Cardiff Devils v Belfast Giants - Sun 26 Nov 2017 - League - FO 6pm - Chat/Updates

#41
Entertaining game tonight, winning with 5 sec to go was a sickener. The difference between these two teams tonight to me, can be described in one four letter word, GRIT . One team had it tonight, and it wasn't us, take Faryna out of the equation and they bossed us, as a few teams have.
The second and third periods were boring as hell. We created zero scoring chances all night - it was Belfast that brought the entertainment. This is the most boring devils team I’ve EVER watched.


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Gospel

Active Member
#42
The Giants indiscipline is terrible and antics like theirs need to be cracked down on by the Refs, that goes for all teams. Giants showed no respect whatsoever tonight to the officials but luckily for them it didn't stop them getting the 2 points.

We scored 3 from 8 on the PP which given our recent ability to butcher the PP is good but it should have been better.

We are not in a good position league wise and even though we have games in hand I would prefer the points at this stage of the season.

There were signs of better play from us but we are so far off where we need/should be at this stage of the season.

I think all we can hope for is other teams blow up after Christmas and we step up and move on otherwise lots of people will be disappointed come the end of season.
 

Devil94

Well-Known Member
#43
This year we have passages of play where we are brilliant and no-one can keep up with us. They are usually in the first period, but then we sadly drop off and can't close games off or put unnecessary pressure on ourselves to do so. Lord will be trying to find the secret ingredient I'm sure of how to keep playing like that for the full 60 instead of 10/15 mins.
I'm confident he and the lads will find it, I'm just hoping it won't be too late in the season.

But as has been said, in this crazy league season, 3 points from this weekend is not bad at all, it's just a shame they scored a flukey one so late. I mean, Sheffield lost 7-2 to MK and Nottingham lost at home to Fife this weekend, there are absolutely no weekends this season where we should be disappointed not to come with 4 points.
 

Ocko

Well-Known Member
#44
That game was brutal to watch. It was boring, had it not been for the Giants showing a bit of grit and heart it would've been even worse.

We're getting knocked about by the Giants and only 1 or two players give anything back. The same players all the time; Faryna and Batch. You can tell Keefe demands physicality out of his players, the mic'd up thing he did earlier in the season proved that. But every single Giants player was making hits, their bench were fired up all game. Their discipline was crap but theyre a damn sight better to watch than we are and they won the game. We're a decent team, but not a great team. Too many players who are just alright. Alright isn't enough right now. Lord's interview was equally as uninspiring. He must've watched a differnt game to me.

Joey Martin, Faryna, Batch, Hotham, Bowns, Richie, Myers, Fournier and Bentivoglio are the only players who can hold their heads high. The rest need to get some fire in their bellies and start showing that they want to be here because this team looks devoid of any heart and grit.
 
#45
Would Love to be proved wrong but I can't see us winning anything!
So frustrating after last seasons success.
Summer recruitment was very underwhelming and it shows in results thus far.
"Devils Hockey" has gone. No detterent for teams coming in to IAW who want to try their luck with cheap shots.
Cant fault the likes of Fife and Belfast last night who played dirty and took 2 points.
The whole "we need Haddad back" is grinding my gears too, I thought he was well off the pace before his injury and unfortunately wont be our saviour upon his return, its deeper than Haddad.

Its also been mentioned in this thread about match night entertainment being a bit meehh.
And i agree zorb football was funny for the first 3 weeks.
Music is boring same old same old.
The whole match night including the team all seems a bit damp.

Prove me wrong Cardiff Devils
Love you, bye xx
 

august04

Well-Known Member
#46
That game was brutal to watch. It was boring, had it not been for the Giants showing a bit of grit and heart it would've been even worse.

We're getting knocked about by the Giants and only 1 or two players give anything back. The same players all the time; Faryna and Batch. You can tell Keefe demands physicality out of his players, the mic'd up thing he did earlier in the season proved that. But every single Giants player was making hits, their bench were fired up all game. Their discipline was crap but theyre a damn sight better to watch than we are and they won the game. We're a decent team, but not a great team. Too many players who are just alright. Alright isn't enough right now. Lord's interview was equally as uninspiring. He must've watched a differnt game to me.

Joey Martin, Faryna, Batch, Hotham, Bowns, Richie, Myers, Fournier and Bentivoglio are the only players who can hold their heads high. The rest need to get some fire in their bellies and start showing that they want to be here because this team looks devoid of any heart and grit.
Spot on. Uninspiring and that goes for the team and Lord's interview.
 

