Devils Vs Blaze - 3 Nov - League

[Slartibartfast]

Two goals in a minute came from a 3 on 2 break. I know Blood and Reddick didn't deal with it too well but who was responsible for marking the third man. That has to be a forward not a D man.
Blood is by far our best defensive D man (with Fournier best offensive). Yes he made mistakes but the team was poor defensively. When the Devils are playing well there are 5 players defending and 5 attacking. Last night our D were left on their own too many times.
Great performance by Coventry though.

 

[jimmy snels]

i thought those i mentioned had particularly poor games. I wont stop referencing individual performances good or bad as i think it provides good debate if im honest. makes a good change from the "everything is brilliant so stop talking" trend.

with reference to the 4th line they deserved far more time than the ulmer haddad line last night. a shame they weren't sat for an extended period to make a point. myers is the best screener of the net minder and gets right in there where it hurts. id have liked the see us use that more when plan A clearly wasnt working. id have been genuinely miffed not to get moved up the lines in his boat last night. always have thought Lord doesnt necessarily give the brits enough ice time no matter who they are but thats a different topic really.

missing farayna who drives the net.

also i think louis and fournier are by far our stand out D at minute. long may that continue

 

[kingmo19.1]

Good win for Blaze - and Stewart (with the shadow of Lord Thommo lurking in the background!!!!!!!).

 

[Mazzoak]

So we’ve gone from one of the best Devils teams to one of the worst within the space of a few weeks. Wow. Fickle bunch some fans.
This probably will upset a few, but just as with the none qualified medical observations to the teams performance, l know this is a forum for debate, but honestly some need to step back and think before writing. Don’t criticise if you’ve no knowledge of the subject to back up your criticism.......
That was a horrible accident, thankfully no major injuries.

 

[Earnie]

Blaze knocking on our door!

 

[Kipper]

I have just seen that Miroslav Kopriva has been given the all clear and will be heading home to Coventry today. Whilst the twitter page says he is in pain - I’m glad to hear that it’s nothing serious.

Some may very well disagree with my post but in my opinion the response to last night’s incident was rather slow. I am led to believe that both team doctor’s were on the ice assisting but the delay in receiving the stretcher etc was too slow. Whilst I’m not sure what Kopriva’s injury was - the first hour for a head injury is crucial - hence the term golden hour. My fear is that if (and I hope it never happens) something more serious were to happen we currently don’t have the set up to respond in such a timely manner.

Having been a fan back in the WNIR days I clearly remember that there was always a st. John’s ambulance team and room and if I remember clearly we also had them for a period in the blue tent. Forgive me if I’m wrong but I don’t believe we have that at present?

On a separate note - and perhaps another that people will disagree with. The number of people who felt it appropriate to film and photograph a player when they’re injured on the ice and being stretchered off was alarming. It’s an act that I will never understand but to then post said images on social media these people should be ashamed of themselves. Player’s wives/girlfriends/children etc do not travel with them so imagine the upset it would cause to them if they were to see these images before any other news.

Are you serious? We have an exceptionally well qualified sports doctor at every game. A physio that was good enough to work with the England cricket team but hey let’s get some volunteer first aiders from St John’s

 

[Kipper]

In the WNIR we had St John’s Ambulance who were nothing more than First Aiders, sometimes the kit man would even go on! Now we have actual doctors. A stretcher was provided within an acceptable time, do you even know if he was ready to be removed straight away? Maybe the doctors wanted to wait until they were certain they could move him with the equipment that they had? You don’t rush anything with head, neck or spine trauma.

And the golden hour refers to getting treatment that is essential to survival. I don’t think that however serious his injury was, I don’t think it was every a case of survival.

This 100%

 

[Pope#42]

My post was never meant to cause offence or to de-value the services of the doctors (who were mentioned in my post as attending to Miroslav) but it was an observation of some of the other elements. I’m sorry if that message was not clear.

 

[Temme]

A very frustrating game, but my favourite game we've played this year.
Refs were a shambles, however we can't and won't blame them.

If Blaze take 25 penalties but the refs only call 1, and we take 10 penalties but they call all 10, it is still our fault.

We lost our discipline early in the second and went head hunting, throwing bad hits, slashing etc getting very frustrated when nothing was called our way.

I fully expected Lordo to call a timeout to address it early on just to screw everybody back together.

