Rumours & Offseason Nonsense 2022/23

Kevlar68

Well-Known Member
Oh it is ludicrous. MacWilliam is 55 and retired 23 years ago! Martin is 33, has played in better leagues this past 2 years and would still be a match winner in the EIHL. At least you concede that he’s still a great player - which makes it even stranger that you wouldn’t want him back.
And his Graz stats are OK considering he wasn't on the first line, possibly not on the PP either.
That's your opinion which i respect.
And yes he's a great player but i will stand by my opinion that i like teams to move forward and not look back to players.
Martin, Bowns, Haddad etc all worked well with Lord, he knew how to play them, to get the best out of them.
New coach, different style of play, different tactical plays, those players may not suit the new coach so lots of factors come in to play on what helps a player to become great including the players around them.
 

Diablo3

Well-Known Member
I'd have the G.O.A.T back any time. It would put bums on seats, in the same manner that re-signing Brandt would. It generates excitement for the new season. I'm not so sure on Haddad as he just hasn't played. Blood was class when we had him short term and probably still is. Bowns gives us the chance for an extra import which is always useful
 

Kevlar68

Well-Known Member
So i'll sum up and finish my opinion on previous players and next seasons team, Fournier, yes, Martin, yes but not on first or second line.
A few from last season and new additions.
 
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ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
Different coaches, different styles, different clubs. Well Richie, Big Lou, Stephen Dixon and our Brits adapted to two new coaches this season and didn't do too badly did they?
Somehow, think GOAT will be just fine.;)
 

OJLloyd

Well-Known Member
I don't want to sound rude, but I don't get the idea of having players like Haddad and Myers back. Haddad hasn't played anywhere for the last year, and Myers is imo more likely to drop down a level end up in Bristol. Neither is going to be the player you remember. The same applies to Joey Martin. A good player certainly, but not necessarily what you remember.

I get that in general terms we need those sorts of players, but we need younger players. I'd quite happily have mosey back though.
Nothing at all rude about what you’ve said there.

I understand Haddad didn’t play because of reasons not related to injury or ability.

I will also readily admit to him being a personal favourite whilst he was here and being friendly with his other half, so absolute bias on my part.

On the other Joey, I think a season in Graz won’t have slowed him down. 26 pts in 42 games isn’t the most exciting in terms of numbers, but Graz weren’t exactly setting the world on fire last year. He’s only 33, so there’s a good few years left in that particular tank.

Myers is sentiment, but also a point about face offs. Dixon was a face off beast, but we saw a real drop in % wins as we went down the lines. So maybe not Myers, but I’d like to see B Davies work on his face offs over the summer.

Though the point will always stand that there is a budget, and so I suspect Myers at this stage in his career would be a cheaper option for a Brit.
 

Rempel16

Well-Known Member
I have respect for each of the different opinions and I do understand the trepidation around Joey M… Mark Smith (forward) was a good example of a player who came back that wasn’t as good second time round.

But Joey’s attitude and work ethic is on a different level and I’d take a friendly wager that he will be in our top 3 scorers next season if he signs.
 

Mazzoak

Well-Known Member
Is Martin wiling to return to the Devils though, he’s done decent numbers in Europe so my take after many many many G&T’s is he’d want a massive pay day in Cardiff or see out his career in Urope.
 

Rempel16

Well-Known Member
The real Mark SMITH only played 1 season for us, 51 games 80 points.
Still got 57 points the second time around but was clearly not the same player.

Not sure about real Mark Smith either. The defencemen went through a brick wall for his teammates every night and I stand by the opinion that had he not got injured for the Steelers game (Mark Thomas scored the winner in overtime) we’d have won the league in that record breaking season.

Obvs the Tylor Michel ban had a big part to play also. Dan Welch- still one of my all time hated players!
 

Diablo3

Well-Known Member
Using Wally’s favourite phrase, the GOAT is going to run amok in the EIHL 22-23 season!
Talking of Wally, his latest with Franny and DuPont is worth a listen. DuPont was injured in October and the injury meant he lost feeling in his arm to the point where he couldn't take face offs, it didn't get any better so the club put him on the IR list. Now, it seems, he has hung up his skates. That explains a lot.
 

moggy#9

Well-Known Member
Talking of Wally, his latest with Franny and DuPont is worth a listen. DuPont was injured in October and the injury meant he lost feeling in his arm to the point where he couldn't take face offs, it didn't get any better so the club put him on the IR list. Now, it seems, he has hung up his skates. That explains a lot.
It also begs a few more questions.
 

Gazr76

Active Member
Nobody is talking about bringing Lords team back together. We're debating bringing back probably the best Devils player of the new era, a guy who is far from past it at just 33 and who has played at a much higher level for the past two years than the current Devils team. You bring up the comparison with MacWilliam, that’s just ludicrous. Joey Martin, if he’s fully fit still, has at least 3 good years left in him, possibly more if he’s looked after himself. 2 seasons off the pace? Are you seriously telling me that the Norwegian league and EBEL (or whatever it’s called now) are not stronger leagues than the EIHL?! Come on, one thing he wouldn’t be is off the pace unless of course he’s had serious injuries that I’m not aware of this past 2 years. If he came back, I don’t expect to see a lack of hunger and desire either. I just hope we get him here and he can then prove the doubters like yourself, wrong.
Agteed. EBEL is a MUCH better standard than the EIHL is right now. Much, much higher standard. People keep saying the standard of the EIHL gets better every year. That's simply not true. If Joey Martin does come back he'd still be a huge force in the EIHL.
 

Gazr76

Active Member
Nobody is talking about bringing Lords team back together. We're debating bringing back probably the best Devils player of the new era, a guy who is far from past it at just 33 and who has played at a much higher level for the past two years than the current Devils team. You bring up the comparison with MacWilliam, that’s just ludicrous. Joey Martin, if he’s fully fit still, has at least 3 good years left in him, possibly more if he’s looked after himself. 2 seasons off the pace? Are you seriously telling me that the Norwegian league and EBEL (or whatever it’s called now) are not stronger leagues than the EIHL?! Come on, one thing he wouldn’t be is off the pace unless of course he’s had serious injuries that I’m not aware of this past 2 years. If he came back, I don’t expect to see a lack of hunger and desire either. I just hope we get him here and he can then prove the doubters like yourself, wrong.
Agteed. EBEL is a MUCH better standard than the EIHL is right now. A much, much higher standard. People keep saying the standard of the EIHL gets better every year. That's simply not true. If Joey Martin does come back he'd still be a huge force in the EIHL.
 

The_Stick_

Well-Known Member
I have heard Kevin Raine to Cardiff, He’s going to be on slightly more money but his main motivation coming over here is to develop his personal best business. Belfast doesn’t have the ice facilities so it hasn’t been able to take off as Raine had wanted too
 
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