Rempel16

Well-Known Member
#47
If the change doesn't come before Christmas then we are out of it. Our form is just simply not consistent enough - we can't blame the league being crazy for that - if our form was better we'd have converted most games into wins.

Said it before the first puck drop - the balance of the team is wrong.

We are trying to play three creative centres into 4 lines. We need another defensive forward for one of those lines. We are missing Culligan and Brine so badly.

Lord has never had to gas a player. I'm starting to wonder whether he's willing to accept mediocrity and coast through this year on the basis that he got recruitment wrong, or whether he will step up and pull the trigger on change (something that all winners have to do at some point).
 
#48
I haven’t posted on here for a while hoping for a change.
I have criticised a few players from the start and people didn’t agree with me told me I don’t know what I’m on about..

Now people are agreeing with me and see exact same pile of shit as me 2 months on...

Not good enough this year..
 

jimmy snels

Well-Known Member
#49
Lords interview: what is he watching???? He himself used to be a bull. Now he's like a kitten. Players like martinelli should be dealt with BY LORDO. He's not scoring and is our most experienced fighter. Players need to offer something else if they're not contributing in scoring. If he feels he cant then a team mate should be doing it. If we had pushed a giant into the boards like batch had done to him (accidental or not) the giants would all be in there throwing punches last night. Was sad to see a devils team so passive.
Im not a fan of our style of play at all. I knew before this season started i was going to get extreemly frustrated with this team if we werent winning as it had non physical written all over it. In general ive started to lose my passion for going to games and find myself entertained only in small passeges of play where we move the puck quickly and show some real skill.
Was good to see farayna step up but im also getting peed off with watching us lose any fights we do have. We have zero intimidation factor. It wasnt lost on me how many giants went bumping into farayna afterwards as well letting them know they were there including vandermeer butt ending him infront of a lino off the play who did nothing.
Need to pull the trigger and change players now. And change the way we play to actually entertain the sell outs turning up.
Also ulmer mom? Who picks these!?
 
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bb1

Well-Known Member
#50
That game was brutal to watch. It was boring, had it not been for the Giants showing a bit of grit and heart it would've been even worse.

We're getting knocked about by the Giants and only 1 or two players give anything back. The same players all the time; Faryna and Batch. You can tell Keefe demands physicality out of his players, the mic'd up thing he did earlier in the season proved that. But every single Giants player was making hits, their bench were fired up all game. Their discipline was crap but theyre a damn sight better to watch than we are and they won the game. We're a decent team, but not a great team. Too many players who are just alright. Alright isn't enough right now. Lord's interview was equally as uninspiring. He must've watched a differnt game to me.

Joey Martin, Faryna, Batch, Hotham, Bowns, Richie, Myers, Fournier and Bentivoglio are the only players who can hold their heads high. The rest need to get some fire in their bellies and start showing that they want to be here because this team looks devoid of any heart and grit.
Fantastic summary. I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw the game like this!
 

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
#51
That game was brutal to watch. It was boring, had it not been for the Giants showing a bit of grit and heart it would've been even worse.

Joey Martin, Faryna, Batch, Hotham, Bowns, Richie, Myers, Fournier and Bentivoglio are the only players who can hold their heads high. The rest need to get some fire in their bellies and start showing that they want to be here because this team looks devoid of any heart and grit.
And the long-term effect of this is equally worrying to ponder. Our 'core' players, those guys mentioned above in Ocko's post (plus Haddad, Louis, Moore and Murdy ), who flog their guts out every night and try to get things going in the performance, are the very guys hopefully the Club will attract back next season.

Most of them re-signed to battle every night to challenge for titles again this season. Accepted that the team will not win every game, but repeated below par team performances/inconsistency will just breed frustration and lack of confidence. I would hate to think that those above-mentioned players might consider a move elsewhere next season because of it.:mad:

Lordo is caught between a rock and a hard place. When he doesn't play, fans are demanding he does. When he plays, fans are demanding he goes to the bench.
He looks like a guy carrying too much on his shoulders at the moment - coaching, playing, leadership. Understand the playing bit - the team has injuries, he's covering. Wouldn't be surprised if he is carrying an injury himself because he is not the 'Tour de Force' he usually is. Also understand the leadership bit - he is the strongest leader on the team.....but that responsibility should be carried on his behalf by a strong captain.
Perhaps it is time for Lordo to take a breather (and give his body a rest if he has an injury) and channel his skills and energy into solely coaching only, stand back from the current confusion and sort out the team's real identity and strengths.
 
