Disappointing result tonight against the quickest Steelers team I've seen for a while. Errors a plenty and probably the result of chasing the game. We never had the lead and it showed. Good show of character at the end but run out of time. The most worrying aspect to me was that the Steelers probably have a few more gears to go into. I thought they played a contained game tonight. Great to see Steve King and co getting their ovation at the start. Hopefully we can do something tomorrow night
Devils v Steelers - Double header thread - CC & League - Chat/Updates
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
Sheffield look like the best team in the league right now. First to the loose pucks, out skated and out battled us for 58 minutes and just looked a more organised unit tonight. Thought we did a poor job of testing their goalie and far too many simple errors in our own half of the ice.
We have a fantastic team on paper, but I don't think we've quite figured out the best way to use it yet.
We have a fantastic team on paper, but I don't think we've quite figured out the best way to use it yet.
Diabolical. I hate to say it but there's something amiss with Bownsey thus year, he seems very flaky, no offence to Joe (Myers) in previous seasons but seems to panic scramble at the puck like he did. Ben was MUCH better last year
In any cass, massively let down tonight, too slow and massively too predictable, just shot at Sheffield's tender's chest, only place we hit consistently.
Something big has to change.
In any cass, massively let down tonight, too slow and massively too predictable, just shot at Sheffield's tender's chest, only place we hit consistently.
Something big has to change.
The problems of the last few games as I see it are
1. Too many mistakes from defencemen in our D zone. Play safe and simple. No fancy stuff.
2. Defensemen not nasty enough in front of goal. (Steelers should have not got that tip goal from the slapshot) and another goal Bowns had to save two before the third shot went in.
3. Bowns is being caught with long shots because he is too far back in his goal.
4. Forwards are not finishing. Too many open nets missed. This is forcing our D men to go on the offence leaving holes at the back.
5. Lines changing again. 3 weeks ago we had 4 good lines who were playing awesome and scoring goals. Hopefuly when Scott returns we can go back to the original lines.
6. Noone in front of net screening opposition goalie. We are great at cycling in the corners but are not putting a body in front of net.
On the plus side, we have loads of possession and territory, so we just need to sort out some of the basics.
1. Too many mistakes from defencemen in our D zone. Play safe and simple. No fancy stuff.
2. Defensemen not nasty enough in front of goal. (Steelers should have not got that tip goal from the slapshot) and another goal Bowns had to save two before the third shot went in.
3. Bowns is being caught with long shots because he is too far back in his goal.
4. Forwards are not finishing. Too many open nets missed. This is forcing our D men to go on the offence leaving holes at the back.
5. Lines changing again. 3 weeks ago we had 4 good lines who were playing awesome and scoring goals. Hopefuly when Scott returns we can go back to the original lines.
6. Noone in front of net screening opposition goalie. We are great at cycling in the corners but are not putting a body in front of net.
On the plus side, we have loads of possession and territory, so we just need to sort out some of the basics.
Wow what a class act the Steelers team is. They had every aspect of that game covered -positioning,passing,physicality,chemistry, special teams, a changing gameplan for all situations.
Let's not dress it any other way, they were everything the Devils weren't. So many things wrong tonight. Some stats show that:
Steelers 8 shots/3 goals p2
Steelers' 2 SH goals - unforgiveable
Devils' 3rd consecutive home loss
Devils' 2 remaining CC games are must-wins or they are OUT
Our coach and team need to watch the video of tonight's game and learn from everything the Steelers did right.
As a fan, very very disappointed tonight. If I was an owner I'd be furious that my team are one step closer to not even qualifying for a cup competition they won 2 seasons ago....let alone the potential loss of revenue from not having a quarterfinal home game
Let's not dress it any other way, they were everything the Devils weren't. So many things wrong tonight. Some stats show that:
Steelers 8 shots/3 goals p2
Steelers' 2 SH goals - unforgiveable
Devils' 3rd consecutive home loss
Devils' 2 remaining CC games are must-wins or they are OUT
Our coach and team need to watch the video of tonight's game and learn from everything the Steelers did right.
As a fan, very very disappointed tonight. If I was an owner I'd be furious that my team are one step closer to not even qualifying for a cup competition they won 2 seasons ago....let alone the potential loss of revenue from not having a quarterfinal home game
Sadly this team is a little over-rated for me. Too much hype over the summer. Pretty evident to me that a few changes are required. Too many players in the comfort zone. As I said on another thread, Lordo's recent comment on Icetime TV that he hasn't cut a player in the past 2 seasons sends out the wrong message to me. No wonder there is a list of players who want to play in Cardiff - rock up, good if you win, don't worry too much if you don't as your not getting cut!
