could not cope with his rampaging, and that crushing, NHL level body check to Jorgensen rocked Blaze and changed the game. Patrick brings so many things to this team apart from his character and experience. Just watch his shifts - he is constantly watching the positioning of other players as well as marking his own man, using his reach to poke the puck to team mates....and actually got some decent shots on goal last night.

2. The second game-changing decision was to roll out our lines in very short, sharp shifts...and drop different players into each line. This changed the style slightly every shift, something that the Blaze could not address. Lordo needs to roll the crash-bang players much more than he does - Bordy, Myers, Haddad, Piggsie and CJ would be so effective if rolled out every 2nd or 3rd shift change.:mad: It works well for the Panthers when they do it!

Some lovely goals - how good was that pass from Culligan for Douce to finish with the beaut of an equalising goal?

A real treat for a packed house.:D
 

Finny

Well-Known Member
#65
Did Bordy actually run Stewart?
From where i was sitting he was skating across the front of the net and Stewart came out as if to trip Bordy
Can't tell from the highlights either way
From the highlights you can see Stewart is a good couple of feet out of his crease, like he always is.
I wouldn't say Bordy ran the netminder, but I'm fairly sure he knew where Stewart was.
 

august04

Well-Known Member
#66
I love this forum. Before these games it was "Bordys useless and lets bench Ulmer and Benti!". Then we win two games back to back with all three players putting out MoM performances and it's "Lord needs to wake up!". Incredible!
I don't think you'll find too many criticising Bordy. In fact most would like him to get more ice time and to be allowed to play a more natural, aggressive game. He's been let off the leash twice this season, against Sheffield in the 3-2 win and in the 3rd period last night - and look what happened in both games. As far as Ulmer and Bentivoglio are concerned - they've been poor and frankly it's about time they showed what they're capable of. Long may that continue. For me, the jury is out on Lord as a coach. I love the way he plays but as a coach, I don't think he is getting the best out of these players for whatever reason. We see signs of what they're capable of but all too infrequently. But he's a young coach still though with an incredibly tough job combining coaching and playing when needed. I hope we witness more of what we saw in the 3rd last night in the title run in. That style of hockey is us at our best and we have the players to do it. We will need to be at that level in the next few months as Belfast are there with us, Nottingham are improving and I'm sure Sheffield will make a change or two before the transfer deadline to try and close the gap.
 
#67
Outsider, #24 was as sloppy as usual, he was on the ice when he made a lazy mistake that gifted a Blaze gial. And on the PP the times he's on the point and lets the puck under his stick so we all have to clear again. Lord gives him way too much ice time as usual. +/- I'll say again +/-
+/-aren't published, have you seen them? Because #24 is on the ice so much he is usually on ice when goals are scored for or against us so you cannot really use +/- to compare against a defenceman rotating regularly. I suspect that #24 +/- is pretty good on average. That average will be brought down following the nightmare against Panthers. As long as we have scored more goals than the other teams he will have good figures
 
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Pleximan

Active Member
#68
Sloppy as usual ? Really ? I'm sure he lets the puck under or over his stick on purpose ? Plus minus is a loser stat, It's a team stat pinned on an individual. You're right on one thing, he does play too much but when you play as much as he does ad has the puck on his stick more than anyone, percentages are very good he's going to make some questionable passes and plays. If he's guilty of anything, it's his desire to win and he wants to make something happen everytime he gets the puck. Did you mention the nice play he made on Benti's first goal, started the play on Doucette's second goal and made a very nice play on Benti's empty net goal ? I get if you're not enamored with his play but you have to give blame where it's warranted and kudos when things go well. But then again, when you don't like a player, you're incapable of seeing the good things
Sorry Outsider, I have to agree with DMC here, #24 in my opinion plays too much of a cavalier style, yes he does get a good haul of points but at what cost? +/- is a key stat particularly for a D-man and I too would be keen to see his right now. His lazy passing is all too prevalent and often the cause of offensive zone breakdowns and worse still blue line howlers and unforced giveaways for the opposition to jump onto and pressure us in our zone which in a high percentage of them leads to a goal scored on us. He has a lazy style when moving the puck and if only he would clean that up from his game and concentrate on consistent solid D he would improve not only his own game but also would see us tighten up at the back. Yes there are other players who make mistakes, #20 has had a few, but it is horribly too evident for #24 that needs to be coached out of him.....and quickly!
Defence wins championships.....and right now we have plenty of room to improve here. Concentration on solid D will really help us and will give us more time on the puck offensively .
 

