Rumours & Offseason Nonsense 2019/20

Okay we have played 4 pre season games, won 2, and lost 2, one of those loses was against a very good European team, and the other loss away to a pretty good team losing in the last seconds, as well as playing without our main goal scorer. We have a squad that given time will produce, and a team that will entertain, so why the hell are we in week 2 knocking players, instead of getting behind the team we apparently all love. Last season was a great season, winning the play offs, and drawing level with the eventual league winners, at the moment no one can say we won’t win everything, and no one can say we will win everything, but one thing is for sure and that is that our team need us, not some of us all of us, the same as we need all of them. People will always have their favourites, and people will always have their not so favourites, but knocking players on a public forum 2 weeks into the season is classless, and if there’s one thing Devils fans were never known for its being classless. These lads need us to get behind them 100%, they have been told to expect us fans to be the extra man, and that’s exactly what we should be, the extra man. Players know when their form is dipping, it’s not something done intentionally, it’s the life of a athlete in any sport. So can we please do what we are supposed to be the best at, and that’s supporting our team whether they are on a high, or whether they are on a low, that is the true definition of caring. Don’t ever lose sight of the position this club is in, it could go as fast as it arrived. We are in a truly blessed position at the moment, enjoy the ride, it can go in a heartbeat, ask Durham, ask Edinburgh, and in a smaller way ask Sheffield. Hockey is back and it’s going to be a blast.
Happy Hockey Days.
what he said...
voice of reason...
yes.
 

OJLloyd

Well-Known Member
Christ on a bike, what is wrong with you people?

Joey Haddad’s injury was sustained for the Devils, and he is an outstanding player. He’s fit and ready to go.

As for Pope, you all moved on from Reddick to Pope. I think it’s time you move on altogether.

You aren’t happy unless you have something to moan about. Moan about the price of beer or something, you’re genuinely a negative influence on the team and fans.

The season hasn’t even started yet.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
Christ on a bike, what is wrong with you people?

Joey Haddad’s injury was sustained for the Devils, and he is an outstanding player. He’s fit and ready to go.

As for Pope, you all moved on from Reddick to Pope. I think it’s time you move on altogether.

You aren’t happy unless you have something to moan about. Moan about the price of beer or something, you’re genuinely a negative influence on the team and fans.

The season hasn’t even started yet.
I don’t know why people are getting their knickers in a twist about Haddad. I genuinely haven’t seen anyone say they don’t want him here. Everyone agrees he’s brilliant when he’s fit. I’ve only seen people saying it would be nice to have a spare import as Haddad has been injury prone for a couple of seasons. I think he missed 14 league and cup games in 2017/18 and 20 league and cup games last season. Then he needs to regain match sharpness when he’s back.
 

Justtw

Active Member
Cheers folks. If he has half the impact Crowder did he'll be doing fine.
I’m super happy for the Crowder brothers being picked up by Fife again (at least for Paul). I’ve been living in Sydney and caught up with them a few times after games out here. Although the skill level of ice hockey in Australian is definitely much lower than even the UK, the Crowder brothers gave it their all, all season and are super down to earth, happy to chat with fans.
 

Gough60

Active Member
Lets just wait until the season starts and we get some competitive games under our belt before opinions on "how fit 'X' is or why isn't 'Y' producing more points".
 

voth26

Well-Known Member
Calm down Mrs Pope. We all want your son to do well but we’re just passionate fans that want to see the best for our club
Wow how long did it take you come up with that!!. You say that passionate fans want to see the best for the club yet you harp on about pope's stats from last year. Just because you don't agree with pope coming back doesn't mean everyone else thinks the same
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
Wow how long did it take you come up with that!!. You say that passionate fans want to see the best for the club yet you harp on about pope's stats from last year. Just because you don't agree with pope coming back doesn't mean everyone else thinks the same
It took 17 minutes. You posted your message at 9.42 and I replied at 9.59. Quite an easy one to work out really

No I agree. I haven’t criticised anyone for wanting pope back. I’ve actually said if people are happy to give him another chance then fair enough. I don’t necessarily agree with it but I respect people’s opinions. I’ve also said numerous times my issue is not having a spare import (if the moneys there) more than Pope being back
 

Rempel16

Well-Known Member
It took 17 minutes. You posted your message at 9.42 and I replied at 9.59. Quite an easy one to work out really

No I agree. I haven’t criticised anyone for wanting pope back. I’ve actually said if people are happy to give him another chance then fair enough. I don’t necessarily agree with it but I respect people’s opinions. I’ve also said numerous times my issue is not having a spare import (if the moneys there) more than Pope being back
Perhaps you need the answer from the club on whether the intention is to sign a spare import or not.

