Devils v Clan - 16/09 - 6.00pm Faceoff - Chat & Updates
- Thread starter Skippy
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Pretty poor tonight in some areas.
the referee did a good job and i understood ALL his calls missed one high sticking on kenton.... much better than hicks!
Falkner looks our main threat ALL the time. driving the net and chasing people down with real determination. pity max was well off the pace tonight for long periods.
Deeds.... WTF ?! Is he real? How many ridiculous pens does one guy have to take?
Stuuuuu.... remember those guys in red? Yep, thats ur team.... pass the puck to them!!!!
Milam, has a thunderous shot apparently. going to bring us real threat to pp's. any chance you could do just that? Shoot the puck, on net, after controlling the poxy thing!
G did a good shift every shift. i was actually surprised not to see harding and piggot feature a bit more. think we missed a trick by not rotating them into lines. a couple of guys could have done with a five minute rest in my view
the referee did a good job and i understood ALL his calls missed one high sticking on kenton.... much better than hicks!
Falkner looks our main threat ALL the time. driving the net and chasing people down with real determination. pity max was well off the pace tonight for long periods.
Deeds.... WTF ?! Is he real? How many ridiculous pens does one guy have to take?
Stuuuuu.... remember those guys in red? Yep, thats ur team.... pass the puck to them!!!!
Milam, has a thunderous shot apparently. going to bring us real threat to pp's. any chance you could do just that? Shoot the puck, on net, after controlling the poxy thing!
G did a good shift every shift. i was actually surprised not to see harding and piggot feature a bit more. think we missed a trick by not rotating them into lines. a couple of guys could have done with a five minute rest in my view
Big Red Machine needs a lot of work in many areas. Running out of early season chances to gain ground in competitions. Well played the Clan who were shortbenched and tired. Remember the Devils last season - shortbenched brought out the best..
Mac is an outstanding player and Phil Osaer a fine performanc. But these and other hardworking players like Stu have every right to be angry tonight. There are weaknesses and liabilities in that team that need to be addessed now....team and fans anxious for home win, PR hoping to increase attendances.
Time to think outside the box? For example, anyone notice how effective McKenzie's linkup with Stu and Phil Hill was? Great goal.
Mac is an outstanding player and Phil Osaer a fine performanc. But these and other hardworking players like Stu have every right to be angry tonight. There are weaknesses and liabilities in that team that need to be addessed now....team and fans anxious for home win, PR hoping to increase attendances.
Time to think outside the box? For example, anyone notice how effective McKenzie's linkup with Stu and Phil Hill was? Great goal.
I can't really argue with any of these comments TBH, all I have to add is:
1. Can we please shoot on the PP when a decent chance presents itself ?
2. Do the team practice penalty shots in training ?
I remember seeing a TV programme once where the England football coach was asked if they practiced taking penalties. The answer was a firm NO.
They then cut to the German coach who was asked the same question. The answer was a firm YES.
Nuff said
1. Can we please shoot on the PP when a decent chance presents itself ?
2. Do the team practice penalty shots in training ?
I remember seeing a TV programme once where the England football coach was asked if they practiced taking penalties. The answer was a firm NO.
They then cut to the German coach who was asked the same question. The answer was a firm YES.
Nuff said
First off I think credit has to go to Braehead for an excellent road game. They came to us short after a tough loss in Fife and played the perfect game. Tactically they got it right. We were out coached last night. Zemlek stood on his head and gave them a chance to win it and they did.
Defensively we were all over the place. There were some really basic errors on our own blue line. The 2nd goal we were completely out of position, trying to force the puck when we were short handed. The 3rd goal was shambolic. We had 4 opportunities to clear the puck but for some reason we wanted to try and tick, tack, toe is out of our zone. Not impressive at all.
Up front is a little more encouraging. Our first line looks something else. The link up play with Blight and Fualkner is scary. Faulkner is a work horse and has so much to his game. The effort should be mirrored by any up and coming players. Another 2 goals tonight. 8 goals already is it?
The MacRae line cycles the puck really well. I think at the moment there is a lack of clinical finishing. Deets took some bumb pens which didn’t help our course.
Why we didn’t decide to bruise a short bench that had bus legs I don’t know. Hit them early and we would have had Braehead in our pockets. I appreciate there was a new ref in town and he liked to touch the sky but our softly, softly approach cost us last night.
4 points out of 6 from real title contenders is not bad. That said, losing your first two home games of the season and conceding 7 goals away to Hull is bad. I can handle losing but it’s the manor of the loss which is most frustrating. Tactics wrong, silly errors and silly penalties.