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august04

Well-Known Member
#52
Lord has been the heartbeat of this team for much of the season. When he hasn’t played, we have missed him badly, particularly early on. I’m not sure if he’s injured too, but he’s been a shadow of his former self of late (since the Brown hit against the Panthers for me, so maybe he isn’t fully fit?). Maybe it’s time to take himself out of the line up and get back to head coaching duties and see what’s going on out there without the distraction of playing. Perhaps take a closer look at the usual suspects who are going missing week in, week out and shortchanging the fans - and then please try to bring someone in who can add some much needed spark to this misfiring team (needs more than one though!). We got recruitment so badly wrong in the summer, it’s untrue - by not re-signing/replacing players who shone in specific roles (often the ugly, hard working stuff!) and replacing them with too many fancy dans who aren’t prepared to do the dirty work. As many have alluded to in this thread already, we have become such a passive, boring team to watch. And don’t blame it on the bigger ice pad - I didn’t see Belfast holding back on the physical stuff. The fans are supporting the club still in their droves - but can we please have Devils hockey back?
 
#53
That game was brutal to watch. It was boring, had it not been for the Giants showing a bit of grit and heart it would've been even worse.

We're getting knocked about by the Giants and only 1 or two players give anything back. The same players all the time; Faryna and Batch. You can tell Keefe demands physicality out of his players, the mic'd up thing he did earlier in the season proved that. But every single Giants player was making hits, their bench were fired up all game. Their discipline was crap but theyre a damn sight better to watch than we are and they won the game. We're a decent team, but not a great team. Too many players who are just alright. Alright isn't enough right now. Lord's interview was equally as uninspiring. He must've watched a differnt game to me.

Joey Martin, Faryna, Batch, Hotham, Bowns, Richie, Myers, Fournier and Bentivoglio are the only players who can hold their heads high. The rest need to get some fire in their bellies and start showing that they want to be here because this team looks devoid of any heart and grit.
You're 100% right that that game was boring to watch, No creativity on the offence and defensively this team isn't good enough. Goaltending has been average at best the last 2-3 weeks but the bottom line is, if this team doesn't start defending in all 3 areas of the ice, they will continue to be "ok". It all starts with team defence but in order to do that, the work ethic needs to improve dramatically. And that all starts at the top. It's obvious that the recruitment this year has not made us a better team and at this point no one can debate that but the big test now is , can the leader of this team change the way they're playing ?? The funny thing is, had they won those 2 games last weekend like they should have and won yesterday like they should have, they would be right there with the Panthers. You can make up a lack of talent with a work ethic and attention to detail on the defensive side of the puck but that to this point is missing. So the question is, is this team the team that beat Nottingham twice very easily, beat Davos and Vaxjo or the team that is struggling with confidence and a work ethic ?? I'd like to think the former but it's becoming clearer and clearer that it's the latter. Good news is that is can be changed but that's up to one guy
 
#54
I’m not so sure anything will be changed, the club has a limited budget to spend on players, even with regular sell outs. In general I’ve heard the majority of fans found the game exciting and value for money. Granted their knowledge of the technical aspects of the game and attachment to the club is far less than the majority of the many warranted criticisms written by members on here. We are not a big club, is it good business practice for our owners to “buy” the league, the cost wouldn’t justify the gains, we’d be turning fans away as the IAW has no capacity to increase growth and revenue. Will this season or next see a reduction in fan attendance, l don’t believe it will, even if some fans walked away Todd would simply source other avenues to replenish any loss in fan numbers. One club cannot dominate a season, year on year. To have that ambition would need a far greater financial commitment to the club than it currently has. It would need to improve all aspects of the business and have a much more demanding approach to poor performance and injuries. I’m pretty confident that the driving force of the club is to be relatively competitive, fill seats and continue to fill seats. For all the rhetoric, it’s actions that speak volumes.


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#55
I’m not so sure anything will be changed, the club has a limited budget to spend on players, even with regular sell outs. In general I’ve heard the majority of fans found the game exciting and value for money. Granted their knowledge of the technical aspects of the game and attachment to the club is far less than the majority of the many warranted criticisms written by members on here. We are not a big club, is it good business practice for our owners to “buy” the league, the cost wouldn’t justify the gains, we’d be turning fans away as the IAW has no capacity to increase growth and revenue. Will this season or next see a reduction in fan attendance, l don’t believe it will, even if some fans walked away Todd would simply source other avenues to replenish any loss in fan numbers. One club cannot dominate a season, year on year. To have that ambition would need a far greater financial commitment to the club than it currently has. It would need to improve all aspects of the business and have a much more demanding approach to poor performance and injuries. I’m pretty confident that the driving force of the club is to be relatively competitive, fill seats and continue to fill seats. For all the rhetoric, it’s actions that speak volumes.