I said it a fortnight ago but we have lost the 'Devils Hockey' style of play we were so good at over the last 2 seasons.
We need the hard hitting, in your face, puck chasing, hard working, physical Devils style back that we know and love.
We made it far too easy for the Steelers tonight. Crucial mistakes in our own zone that cost goals where a simple play would suffice. The D need to give Bownsy a clear view of the puck if he's going to save it. And if you're going to let the opposition team skate from one end of the ice to the other without being challenged you're going to concede goals. Where's the physicality ??
Come on Devils (Lordo) let's let the beast out...
We need the hard hitting, in your face, puck chasing, hard working, physical Devils style back that we know and love.
We made it far too easy for the Steelers tonight. Crucial mistakes in our own zone that cost goals where a simple play would suffice. The D need to give Bownsy a clear view of the puck if he's going to save it. And if you're going to let the opposition team skate from one end of the ice to the other without being challenged you're going to concede goals. Where's the physicality ??
Come on Devils (Lordo) let's let the beast out...
Totally agree about Sheffield tonight, they were better than us in every way. However, we were awful.
Plenty of effort but we needed to come out and play smart disciplined physical hockey in the 1st period and set the tone.
Too many players have been anonymous on the score sheet so far this season and that needs to change quickly if we are to be putting up W's on the sort of regularity we will need to win something this season.
Bad decision making and turnovers cost us the game tonight, and I believe Andrew Hotham was on the ice for ALL
of Sheffield's goals, and was personally responsible for 2 of them. When he wasn't getting caught up ice and giving up the puck in the offensive zone he was making sloppy passes across the front of our net.
He may have got another goal tonight but defensively he is a liability and I want defencemen who want to play defence and protect the net.
Unfortunately, Hotham is not that man, he plays the same way regardless of the situation, always looking for the newsreel pass!
There were some good things in tonight's performance and many not so good but tonight Hotham contributed more to Sheffield than Cardiff.
Plenty of effort but we needed to come out and play smart disciplined physical hockey in the 1st period and set the tone.
Too many players have been anonymous on the score sheet so far this season and that needs to change quickly if we are to be putting up W's on the sort of regularity we will need to win something this season.
Bad decision making and turnovers cost us the game tonight, and I believe Andrew Hotham was on the ice for ALL
of Sheffield's goals, and was personally responsible for 2 of them. When he wasn't getting caught up ice and giving up the puck in the offensive zone he was making sloppy passes across the front of our net.
He may have got another goal tonight but defensively he is a liability and I want defencemen who want to play defence and protect the net.
Unfortunately, Hotham is not that man, he plays the same way regardless of the situation, always looking for the newsreel pass!
There were some good things in tonight's performance and many not so good but tonight Hotham contributed more to Sheffield than Cardiff.
Sadly Hotham was like that for the last quarter of last season.
His stats may look great, 50+ points a season, but when you are regularly giving up bad passes and getting caught out in advanced positions that result in the opposition scoring on a regular basis you can easily deduct 15-20 points from that 50+ figure. Doesn't quite look so impressive then. Further more, any opposition coach who is tactically half decent will be well aware of this weakness.
I'd like to see Hotham & Fournier play a little bit more controlled hockey - leave the scoring to the forwards, that's what they are paid for!
Sorry I may be in the minority here but I didn't think we played that bad tonight. Yes we made some critical mistakes 2 of which were poor defensive plays that ended in goals against us but I thought we played pretty well other than that. We also had some really positive spells where it was only good goal tending that kept us out. Steelers are a hard team to play and they were bound to come out wanting revenge for us beating them in there barn.
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well where do you start after that what in many was a shambles...
Sorry This has turned into a long rambling essay which i dont normally do but after three home losses, the problems are not changing same problems in every single game.
The big question.......is this a coaching issue ......or a team issue not following instructions?!?!?!?
