What is the problem?

Johnnybravo1927

Well-Known Member
Thread starter #1
I dont honestly know. We have beat Davos and Vaxjo Lakers, we have comfortably beaten Sheffield, Nottingham anf Belfast. We have also lost far too many games and had some awful performances. Player wise we have Pope who is a great addition, Faryna who is as good as Culligan, moore who is a step up from CJ. I do t see that we have a weaker team than last season. Scott Hotham was a huge loss but Tyson Strachan has stepped into his skates and looks a better player. Is it our squad? Has the league improved loads? I dont honestly know
 
#3
The players you mention fine but are Reddick, Paris an improvement on laat season ( not convinced in there overall play) plus add the likes of Asselin, Ulmer, Benti, Lord, Louis who have not performed so well as last season and also the injury to Haddad a major loss and now Moore out for the season (have we under utilized the under 23 player rule?!?!)
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
#4
The players you mention fine but are Reddick, Paris an improvement on laat season ( not convinced in there overall play) plus add the likes of Asselin, Ulmer, Benti, Lord, Louis who have not performed so well as last season and also the injury to Haddad a major loss and now Moore out for the season (have we under utilized the under 23 player rule?!?!)
Don't think so
Rustkis (sic) injured and Buglass coming back from missing a lot of the end of last season through injury
 

Mooney#16

Well-Known Member
#5
Agreed special teams seem to be a huge Achilles heel from being a huge asset the last few years.

Also the team has a horrible psychological issue with being scored upon. They ship a goal and then seem to leak a bucket load in the next 5 minutes that follow as well.

They need to screw their professional heads on quick and smarten up to the level they need to be executing plays on. It's not that this team does not have every tool in the locker to be good but they are mentally fragile. To be honest they need to be playing arrogant and ruthless not fancy and fragile.
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
#6
It might be that Lordo needs to get out of the weeds for a while and coach from the bench

Not ideal to lose a player of his ability at this time and we would be short benched. But might help in the long run
 
#8
What is the problem ?

Honestly. I don’t necessarily see a problem. There is high expectations for the club. It would be nice and possible to consistently win games and trophies, but the ethos of the club, the finances just aren’t there. We have to be realistic, we are not ruthless enough in most areas. We don’t have arena budgets and we don’t have owners with sharp teeth. I’m afraid for all the Arena clubs failings success starts by removing anyone not capable of achieving the required level.


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Mooney#16

Well-Known Member
#9
I'm not so sure about that. It feels knee jerk. However I think this team needs some major work in the sports psychology area. To be this inconsistent smacks of a lack of cohesion and chemistry.

Retaining any championship is always almost harder than winning it as there is a plethora or psychological issues to fall into. Over confidence, arrogance, a simple reduction in desire, a ready made excuse to blame it on new members of the roster, a feeling you now have something to lose, over reliance on team mates to perform to previous highs and hugely chronic frustration at not hitting previous season highs so far. It's all there to trip you up. It's no surprise really the Devils did well in the CHL as after the Davos hammering they had everything to gain and nothing to lose and most importantly had the liberation of being the under dog.

This team is a good team. But they have huge mental demons to battle. Get on top of these and there's zero reason this team cannot retain the championship but keep fighting them in the current fashion and they will devour this team and stop it reaching its true potential.
 

backrow

Active Member
#10
johnnybravo1927, you may be underestimating a certain player's contribution the last few seasons especially on the defensive side of the game. He was a great team player, back checker and penalty killer who showed up to play every game and who didn't take many penalties. His contribution to the team's success was recognized at year's end the last 2 seasons by the coaches and then the players.
I don't think players like that are so easily replaced but some people just look at goals and assists.
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
#11
What is the problem ?

Honestly. I don’t necessarily see a problem. There is high expectations for the club. It would be nice and possible to consistently win games and trophies, but the ethos of the club, the finances just aren’t there. We have to be realistic, we are not ruthless enough in most areas. We don’t have arena budgets and we don’t have owners with sharp teeth. I’m afraid for all the Arena clubs failings success starts by removing anyone not capable of achieving the required level.


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God I feel peed off with the situation, but your comments try to take me to another deeper level. What exactly do you know about our clubs finances, probably the same as me, that's bugger all, and why should we. Things at the moment are pure basement, and they suck, but a number of clubs are far worse off than us, do you suggest these guys should pull out, that would be a great help to the league. We were cream of the crop last season, we sure ain't this season, Panthers were poor last season, but ain't this season, it's the way it is. The main thing about this team isn't that it's poor, it's that's it's consistently is poor, when we show up we are very good, when we don't we are crap.
 
#12
The CHL faced an unknown team and style of play. The EIHL have the luxury of analysis over several yrs. Taking nothing away from our achievement, we did well. Clubs will learn how we react in certain situations, how the ref officiates, as has been mentioned, our tactics etc. We may well be repeating, becoming predictable and stale.


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jimmy snels

Well-Known Member
#13
Im not sure how often brine and bordy got scored on pk but i always thought they did a great job. Missing them both massively. Brines replacement crowder not even close to his level.
 

kettdevil1

Well-Known Member
#15
Im not sure how often brine and bordy got scored on pk but i always thought they did a great job. Missing them both massively. Brines replacement crowder not even close to his level.
Bordy and Brine on the PK were two of the best I have seen. Crowder is not on the same level on the PK although to be fair, he is a completely different type of player and is far more of an offensive threat so not totally sure we are comparing like with like.....maybe the problem is more that he is playing a role that he is not massively suited to?
 

bb1

Well-Known Member
#16
Some spot on comments regarding Bordy and Brine being superb on the PK. Crowder has surprised many of us and is showing he's a fantastic hockey brain. I'm so happy to be wrong regarding him. How ppl can slate Reddick is beyond me. The guy plays his heart out week in week out.

What I find frustrating is that when things aren't going our way Lordo changes the lines constantly instead of maybe changing the style of play for a few shifts. Send them out to throw a few hits etc....it certainly worked last season as we had some monumental comebacks after letting Bordy off the leash.

Our team has shown its genius in CHL but I really feel we are missing a real spark plug type guy who can change things up and create energy amongst the team with hits etc.....

Also our top scorer ATM is Faryna who has played 3/4th line. Plus our D men in Hotham and Fournier really only seem to be a real threat going forward. We need an out and out goal scorer. Ulmer may finally decide to show up after Xmas but at this rate it may be too little to late. Shame because this team really has potential to be phenomenal.
 
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