- If the money isn't there, then to accommodate your wish you'd have to dilute the quality of the 14 imports signed so i'd be interested to know which player you'd sacrifice for a lesser player.
- If the money is there, the your issue will stand, and it's something that can be discussed at that point.

Until you get the answer from the club you are speculating on a situation that may or may not be a possibility. And as a result, Matt Pope (who i'd trust Lords opinion on over anyone on here - particularly if goals are the benchmark and not his enabling play) has been dragged in for no reason whatsoever.

I just hope he gets the credit if he proves you wrong.

And no, i'm not his mum.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
Perhaps you need the answer from the club on whether the intention is to sign a spare import or not.

- If the money isn't there, then to accommodate your wish you'd have to dilute the quality of the 14 imports signed so i'd be interested to know which player you'd sacrifice for a lesser player.
- If the money is there, the your issue will stand, and it's something that can be discussed at that point.

Until you get the answer from the club you are speculating on a situation that may or may not be a possibility. And as a result, Matt Pope (who i'd trust Lords opinion on over anyone on here - particularly if goals are the benchmark and not his enabling play) has been dragged in for no reason whatsoever.

I just hope he gets the credit if he proves you wrong.

And no, i'm not his mum.
I tend to agree with a couple of your 'Rose-tinted specs' friends that have said the Pope debate is a bit boring now. But I'm happy to continue the debate :)

_ So we can only talk about topics on an unoffical fans forum after we get answers from the club? That's an interesting one.
_ You say Pope's name has been dragged up for no reason whatsoever? He's scored 1 goal in his last 30 games and he's back for a second year of a 2 year contract. So really he was contracted to us no matter how well he did last season. So it's not really ;No reason whatsoever' is it?

I'll reiterate though. I'm happy to stop talking about Pope from now on. But it's funny how when something says something negative the topic is boring but when it's something positive the topic can continue.
 

Rempel16

Well-Known Member
I tend to agree with a couple of your 'Rose-tinted specs' friends that have said the Pope debate is a bit boring now. But I'm happy to continue the debate :)

_ So we can only talk about topics on an unoffical fans forum after we get answers from the club? That's an interesting one.
_ You say Pope's name has been dragged up for no reason whatsoever? He's scored 1 goal in his last 30 games and he's back for a second year of a 2 year contract. So really he was contracted to us no matter how well he did last season. So it's not really ;No reason whatsoever' is it?

I'll reiterate though. I'm happy to stop talking about Pope from now on. But it's funny how when something says something negative the topic is boring but when it's something positive the topic can continue.
What has this topic got to do with all others in respect of getting answers from the club? Other topics don't necessarily need an answer to speculate.
You've said that your gripe is us not running with a spare.... Fine, but you don't know whether we are running a spare or not, so how can you have a gripe over something you don't know??

Yes he has scored '2' in his last 30 games. David Brine scored 4 (i think) all season. I'd have taken him back in a heartbeat. Whilst Pope didn't score so many goals, and wasn't at the form we expected, he brought so many other attributes to the play and perhaps that is why we have brought him back.

Look no further than Blair Riley if you really want to contest the fact he was contracted to us for another season. If Lord didn't want him for the second year he'd be gone.

Ok, so your first line was super patronising, but sod it, i'll go there.... Why is there a rose-tinted view on it? The guy is putting his body on the line, in a jersey that means so much to many and yet he's having doubters before the season has started based on form of 5 months ago. A bit harsh if you ask me.

And I'll wait on the reply over which import you'd sacrifice if finances are the issue, as you're clearly happy to have 15 of a lesser quality than 14 of a higher quality....
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
What has this topic got to do with all others in respect of getting answers from the club? Other topics don't necessarily need an answer to speculate.
You've said that your gripe is us not running with a spare.... Fine, but you don't know whether we are running a spare or not, so how can you have a gripe over something you don't know??

Yes he has scored '2' in his last 30 games. David Brine scored 4 (i think) all season. I'd have taken him back in a heartbeat. Whilst Pope didn't score so many goals, and wasn't at the form we expected, he brought so many other attributes to the play and perhaps that is why we have brought him back.

Look no further than Blair Riley if you really want to contest the fact he was contracted to us for another season. If Lord didn't want him for the second year he'd be gone.