Defensively we were all over the place. There were some really basic errors on our own blue line. The 2nd goal we were completely out of position, trying to force the puck when we were short handed. The 3rd goal was shambolic. We had 4 opportunities to clear the puck but for some reason we wanted to try and tick, tack, toe is out of our zone. Not impressive at all.
Up front is a little more encouraging. Our first line looks something else. The link up play with Blight and Fualkner is scary. Faulkner is a work horse and has so much to his game. The effort should be mirrored by any up and coming players. Another 2 goals tonight. 8 goals already is it?
The MacRae line cycles the puck really well. I think at the moment there is a lack of clinical finishing. Deets took some bumb pens which didn’t help our course.
Why we didn’t decide to bruise a short bench that had bus legs I don’t know. Hit them early and we would have had Braehead in our pockets. I appreciate there was a new ref in town and he liked to touch the sky but our softly, softly approach cost us last night.
4 points out of 6 from real title contenders is not bad. That said, losing your first two home games of the season and conceding 7 goals away to Hull is bad. I can handle losing but it’s the manor of the loss which is most frustrating. Tactics wrong, silly errors and silly penalties.
Highlights of last night for me: -
1. Goal from McKenzie.
2. Braehead fans.
3. Mrs Tyke Devil getting a shout out. Thanks for that Paul. Really appreciated.
After that I'm stuggling. Agree Faulkner is looking a class above at the moment. Max worked hard but he always does. Ditto Ben. Defence looked all over the place. Clear the puck guys.
Where I think we lost it was the run of penalties in the second period. After going 2-1 ahead early in the second I thought we were on our way. Then penalty after penalty (not good ones either) and we completely lost momentum.
We only seemed to put the effort in after going 3-2 down in the 3rd. Then we showed we can play a bit, albeit against a tiring Clan team. Thought the Clan played well. Out thought (and maybe out fought but precious little physical play last night) us in our own Barn.
Attendance poor. Could be something that happens a lot this year with the Conference system. The "floating" fan may choose to attend the higher profile games against the teams in our own Conference rather than those games against the Northern Conference teams.
I'm really struggling to part with £40+ for the Challenge Cup game this weekend though after that. If the NIHL team are at home I think they will be getting my hard earned.
Four out of Ten Devils......Must do better!
1. Goal from McKenzie.
2. Braehead fans.
3. Mrs Tyke Devil getting a shout out. Thanks for that Paul. Really appreciated.
After that I'm stuggling. Agree Faulkner is looking a class above at the moment. Max worked hard but he always does. Ditto Ben. Defence looked all over the place. Clear the puck guys.
Where I think we lost it was the run of penalties in the second period. After going 2-1 ahead early in the second I thought we were on our way. Then penalty after penalty (not good ones either) and we completely lost momentum.
We only seemed to put the effort in after going 3-2 down in the 3rd. Then we showed we can play a bit, albeit against a tiring Clan team. Thought the Clan played well. Out thought (and maybe out fought but precious little physical play last night) us in our own Barn.
Attendance poor. Could be something that happens a lot this year with the Conference system. The "floating" fan may choose to attend the higher profile games against the teams in our own Conference rather than those games against the Northern Conference teams.
I'm really struggling to part with £40+ for the Challenge Cup game this weekend though after that. If the NIHL team are at home I think they will be getting my hard earned.
Four out of Ten Devils......Must do better!
I question that figure of 1231 attendance. I would have thought it was closer to 1500?
Dissapointing game.
If Didi is going to take a string of penalties let it be for something worthwhile.
It was rather a non contact game - not our style. Faulkner was everywhere and real talented workhorse.
The Clan goalie Zemlak had a tremendous game.
At one point in the off season I thought he was coming to Cardiff
Dissapointing game.
If Didi is going to take a string of penalties let it be for something worthwhile.
It was rather a non contact game - not our style. Faulkner was everywhere and real talented workhorse.
The Clan goalie Zemlak had a tremendous game.
At one point in the off season I thought he was coming to Cardiff
The ''non-contact'' approach is something that I thought we would leave with last years team, but it seems not.....
Took approximately 16.30 mins before a hit was thrown (Well done Batch), that simply doesn't make for good entertainment (imo).......
2nd period, Deeds threw a big hit, crowd cheers, Devils backs immediately up, puck turned over and Devils score.... All in the same shift.