Ocko

Well-Known Member
#69
Sorry Outsider, I have to agree with DMC here, #24 in my opinion plays too much of a cavalier style, yes he does get a good haul of points but at what cost? +/- is a key stat particularly for a D-man and I too would be keen to see his right now. His lazy passing is all too prevalent and often the cause of offensive zone breakdowns and worse still blue line howlers and unforced giveaways for the opposition to jump onto and pressure us in our zone which in a high percentage of them leads to a goal scored on us. He has a lazy style when moving the puck and if only he would clean that up from his game and concentrate on consistent solid D he would improve not only his own game but also would see us tighten up at the back. Yes there are other players who make mistakes, #20 has had a few, but it is horribly too evident for #24 that needs to be coached out of him.....and quickly!
Defence wins championships.....and right now we have plenty of room to improve here. Concentration on solid D will really help us and will give us more time on the puck offensively .
Glad you place a lot of importance on +/-; Hotham finished on +2. And having watched back the highlights not a single goal conceded whilst he was on the ice was anything to do with him.

And our defence is 3rd on average in the league but only 0.15 goals a game worse than Sheffield and 0.1 worse than Belfast. That is nothing at all. Take out the 8-0 and we'd probably be better than both of those teams. Not bad for a team who you rate so badly at the back.
 
#70
I have him as +3 on the night, two goals against that Blaze scored on the power play which don't go down as a minus. But if you're criticising Hotham's +/- then don't forget that he's obviously not playing on D by himself. Also let's not forget the breakout plays mainly run through #24, #20 which would require the team to be set, usually after a line change and players still adjusting to find position?
 

Devil94

Well-Known Member
#71
Or alternatively he played it to perfection, stopped a stupid penalty, built Bordy up so that he turned into a wrecking machine and we won the game.....

It is all hypothetical but suppose Bordy had been let off the leash at that point, Klotz had taken the fight and given that he is a tough cookie, won the fight. Momentum stays with the Blaze and we have to find another way.

We won, Blaze lost. That sounds like good coaching to me.
Sounds about right to me. Two goals down with one period to go, we end up winning by two goals. The decisions Lord made worked a treat, the changing of the lines, the amount of ice time Bordy got etc.
Obviously impossible to say what would have happened if Bordy had more ice time, but frankly we won the game so who gives a s***.
 
#72
As some have mentioned earlier, two game changers last night. First Bordy ....you cant beat finishing your checks and making opposition players feel more rushed to make passes. The second was playing 3 1/2 lines, finally in the 3rd period Lord realised he had more than 6/7 players and played all apart from Piggsy and Jones. This definately gave the boys important seconds longer rest. This i hope will continue and we wont go back to what feels like two line hockey in some instances.

My take on A Hotham yes he is playing a lot of minutes but sometimes his decision making appears to come from an over complicated mind set. But again this issue is Lords, you have 6 capable dmen......use them.....if you dont think they can do the job.....why are they here (personally believe that they can)