Ok, so your first line was super patronising, but sod it, i'll go there.... Why is there a rose-tinted view on it? The guy is putting his body on the line, in a jersey that means so much to many and yet he's having doubters before the season has started based on form of 5 months ago. A bit harsh if you ask me.

And I'll wait on the reply over which import you'd sacrifice if finances are the issue, as you're clearly happy to have 15 of a lesser quality than 14 of a higher quality....
Fair play I stand corrected. He's scored 2 in 30 games, both in the same match vs an under strength MK.

What's your point about Riley?

Comparing Brine to Pope? Brine was brought in on a 4th line checking role. He was never, ever going to be on the top 2 lines. Pope wasn't given a two year contract to be on our 4th line.

Every club have fans that wear rose-tinted specs. Supporters that struggle with any criticism regarding their club. I don't think that's news. And there's certainly an element on here.


Why do teams sign a spare import? For injuries/poor form and to keep players on their toes. So you sit players out accordingly. It's not going to be the same player sitting out every game.
 

Rempel16

Well-Known Member
Fair play I stand corrected. He's scored 2 in 30 games, both in the same match vs an under strength MK.

What's your point about Riley?

Comparing Brine to Pope? Brine was brought in on a 4th line checking role. He was never, ever going to be on the top 2 lines. Pope wasn't given a two year contract to be on our 4th line.

Every club have fans that wear rose-tinted specs. Supporters that struggle with any criticism regarding their club. I don't think that's news. And there's certainly an element on here.


Why do teams sign a spare import? For injuries/poor form and to keep players on their toes. So you sit players out accordingly. It's not going to be the same player sitting out every game.
No worries, correction accepted.

My point about Riley is that you're banging on about Pope being on a two-year deal. Well if year one went so badly it's easy enough to get out, in the way that Riley got out of his second year.

How many times did Pope's line get scored on last season I wonder. Maybe his role changed as the year went on? It certainly looked to me like it had.

Yes every team has rose-tinted specs fans.... But my question was how does defending Pope before a puck has been dropped in a competitive game count as rose-tinted?

You've missed the point about the spare import again... Teams do sign a spare, yes. But who knows? This year we may have decided to spend the money to sign Riley, as opposed to using the same wages on Livingston and Morissette, just to be carrying a spare. I'd rather quality of imports over quantity of imports every time.
 

august04

Well-Known Member
No worries, correction accepted.

My point about Riley is that you're banging on about Pope being on a two-year deal. Well if year one went so badly it's easy enough to get out, in the way that Riley got out of his second year.

How many times did Pope's line get scored on last season I wonder. Maybe his role changed as the year went on? It certainly looked to me like it had.

Yes every team has rose-tinted specs fans.... But my question was how does defending Pope before a puck has been dropped in a competitive game count as rose-tinted?

You've missed the point about the spare import again... Teams do sign a spare, yes. But who knows? This year we may have decided to spend the money to sign Riley, as opposed to using the same wages on Livingston and Morissette, just to be carrying a spare. I'd rather quality of imports over quantity of imports every time.
Getting out of a 2 year contract isn't easy nowadays unless there's an option for either party to get out at some point - they're not like the old standard EIHL contracts which weren't worth the paper they were written on. Usually means you have to pay up the rest of the contract if no option in place. I believe Riley was able to get out as his contract had the option of the following year which both parties could trigger/reject - and he didn't take up, so he could get out easily. There's a big difference.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
No worries, correction accepted.

My point about Riley is that you're banging on about Pope being on a two-year deal. Well if year one went so badly it's easy enough to get out, in the way that Riley got out of his second year.

How many times did Pope's line get scored on last season I wonder. Maybe his role changed as the year went on? It certainly looked to me like it had.

Yes every team has rose-tinted specs fans.... But my question was how does defending Pope before a puck has been dropped in a competitive game count as rose-tinted?

You've missed the point about the spare import again... Teams do sign a spare, yes. But who knows? This year we may have decided to spend the money to sign Riley, as opposed to using the same wages on Livingston and Morissette, just to be carrying a spare. I'd rather quality of imports over quantity of imports every time.
But Riley wanted to leave Belfast to sign for us. He asked to opt out of the 2nd year of his contract. If anything it's the complete opposite of the Pope debate. If you're going to compare it to a similar situation in the EIHL it would be Evan Mcgrath at Sheffield

Agree with you on the last paragraph. It looks like we probably have sacrificed a spare import by spending more money on certain players.
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
Well I still think we will sign another player, and will be very very surprised if we don’t. But it won’t be any old player that won’t make a difference, the league has turned into a chess match, and we still have a move to make.
 
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