Bownsy got beat 3 times high glove, all odd man rushes, at least one from a very poor line change. Not Bownsy's fault, didn't look like he saw any of the shots as they were well executed breaks by Coventry.

"Something" happening to Blood at our blue line then them scoring was a massive turning point, I haven't spoken to a single person that saw what actually happened (I'm guessing a trip or interference), and we can't be mad at the officials for not calling it.

3x abuse penalties as a result is very poor discipline overall. We spent a few shifts throwing our weight around, the game almost needed a big fight mid-second then start over.

Another thing i see very often in all hockey, when a blatant call is missed (Martin getting slashed) that player then going for the biggest hack/whack/cross check/high hit he can at the next opportunity and then getting irate when penalised.

It's why i love this sport. You don't get that anywhere else.

Shoutout on Saturday night to Kevin Noble, not the best player, not the smartest player, but played his game inside & out. Normally he is the agitator, but as soon as he saw the discipline going from us in the second he went quiet as a mouse and got on with business, as there was no need to risk any silly penalties.

Also would like to say a big well done to the paramedic crew for the outstanding care and precaution they took with the Blaze nettie.

Excellent to know we have world class first aid on game nights.

 

[Rob Batch]

The tic-tac-toe play for our 4th was sublime, started by Blood , Reddick with a cheeky back thru his legs pass then Linglet to Hedden. Classic Devil's goal.

 

[Rob Batch]

Wrong thread but, Fawkes was a good guy. Anybody having a 'blaze' tonight ?

 

[BostonBart22]

Wrong thread but, Fawkes was a good guy. Anybody having a 'blaze' tonight ?

what BATCH of jokes did that come from

 

[Rob Batch]

I've a collection or group etc,,,,

 

[ASHIPP]

Great news to learn that Kopriva was finally fit enough to travel back to Coventry after what appeared (and could have been) a very serious injury. Wish him well with his recovery. In all these posts, that seems to have been forgotten. And that incident probably had a psychological bearing on the course of the game.

Not difficult to see why Blaze were able to capitalise on this game. Officiating is a separate issue. The Blaze came to compete with speed, good finishing and a fantastic work ethic. Despite our plethora of experienced, high level players, we could not make an impact. Credit to Coventry for fast breakaways, taking full advantage of chances and a stellar shift from their young backup goalie, Hedley.

A combination of reaction/poor response to officiating calls, several players not at their best and one or two school boy mistakes didn't help - - a catastrophic line change by the Devils resulted in a Blaze goal. Then later 'too many men'. And then the penalties.... Gerad Adams used to say that poor officiating cannot be controlled - only the response to it.

Like others on here, I am horrified at the lack of ice time Matthew Myers appears to be getting. He may well be responsible for the mentoring and development of our younger British forwards but all his other talents are going to waste. A face-off expert, a fantastic net presence, possibly our best defensive forward (apart from Morisette).

Some of our players struggled to keep up with the speed of the Blaze breakaway. Would love to see Myers and Haddad re-united as they had chemistry last year. Add to that partnership a fit Justin Faryna and there is the' something different' required when a spark is needed to galvanise the team and the fans. These are strong, powerful players. Last season things happened when they hit the ice. And we are missing Faryna badly right now. Hopefully he is making good progress with his injury.

The Club proudly boasts the Team plays 4 line forward hockey - let's see it. Cutting shifts to predominantly two lines sometimes in games can't be productive all the time. In the NHL, the 4th line usually plays a very important role in resting the top forwards, wearing down the opposition, retaining the puck or developing the rookies. It is a luxury several EIHL don't have.

Club and fans are proud of the fact that Devils are league champions - but that was last season. Now, a team is only as good as its last game. And we have lost the last two. It's becoming obvious at this stage that other teams in this league have definitely improved on last year, and some may be starting to turn their season around. Would almost ask the question whether other teams have found out how to play the Devils.

Two huge, huge games this week - a test to confirm our strengths, or expose our weaknesses? Getting great results against Giants and Flyers would be an amazing response.....but consistency thereafter in the long term is what will decide the League.

 

[Hedd Wyn John]

A very frustrating game, but my favourite game we've played this year.
Refs were a shambles, however we can't and won't blame them.

If Blaze take 25 penalties but the refs only call 1, and we take 10 penalties but they call all 10, it is still our fault.

We lost our discipline early in the second and went head hunting, throwing bad hits, slashing etc getting very frustrated when nothing was called our way.