The issue of over complicating play has been a part in each of the games we have lost, yes the aggressive play and passion have not always been evident, BUT, when things arent going your way, got back to basics its a simple sports premise. Play strong simple hockey, pass, move, pass move, get your self in position....to many times we dont do this and look to force it, which ends up us getting into more trouble
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
#73
I don't think you'll find too many criticising Bordy. In fact most would like him to get more ice time and to be allowed to play a more natural, aggressive game. He's been let off the leash twice this season, against Sheffield in the 3-2 win and in the 3rd period last night - and look what happened in both games. As far as Ulmer and Bentivoglio are concerned - they've been poor and frankly it's about time they showed what they're capable of. Long may that continue. For me, the jury is out on Lord as a coach. I love the way he plays but as a coach, I don't think he is getting the best out of these players for whatever reason. We see signs of what they're capable of but all too infrequently. But he's a young coach still though with an incredibly tough job combining coaching and playing when needed. I hope we witness more of what we saw in the 3rd last night in the title run in. That style of hockey is us at our best and we have the players to do it. We will need to be at that level in the next few months as Belfast are there with us, Nottingham are improving and I'm sure Sheffield will make a change or two before the transfer deadline to try and close the gap.
Spot on. My issue with Ulmer and Bentivoglio is they were probably brought in to take the pressure off Martin and it hasn't happened. To be fair they've both played well over the past 2 games and hopefully we will see more points production from both. I assume they are very high earners on this team and we need more from them if we're going to win this league. A few people have pointed out that their points production is similar to Asselin but for me Asselin has scored more important goals and was more of a gamble signing having had a year off. Ulmer did score a huge goal in Coventry though and Benti scored a big goal last night so fingers crossed we will see more of this
 

kettdevil1

Well-Known Member
#74
Spot on. My issue with Ulmer and Bentivoglio is they were probably brought in to take the pressure off Martin and it hasn't happened. To be fair they've both played well over the past 2 games and hopefully we will see more points production from both. I assume they are very high earners on this team and we need more from them if we're going to win this league. A few people have pointed out that their points production is similar to Asselin but for me Asselin has scored more important goals and was more of a gamble signing having had a year off. Ulmer did score a huge goal in Coventry though and Benti scored a big goal last night so fingers crossed we will see more of this
The whole issue of points production is an interesting one and this link might be informative. http://eliteleague.co.uk/top-scorers-3/

Benti is 10th top scorer in the league, Ulmer 12th. For me that is a surprise as the overall feeling is that there is more to come. Asselin, by contrast, is 33rd (behind Fournier who is 17th, Douce, Hotham and Morrisette).... which surprised me even more.
 
#75
I love this forum. Before these games it was "Bordys useless and lets bench Ulmer and Benti!". Then we win two games back to back with all three players putting out MoM performances and it's "Lord needs to wake up!". Incredible!
After the Storm game I said that Lord should play against Blaze and Benti should be rested. Glad I was wrong! Unless of course Benti reads the inferno and upped his game following my post :)

I also thought that Bordy should be used more in a role suiting his game. I don't like him on the PK particularly high up the ice as I think he can be out skated, if that makes sense, leaving us even more vulnerable when short handed. I don't mind him on the PP if we are set and he becomes the parked bus in front of the crease.

What I wanted him to do was what Lord let him do in the 3rd Period. Game changer.

All of this absolutely confirms why I have huge gaps under "Ice Hockey Coach" on my CV ;)
 

E.D.S.

Well-Known Member
#76
From the highlights you can see Stewart is a good couple of feet out of his crease, like he always is.
I wouldn't say Bordy ran the netminder, but I'm fairly sure he knew where Stewart was.
Agree with that Finny. He definitely didn't run him but he didn't exactly slam on the breaks. Key thing for me after both the Stewart contact and the massive hit in the corner Bordy went to the Coventry bench and asked Klotz and Stewart what they were going to do about it. That's what Bordy brings to our team. I don't really want him sat on his ass in the box.
He seems to be able to hit incredibly hard but fair.


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Devil_Abroad

Well-Known Member
#77
I think it was 'accidentally on purpose'. I'd be amazed if he didn't know what he was doing, whether he was looking at him or not.
No, wasn't on purpose. He was skating with his back to goal going from the circle - Stewart skated outside his D - Bordy turned and was on him before he saw him - he still managed to jump a little or it would have been worse. He turned back to ask Stewart if he was ok - got the nod. Then Blaze bench tried to wind things up - and then a few Blaze players moaned at Darnell who just ignored them


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