TURNING POINT

[BostonBart22]

Hi all , what are the fans thoughts on the turning point of our trophy winning season so far, my take was that double victory in belfast or our 8 nil home defeat by panthers after maybe a little telling off by todd in a period break....

 

[d20]

I think personally you could see this team were going to be champions with some of the comeback wins we had against coventry,manchester etc at home when we were a good few goals down into the last period and got the wins ,thats the sign of a championship winning team never giving up ,those results were huge in the season which helped us get belief and results in places like Belfast...unreal team and superb season.

 

[voth26]

I think it was the blaze game when Bordy put in the massive hits, it seemed to renew the guys self belief

 

[Finny]

Third period away to Belfast when we came from 3-0 down to win 4-3.

Up to that point I thought we had a very good chance of winning. After that I couldn't see who could stop us as we had the knowledge we could do that against pretty much anyone.

 

[Pondlife]

26-8 since the Panthers beating. (exc playoffs)

 

[ASHIPP]

For me, two games:

1. Coventry Game at home when Bordy dominated p3 giving the team self-belief to go on and win what was really a must-win game because criticism of the team was high and confidence low.

2. Second leg semi-final of Challenge Cup in Belfast going in without several key players and trailing. This game demonstrated the guts and true character of the team. Think dreams became reality at that point.....they really might pull off something special if they could build consistency and keep their nerve.

 

[Ocko]

That Belfast game when we came back from 3-0 is the moment I think both the fans and players really started to believe it was going to happen rather than might happen.

But for me the key part of the season was our slump around the end of December to January. Every team has at least one at some point during the season but we limited it to those few weeks of games and despite it technically being our most challenging period and probably our worst hockey, we were still picking up points. Which not many teams do. We learnt how to play ugly.

 

[Johnnybravo1927]

This years team was full of self belief. Many times I we went in to the secend period break a goal down yet despite that I always knew we would win. Our 3rd period has been outstanding all season and fitness levels are phenomenal

 

[Leighton]

simple - it was when i started coming to the games. this season's success is entirely my influence.

 

[StevenBletsoe]

Belfast Home, Challenge Cup S/F. The whole thing. OK we lost that home leg but the fallout of Walser skating off during the anthem. The away leg we then walloped the Giants and the confidence built from there. I actually fell asleep reading MNL in the first game of the double header away in Belfast that followed that, woke up to find we have stormed their barn in that third period and won. I kinda knew at that point that the League was ours, refused to say for obvious reasons.

 

[backrow]

I can't name the specific game but I feel the turning point was when Benti and Ulmer were separated as linemates. From that point on for whatever reason, both their games picked up and the Devils had two very productive scoring lines for the rest of the season.

 

[wildthing74]

Honestly for me this felt like a championship team very early on in the season and it was only a matter of time until it was confirmed.

We came back to win so many games on the road in places like Sheffield,Nottingham & Belfast even prior to the Belfast DH and even though we had a slump mid season we were always bouncing back.

The third period in Belfast was truly incredible and one of the best things I've ever experienced and it showed them they could not beat us.It was on their ice in a pretty much must win game and we dominated them in the last period leaving Giants shell shocked.

Now the monkey is off the back I think we can go on and win a few more over the next few years.

 

[Gazza272]

Much like Wildthing I think the core value of a championship winning team was always there, despite still not hitting our stride early on in the season, we were still finding ways to win. Third period and OT wins were a common occurrence.

Then we had our wobble at christmas, and after we lost to the Storm i remember interviewing Lord and he was pretty forthright with his views 'enough is enough'

From there Benti and Ulmer were split up and no one looked like catching us. This for me was the big turning point, both of them are such good players that by putting them together teams could shut them out of a game, I also think they were desperate to help each other get out of the slump and it affected their own game. Once they went on different lines we have been the best team in the league by a country mile.

I am just desperate for us to put on a show this weekend and show we are the best, we have nothing to fear, and we are due to not experience heartbreak in Nottingham.

 

[bdevil]

I think turning point was when Todd told Lordo he has to play every game. Regardless of him being coach of the year he has been so valuable as a player

 

[Mooney#16]

A few turning points but the most clutch play of the year for me was Asselin undressing Benedict with an inside edges inside out toe drag around the net and centering for Haddad to score the GTG in The Belfast comeback. The simple and sensible play was to curl into the corner and return puck for a point shot but to have the confidence and ability to pull that move at that point is what has differentiated Devils from the other teams this year.