Overall a flattering score line.......we barely came second and never really looked like winning, which is a shame with such fantastic, loud atmosphere, the fans can only do so much and while other games we may not have brought it (mainly due to the quality on the ice) tonight the fans did, but the players let us down in the second and third period
1st period
Actually thought this was a great period of hockey, despite some obvious issues
Fast pace.....exciting......one team playing very fast paced hockey..Sheffield and one team not quite at the races but hanging in there Cardiff. Sheffield could of been 3/4 nil up but bowns produced a good first period and we managed to get a goal in the last minute. However the obvious issues which were somewhat papered over came to bite us on the bottom
2nd period/ 3rd period
(I so hate writing this) but this Steelers team impressed me more than anyother Steelers team or any other team in recent memories, they were fast, committed, well drilled systems, first to everything and gave very little away and skated their bottoms off
Now the Devils .....we looked slow (summers high hopes of a fast, quick team seem like a dream). When Things are not going well what is the first thing any team should do.....the basics and the basics well, simple passes, movement, look before passing, if it looks like a hopeful pass dont do it. But no we do the exact opposite. So many simple player errors.
Net minding
Bowns ......have read some criticism but i disgree with that, yes one or two goals he would like back, but too many turnovers, d not clearing in fromt of him, and two many times point men are no where near the areas they should be covering.
The shots he is facing on 70 % quality shots
Defence
Hotham as someone metioned previously has been superb for us over the past few years in attacking play in particular scoring, but last season and this season his defensive play from the back has been shocking way to many errors.
Fornier.....this guy started the pre season brilliantly smooth agressive staking exactly what you want from an attacking D.....but its not going well from him and he is another that needs to go back to basics at little.
Rest of the D no major issues few mistakes here and there, but personally i feel some of the turnovers have an forward issue element in what i see their role is. Other major criticism at the moment is that we have 3 strong D units....why are Hotham and Richie on the ice for the majority it is not helping them having them on the ice so often.
Now the fun part - forwards
Apart from the Mo -Martin-Asselin line which i get excited that they can produce some magic everytime they are on the ice......but they cant do it on their own
Haddad-Beno-Ulmer. Haddad thought he has played pretty well despite being on a line that is not working. Beno and Ulmer came with high praise with Beno being touted as taking the limelight off Martin. No im not questioning their effort but for two preceived high goal scorers....they dont look like it, in fact they look like they barely played together, tiny pockets of play that do come off....the goals are not coming which is a huge concern as one of our top lines.
I would really love an old style devils third line, committed, finishing checks, in your faces boardering on nasty getting other teams heads down. For me the ideal line is Brine (unless Lordo plays), Bouderlo (wrong spelling i know but im tired) and myers they have skill but also that grittiness which i love
Leaving a fourth line of brine/ Culli doucet (he cannot buy a goal, but tonight was very impressed with this work rate and defence covering, something that we didnt see last season) piggott and jones
And all lines to be played especially when we have four lines, or if worried about pigs and jones then altnerate an import, but we need four lines, as some of these boys are blowing out of their arses when coming off a shift
Another bug bare so far this season is having someone in front of net, we have guys who would be perfect for creating a screen, casuing their d to graft, but we dont do it, why????
With so many player being carried in what they have been signed to do it makes me worry and wonder, how long can we carry them? No we have not released a player before, but if we do truely have the main target of the league championship, at what point do players need to step up to what they were signed for or at what point is enough enough
Some will say why so negative......the reason being we have had glimpses of what this team could be so pointing out the positives in not the point and wont help, it is the negatives that need changing.
Its not all doom and gloom, and a light may flick on and we go on a winning streak, unfortunately the way we a playing i cant see it.......how i would loved to be proved wrong
Thats my assessment of the game/our season start so far.
Sorry This has turned into a long rambling essay which i dont normally do but after three home losses, the problems are not changing same problems in every single game.
The big question.......is this a coaching issue ......or a team issue not following instructions?!?!?!?
Overall a flattering score line.......we barely came second and never really looked like winning, which is a shame with such fantastic, loud atmosphere, the fans can only do so much and while other games we may not have brought it (mainly due to the quality on the ice) tonight the fans did, but the players let us down in the second and third period
1st period
Actually thought this was a great period of hockey, despite some obvious issues
Fast pace.....exciting......one team playing very fast paced hockey..Sheffield and one team not quite at the races but hanging in there Cardiff. Sheffield could of been 3/4 nil up but bowns produced a good first period and we managed to get a goal in the last minute. However the obvious issues which were somewhat papered over came to bite us on the bottom
2nd period/ 3rd period
(I so hate writing this) but this Steelers team impressed me more than anyother Steelers team or any other team in recent memories, they were fast, committed, well drilled systems, first to everything and gave very little away and skated their bottoms off
Now the Devils .....we looked slow (summers high hopes of a fast, quick team seem like a dream). When Things are not going well what is the first thing any team should do.....the basics and the basics well, simple passes, movement, look before passing, if it looks like a hopeful pass dont do it. But no we do the exact opposite. So many simple player errors.