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The less experienced fans may enjoy the games but It would pretty poor business to turn a blind eye to the fact that a large number of your season ticket holders are bored and frustrated by the on ice product. They're the backbone of the business.

I've been a season ticket holder for about 10 years now and have hardly missed a game in that time. This non physical pretty hockey we play under Lord is not what i enjoy or want to see. Its boring.
Of course i want to win cups but most important for me is to be entertained on a nightly basis by the on ice play. Recently we seem to to rely on the opposition to bring some entertainment while we plod along.

I cant even bring myself to watch Lords interviews post game these days. Same old sterile rubbish every time. Show a bit of passion rather than having a team of robots.
 
#56
The less experienced fans may enjoy the games but It would pretty poor business to turn a blind eye to the fact that a large number of your season ticket holders are bored and frustrated by the on ice product. They're the backbone of the business.

I've been a season ticket holder for about 10 years now and have hardly missed a game in that time. This non physical pretty hockey we play under Lord is not what i enjoy or want to see. Its boring.
Of course i want to win cups but most important for me is to be entertained on a nightly basis by the on ice play. Recently we seem to to rely on the opposition to bring some entertainment while we plod along.

I cant even bring myself to watch Lords interviews post game these days. Same old sterile rubbish every time. Show a bit of passion rather than having a team of robots.
I get that, but you cannot please everybody all of the time. It’s a headache for Todd, but ultimately sales will determine the clubs direction.


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#58
I've been a season ticket holder for about 10 years now and have hardly missed a game in that time. This non physical pretty hockey we play under Lord is not what i enjoy or want to see. Its boring.
Of course i want to win cups but most important for me is to be entertained on a nightly basis by the on ice play.
At what point would you decide to not renew your ST ?

I’m assuming this, that most ST holders wouldn’t stop renewing on one mediocre season, a season that didn’t achieve the level of satisfaction each person expected. But how would you ultimately know what the next season would bring. Which is why l ask, as l would be surprised if many would risk not renewing based on the past. If this year continues as it currently is, the owner group will be doing some major PR, judging the opinion of the majority of fans, l cannot envisaged much of an issue for the club, unless mediocre season continued.




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#59
At what point would you decide to not renew your ST ?

I’m assuming this, that most ST holders wouldn’t stop renewing on one mediocre season, a season that didn’t achieve the level of satisfaction each person expected. But how would you ultimately know what the next season would bring. Which is why l ask, as l would be surprised if many would risk not renewing based on the past. If this year continues as it currently is, the owner group will be doing some major PR, judging the opinion of the majority of fans, l cannot envisaged much of an issue for the club, unless mediocre season continued.




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Personally, Myself and partner are both season ticket holders but we're both a bit bored with what we watch week in week out.
If we continue with our current style of play for the rest of the season I would seriously consider not renewing in the the off season and just choose which games i attend. I'll have to see how i feel in April.
My friend who sat with us last season as a season ticket holder didn't renew in the off season just gone because he didn't enjoy the style we were playing and has just come to a handful of games this season. He doesn't regret his decision.
I know a number of other season ticket holders around the rink who're seriously considering not renewing because of the style of play under Lord. Its not just one season.

Nobody enjoys watching their team be bullied week in week out & its made even more frustrating when the coach sounds content with the way things are.
 
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#60
Personally, Myself and partner are both season ticket holders but we're both a bit bored with what we watch week in week out.
If we continue with our current style of play for the rest of the season I would seriously consider not renewing in the the off season and just choose which games i attend. I'll have to see how i feel in April.
My friend who sat with us last season as a season ticket holder didn't renew in the off season just gone because he didn't enjoy the style we were playing and has just come to a handful of games this season. He doesn't regret his decision.
I know a number of other season ticket holders around the rink who're seriously considering not renewing because of the style of play under Lord. Its not just one season.

Nobody enjoys watching their be bullied week in week out & its made even more frustrating when the coach sounds content with the way things are.
The clubs ethos towards all staff, whilst admirable is likely to become its Achilles heel.


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