More hits on the forecheck please...... And please, D-men - protect Osaer when he covers the puck!!!!!
Took approximately 16.30 mins before a hit was thrown (Well done Batch), that simply doesn't make for good entertainment (imo).......
2nd period, Deeds threw a big hit, crowd cheers, Devils backs immediately up, puck turned over and Devils score.... All in the same shift.
More hits on the forecheck please...... And please, D-men - protect Osaer when he covers the puck!!!!!
Well Im going to buck the trend. I thought the Devils looked the better team last night. If you look at other games (Fife Braehead aside) it is a very close league this year with many games won by a goal or in OT.
I agree that line 2 is not what it should be and maybe the combinations need changing. I believe we have the right players but some juggling may be needed.
The stars for me at the moment are all of line 1, MacKenzie and Ben.
Deeds is not going to be a big scorer but he will play his role. He protects the puck well and can be parked in front of net.
We know what a great player Stu is but he isn't clicking with his line mates.
We have the options to change as I believe Ben is capable of playing 1st or 2nd line and after last nights performance I would say MacKenzie is also.
Im also happy with the D as individuals but think Milam may still have some off season rust.(He was last to arrive)
However they are getting caught on breakaways (in last 2 games) so need to work on communication or positioning.
I thoroughly enjoyed last nights game and thought the ref was very good. In my book its not all doom and gloom. I think G will shuffle the lines (probably a few times) and it will come right. Just hope it doesn't take too long.
I agree that line 2 is not what it should be and maybe the combinations need changing. I believe we have the right players but some juggling may be needed.
The stars for me at the moment are all of line 1, MacKenzie and Ben.
Deeds is not going to be a big scorer but he will play his role. He protects the puck well and can be parked in front of net.
We know what a great player Stu is but he isn't clicking with his line mates.
We have the options to change as I believe Ben is capable of playing 1st or 2nd line and after last nights performance I would say MacKenzie is also.
Im also happy with the D as individuals but think Milam may still have some off season rust.(He was last to arrive)
However they are getting caught on breakaways (in last 2 games) so need to work on communication or positioning.
I thoroughly enjoyed last nights game and thought the ref was very good. In my book its not all doom and gloom. I think G will shuffle the lines (probably a few times) and it will come right. Just hope it doesn't take too long.
Interesting to read that G admitted that he got the preparation wrong for the midweek CC game against Hull.
Well G, you and Frannie got it very wrong tactically last night and it ultimately cost us the extra point which was there for the taking against a short benched team who - unless they were lucky enough to have flown down - had just travelled many hours on a coach! Where was the passion?Where were the physical contact hits? Where was the intimidation to the opposition? The amount of times we coughed up the puck when in possesion was embarrassing. Where were our D on many ocassions, we nearly gave up a couple of short handed goals again, and for gods sake where was our pattern of play on the PP? The much lauded arrival of Milam who was supposed to control the power play and then unleash his unstopable 'rocket shots' isn't happening. Zemlak didn't stand on his head as is being suggested by others, most of the shots on him were from distance and in comfortable areas. The overall team performance was way below par, and it certainly is not the way to attract more fans. Just a couple of things to work on this week then eh?
Well G, you and Frannie got it very wrong tactically last night and it ultimately cost us the extra point which was there for the taking against a short benched team who - unless they were lucky enough to have flown down - had just travelled many hours on a coach! Where was the passion?Where were the physical contact hits? Where was the intimidation to the opposition? The amount of times we coughed up the puck when in possesion was embarrassing. Where were our D on many ocassions, we nearly gave up a couple of short handed goals again, and for gods sake where was our pattern of play on the PP? The much lauded arrival of Milam who was supposed to control the power play and then unleash his unstopable 'rocket shots' isn't happening. Zemlak didn't stand on his head as is being suggested by others, most of the shots on him were from distance and in comfortable areas. The overall team performance was way below par, and it certainly is not the way to attract more fans. Just a couple of things to work on this week then eh?
Just had a look at Elite League stats, and in the league that's our EIGHTH loss when it's gone to a shoot out with our last shoot out win being in the 2010-11 in the league.
Yes, I do know we won the playoff semi's on a shoot out which was probably the most important of all of them, but still, that's a lot of points dropped in the league.
I'm sure they have mentioned before that they do practice penalties. Just doesn't seem to work - even with 3 new shooters this season and a different goalie!
As others have said, 4 points from first 3 matches is better than most people would have expected so not all bad.
