Devils v Bili Tygri Liberec - Thurs 31 Aug 2017 / 7:00pm
- Thread starter James
- Start date
It's cool to be in the CHL and is great for the club in terms of exposure but with the exception of the first period I found it brutal to watch. We struggled to get out of our own zone so often. Tip of the hat to our opposition, they're a great team.
I just personally find it hard to enjoy a game that we aren't in for long periods. I don't think it's great hockey when one team are strolling and we're not even catching our breath let alone the opposition.
We will be great in the league I have no doubt l, but the footspeed of our D makes it near impossible for us to compete at this level.
I just personally find it hard to enjoy a game that we aren't in for long periods. I don't think it's great hockey when one team are strolling and we're not even catching our breath let alone the opposition.
We will be great in the league I have no doubt l, but the footspeed of our D makes it near impossible for us to compete at this level.
We might have lost anyway tonight but I found a couple of things really frustrating :
1) Several of their goals were caused by unforced errors by Devils players - if this had not happened the game would have been a tighter affair and then who knows
2) Devils were over playing at times and needed to be faster direct and more accurate
3) from the middle of the 2nd we were too static in the neutral zone and on the blue line - if the intent was to force them to dump puck it didn't work they skated through more often than not
4) biggest gripe the officiating especially in that last 5 mins. No prob with call on Josh but their refusal to call two blatant penalties against Liberic right in front of them and then call further penalties against Devils really pissed me off.
I think this game was there for the taking to be honest and we let it slip.
This is not a moan but an assessment
Dreading Sunday but will be there supporting the team and then bring on the league.
1) Several of their goals were caused by unforced errors by Devils players - if this had not happened the game would have been a tighter affair and then who knows
2) Devils were over playing at times and needed to be faster direct and more accurate
3) from the middle of the 2nd we were too static in the neutral zone and on the blue line - if the intent was to force them to dump puck it didn't work they skated through more often than not
4) biggest gripe the officiating especially in that last 5 mins. No prob with call on Josh but their refusal to call two blatant penalties against Liberic right in front of them and then call further penalties against Devils really pissed me off.
I think this game was there for the taking to be honest and we let it slip.
This is not a moan but an assessment
Dreading Sunday but will be there supporting the team and then bring on the league.
Game was there for the taking?! I take it you mean when we were 2-0 up? After that the gulf in class was huge. They outshot us 54 - 23 in our own barn and if it wasn't for bownsy in the second and third it might have been 10 again. Sounds funny saying a goalie was outstanding after conceding 7 but some of his saves were world class.
Bottom line is we're just playing much better teams at the moment. We really aren't helping ourselves at times though, Hotham and Fournier's mistakes were extremely sloppy. However tired they were
Bottom line is we're just playing much better teams at the moment. We really aren't helping ourselves at times though, Hotham and Fournier's mistakes were extremely sloppy. However tired they were
This game was never ever there for the taking, they are purely a different class, that's why they play in a far superior league, you can't make these guys dump the puck, that's not their style, and they are too good to play that game.As for being faster I thought we gave our all last night, but class teams like Liberec just go up a gear. Outshot 54 -23 says it all really, our lads gave it their all last night but class will always tell.
We looked good in the first but we don't have the fitness to play at that level for 60 minutes. People writing us off to finish 3rd or 4th in the elite league based on these games is ridiculous, we're still very much capable of winning or being close runners up. Panthers could be a threat based on their CHL performance but still until the puck drops on league action its all guesswork. I personally don't think the Steelers or Giants are as strong as us this year.
Liberec were a different class, keeping the puck, moving into clear spaces, passing on point and they just ran rings around us. I feel the Devil's dont have the fitness of their league and it showed last night. The referee didn't help the game with certain decisions but hey ho thats the way it is. Not the outcome we wanted but a really good game of hockey and I think we should be proud even to be in the league in terms of getting to play against these world class teams. On to the next!
Liberec played a good road game, pushing hard in the first, although we managed to get the puck in the net on probably our first or second shot on goal. The fast pace and the clutch and grab that went unpunished in that period was enough for Liberec to go into the second comfortable in the knowledge that they would level the game and go on to win. Our lack of fitness (or skating ability) showed, and frustrations with the reffing and delays caused by the (CHL ?) scorer getting flustered boiled over and we started to panic, making silly passes, giving the puck away or simply getting turned over like we would to a team like Edinburgh.
The third saw some of the worst reffing, which allowed the white tigers to basically finish us off in clinical style. How Darnell could either call some of the things he did AND miss things that should have been called I don't know. As for Josh I didn't see what happened, but I feel he probably got the right punishment, but he must feel hard done by given some of the antics that neither ref called.
Oh well, Had the panthers not beaten Mountfield twice I would probably feel as though we have dipped out toes into european competition, and will know what to expect in the future. As it is I feel we should have taken point or points from one of the Liberec games. I really hope Davos don't punish us too hard on Sunday!
The third saw some of the worst reffing, which allowed the white tigers to basically finish us off in clinical style. How Darnell could either call some of the things he did AND miss things that should have been called I don't know. As for Josh I didn't see what happened, but I feel he probably got the right punishment, but he must feel hard done by given some of the antics that neither ref called.
Oh well, Had the panthers not beaten Mountfield twice I would probably feel as though we have dipped out toes into european competition, and will know what to expect in the future. As it is I feel we should have taken point or points from one of the Liberec games. I really hope Davos don't punish us too hard on Sunday!
What I meant was that if the organisation were stretch targeting 1 win that game would have been it. That 2-0 lead was exactly what would have been needed. The unforced errors then hurt our cause. We were able to generate chances against this team and thus if a tighter game just might have been to cause an upset. That's what I meant by slipping away
The gulf between the teams was most apparent on the ability to immediately punish those errors and on the effectiveness of the special teams - seeing off our power plays with seeming ease and scoring on theirs.
Was I expecting us to win - no
Did I enjoy the hockey - on the skills on display yes.
As long as the team keep their confidence with regards to our league I think they will do well
head back below the parapet now
The gulf between the teams was most apparent on the ability to immediately punish those errors and on the effectiveness of the special teams - seeing off our power plays with seeming ease and scoring on theirs.
Was I expecting us to win - no
Did I enjoy the hockey - on the skills on display yes.
As long as the team keep their confidence with regards to our league I think they will do well
head back below the parapet now 