Net minding
Bowns ......have read some criticism but i disgree with that, yes one or two goals he would like back, but too many turnovers, d not clearing in fromt of him, and two many times point men are no where near the areas they should be covering.
The shots he is facing on 70 % quality shots
Defence
Hotham as someone metioned previously has been superb for us over the past few years in attacking play in particular scoring, but last season and this season his defensive play from the back has been shocking way to many errors.
Fornier.....this guy started the pre season brilliantly smooth agressive staking exactly what you want from an attacking D.....but its not going well from him and he is another that needs to go back to basics at little.
Rest of the D no major issues few mistakes here and there, but personally i feel some of the turnovers have an forward issue element in what i see their role is. Other major criticism at the moment is that we have 3 strong D units....why are Hotham and Richie on the ice for the majority it is not helping them having them on the ice so often.
Now the fun part - forwards
Apart from the Mo -Martin-Asselin line which i get excited that they can produce some magic everytime they are on the ice......but they cant do it on their own
Haddad-Beno-Ulmer. Haddad thought he has played pretty well despite being on a line that is not working. Beno and Ulmer came with high praise with Beno being touted as taking the limelight off Martin. No im not questioning their effort but for two preceived high goal scorers....they dont look like it, in fact they look like they barely played together, tiny pockets of play that do come off....the goals are not coming which is a huge concern as one of our top lines.
I would really love an old style devils third line, committed, finishing checks, in your faces boardering on nasty getting other teams heads down. For me the ideal line is Brine (unless Lordo plays), Bouderlo (wrong spelling i know but im tired) and myers they have skill but also that grittiness which i love
Leaving a fourth line of brine/ Culli doucet (he cannot buy a goal, but tonight was very impressed with this work rate and defence covering, something that we didnt see last season) piggott and jones
And all lines to be played especially when we have four lines, or if worried about pigs and jones then altnerate an import, but we need four lines, as some of these boys are blowing out of their arses when coming off a shift
Another bug bare so far this season is having someone in front of net, we have guys who would be perfect for creating a screen, casuing their d to graft, but we dont do it, why????
With so many player being carried in what they have been signed to do it makes me worry and wonder, how long can we carry them? No we have not released a player before, but if we do truely have the main target of the league championship, at what point do players need to step up to what they were signed for or at what point is enough enough
Some will say why so negative......the reason being we have had glimpses of what this team could be so pointing out the positives in not the point and wont help, it is the negatives that need changing.
Its not all doom and gloom, and a light may flick on and we go on a winning streak, unfortunately the way we a playing i cant see it.......how i would loved to be proved wrong
Thats my assessment of the game/our season start so far.
Great team on paper, poor team on ice ! Why? I just don't know. I'm not a coach, so I can't really comment from a coaching perspective. But, I'm a fan of long standing and I just don't think that the present players have the ooooph we have seen from teams in the past. I think Lord needs to think long and hard over the next 2 weeks exactly who is and who isn't the right fit for our team.
I normally give it 10 games before I give my views on the new season team, so, I will say that we are carrying a few dead weights who are just not performing to the hype that surrounds them.
I normally give it 10 games before I give my views on the new season team, so, I will say that we are carrying a few dead weights who are just not performing to the hype that surrounds them.
I think it's easy to single out players who haven't performed well recently.
Our problems are: Our very skilled forwards are more like defenders, Our quality defence are wanna be forwards & our net minder is a bit off colour at the moment. I personally think we lack strong leadership out on the ice too. So basically everything...
For me the issue is a bit more simple though - coaching.
Week after week we are out coached. Even when we aren't out coached, we play boring, non contact hockey. People will say its an over reaction but its not a new issue.
In Lords 3 years as coach here's my observations.
Year 1 - We won the cup. Undeniably great performance in the Sheffield final but apart from that, we fell apart. Lost out on the league & failed to make the playoff finals weekend for the first time in Elite league era if i'm not mistaken.
For a rookie coach who had won silverware i can see why we saw promise in Lords ability though. I was optimistic.