Yes, I do know we won the playoff semi's on a shoot out which was probably the most important of all of them, but still, that's a lot of points dropped in the league.
I'm sure they have mentioned before that they do practice penalties. Just doesn't seem to work - even with 3 new shooters this season and a different goalie!
As others have said, 4 points from first 3 matches is better than most people would have expected so not all bad.
I've got to be honest, although I thought we played well last night, there were a few things that really REALLY did my head in.
1) Trying to walk the puck into the net. Zemlak is a goalie who (from what I have seen of him) automatically goes low. Walking the puck into the net is not going to work against him.
2) The ref. I can see that a lot of people are having a go at Deeds for taking so many penalties but in all honesty, I think the ref was watching him and picking up on every little thing because he was so scared that Deeds was going to do something. The ref was not consistent at all last night and I think he needs more experience elsewhere before coming into this league again.
3) Jamie Milam. For a guy who's supposed to have a super hard slapshot, he seems very reluctant to use it. He had a number of opportunities last night but didn't take them. I don't understand why because he clearly has skill and ability, I'd just like to see a bit more of it.
As always, I trust G to make the necessary changes to ensure that we play better next week. Getting 4 points from 3 league games so far this season is fab. Lets hope it continues (but maybe with a few more wins).
Onwards and upwards!
1) Trying to walk the puck into the net. Zemlak is a goalie who (from what I have seen of him) automatically goes low. Walking the puck into the net is not going to work against him.
2) The ref. I can see that a lot of people are having a go at Deeds for taking so many penalties but in all honesty, I think the ref was watching him and picking up on every little thing because he was so scared that Deeds was going to do something. The ref was not consistent at all last night and I think he needs more experience elsewhere before coming into this league again.
3) Jamie Milam. For a guy who's supposed to have a super hard slapshot, he seems very reluctant to use it. He had a number of opportunities last night but didn't take them. I don't understand why because he clearly has skill and ability, I'd just like to see a bit more of it.
As always, I trust G to make the necessary changes to ensure that we play better next week. Getting 4 points from 3 league games so far this season is fab. Lets hope it continues (but maybe with a few more wins).
Onwards and upwards!
Wasnt at the game last night so going on other peoples views and from watching steelers game, just had a look at the elite website and at the moment we are the 2nd lowest regarding penalty mins with 38 from 4 games, (hull 14 from 1 game) so clearly we arent as physical as we should/can be!!!. for me there are a few players who need to step up very quickly
Deeds great talk now needs to walk the walk quickly (wasnt sure from the start that he was vothers successor!!!)
Milam needs to get the trigger going again very quickly even if he misses any nettie thinking that a shot of 100mph+ may hit them is going to be concerned!!!!
Blight great link up play now needs to bury the puck
phil i was expecting a lot more if im honest and thats possibly the issue that the expectation of phil was so high,having said that im still more confident than i used be with lyle in net in any situation
stuuu got to start getting the guys rolling, at the moment the only guy playing with heart and total commitment is MAC
Guys for me the rest of the new season starts on the weekend, we know you can play so prove it to your selves and us fans make us proud
Deeds great talk now needs to walk the walk quickly (wasnt sure from the start that he was vothers successor!!!)
Milam needs to get the trigger going again very quickly even if he misses any nettie thinking that a shot of 100mph+ may hit them is going to be concerned!!!!
Blight great link up play now needs to bury the puck
phil i was expecting a lot more if im honest and thats possibly the issue that the expectation of phil was so high,having said that im still more confident than i used be with lyle in net in any situation
stuuu got to start getting the guys rolling, at the moment the only guy playing with heart and total commitment is MAC
Guys for me the rest of the new season starts on the weekend, we know you can play so prove it to your selves and us fans make us proud
Voth26,
I know you haven't necessarily criticised him there but I'm going to defend Blight, he looks to me like once he gets his first home goal out of the way he will go on to score 30+ goals...... He visibly looked frustrated last night and it seemed no matter what he did, the puck wouldn't go in the net.
The old adage of 'gripping the stick too tightly' comes into play and I firmly believe that he's going to score a bucket load once he gets the 'home monkey off his back'....
I know you haven't necessarily criticised him there but I'm going to defend Blight, he looks to me like once he gets his first home goal out of the way he will go on to score 30+ goals...... He visibly looked frustrated last night and it seemed no matter what he did, the puck wouldn't go in the net.
The old adage of 'gripping the stick too tightly' comes into play and I firmly believe that he's going to score a bucket load once he gets the 'home monkey off his back'....