I fully expected Lordo to call a timeout to address it early on just to screw everybody back together.

Bownsy got beat 3 times high glove, all odd man rushes, at least one from a very poor line change. Not Bownsy's fault, didn't look like he saw any of the shots as they were well executed breaks by Coventry.

"Something" happening to Blood at our blue line then them scoring was a massive turning point, I haven't spoken to a single person that saw what actually happened (I'm guessing a trip or interference), and we can't be mad at the officials for not calling it.

3x abuse penalties as a result is very poor discipline overall. We spent a few shifts throwing our weight around, the game almost needed a big fight mid-second then start over.

Another thing i see very often in all hockey, when a blatant call is missed (Martin getting slashed) that player then going for the biggest hack/whack/cross check/high hit he can at the next opportunity and then getting irate when penalised.

It's why i love this sport. You don't get that anywhere else.

Shoutout on Saturday night to Kevin Noble, not the best player, not the smartest player, but played his game inside & out. Normally he is the agitator, but as soon as he saw the discipline going from us in the second he went quiet as a mouse and got on with business, as there was no need to risk any silly penalties.

Also would like to say a big well done to the paramedic crew for the outstanding care and precaution they took with the Blaze nettie.

Excellent to know we have world class first aid on game nights.

bang on, like you said the Devils got frustrated, lost their heads & started racking up the penalties while the Blaze played smart, kept their heads down & focussed on playing hockey. The Blaze were the better team. Devils need to learn from it & move on.

 

[Kevlar68]

Really enjoyed the game as a whole and can't take anything away from Blaze they deserved the win.
I was sat right behind the net in block 4 for this game and the closing down for goals 1 and 3 for blaze was shocking, they were left to have so much time on the puck they could both pick where they were aiming for without being rushed. It was like slow motion they had that much time.

As for the calling out of players I've seen on this thread its ridiculous.
Every player on every team in every sport has had a bad game at one point or another through a season.
Not even the god of ice hockey himself Mr. Gretzky had a 100% perfect playing career.
Teams have had bad runs of form and still gone on to win a league. This league is such a long season with the amount of games there are to play its stupid to write players and team off. Everyone will slip out, without a doubt.

If we win big its "boring and to easy", if we lose its "lets change players and whats going on". It seems that no matter what happens certain people don't like either so how can this team ever get it right.

 

[Wagstaff]

I think probably the most frustrating thing is that you have the potential to win every night, which can both amazing and boring.
Personally I’m enjoying Blaze hockey at the moment, will we win any silverware.... I doubt it, but the hockey is great to watch

 

[drummer-ricky]

Thanks for the reply. As I said I’m aware that not all would agree with me and I’m by no means suggesting that the process should have been rushed. I just thought it could have been done smoother. I’m not a medical expert so I’ll leave that to the great doctor’s that came onto the ice.

Please elaborate... how could it have possibly gone any smoother than it did?. The guy was on his front with a suspected serious head/neck injury.... something that under no circumstance can be rushed. Not only is that a difficult situation as it is... you have the added danger of it being on ice.... standard practice gets thrown right out the window. As for timings it was pretty spot on. Doctors assessed and took all precautions. Requested a stretcher and assistance which was there within seconds. Superb job by both medical staff.

 

[Pope#42]

Please elaborate... how could it have possibly gone any smoother than it did?. The guy was on his front with a suspected serious head/neck injury.... something that under no circumstance can be rushed. Not only is that a difficult situation as it is... you have the added danger of it being on ice.... standard practice gets thrown right out the window. As for timings it was pretty spot on. Doctors assessed and took all precautions. Requested a stretcher and assistance which was there within seconds. Superb job by both medical staff.

Yes I do agree that the medical team did a great job and that was never something that I disagreed with - to me it seemed as though the stretcher took a while to arrive but in instances like that where time can seem like a lifetime perhaps my idea of time was way out. I understand now from other comments that my comments were not an accurate portrayal of the incident and for that I apologise.

 

[Pope#42]

I think probably the most frustrating thing is that you have the potential to win every night, which can both amazing and boring.
Personally I’m enjoying Blaze hockey at the moment, will we win any silverware.... I doubt it, but the hockey is great to watch

I’m not so sure about that - from what I saw on the weekend I think you have the potential to cause some upsets this season. I enjoyed watching the Blaze - particularly Bryhnisveen - he’s a great signing.