Year 2 - A big disappointment for me. Lord seemed to adopt a new style of hockey which left me feeling bored. It certainly didn't have the Devils stamp on it. Not only was the on ice dull to watch, we didn't really look like winning much & by the end of the season, a lot of coaches were out coaching us, we lost confidence and began losing. A season with so much promise and we were left empty handed. There was a bit of criticism of the coaching yet the organisation publicly backed Lord stating he had a job with Devils for as long as he wants one.
Year 3 - We may only be at the very start of the season but we've already lost more games on home ice than we had at the end of Jan last season. We're fast heading towards the exit doors in the challenge cup in the group stages and the league will be gone before we know it if we continue the way we are heading. We're playing the same style game as we did last season, coaches have learned how to shut us down and are doing so week in week out recently. Yet we just hand out a 2 year contract extension? Im confused.
I apologise if i've offended anyone but i'm just stating what i see. As a Devils fan & season ticket holder i want to see my team win and be entertained at games. There hasn't been much of either recently.
If Lord wants to go back on the ice as a player then that's fine by me - he's one of the weaker links of the team at the moment with his mistakes costing us goals in the last two games now.
If he wants to continue as coach, that's fine but he really needs a strong, experienced assistant coach by his side to help him. He can't do both... Its too much and negatively effecting both his playing and coaching ability.
No doubt, many will see things differently, but i'm getting a bit bored of watching the same one dimensional hockey week in week out. As much as i feel bad for the owners travelling so far to watch such a poor performance, i'm glad they got to experience first hand the lack of Plan B & apparent total lack of direction on the ice when things don't go our way. Something needs to change.
On a positive note, Pre match build up is fantastic! Period break entertainment is spot on. A great atmosphere is obviously possible in the new building as we saw before the puck dropped. I look forward to the day when it continues after the puck is dropped - That will come when the style of hockey being played improves!
Our problems are: Our very skilled forwards are more like defenders, Our quality defence are wanna be forwards & our net minder is a bit off colour at the moment. I personally think we lack strong leadership out on the ice too. So basically everything...
For me the issue is a bit more simple though - coaching.
Week after week we are out coached. Even when we aren't out coached, we play boring, non contact hockey. People will say its an over reaction but its not a new issue.
In Lords 3 years as coach here's my observations.
Year 1 - We won the cup. Undeniably great performance in the Sheffield final but apart from that, we fell apart. Lost out on the league & failed to make the playoff finals weekend for the first time in Elite league era if i'm not mistaken.
For a rookie coach who had won silverware i can see why we saw promise in Lords ability though. I was optimistic.
Year 2 - A big disappointment for me. Lord seemed to adopt a new style of hockey which left me feeling bored. It certainly didn't have the Devils stamp on it. Not only was the on ice dull to watch, we didn't really look like winning much & by the end of the season, a lot of coaches were out coaching us, we lost confidence and began losing. A season with so much promise and we were left empty handed. There was a bit of criticism of the coaching yet the organisation publicly backed Lord stating he had a job with Devils for as long as he wants one.
Year 3 - We may only be at the very start of the season but we've already lost more games on home ice than we had at the end of Jan last season. We're fast heading towards the exit doors in the challenge cup in the group stages and the league will be gone before we know it if we continue the way we are heading. We're playing the same style game as we did last season, coaches have learned how to shut us down and are doing so week in week out recently. Yet we just hand out a 2 year contract extension? Im confused.
I apologise if i've offended anyone but i'm just stating what i see. As a Devils fan & season ticket holder i want to see my team win and be entertained at games. There hasn't been much of either recently.
If Lord wants to go back on the ice as a player then that's fine by me - he's one of the weaker links of the team at the moment with his mistakes costing us goals in the last two games now.
If he wants to continue as coach, that's fine but he really needs a strong, experienced assistant coach by his side to help him. He can't do both... Its too much and negatively effecting both his playing and coaching ability.
No doubt, many will see things differently, but i'm getting a bit bored of watching the same one dimensional hockey week in week out. As much as i feel bad for the owners travelling so far to watch such a poor performance, i'm glad they got to experience first hand the lack of Plan B & apparent total lack of direction on the ice when things don't go our way. Something needs to change.
On a positive note, Pre match build up is fantastic! Period break entertainment is spot on. A great atmosphere is obviously possible in the new building as we saw before the puck dropped. I look forward to the day when it continues after the puck is dropped - That will come when the style of hockey being played improves!